Home Cooking Boom Drives Demand for Knife Sharpening Advice

KUMA Knives publishes free guide to help home cooks maintain sharper, safer blades

Apr. 6, 2026 at 6:45pm

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of a single, iconic kitchen knife repeated in a tight grid pattern, capturing the everyday cooking tool as modern pop art.A vibrant pop art interpretation of the kitchen knife, a tool that has become essential for the home cooking boom.Sheridan Today

As home cooking participation reaches historic levels, KUMA Knives, a Copenhagen-based kitchen cutlery brand, has published a free guide on how to properly sharpen kitchen knives using whetstones. The guide aims to educate home cooks on the risks of dull knives and the limitations of electric knife sharpeners, which can damage blades over time.

Why it matters

The global kitchen knife market is projected to grow significantly in the coming years, reflecting the surge in home cooking during the pandemic. However, most home cooks lack guidance on proper blade maintenance, putting them at risk of kitchen injuries from dull knives. KUMA's guide aims to empower home cooks to keep their knives sharp and safe.

The details

The KUMA Knives guide identifies dull knives as a leading source of kitchen injury risk, explains why electric knife sharpeners damage blades over time, and provides a step-by-step whetstone sharpening method any home cook can follow. It recommends sharpening knives once per week for those who prepare meals daily. The guide also includes a practical at-home sharpness test: a properly sharpened blade should slice through a tomato cleanly, without applied pressure.

  • The KUMA Knives guide was published on April 6, 2026.
  • According to the Food Marketing Institute, 54% of consumers are cooking more at home than they were five years ago.

The players

KUMA Knives

A Copenhagen-based kitchen cutlery brand that published the free knife sharpening guide.

Oliver Salyor

The co-founder of KUMA Knives, who was quoted in the guide.

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What they’re saying

“Most people do not realize that the tool they are using to fix their knife is quietly damaging it. We published this guide because good knife care should not require professional training. A whetstone, a few minutes, and the right technique will keep a quality knife performing for years.”

— Oliver Salyor, Co-Founder, KUMA Knives

What’s next

The KUMA Versatile Paring Knife, a 3.5-inch stainless steel blade engineered for peeling, slicing, and precision prep work, is available directly at kumaknives.com and on Amazon.

The takeaway

This guide highlights the importance of proper knife maintenance for home cooks, who are increasingly relying on their kitchen knives as home cooking participation reaches record highs. By educating consumers on the risks of dull knives and the benefits of whetstone sharpening, KUMA Knives aims to empower home cooks to keep their blades sharp and safe.