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Gorilla Grip 3-Stage vs Mueller 4-Stage Sharpener Side-by-Side Comparison
Our Verdict
- Performance (50%)6.5/10
- Design (15%)8.8/10
- Ease of Use (35%)8.3/10
- Performance (50%)6.7/10
- Design (15%)9.1/10
- Ease of Use (35%)8.3/10
The Gorilla Grip 3-stage and the Mueller 4-stage sharpeners have more similarities than differences.
Both devices feature three sharpening slots for kitchen knives—the Mueller having an extra one for scissors. Despite the difference in slot order, they are among the top performers in terms of speed—the Mueller being slightly faster—and sharpness. The two are also among the least forgiving when it comes to preserving edge smoothness and saving knife material.
Both sharpeners sport a substantial body with an ergonomic handle. The Gorilla Grip is a few points behind due to its bumpy base and subpar finish. The Mueller has a high center of gravity, which isn’t good for balance and stability, but some users may find its scissors slot a handy plus.
Gorilla Grip Kitchen Knife Sharpener’s Performance
- Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon (35%)7.6/10
- Maximum Sharpness Achieved (20%)8.0/10
- Edge Smoothness (20%)5.0/10
- Material Retention (25%)5.0/10
- Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon (35%)8.8/10
- Maximum Sharpness Achieved (20%)8.0/10
- Edge Smoothness (20%)4.0/10
- Material Retention (25%)5.0/10
Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon
- Sharpening Time: 1 minute 30 seconds
- Cutting Feel: Swift and smooth
We spent 15 seconds on the Prepare slot, 1 minute on the Sharpen slot, plus 15 seconds on the Polish slot. The dull test knife came out keen enough to slice through the lemon without us applying significant force.
If you’re in a hurry, five or six swipes on the second slot should be enough to bring a regular chef’s knife to serviceable sharpness.
- Sharpening Time: 1 minute 15 seconds
- Cutting Feel: Swift and smooth
The Mueller isn’t the speediest of sharpeners, but it works fast enough. We put it through the lemon test twice, and it took 60 and 90 seconds respectively to complete the task. This is quite a reasonable time range, considering how dull we made the knife before testing.
Skipping the diamond rods won’t affect the result. We only used them to rid the knife edge of metal particles and make sure it was as smooth as it could be, but if you’re in a hurry, the ceramic rods alone would suffice.
Maximum Sharpness Achieved
- Sharpening Time: 6 minutes
- Sharpness Level: 8 (chicken breast with skin, 1 swipe)
We spent a total of 5 minutes on the tungsten carbide blades and 30 seconds on each of the remaining stages.
The Gorilla Grip sliced through ripe tomatoes and chicken breasts with skin with minimal resistance, though the slippery chicken skin did slow it down a bit. It took two to three rather heavy swipes to sever a piece of beef tendon. However, at this sharpness level, your knives shouldn’t have a problem performing most cutting tasks.
- Sharpening Time: 6 minutes
- Sharpness Level: 8 (Chicken breast with skin, 1 swipe)
After 5 minutes on Slot 2 and 30 seconds on each of the remaining slots, our test knife was able to cut through a raw chicken breast with the skin still attached. It did need a second swipe to sever the tough, slippery fat and skin, but this is the case for most devices.
Edge Smoothness
Despite their substantial size, the ceramic rods in the Polish slot did not seem to help with smoothening and polishing the knife edge.
The aggressive removal of steel is evident on the knife’s edge — the tungsten carbide blades created small but deep waves along it. These waves should not have any negative effect on your cutting experience, but they are unsightly and will bother you if you’re a knife connoisseur.
Also, if your knife is made of a particularly hard steel, the uneven thickness of the edge may make it more prone to chipping.
The diamond dust and ceramic rods didn’t seem to do much if anything to smoothen the edge: It came out rough with waves and small chips all across its length. I could see it with my naked eyes and feel the chips and small particles as I ran my fingers along the edge. The discrepancy between the two sides just tops it off.
