Description

Honing Rods vs. Knife Sharpeners

Honing a knife absolutely makes a blade’s edge “sharper,” so it makes sense that many of us think a honing rod is actually a sharpening rod. There’s a difference though. Sharpening a knife is usually done with a whetstone and removes a considerable amount of metal from the blade. For home cooks, this shouldn’t be done more than 2 times a year. What we should be doing on a regular basis, is honing our knives!

A knife hone does remove a small amount of metal, but it is minimal. Rather, a hone realigns the blade’s edge. Cutting with a knife causes microscopic folds on the blade resulting in a dull knife. Readjusting the knife edge folds to center will make it cut like new without taking away so much of the knife itself, helping the blade last longer than it would from repeated sharpening!

Honing Steels vs. Honing Ceramic Rods

• Ceramic Rods for the Win: The harder a knife is, the more brittle it can be. For that reason, ceramic rods should always be used over steel rods for harder knives like Japanese knives, which could be damaged by a honing steel.
• Both Options for the Win: Ceramic rods are often a bit more coarse than a honing steel, which means they remove a little more metal from the blade, but they can also result in a sharp knife a little faster.
• Honing Steels for the Win: Ceramic rods are extremely efficient, but also a little brittle, and are susceptible to breaking if dropped or hit against the edge of a hard surface. Honing steels would be ideal for anyone with a clumsy hand!

What Sets Noble Home & Chef’s Ceramic Hone Apart?

• HIGHEST QUALITY JAPANESE CERAMIC: Noble Home & Chef ceramic hones are made with quality Japanese ceramic materials built to withstand years of use and ideal for hard steel knives including Japanese knives. Japanese ceramic is odorless, non-toxic, never rusts, and is designed not to breed bacteria!
• CHOOSE FROM 2 GRIT OPTIONS: This knife hone offers 2 different grit options in 1 honer! Choose to sharpen your knife using 2 more aggressive sides of lined/stropped 2000 grit for particularly dull knives, polish the edge up using 2 sides of finer smooth 3000 grit, or use both for progressive knife sharpening.
• SAFER DESIGN AND MATERIALS: No plastic or rubber tips at the end of the ceramic sharpener keeps your knife from being damaged or chipped by accident while honing. Our Japanese ceramic is odorless, non-toxic, never rusts, and is designed not to breed bacteria. A ceramic sharpener you can trust!
• HANGING LOOP FOR EASY ACCESS: We include a stainless steel metal hanging ring so you can access your knife rod quickly and easily in commercial kitchens!
• ULTRA HARD: The Ceramic possesses ultra-high hardness (Mohs 8, Rockwell over 100), high accuracy of straightness, and low thermal conductivity from friction during honing. 
• MAINTENANCE: Easily cleaned with soapy water, rinsed, and allowed to dry. Not intended for dishwasher use. Our ceramic rods are very hard, and like all ceramics, are sensitive to shocks. Please avoid dropping the knife sharpener tool or hitting it on a hard surface, as it is liable to break. If you have butter fingers, we recommend checking out our steel honing rods!