ZWILLINGProfessional S Sharpening Steel, 12-inch, Black/Stainless Steel

Holy Cow!!! I took out a couple of knives that were fairly sharp already...took this steel to them...and now....they are, and I'm not kidding, razor sharp. If you are looking for a sharpening steel that does the job very well and very fast. This is the one.

It works very well!

I spent quite a bit of money on Zwilling pro knives in hopes I would finally have a set of knives that cut like the knives I saw on all the cooking shows. I bought the 8" chefs knife, the 6" utility knife, and the paring knife. I was totally impressed with all of these knives when I first received them. They were scary sharp.I used these knives daily and they slowly dulled over time (as all knives do). I used my left over sharpening rod from a previous set of knives to sharpen my Zwilling knives. I was disappointed that I could never get them as sharp as they were when I first bought them. I mistakenly believed it was a flaw of the knives.My last ditch effort to avoid buying a whole set of new knives was to buy an actual Zwilling JA Henckels sharpening rod and see if it made a difference.I was truly stunned at the difference a quality sharpening rod made. I feel like I have a new set of knives. They may even be sharper now than when I first bought them.My fingers feel fear when I bust out my knives. I still have all of them....as of the date of this review.

It's Zwilling Henkles, not Henkels International, so it's good quality. Check that: excellent quality. My review title is the best onomatopoeia I can come up with for the sound the knife edge makes against this steel: it's like butter, man.Two items of note: 1) This is not a sharpener. It won't make a dull knife sharp; it *will* keep a sharp knife sharp. Just 2-4 passes on each edge: up, back, repeat...before or after each use, and your knives will stay sharp for 6-12 months. 2) This think is long. It's 12 inches of steel and 6 inches of handle: 18 inches overall, not including the loop. That's fine if your knife block is deep enough to hold it. Mine wasn't, and I had to add some feet to elevate it off the counter. If you're planning to hang it up, you'll need at least 19-1/4" of clearance below the hook.I'll pass along a technique that works well for us. My wife does most of the cooking; I do all of the knife maintenance. When she uses one of the knives, she places it (after cleaning and drying) on the counter next to the knife block instead of back in the block. That way I'll know the knife needs to be serviced and put away. It's a great method, because otherwise I'll keep forgetting to maintain the knives and have to get out the sharpening stones after one or two months instead of six to twelve.

I have a set of J.A. Henckels "Pro S" knives and have struggled to keep them sharp. Without fully understanding what goes into keeping a knife sharp, I bought a sharpening kit containing different diamond and sandstone surfaces. This kit removes actual metal from your knife every time you use it. It did make my knives sharp, but the benefit never lasted more than one or two uses. This lead me to do more research and learn about the important practice of honing your knife to keep the edge straight.I bought this honing steel and it made a dramatic improvement in the cutting ability of my knives. I now understand that I should sharpen my knives once or twice a year but I should hone them every time I use them. Honing doesn't remove any metal, so it won't wear out the blade.In my testing, 5 passes along each side of the blade (10 total swipes) is enough to make my Pro S Chef's knife cut like it is brand new every time.This particular steel has a very high quality feel and it also is very long so my long chef's knife doesn't run out of runway.I wish I had learned about this a long time ago!

This is probably as good as you can get these days: Zwilling doesn't make my 14" steel anymore. t least this is a REAL 12" steel--that is, the rod is 12" + 5" for the handle (total 17"). Some vendors, especially in China, include the handle in the length, so you get only 7" of steel. Also the texture of this steel could and should be finer. But as I say, I think it will be hard to find a better steel than this one without spending a lot more money. N.B.: this is made of real steel--not ceramic, not diamond-coated. It doesn't sharpen--it resets or refreshes or realigns the edge of a sharp knife that has begun getting a little dull. If used often and correctly (see YouTube for demos) it will greatly reduce the need for sharpening (on a whet stone or other abrasive item) your knives.

I purchased this 12" steel to replace the substandard 9" steel that came with my Henckels Professional S knives. I've owned the knives for a good decade and was regularly honing them with the original 9" steel. I knew it was substandard and continued to use it but finally got sick of the 9" steel's small size, weak performance, and perpetually loose handle (they're poorly made). Enter the 12" Twin Pro S. Though I have good technique and have kept my blades very healthy with the old steel, this is truly a professional tool that has brought my knives from merely "sharp" to "factory new" quality. A few swings before each use and these are sharper than the old steel could manage and like a whole new set of knives. Though I use my knives every day, I hone them carefully and can't see that I will ever need a professional sharpening. If you're trying to decide what steel to buy - just get this one. It's built like a tank and I imagine that it will last as long as my knives. Dull knives are dangerous knives. The smaller steels can't do what this one can, buy this one!

If you need to steel very long chefs knives, this is the one you want. Hardened enough to work on everything I’ve found so far including 60 hrC D2 tool steel blades. Comfy grip. Good bolsters if you get a bit rambunctious.