Material Retention
- Sharpening Time: 1 minute
- Target Sharpness:
The Gorilla Grip is aggressive: It removed a great amount of metal off the blade during the one minute we sharpened the knife with it. The Prepare slot doesn’t seem to do too much to minimize the peeling during the next stage.
Given how quickly the device sharpens, we don’t recommend more than a few swipes on the Sharpen slot unless your knife is really dull.
- Sharpening Time: 1 minute
- Target Sharpness:
The Mueller is a disappointment when it comes to preserving edge integrity. We were horrified at the size and amount of swarf the sharpener churned out after every swipe on the tungsten carbide blades. It’s all or nothing with this slot: When it works, it shaves off as much metal as it can. When it doesn’t, your knife simply glides through it, untouched.
The icing on the cake is the obvious unevenness on the two sides of the edge. We can’t quite work out the reason for this, because its sharpening slots look exactly the same as the Longzon, which created a very nice edge in our test. We re-edged the test knife and tried again, and even replaced the test knife in case it was a faulty one, but the end result was the same.
Gorilla Grip’s Design
- Build Quality (75%)8.5/10
- Grip (25%)9.5/10
- Build Quality (75%)9.1/10
- Grip (25%)9.0/10
What’s in the Box With the Gorilla Grip Kitchen Knife Sharpener
- Gorilla Grip sharpener
- Care and use instructions
The Gorilla Grip sharpener comes in a neat cardboard box with detailed instructions on how to use and maintain it. The Amazon photos really don’t do it justice: The actual device looks much sleeker, and the almond color is lighter too. It’s also easy to find your favorite color among its nine color options.
- The Mueller 4-stage knife sharpener
- Instruction manual
- Appreciation card & promotional leaflet
The Muller KS-4ST knife sharpener comes in a nice cardboard box. Included is a detailed user guide with safety notes and instructions on how to sharpen knives of different dullness levels.
Dimensions
- Length:7.9" (20.1 cm)
- Width:1.9" (4.8 cm)
- Height:3.0" (7.6 cm)
- Weight:6.6 oz (187 g)
- Length:9.3" (23.6 cm)
- Width:1.8" (4.6 cm)
- Height:3.1" (7.9 cm)
- Weight:8.6 oz (244 g)
Build Quality
The Gorilla Grip has a better build than what its price suggests: It’s neat, weighted, and substantial, with parts fitting together firmly and seamlessly. Although the working section is removable, it feels like one piece with the rest of the device.
The minus points are due to its bumpy base and rubber pads, which could use better fitting and gluing. Also, the device’s exterior doesn’t feel as soft and comfy as those of its brethrens, the Kitchellence and the Amesser, but this aspect is negligible. The lack of a name or logo is surprising but doesn’t affect the overall quality in any way.
The Muller sharpener appears to be made from decent-quality materials. There’s also little to complain about regarding the construction: Its parts align well and even when we dropped the device on the floor they stayed together like a one-piece tool. We don’t like its high center of gravity and prefer a more weighted base, but at the same time, we can’t deny how well it was put together.
Gorilla Grip Manual Knife Sharpener’s Working Section
- Levels of Sharpening:Prep, Sharpen, Polish
- Abrasive:Diamond rods, tungsten carbide blades, ceramic rods
- Mechanism:Pull through
- Sharpening Angle:20 degrees
The working section of the Gorilla Grip features three sharpening slots that repair, sharpen, and polish your blade. Its sharpening rods are larger than those on other devices, such as the Cubikook or the Wamery. The working section sits securely on a rather tall, but heavy, heel and enjoys reasonable stability.
This part is removable and replaceable in theory, though we couldn’t find a place that sells it separately online.
- Levels of Sharpening:Sharpen (slot 1, 2, 3), Hone (slot 4)
- Abrasive:Tungsten carbide blades, diamond rods, ceramic rods
- Mechanism:Pull through
- Sharpening Angle:20 degree
The Muller has a large working section with one slot for scissors and three for kitchen knives. It’s placed on a rather thick base — in fact, the Muller is among the tallest of all the devices we’ve tested. Unfortunately, this is not an advantage in the world of handheld sharpeners: A high working section only makes it more prone to toppling during operation.
