Ina Garten Loves This Electric Knife Sharpener, and I’ve Also Used It for Over 12 Years

One of the most critical lessons I learned in culinary school was keeping my blades sharp because a dull knife is a dangerous knife. So, I always keep my knives sharp at home with my trusty Chef’sChoice 1520 Professional Electric Knife Sharpener in between professional sharpening services. It keeps my knives healthy and working their best no matter what I am sharpening. I got it as a wedding gift over 12 years ago, and it is still going strong in 2024, even though it is borderline ancient.

It seems I’m not alone in my love for the electric sharpener. In May, Ina Garten discussed sharpening knives during her “Ask Ina” Instagram series. The cookbook author and television star devoted a post about knife skills to Chef’sChoice and said she prefers it over sharpening steels. She cautioned against using sharpening steels because you can do more damage than good if you don’t know how to use them properly. She demonstrated using her sharpener and sang its praises because it always yields a perfectly sharp knife. 

Chef’sChoice 1520 Professional Electric Knife Sharpener

Like Garten, I also use this knife sharpener to keep “Western and Eastern” knives sharp at home because it’s the best method for producing perfectly sharp knives. Garten and I like Chef’sChoice, which won Best Electric Sharpener in our knife sharpener tests because it is superior to other methods. It gave us the finest and sharpest edge of any of the 42 knife sharpeners we tested. The sharpener is hefty and exceptionally durable, obviously, given how long mine has lasted. 

The sharpener employs a diamond abrasive spread across three separate compartments. The first slot is for 15-degree edges or Eastern knives, such as Japanese blades, which you finish in slot three with stropping disks that polish. Western knives or 20-degree edges go in slot two and finish in slot three, with stropping disks to polish and hone. There’s a particular method for sharpening these well. The instructions show you how to hold the blades during sharpening for the best results. 

Another big plus with this sharpener is that it sharpens straight and serrated blades, which isn’t always the case with the competition. So, you can keep your bread knives ready to slice through your latest sourdough creation. There are plenty of methods to choose from, but the Chef’sChoice takes the guesswork out of sharpening my knives at home once you get the hang of the right angles. I need to plug it in, pull it through the machine twice while letting its magnets guide me, give it a rinse to remove residue, dry well, and it is ready to go. 

If an electric sharpener is too big or not for you, we tested many other methods while evaluating the Chef’sChoice. Regardless of which method you choose to sharpen your knives, we’ve identified the best methods in our testing. You can shop more of our other favorite knife sharpeners, which we tested below.

Shop More Knife Sharpeners 

Longzon 4-in-1 Knife Sharpener

Material Kitchen The Sharpener

The Original Tumbler Rolling Knife Sharpener

Presto EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener 

Presto Professional Electric Knife Sharpener