Many people own a kitchen steel but often it sits in a drawer or a knife block and is rarely ever used. Most people have no idea how to correctly sharpen a knife with a kitchen steel. The process is really quite simple, but requires some discipline to do it regularly. A kitchen steel knife sharpener will not take a really dull blade and make it sharp. To take a knife that is somewhat sharp and put a razor sharp edge on the blade, a simple three step approach to using the steel can be used to correctly sharpen a knife. When kitchen knifes dull, they must be sharpened be a professional or an expensive knife sharpener must be used to get a good edge on blade again, learn more here.
To use a kitchen steel effectively they must be used every time or at least every other time you use you knife. In a quick 10 second procedure you can correctly sharpen a knife using a kitchen steel. Follow the three steps here to put a sharp edge on your cutlery.
1) Find a hard surface like a cutting board to anchor your steel to when sharpening the knife. Put the end of the sharpener to the surface and hold the handle of the steel firmly such that the end of the steel is secured in the board.
2) Holding your knife, place the edge of the blade on the sharpener at 20-30 degree angle. The angle is important as it will make sure the knife stays sharp. If you try to sharpen the knife at an improper angle it will make the knife even more dull than before.
3) Drag the knife across the steel by pulling the knife down and across the steel. This is the proper approach to correctly sharpen a knife. Begin by placing the blade on the steel on the part of the edge near the handle and drag to the thin part of the blade. Move the blade to the other side and repeat using the same angle on the other side of the blade. Make 5-7 strokes every time you use your knife and the knife will stay sharp a very long time.
It is very important to correctly sharpen a knife using a steel every time you use your cutlery. This will help to make sure your blades last a long time and are help to prevent your knifes from getting dinged and chipped. Last thing I cannot stress enough is that it is critical to have a good knife when cooking. Buying a great knife is the best way to maker sure knifes stay sharp.