This Tool Does Not Actually Sharpen Your Knife. Here's What a Steel Really Does

If you watch food competition shows, you’ll probably see a competitor or chef expertly running their knives over that steel tool pictured above. In fact, you might even own one of those steels if you have a big knife set or knife block. So do you know what that tool is? It sharpens knives, right? But here’s where you’re wrong: That tool, no matter what it is labeled, is decidedly not a sharpening steel. The tool many think of as a sharpening steel is actually a honing steel.

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