Line cook at the Austin Rodeo taught me to sharpen on a stone, not a rod

Last month I was helping a friend at a pop-up event near the fairgrounds and this old guy working the grill next to us saw me using a honing rod on my chef knife. He came over and said 'that rod is just bending the edge back, you need a stone to actually cut anything.' He let me borrow his coarse stone and walked me through it for like 10 minutes. My prep speed easily doubled after that. I always thought stones were for fancy guys with expensive knives, but a $15 stone fixed my $40 beater. Anyone else switch from rods to stones and notice a big difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley_jones1mo ago

Stones are just extra work when a rod does the job fine.

amy_anderson1mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, that's a fair point, but I get why some folks love them.