Having a good steel in your kitchen is a wonderful way to keep your knives sharp. Chefs have been using steels for years, yet many people don't understand the benefits. This 10" steel is not only a fine quality steel but it's longer than the inexpensive steels sold with most knife blocks.
Why You Should Steel Your Kitchen Knives?
Steeling is a simple process of aligning the knife edge. Instead of removing metal in the true sharpening process, steeling basically aligns the edge to make it cut more effectively. A sharpened edge can be steeled many times before it is necessary to resharpen the edge. This not only lengthens the time between resharpening your knives but also prolongs the life of your knife.
Fine And Regular Steel Options
We offer our steels in both a fine and a regular option. We offer this option so you can create a steel that favors the style of sharpening that you do. When sharpening a kitchen knife, many western chefs use a relatively coarse stone to sharpen their knives. This coarser edge benefits from steeling more frequently and is more appropriate for a regular steel. Many knife blocks come with a steel (usually rather cheap and only 9" long), these steels would be comparable to our regular steel. The fine is really more appropriate for kitchen knives sharpened with finer abrasives. Because the finer steel is less aggressive, the edges created by very fine abrasives benefit from finer steeling.
Quality Construction
This steel is made of hardened chrome-vanadium steel. The steeling grooves are accurately cut into the steel to provide consistent edge. The synthetic handle is solid and balances the steel.
German Built Quality
These steels are made by Messermeister in Solingen Germany. The centuries old tradition of quality in Solingen is apparent in this steel.
Q. Do you recommend the Fine or the Regular steels?
A. As a rule of thumb, I recommend using the finer steel only when you sharpen your knives with finer sharpening stones. The finer steel will less aggressively align the edge. More coarsely sharpened edges benefit from the regular steel.
Q. How long of a steel should I use?
A. Ideally you want it to be 2" longer than your longest knife. For practical reasons, we suggest that a 10" is good for most home kitchens. The 12" is excellent but will often not fit in a knife block.