ヴォストフ 平型 スチール棒 4483 26cm

Having previously used V-sharpeners for my knives I was persuaded to buy a proper steel. Apparantly the V-sharpeners only sharpen a certain amount and getting any sharper than that isn't possible without a steel. I now use the steel every time I take a knife from the rack to use and every time I put one back on the rack after washing and my knives have never been sharper. It only needs a few strokes on each side but the continuous, incremental, sharpening pays dividends and using my knives is an absolute joy. The most dangerous thing in a kitchen (other than pans of boiling oil) are blunt knives as they are prone to slip and need excessive pressure to cut. With sharp knives, so long as you use proper cutting and holding techniques, your knives become safer and the quality of your food will increase (sharper knives mean less bruising when cutting vegetables/fruit and less tearing when cutting meat/fish). The oval shape of the steel gives a larger contact area with the blade and so makes sharpening quickly easier and safer - less pressue and fewer strokes means less chance of slipping and hurting yourself.

I couldn't tell for sure by the image but this steel is indeed elliptical. I've never used a steel that wasn't round. The steel that came with my Henckels knife set felt smooth to the touch since I purchased it. I could get an edge on the larger knives but it had no effect on my paring knives. I mostly use my Made-In knives now and was quick to put this steel to use on them. It is much grainier than my last steel and that's a good thing. The elliptical design actually makes sharpening easier. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to use it but it worked very well. I'm happy. I'm no chef and I can get a good edge.

When you want a tool in the kitchen that actually works (and lasts) this is definitely it! you can't go wrong...many chefs swear by it and so do i...you can choose your preferred knives...but insist on this one to keep them sharp/clean!

This steel has been a great purchase, both for my home and for a family member as well. This was gifted to a chef in the family and she has been very pleased with it's performance. We especially like the oval shape of the steel, as opposed to the more common cylindrical steels. I am skeptical of how much the steel actually sharpens the blade, but it does keep the knives we have in great shape, greatly increasing their performance between sharpenings. While the steel does degrade over time (the diamond coating wears down), it has been working well for the better part of this year for us, so we are pleased with it, and will repurchase when it finally is worn out. We use it on our Shun knives as well as some Henkles.