Idahone Ceramic Honing Rod

Name: Idahone Ceramic Honing Rod
Brand: Idahone
SKU: MSIDAHONE
Price: 37.95 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.9 (8 reviews)

Honing rods, also known as "steel" are an essential tool for maintaining a knife's fine razor edge. With use, the blade curls over with use, effectively dulling the edge. A few gentle swims on each side of the blade helps realign the edge, making it razor sharp again. Routine use of a honing rod—we recommend a few swipes every time you use the knife--will greatly prolong the duration in between sharpening, which in turn a knife's lifespan. Using a honing rod on their knives is a daily thing for professionals. It’s used before beginning prep and sometimes mid-prep if they find that the blade isn’t gliding through food as well as it was before. A home cook can dramatically improve their knife skills and speed in the kitchen if they adopt this habit, too. A sharp knife is a safer knife and also a faster knife! When it comes to honing rods, we prefer ceramic over metal, which does a better job of restoring the edge across a broad range of blade steels. Plus, this bull-nosed rod has achieved near-diamond hardness without incorporating literal diamond dust, which can strip metal from your knife and cause damage. Includes a ring for hanging and a sturdy hard-rock maple handle.

Specifications

Dimensions: 10“ rod, 15.75” overall length
Materials: High-alumina ceramic, hard-rock maple wood
Care and Use

Care: Scrub honing rod with an abrasive cleaner to remove swarf (metal particles). Rinse with water.
How to use

Honing rods do not sharpen knives, they hone, aka realign the edge. As you use your knife, the fine leading blade edge rolls and flattens. A honing rod essentially realigns your fine edge without removing metal (sharpening removes metal, and is necessary for when the sharp edge is gone, not just bent!)

Sharpening too much will shorten the life of your blade— you’re literally whittling it away each time—and most home cooks don’t actually need to sharpen more than a few times a year.

Not sure how you’d use it?

We test everything we sell. Here’s how we’d use this.

HOW TO USE

Place a folded towel or rag on your countertop and place the end of the rod on top to keep it steady. Holding the rod at 90 degrees, gently swipe each side of the blade from base to tip in a downward slicing motion—maintaining the 15-20 degree of the blade angle (each side of the blade). A few swipes on each side should suffice, then wipe the blade clean. To test sharpness, try slice a free hanging piece of paper and if the blade snags, give the blade a a few more sips on the steel.