david123•8d agoProlific Poster

Shoutout to the dude who showed me how to sharpen a knife with a coffee mug

Last Sunday I was prepping at this tiny spot in Brooklyn and my chef knife was dragging through a bell pepper like a butter knife. I mentioned it and this old line cook just grabbed my knife and a ceramic mug from the shelf, flipped the mug over, and ran the blade along the unglazed ring on the bottom like 10 times. It actually sharpened it enough to finish the shift. Has anyone else tried this or am I just late to the party?

2 comments

2 Comments

terryrobinson8d ago

Yo that trick saved my ass last camping trip. I was out in the Catskills with some buddies and we forgot the sharpener for our camp knife. Used the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug from the camp stove and it actually worked way better than I expected. Did it maybe 6 or 7 passes on each side and that knife went from useless to slicing through tomatoes like butter. The key is finding the right mug with that rough ring on the bottom. Some mugs are too smooth and you just rub the blade without doing anything. But yeah man you are not late to the party at all. A lot of line cooks and campers swear by this trick because you always got a mug around.

max4727d ago

Wait, did anyone check if the mug was lead-glazed? I know @terryrobinson said it worked great, but some cheap ceramic mugs have lead in the glaze. That stuff can chip off and get into your food. Might be fine for a one-time thing, but I wouldn't make it a habit.