Knife Sharpener

John: I’ll get some flack for this one. So there’s a knife sharpener I’ve been using for 30 years, and I bought a second one.

Adam: Well, why would you get flack? Knife sharpeners are important. I’m excited about this.

John: Well, I know why I’m going to get flack. I’ve tried all these different kinds of knife sharpeners. There’s the three-stage, four-stage. There’s the one you do this and this and this. THIS is a one-shot knife sharpener. It’s one stage. It’s not a cheap sharpener. It used to be cheaper, and I think you can still get it on sale if you look around.

John: It’s the Zwilling 32590-300 Twin Sharp Knife Sharpener. It’s a funny-looking thing, and it’s easy to hold down. You hold it down to the table, and then you drag the knife across this little slot.

And I have old pre-World War II steel knives…

Adam: Wait, wait. Are these the knives that you used to kill Nazis?

John: I think they would work.

John: …I have some Sabatieres that I’ve had since the 70s, and I keep sharpening them. And I think it sharpens the hell out of any blade— except the Japanese blade. If you have Japanese blades, you have to get a stone. Don’t use a Japanese blade on this thing.

Adam: It has a plastic handle. Is that the one?

John: Yeah, it’s got a funny shape. It’s got a plastic handle. It holds down, and then you pull your knife across toward you.

Adam: That’s a very simplistic… 49 bucks on Amazon, I see.

John: Yeah, it’s too high, but it is what it is. But you put the knife in and pull it toward you, and two of those will sharpen any knife pretty quickly. The Japanese knife’s got a different blade angle, and everything’s wrong. And a good Japanese knife needs a stone, and you have to get them from a Japanese. I have a Japanese stone that’s from some mountain in Japan. It’s so famous.

Adam: Is that a whetstone?

John: Yeah. The Japanese have all these rituals about stone sharpening, and they have these myths about the stone mountain— that you have to take a chunk from that and use that to sharpen your knife. It’s a long story. But with Japanese knives, especially the good ones, you have to be careful with those.

Adam: You know what I would like in follow-up to this, which I think would really complete the series? I would like a knife tip of the day. A kitchen knife tip of the day. I think you could do several of them, actually.

John: I could do quite a few knife tips of the day, yes. I’ll work on the ultimate knife tip.