Working with the sharpening steel is easy to learn. There are two common methods: either place the steel vertically on the table and guide the knife along the steel from the handle to the tip at an angle of around 15-20° with light pressure. Or you can do the same while holding the steel slightly away from your body. In any case, do it alternately on both sides until the blade is sharp again. Using a sharpening steel is really important to prevent your knives from spoiling. You will be amazed at what it can do to your old kitchen and table knives.

Sharpening steels are made from the hardest chrome vanadium steels to ensure long-lasting wear resistance (this one has an impressive 66 HRC). They are also magnetized so that any metal shavings produced during the sharpening process stick to them. Sharpening steels are available in different "finenesses", with the so-called medium fineness being the most suitable for household and catering use. This type of steel has 6-7 tiny teeth per millimeter of surface area, which ultimately produce the desired sharpening effect. Its length is also important: a sharpening steel should be long enough to sharpen a large chef's knife in one go.

The cutting edge of good knives is up to 1/400 mm thin. This wafer-thin edge wears down with use and needs to be replaced. This is why chefs sharpen their knives on the sharpening steel as soon as they notice that the cutting edge is losing its edge. If this is not done in time, the knife will become completely blunt and the cutting edge geometry must be rebuilt by sharpening - either by yourself or by a specialist.