J.A. Henckels Sharpening Steel Review

I got this steel as part of my required equipment list for Seattle Central College's Culinary Arts program in 2005. It was on the list because every professional kitchen expects you to hone your knives before service. That habit stuck. I hone before every shift—home or professional kitchen—without thinking about it. Quick passes on each side of the blade, check the edge, get to work. The steel shows its age. There are visible dings in the rod from twenty years of contact with knife edges. The handle is worn smooth in places. But it still does what it's supposed to do: realign knife edges so they cut cleanly.

Before every cooking session, I run each knife along the steel. Usually 3-4 passes per side at about a 15-20 degree angle. It takes maybe 15 seconds per knife. I don't hone my bread knife—serrated edges don't benefit from honing, and you can damage the serrations. Everything else gets a quick pass before use. When knives start feeling dull even after honing, that's when I get them professionally sharpened. Honing maintains an edge; it doesn't create one.

A honing steel doesn't sharpen your knives—it realigns the microscopic edge that bends during use. Every time you cut through something, the thin edge of your knife bends slightly to one side or the other. Running the blade along a steel straightens that edge back into alignment. Professional sharpening removes metal to create a new edge. Honing just maintains the edge you already have. You still need to get knives professionally sharpened when they're dull, but honing extends the time between sharpenings significantly.

**You can damage knives with a steel if you don't know what you're doing.** Too steep an angle and you're dulling the edge instead of straightening it. Too much pressure and you're removing metal unnecessarily. Too many passes and you're just wasting time. The J.A. Henckels steel has a comfortable weight and good length for controlled strokes. The handle provides decent grip even when your hands are wet or greasy (which happens constantly in professional kitchens). **Proper technique:** 15-20 degrees for Western-style knives, 10-15 degrees for Japanese knives. Use consistent angle on both sides. Light pressure, 3-4 passes per side. The steel does the work - you're just guiding the blade.

In restaurant kitchens, everyone has a steel in their knife roll. You hone at the start of your shift, during breaks if you're doing heavy prep work, and anytime a knife doesn't feel quite right. A steel is standard equipment because it keeps your knives functional throughout service. You don't have time to stop and professionally sharpen a knife mid-shift. A quick honing gets you back to work. **Professional standard:** Hone before service, hone during long prep sessions, hone when knives feel off. It's muscle memory for anyone who's worked on a line.

My steel shows exactly what two decades of daily professional use looks like. The rod has visible dings from thousands of honing sessions. The handle is worn smooth where I grip it most frequently. The original shine is long gone. Does any of this affect performance? No. The steel still realigns edges effectively. The dings don't prevent the rod from doing its job. The worn handle still provides adequate grip. **Longevity verdict:** This tool is designed to survive professional kitchen abuse. Twenty years in, it shows wear but remains fully functional. It will likely outlast most of the knives I use it on.