Trib Tested: Kitchen IQ Angle Adjust Adjustable Manual Knife Sharpener
The claim: Kitchen IQ Angle Adjust Adjustable Manual Knife Sharpener is the first of its kind with an Angle Adjust knob that allows the user to adjust the angle of both the coarse and fine sharpening slots at the same time. It has two adjustable manual sharpening slots. The coarse slot features diamond stones to sharpen dull and damaged knives. The fine slot offers ceramic stones for finishing the edge and light touch ups. It also has a serrated fixed angle slot with crossed ceramic stones designed to sharpen into the serrations of a serrated knife.
Cost: $40
Where: Kitchen retailers such as Bed, Bath & Beyond or kitcheniq.com
I have always sharpened my knives manually since learning how while in the Boy Scouts. Those skills and an understanding of Euclidean geometry (light only reflects off of a flat surface, so if you look down your blade and see light reflecting off of it, you know that there's a flat spot and therefore it's not completely sharp!) have always served me well. So I was looking forward to see how my skills stacked up to a unit that promised an end to dull knives.
Physically, it was very stable and sleek looking with a dial that would set the proper angle of your blade. There were two slots — one for coarse and the other fine to complete the sharpening process. I was very disappointed with the end results and, quite frankly, I had better results sharpening my knives manually.
However, the saving grace of this unit was in the ability to sharpen serrated knives. I have never been able to sharpen those. By using the serrated portion, I was able to restore those knives to their former glory. The only issue I had with this tool was that while the regular blade slots for coarse and fine had plastic where the sharpeners are held, the serrated section is housed in metal, so when the blade is pulled through, it invariably makes contact with the metal housing at the very tip of the knife.
Other than that, the unit was easily held and able to be kept stable throughout the sharpening process. I think I will continue to sharpen my knives like I always have but I will be on the lookout for a unit that sharpens only serrated blades.
Does the angle of a knife's blade really matter as long as it's sharp? Maybe to top chefs and fine knife manufacturers. But to your average family cook — i.e., most of us — what's most important is whether we can quickly chop an onion or slice turkey breast easily for drooling holiday guests.
The Kitchen IQ adjustable knife sharpener definitely made my chef's knives keenly sharp. It's similar to the manual sharpeners with which you draw the knife's blade through a V-shaped spot on the gadget to hone the blade, but the Kitchen IQ sharpener allows you to increase or decrease the angle of the “V” depending upon the factory angle your knife came with.
What angle did my knives come with? I dunno. I've tried to avoid geometry since sophomore year in high school.
I tried the “European” setting with one knife and the “Asian” setting with another and they both got really sharp.
Bottom line: The Kitchen IQ adjustable knife sharpener works really well and costs about $40, or about $20 more than one that's not adjustable. But it won't make your turkey taste any better.
There is nothing worse than a dull knife to slow down your cooking game. As a remedy, the Kitchen IQ Angle Adjust Adjustable Manual Knife Sharpener is a nifty gadget to have on hand. This sturdy tool allows the user to hold onto a handle while the sharpening part rests solidly on its nonslip base.
So far, so good.
But the adjustable part left me a bit confused — probably because my “good” knives are not quite up to professional standards. An enclosed guide to the angle level included brand names like Wusthof, Shun, Zwilling and the like. Somehow, my Cutco blades didn't make the list.
So I guesstimated, based on the average angle for the various chef's knives, paring knives, etc. I ran my knives through the coarse slot first about eight times, then, the fine slot the same number of times. I tried the blades before and after on apples, celery and hard-crusted bread. Yes, very sharp!
I particularly liked the fixed angle for serrated blades. It was a revelation to find I could sharpen those.
