Chef's Choice 130 Professional Knife-Sharpening Station, Platinum
by Chef's Choice
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List Price: Our Price: $159.95 You Save: $50.05 (24%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $140.95 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Chef's Choice 130 Professional Knife-Sharpening Station, Platinum
Customer Review: A sharp cut above the rest
Summary: 5 Stars
Sharp knives are not more dangerous than dull ones, because sharp knives do their job easily, whereas dull ones require you to use more force, leading to more risk of slipping and to not as good a job cutting. So, in short, you want a good sharp knife, just as anyone wants the proper tool to do the job.
This knife sharpener works really really really well on your kitchen knives. I have some top grade knives--they sharpen up well--as well a few sets of steak knives as well as lower grade knives as well as the knife my grandfather made in 1950 out of a single piece of metal (blade and handle) which now has the first sharp blade it's ever had on it. Oh, the point here is that this sharpening device produces a very sharp blade.
The manual is a bit confusing (although very thorough, and very helpful as to how to get a sharp blade) as it talks about all the options available to sharpen your knife, and doesn't distinguish between whether or why you would want a steel-sharpened or a diamond-sharpened blade. Whatever, your knives are gonna be much better than before, and while the manual doesn't really get into the differences between why you'd use the "second" and "third" grinding options, this device gives you really sharp knives in a variety of really sharp ways.
This also works well on bread knives and other deeply-serrated edges, as well as santoku blades, individual steak knives, roast slicers, boning knives, etc., based on what I've been able to do with sharpening them. Even second-class knives I delegated to limbo-land cuz they didn't work too well, have now sprung back into life. Again, a sharp knife is a good knife to use, not one to avoid cuz it's "sharp", and this sharpener does a wonderful (repeat, wonderful) job in preparing the right tool for a cook.
As in all my reviews, I have no financial or any other interest in this product or this company.
Occasionally, one buys something and then feels that if you had the chance to buy again, you'd pass on buying it. Not this sharpener, if I ever lost this or whatever, I'd buy it again since I've used it and have seen what it does.
Customer Review: Super Sharp (not Razor!) and Easy to Use
Summary: 5 Stars
Like other reviewers, I will agree that this unit will not make your knives razor sharp. It will however make them very sharp and it's convenient enough and easy enough to use that you should run your favorite knives through it once a week or more.
Just remember to warn other people that use your kitchen about how sharp the knives are after you use this device! It's very easy to have a HUGE difference in sharpness after using it, and if you have people used to dull knives they might cut themselves because they habitually put too much pressure on a dull knife when cutting through food.
The first stage you'll most likely only use once or twice per knife, as it's a coarse grinding stone that's designed to bring life back to very dull knives. Second stage is basically a non-powered honing steel, third stage is the fine grind sharpener that you'll be using most of the time. Weird that the steel is in the second slot, as that is usually the third thing you do when sharpening a knife.
The instructions are a bit misleading, because there are two separate sections telling you when to use the first station (but skipping the other 2 stations), and then another area telling you to basically never use it. Kind of confusing, but the basic process is to use the first station once per dull knife when you get it out of the box, then for daily/weekly use the third station and then hone it with the second station.
It does sharpen serrated bread knives, but it only sharpens the "tips" of the serrations. I haven't noticed a huge diference in cutting through bread with my "freshly" sharpened serrated knives.
Also note that if you have a $30 set of those cheap-o micro-serrated "eversharp" stamped kitchen knives this sharpener won't be much use to you, Spend the money on 2 or 3 decent kitchen knives instead, and then get this item after a few months of use to keep them super sharp.
Customer Review: Finally, a knife sharpener that meets my expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
I've purchased a number of manual knife sharpeners over the years. None of them have really met my expectations.
Specifically, I recently purchased two of the manual sharpeners rated highly by Cooking Illustrated: the ANOLON Universal Sharpener, and the Messermeister Chantry Sharpener. They simply don't compare to the Chef's Choice sharpener, which is Cooking Illustrated's highest rated power sharpener.
I wish I had simply purchased this sharpener first. Not only does it sharpen a knife to factory, hair-shaving sharpness, but it doesn't damage the sides of the blades like some manual sharpeners do after repeated strokes. The bottom line is that it leaves you with a knife that could easily pass as brand new.
Note that there are three sections to this sharpener:
1) Course powered sharpener
2) Non-powered steel
3) Fine-grain powered sharpener
All three sections have blade guides that hold the blade at just the right angle. Section 2 is not powered at all: it's just a steel, but it steels the blade at just the right angle.
To sharpen a knife, generally you are suppose to use section 1 followed by 2, which results in a very well steeled blade with a little "bite" which is most suitable for cutting course food, OR you are suppose to use section 1 followed by 3, which results in a hair-shaving sharp blade suitable for cutting ripe tomatoes.
You can also resharpen a knife using just section 3, which is effortless and takes just a few seconds.
I was skeptical of going electric at first, but now I'm glad I finally did.
Customer Review: Quite Satisifed
Summary: 5 Stars
I like to work with wood and demand that my chisels and planes be mirror smooth and sharp enough to easily shave hair off the back of my hand. This takes, um, a lot of time to say the least. In the kitchen I want a knife that can do its job and be thrown in the dishwasher. This means my kitchen does not contain high end carbon steel knives. I own a basic set of stainless steel Gerber knives and a few odd blades and a pair of cooking scissors. Having said that I wont say that this device will put a razor edge on your blade but it will allow you to take a very dull kitchen knife and put a very good working edge on it in about 24 seconds with no effort. Plug in the unit, drag through the progressively finer grinding slots and keep on cooking. The knives are sharp and very ready to work but I wouldn't describe them as razor sharp like a chisel. Later touch ups would need about 8 seconds because you skip the first to slots. The sharpener is sturdy and the motor sounds substantial. Its heft and quality remind me of a Kitchen-aid mixer.
In use:
At each slot you drag the blade through the left side and then the right side before proceeding through the next slot.
Step one if starting with a very dull blade drag through slot one for a gross grinding.
Step two drag through slot two for a finer sharpening.
Step three drag through slot three for a good polishing.
Skip step one if the knife is not very dull. Later touch ups will likely only need to be dragged through slot three.
Now you are ready to use the blade on food.
Jim
Customer Review: Wonderful Product
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned a Chef's Choice knife sharpening system before but it was an old lesser model. It performed ok and made my knifes useable. I read a lot of reviews for this product and decided to get one for myself and I also sent one to a friend. I love to cook and I have a nice set of knifes that I was going to take out to have professionally sharpened. I got this system and was a little skeptical due to some of the negative reviews. I followed the directions and took my time with the sharpener. I was AMAZED with the results; it performed just as I hoped it might. I prefer a steeled edge so I followed the directions for a fine steeled edge using step one until I got a consistent burr on one edge. I then ran it through step two for 20 passes on each side and then did a very light and quick two passes through step 3. I got an amazingly good edge on my knifes and they cut through things so smoothly. This is a wonderful system but you have to take your time and pay attention to what you're doing. The biggest key is to let the system do the work and not force the blades through the steps. I will recommend this system to all of my friends and I will send one to my brother who owns a restaurant. This system makes a huge difference and for the person that likes to slice easily through food instead of sawing through it you will be pleased with the results.