Every time I think back to the days of university when I owned the bluntest, most abused IKEA knives ever, I shudder.
“A worker should never blame their tools” may have some truth, but in the kitchen your experience of cooking, and your ability to do it quickly increases tenfold when you invest in quality tools and equipment to help get the job done.
There was one particular IKEA knife, it might as well have been a spoon for how sadly and unwillingly it sliced through vegetables. ‘Slice’ isn’t the word. It didn’t. It squashed its way through them. Dark days.
My quality of life (in the kitchen that is) sky rocketed when my wonderful grandma gifted Q and I a set of incredible Zwilling J.A.Henckels knives for Christmas. Yes I am the kind of girl who gets knives for Christmas. They came in a beautiful wooden block with thick black handles and bright, shiny blades. Instant game changer. No more squashing!
Those knives have been with me for many years now and to this day I love and appreciate them. Cutting through an onion with a super sharp blade… there is nothing so satisfying! If Q and I are cooking together we often fight over who get’s to chop the ‘fun’ things. (Is that normal?)
As the years have drawn by, despite our best efforts to look after our knives they have inevitably, slowly lost their shine. No longer total perfection to cut with, I realised they were starting to get really quite blunt when I caught myself sawing through tomatoes. Always a bad sign!
Sharpen by Post
The sharpening rod (steel, stick… whatever you want to call it) has always been a very unsatisfying job for me. “Is it sharper?” I always find myself pondering. “Perhaps I’ve made it blunter…” – I am after all, left handed.
I’ve never heard of a professional sharpening service for home cooks before, and I tried such a service for the first time via Knife Sharp. They claim to offer professional sharpening and repairs by post with an easy, fast and reliable service. To send all your knives off at once speed seems pretty important for such a service!
Receiving My Postal Pack
Arriving by courier was my Knife Sharp pack for packing up my knives and sending back to them. It’s a very neat little package with a slick design and easy to follow instructions included inside.
How to pack up the knives:
- Open the pack
- Slot your knives into the cardboard sleeves
- Adhere stickers to the sleeves to secure your knives in place
- Seal the package and wrap in the protective back provided
- Attach the pre-paid delivery sticker
- Post at your local Hermes drop off point.
Everything is provided for you to safely and securely pack up your knives and send them. I was impressed at how secure the box felt; I admit I wasn’t sure how it would feel sending off a load of knives in the post but it felt absolutely fine!
Turnaround Time
A cook without their trusty tools feels a little lost, so speed is really important in this service! I was really impressed with the communication from Knife Sharp; I received emails confirming when items had been received and dispatched so I knew exactly what was going on. Even better, my knives were back with me just 48 hours after I had posted them which I was pretty damn chuffed about. A nice touch from Knife Sharp is the packaging design; it has three tear-off strips on the back so that it can be opened and sealed numerous times… meaning just one package is used throughout your order. A thoughtful and sustainable design.
The Result
So in all honesty I had no idea what to expect. The best I’ve ever experienced of a sharpened knife is using the damn stick. I thought they’d all come back feeling like someone who knew what they were doing (perhaps right handed) had given them a bloody good go with said stick.
Let’s just say my expectations were wildly exceeded…
I’m so pleased that I took a before shot prior to sending off my knives to Knife Sharp. If I hadn’t I don’t think I could have fully appreciated what an incredible job they had done. Just check this out:
What an incredible transformation?! All those tiny chips and jagged edges are completely gone. In its place a beautiful, absolutely perfect blade. Look how lovely and bright it is too! I love the attention to detail; even the corner where the knife had previously become rounded has been beautifully restored to a perfect sharp angle.
How Much?
KnifeSharp have created different packages depending on how many knives you would like to sharpen.
- 3 knives: £29.95
- 5 knives: £46.95 (this is the service I received)
- 7 knives: £62.95
- 10 knives: £79.95
So you’re looking at about £8-£10 per knife sharpened depending on the service you choose. Which honestly I think is a very fair price given just how far they go to restore your knives. Included in the price are all repairs including significant ones such as twisted blades, broken tips and chips.
I could never get this result by sharpening at home. Not even close. I feel like my knives are brand new once more, I think they might actually be even sharper than ever! This has added years of sharpness to my knife set. I wholeheartedly recommend the Knife Sharp service to any passionate cook.
Disclosure: this is a paid post. All thoughts and words are my own.