Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Sharp Duo Knife Sharpener
by J.A. Henckels
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List Price: Our Price: $16.99 You Save: $23.01 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Sharp Duo Knife Sharpener
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
Has bought all my knives back to life. It takes no time at all to sharpen a knife and it's very sturdy.Customer Review: Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
This is exactly what I needed. It sharpens the knives to almost new condition. Can't beat the price!Customer Review: Pretty decent but use as intended
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this sharpener about two years ago. I cook every day, and, while not a professional chef, I am an avid cook. I have the following sets of knives:
Henckels Pro S Series (German Ice Hardened Steel) - 3 years
Henckels International (Spanish Carbon Steel) - 10 years
Oxford Hall Stainless (Japanese High Carbon Steel) Chef's Knife - >40 years
These knives have seen a lot of use. The Oxford Hall is practically an heirloom. In any case, I used the standard sharpening steel for years, which did little to get the knives sharper - just re-orient the edge it seems. I bought this after reading reviews and was pleased with the results. A couple of things:
1) Hardened knives need more pulls than 5 to get them to sharpness. I use "1" until I hear and feel no more drag on the blade. I then repeat with "2." This may take 10-25 pulls the first time, but I only have to do this once a week with hardened steel blades cooking every day, and it takes 3-5 pulls now.
2) Check your knives first. Do not use this if your knives have chips in it; it will only make it worse. At that point, either send it to the manufacturer or a knife sharpening service or get a whetstone. You have to grind it down and re-hone the blade. This is not the use for this or any other sharpener.
3) It would be difficult to get the knives to factory honed sharpness (many use lasers to get the edge that sharp - just as a reference). It would take a Master Knife Sharpener to do this, or many passes on different whetstones of varying grit, so $19 to get a useful edge back on your knife is pretty good...
4) If you want your edges to last, cut on wood rather than plastic, ceramic, or glass (shudder).
5) See #2!!!!! If you have a Japanese Santoku or other japanese manufactured knife, read about it carefully. Many are not honed to the same angle as european knives. Also some japanese knives have two angles on the edge making it right or left handed and not both. You will need to get a "japanese sharpener" or send it back to the manufacturer for sharpening.
Cheers!
Customer Review: Good maintenance sharpener
Summary: 4 Stars
This product allows almost anybody to greatly improve the condition of their knives. Used regularly, it greatly lengthens the interval between real sharpenings. And if your knives have been used against glass "cutting" boards or counter tops, then you can get some edge back with a bit of work.
There are two sets of of overlapping discs, through which the knife blade is pulled. This process actually deforms the cutting edge and raises a burr that becomes the new cutting edge. After the steel has done the deformation, a couple of passes through the ceramic set cleans up the edge and gives a very useful edge for many types of cutting. Things that are difficult to slice, such as tomatoes and bread are readily cut by the newly formed edge. If you use this device gently every couple of times you use the knive, you can maintain a very good cutting edge for a long time.
This product does not repair badly damaged cutting edges. For that you need to grind off a good bit more metal, and at the proper angle. Unless you have the proper equipment or a lot of practice with a stone, then such work is better left to a professional knive sharpening serve.
This product also does not produce a polished cutting edge that you can get with water stones or diamond hones. The edge is often ragged where small chips of the burr have broken off. But that is really okay for most kitchen work, as it takes some of the cutting features of the serrated knives. The little discontinuities actually help rupture the tomato skin or bread crust when used with a slicing motion.
Actually, for the price and purpose, it probably should get 5 stars. It is the best maintenance sharpener I have run across.
Customer Review: Brought some old dull knives back to life
Summary: 4 Stars
I have some Flint Vanadium knives (almost 40 years old) and some Henckels Gourmet knives (20 years old) that were just not sharp enough anymore. Using a steel on a knife can only do so much for the knife - a steel is really not a true sharpening tool. After considering how much it would cost to replace those knives, I decided to give this little tool a try. It works! Are the knives razor sharp? No. I really don't care to have knives that are sharp enough to do an appendectomy, however. I like having intact fingertips and such.
I started out with one of the duller knives. It took waaaay more than five pulls through the sharpener, but I was indeed able to achieve an edge sharp enough to cut paper, just like it says in the directions. I am impressed!
I can't imagine how someone could chew up the edges of their knives with this sharpener, unless there was something wrong with the knives to begin with. It's not for serrated blades, so don't even try it.
Highly recommended.