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If you’re not a professional chef, or at least a home cook passionate and dexterous enough to learn proper whetstone technique, you probably find yourself in one of three positions when it comes to knife care:
Those first two are perfectly reasonable solutions, but they come with some well-documented downsides. Having your knives professionally sharpened can turn into a pricey pain if you do it every few months, as is generally recommended by experts. Electric sharpeners like our test-winning Chef’s Choice Trizor are big, and because they’re automatic, using them takes away some control in the sharpening process. If you recognize yourself in that third category, it’s time to get a regular sharpening schedule on the books. Sharp knives are not just tools that make cooking easier, they’re vital for keeping kitchen prep safe. A dull knife is more likely to slip and cut you than one that’s razor sharp.
I took the time to learn the basics of using a sharpening stone, but (and perhaps I shouldn’t admit this as the editor of a food site) I’ve always found it to be a chore I’d rather avoid. That’s why I was quickly lured in when I saw a short video of someone using the Horl 2 rolling knife sharpener. It looked more thorough and precise than a honing rod, and unquestionably faster and easier than my whetstone. I got one to see if all that was true. Here’s what I found.
What is the Horl 2 Rolling Knife Sharpener? Are Horl sharpeners any good? Is this the thing I saw on my Instagram feed? What are the pros and cons of the Horl knife sharpener? Should you get a Horl 2 Rolling Knife Sharpener?
German designer Otmar Horl originally conceived of this knife sharpening method in 1993, and his son Timo helped finish and bring the sharpener to the USA from Germany in the last several years. The Horl sharpening system has two pieces: a magnetic angle support and a rolling sharpener. The magnetic angle support features a 15° sharpening angle for Japanese knives on one side, and a 20° sharpening angle for Western knives on the other. The rolling sharpener has two abrasives, a diamond grinding disc and a ceramic honing disc.
To use it, put the magnet on a flat surface, hold it in place with one hand for stability and stick a knife on the angled side you want to use. Next, set the roller on the counter next to the knife blade roll the coarse abrasive slowly along the edge of the knife—I’ve found that 30–45 seconds per side is enough. Next, remove the knife, flip the magnet around and attach the knife so the other side of the blade is facing out. An instruction video on Horl’s website suggests flipping the knife around to sharpen the other side, but I’ve never loved the idea of a knife pointed at me, even if it is held in place by an incredibly strong magnet. Finally, repeat the process with the ceramic side of the roller. The whole thing takes about four minutes per knife.
The Horl 2 knife sharpener is a creative and convenient solution for keeping your kitchen knives in working order. But, whenever you’re asking about whether a technology that offers an easier solution is good, you should be asking, good compared to what? If you love sharpening your knives with a whetstone, the Horl is not likely to improve your current situation. When he took the Horl for a quick spin, test kitchen director Chris Morocco gave it a B+/A- in comparison to what an experienced cook could get from a stone.
That’s not the end of the story with the Horl, though. Because it’s so easy to use, cooks who fall into the “do not sharpen their knives enough” category might be more inclined to perpetually keep their knives sharper (B+/A- sharpness is better than an altogether dull knife, afterall), which will be both better and safer for them to use. Deputy food editor Hana Asbrink said of her experience, “What I love about the Horl is that it takes out the intimidating guesswork (math work!) and drudgery that comes with knives and the angles at which they should optimally be sharpened. No need to dig around for a match book or a protractor from middle school. The roller's fixed angles and strong magnet help get the oft-neglected job of knife sharpening done in a quick, accurate, and—dare I say—enjoyable manner.”
And that’s the key: Horl sharpeners are good because they’re items that perform an important task that you’re likely to actually use a lot. I’ve used this sharpening system for several months to keep my knives sharp and the results have been good and consistent.
Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends when you saw it. Before Horl launched in the US there was an almost identical-looking sharpening system called Tumbler that got a lot of play in social media feeds. When I showed the Horl to people at the office a couple asked if it was the Tumbler, though the Horl system predates the Tumbler’s existence by several years. I’ve used a Tumbler system as well and found it to be a lesser version of the same idea. As contributor Melissa Knific noted when testing knife sharpeners, the magnets that hold the knife in place on the Horl are much stronger. That left me feeling like the Horl is a much safer option. I found that, with some pressure, knives would actually come loose from the Tumbler magnets. The Tumbler magnetic angle support is also much smaller than the Horl, meaning it’s harder to steady it with your hand while sharpening a knife’s edge. Finally, the grinding disc and honing disc (which, on the Tumbler is stainless steel instead of ceramic), can’t be replaced like they can on the Horl. While you won’t have to replace the discs all that frequently, the ability to do so on the Horl just makes it feel like a better long-term investment.
If you are someone who, for whatever reason, is not sharpening your knives every month or two, this is absolutely a problem solver. Yes it’s expensive, but it’s a high quality piece that reflects that price. You should get years and years of use out of it. If you already have a whetstone routine down, you may not need it.
HORL 2 Walnut Rolling Knife Sharpener
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