Sharpening a bread knife?

[Roefisher]

Hello folks,

I've recently been buying unsliced loaves and just got myself a new bread knife. About sharpening, would you recommend the usual Sharpmaker method of the stone edge over the serrations or do you think there's better methods, like a big sharpening rod, or something completely different again?

I usually use the Sharpmaker as mentioned and then give the back-side a few circular swirls with the blade laying flat on a fine stone in case there's a little bit of metal or burl over there.

Any corrections to what I'm doing, or new tips and advice will be most welcomed, cheers....

Mark

[ChrisinHove]

I use the Sharpmaker rod corners very successfully on serrated bread knives.

Bread knives often seem to be forgotten and left to get spectacularly blunt, but having mine sharp makes a huge difference imho.

If you only eat pappy - or wet - bread, then I guess even a spoon will do, though.

[Roefisher]

Yes, I enjoy my bread knife sharp too because I usually buy crusty bread with a soft centre and a sharp knife makes a clean cut without ripping or squashing the bread.

I guess the Sharpmaker would be as good as anything, unless there's another / better way?

Mark

[Doc Dan]

I use the Sharpmaker.

[zhyla]

Sharpmaker is the way. It goes fast since most bread knives are made with the cheapest steel possible.

I have to say though years ago I switched to using a regular kitchen knife for slicing bread. For really hard crust I use a serrated Z-cut. I’m honestly not sure bread knives are good for anything.

[Roefisher]

I have to say though years ago I switched to using a regular kitchen knife for slicing bread. For really hard crust I use a serrated Z-cut. I’m honestly not sure bread knives are good for anything.

Interesting to hear a voice not too fussed on bread knives. I do agree that with a soft crusted loaf a plain edge will work nice enough but I really do love the serrated edge, especially on bread with a hard crust.

Steel quality on most kitchen knives is crap, to be fair, unless you go up into fancy stuff. When I was looking at my new bread knife, I went though everything available and ended up looking at brands like Boker and Fallkniven. They do use good steel in their kitchen knives but I just couldn't afford to buy them - much as I would have loved to. The Fallkniven's especially, with their beautiful burgundy handles, looked brilliant. Just too much for me to be completely honest. Apart from my bread knife, I got three other knives... a Chef's knife, a Paring knife and a Santoku, in what I hope are fair steels, for around the same price as one of the bigger Fallkniven kitchen knives.

Mark

[RustyIron]

I usually use the Sharpmaker as mentioned and then give the back-side a few circular swirls with the blade laying flat on a fine stone in case there's a little bit of metal or burl over there.

I've found the Sharpmaker to be great for doing serrated bread knives. I have an assortment of diamond rods for doing serrations, but the Sharpmaker is quick, easy, and gives good results.

My only suggestion is to give a few extra degrees to the flat side. As you use the knife, the edge wears and becomes rounded. If you grind it flat, you might not be hitting the rounded area. Tipping the blade a couple degrees will ensure you're actually apexing the edge. Or maybe you're already hitting it. A magnifier will reveal what's going on.

I tried my plain edge knives on bread, and the surface of the bread is perfectly flat--like it's been polished, assuming you could polish bread. When using a serrated knife, the surface of the bread is a little rougher. I like the rougher surface better for the dishes I prepare.

[apollo]

Being totally honest i sharpen my spydies regularly and i have gotten real good at it. ( Not as good as some of the pro's here bit still good enough i am very happy )
But when it comes to bread knives i am as lazy as can be. We have a bread knife from ikea so the thing is as cheap as can be. But even knowing it is used every single day and it go's in the diswasher still that knife is more then sharp enough for its duty's even after 5 years of use. But if the day ever comes it gets to dull. I dont think i will put effort in to it ill just get a new one for those few euro's it costs. Because in the end i have a sharpmaker i even have the dvd. But still sharpening serrations are a pain to me. That is why i hardly own se knives. And the 2 i have only gets used for the small amount off specific stuff serrations are really better for then plain edges. Because i really really dislike trying to sharpening Se blades it feels like a marathon without ever finishing.

[vivi]

Hello folks,

I've recently been buying unsliced loaves and just got myself a new bread knife. About sharpening, would you recommend the usual Sharpmaker method of the stone edge over the serrations or do you think there's better methods, like a big sharpening rod, or something completely different again?

I usually use the Sharpmaker as mentioned and then give the back-side a few circular swirls with the blade laying flat on a fine stone in case there's a little bit of metal or burl over there.

Any corrections to what I'm doing, or new tips and advice will be most welcomed, cheers....

