HONING YOUR KNIFE
RENEW THE CUTTING EDGE
Under a microscope, you would see that the edge of a knife is made up of thousands of small cutting teeth. Through use, the fine teeth will eventually become misaligned, resulting in a dull knife. It is important to realign the teeth on a regular basis, aka honing, to renew the cutting edge.

1. PREPARATION
It’s up to you if you want to use a sharpening steel or a handheld knife sharpener for honing your knives. The handheld is really easy to use. For fast, effective sharpening, simply place the blade in the slot and gently pull it through a few times. If you want to use a sharpening steel, just make sure it has a higher hardness factor than the knife to be sharpened. One more important thing: don’t ever hone serrated knives. They must be sharpened by a professional or replaced. Period.

2. FIND THE PERFECT ANGLE
Ok, let’s get started. First hold the sharpening steel point down on a table or a cutting board. The angle between the blade and the steel should be approximately 15 degrees for ZWILLING knives. Santoku knives and all MIYABI and Kramer made by ZWILLING knives need to be 9-12 degrees.

3. MOVEMENT
Pull the knife down and across the sharpening steel, moving from the heel of the knife to the tip. Then switch sides. The first few strokes should use more pressure and then you should ease up on the pressure until the very last couple of strokes. Repeat this 3 – 10 times by changing sides after every stroke.