This is the easiest and most consistent way to sharpen knives, meaning your beloved chef will not only have a way to sharpen his knives, but he’ll use it too. Knife nerds despise this sort of thing, but most cooks, even professionals, don’t care much about burrs and knives that cut through paper to a clean edge. We just want a way to sharpen a knife to a good edge with little to no time and effort. That’s what the Horl system provides.
In my testing, it produced a more consistent edge than any of the removable sharpeners most home cooks rely on, and it’s smaller, too. I should probably point out that there are cheaper knock-off versions available. Don’t buy them. Their magnets are inferior, the rollers are not as smooth, and the results are noticeably worse. The fact that everyone on TikTok and YouTube is hawking them means they’re good, it just means they have a bigger ad budget. Get the original, get the Horl. Yes, it costs more, but it’s a better value because it really works. The bundle version linked here includes extra sharpening grits and a good strop, and makes the best gift, but you can also buy them separately for $139.