How to Sharpen a Boning and Fillet Knife

For the typical home chef, boning and fillet knives are not truly necessary kitchen tools. If you do utilize these specialized tools, it's critical to understand how to keep them sharp.

Knives used for boning and filleting are distinguished by their long, slender blades, measuring 6 to 11 inches in length, which must be sharpened with finesse. The procedure is made more difficult by the fact that they also have some elasticity. Boning knives often have harder blades with a straight edge and pointed tip because they work best for cutting around the bone of more difficult red meats. While the more flexible, curved blades of filet knives make them ideal for fish and poultry, they are also terrific for meat.

Knives used for boning and filleting must be exceedingly sharp due to their unique requirements. Meat cannot be cut with a dull blade. In essence, you're tearing the flesh with the knife and leaving behind bits of meat that are difficult to cook uniformly and frequently damage the appearance of meals.

What You Need to Sharpen a Boning or Fillet Knife

The best way to sharpen boning and fillet knives is with a sharpening stone or an electric sharpener. The latter is obviously the simplest because it sharpens your knife in a short amount of time. However, it can harm the knife by removing more metal from the blade than is necessary.

When it comes to maintaining knives, professional chefs almost always favor manual techniques.For blades as thin as those on boning knives, sharpening stones and honing rods provide you with more control over the angle and pressure. For extensive maintenance, you can even decide to utilize a sharpening stone followed by a honing rod.

How to Sharpen a Boning and Fillet Knife

A chef's knife or paring knife, which are harder knives, would be used with a sharpening stone in a somewhat different way than a fillet or boning knife. Normally, to create a sharp edge, you would move the entire blade down the stone. This straight action would force the flexible blade of a boning or fillet knife to bend, leaving just the center and tip of the blade in contact with the stone.

Start by placing either the tip or the heel on the stone first to reduce pressure and prevent the blade from bending. Then, gliding the blade over while also lowering it down the stone, follow its natural curve. It produces a broad scooping action. Flip the knife over and repeat on the opposite side of the blade 5 to 10 times.

You may use a honing rod to provide a smooth finish after using a sharpening stone. Place the heel of the knife at the base of the honing rod while holding the knife in one hand and the rod in the other.Slide the knife away from you in one continuous motion, turning the rod at the same time, as if you were shaving a tiny layer off it. Throughout the motion, only moderate pressure should be used; any more will cause the blade to bend.

Try to maintain an angle of 12 to 20 degrees for both of these sharpening procedures; this angle should be higher for boning knives' harder blades and lower for fillet knives' more flexible blades.