Mark

regular sharpmaker method works great. i like keeping mine a bit coarser than my other serrated knives and only going up to the medium stones.

I grind the back side similar to how I do the front, except at a 5:1 ratio. 5 strokes presentation side, then one on the back. I tilt the spine towards the sharpmaker rod so its a very acute angle but not quite flat to the stone.

if you're going to use a pe knife for this job a coarse edge really helps. I've tried cutting home made baguettes with chef knives right off the sander and they do a good job.

if you're in the market for a good budget bread knife try the tojiro ‎F-737. japanese made with a stainless blade and wood handle. shop around and you'll find em under $20 shipped. payed $17 shipped for mine from the bay.

[Roefisher]

Some great info and help, folks... Thank you.

Mark

[VashHash]

I've also used extra coarse edges on PE knives with success for bread. A lot of people don't know how to cut bread and smash it while sawing it. Let the knife do the work.

[kennethsime]

Sal reviews bread knife sharpening in the dvds. It works very well.

[Matus]

I wanted to post on this one since a while. We have (and really like) Mac Superior (AUS8) bread knife. It has a continuous wave (no sharp teeth) and gently curved blade and is a joy to use. When the time came to sharpen it - I took it to the CBN rods on the Sharpmaker. The cutting edge was originally sharpened to more than 20 degs. I took it to 15 for the most of the edge bevel and then finished the actual sharpening with 20. I have at the very end used the brown rods to de-burr. It took me in total 3 hours (in several sessions) - a job that on a non-serrated blade on normal water stones would not take more than 10 - 15 minutes. But the knife is now cutting again as it should and will take a lot less time to sharpen next time.

Long sharpening times are simply the name of the game with serrated blades - unless someone comes out with some kind of powered sharpening system (that will not burn the edge, of course).

[PaloArt]

Bread knives of other brands (aforementioned Ikea knife for example) can be resharpened, 20 degrees on one side and almost flat on the other, with a success. It might take a little bit of time to set correct bevel but I was able to do this with brown and white rods on my friend´s knife within 15 minutes. Knife is now used not only on bread but tomatoes as well

[Farmer]

Steel quality on most kitchen knives is crap, to be fair, unless you go up into fancy stuff.
Mark

One exception it's worth looking at is the Victorinox bread knife (21cm model). They arrive super sharp, have a great serration pattern and are really easy to sharpen on the Sharpmaker. Circa £28 so definitely won't break the bank.

[LeDe]

Steel quality on most kitchen knives is crap, to be fair, unless you go up into fancy stuff.
Mark

One exception it's worth looking at is the Victorinox bread knife (21cm model). They arrive super sharp, have a great serration pattern and are really easy to sharpen on the Sharpmaker. Circa £28 so definitely won't break the bank.

Just got one, the longer 25cm version (just because why not), and I really like it. Not sharpened it yet.

[Bill1170]

Bread knives of other brands (aforementioned Ikea knife for example) can be resharpened, 20 degrees on one side and almost flat on the other, with a success. It might take a little bit of time to set correct bevel but I was able to do this with brown and white rods on my friend´s knife within 15 minutes. Knife is now used not only on bread but tomatoes as well

Last night I sharpened a friend’s serrated bread knife using the CBN rods on the 20 degree angle. It took a surprisingly short time because I was hitting only the edge from the start, and the steel was a low-alloy stainless, easy to abrade. Not a lot of burring, either.

[Bill1170]

Steel quality on most kitchen knives is crap, to be fair, unless you go up into fancy stuff.
Mark

One exception it's worth looking at is the Victorinox bread knife (21cm model). They arrive super sharp, have a great serration pattern and are really easy to sharpen on the Sharpmaker. Circa £28 so definitely won't break the bank.

Just got one, the longer 25cm version (just because why not), and I really like it. Not sharpened it yet.

We have the 25cm Victorinox bread knife and it is a great performer. It’s easy to maintain on the Sharpmaker.

[Roefisher]

The next time I'm putting in an order, I'll include a Victorinox bread knife. They seem to be popular so I'll give one a try.

It's the usual rabbit's hole but I've also started to look at Santoku knives which are really popular in a lot of the cooking videos and websites I check out. I got one but haven't used it yet. I do love the design and I'm looking forward to trying it out, hopefully on some potatoes and veg either later today or tomorrow.

My new bread knife (Samura Damascus) is working very well indeed. I haven't sharpened it yet, but I intend to give it a go on the Sharpmaker soon.

Mark