Grip
- Material:Thermoplastic rubber
The grip of this device is very comfortable, thanks to its decent size, ergonomic shape, and quality material. Though not a closed loop, the handle forms a hook so that you can hang it near your countertop for quick retrieving.
There’s little to complain about the grip, though we thought a bigger foot would be better for stability.
- Material:ABS plastic and rubber
The Muller has a grip that’s proportional to its wide working section. It offers lots of space for those with large hands, and there are finger nubs that make it easy to hold on to. We also appreciate the rubber padding on the upper side of the grip: It’s soft and gentle to your palm while also creating useful friction against grease or moisture.
Base
- Material:rubber
- Feet Type:non-slip pad
The Gorilla Grip has textured rubber pads underneath it to enhance friction against the countertop. The pads don’t fit into their designated slots very well, though we think that’s more a problem of aesthetics than functionality.
The real problem is that when standing, only a part of the bigger pad is in contact with the countertop, which means it’s not completely flat. We’re not sure if it’s the pad, the base, or the glue that attaches them that has uneven thickness, but this factor noticeably reduces the device’s stability.
- Material:ABS plastic
- Feet Type:Anti-slip rubber pads
The Muller has a base running from the heel of its handle to underneath its working section. The base is supported with two flat rubber pads that offer friction and keep it from sliding across the countertop during sharpening.
Gorilla Grip Manual Knife Sharpener Review
- Slot Arrangement (10%)10/10
- Insertion (20%)9.0/10
- Pulling Through (10%)8.5/10
- Stability on a Clean Surface (40%)8.0/10
- Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface (20%)7.0/10
- Slot Arrangement (10%)7.0/10
- Insertion (20%)9.0/10
- Pulling Through (10%)7.5/10
- Stability on a Clean Surface (40%)8.5/10
- Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface (20%)8.0/10
Slot Arrangement
With three working slots progressing from left to right, the Gorilla Grip doesn’t require a good memory or logical skills to work with. The function of each of the slots is also engraved right next to it, so even first-time users should have no problem working out the order.
Unlike many other sharpeners where the diamond rods serve as a “prep” stage, on the Mueller, you start sharpening your knife with the tungsten carbide blades (Slot 2), then move on to the diamond rods (Slot 3) and finish on the ceramic rods (Slot 4). Interestingly, in the Amazon product description, slots 2 and 3 are swapped.
The tungsten carbide blades remove the most material from the knife, so it makes sense that they’re the ‘coarsest’ stage. However, we found that the diamond and ceramic rods may sometimes dullen a keen edge, especially when you use both of them to ‘polish’ it. As a result, we prefer the more common setting of starting with the diamond rods for the straightening effect.
Insertion
Its slot openings are wide and at a reasonable distance from each other, so it was easy to place the knife in the right slot with the Gorilla Grip.
With a long grip and a wide working section, blade insertion into the sharpening slots was effortless and didn’t require much caution. If you’ve been sharpening with mini-size devices such as the KitchenIQ, where you’re gripping right next to the sharpening slot, you will likely notice the lack of stress when working with the Mueller.
Pulling Through
Similar to the Kitchellence and the Amesser, the Gorilla Grip’s solid body structure makes pulling the knife through its slots a breeze: It was easy for us to apply a steady force from the knife’s heel to its top. The friction was just right at every point along the blade. The knife did cut into the plastic parts of the sharpener at times, but it happened less often than with other devices.
The test knife went through the last two sharpening slots with little problem. However, our experience with the coarse slot seemed to be hit-and-miss: Sometimes, the tungsten carbide blades were almost slippery with no friction or pressure felt, which means they weren’t doing their job. Other times, they were tight and ended up removing too much material from the knife.
Stability on a Clean Surface
The Gorilla Grip’s base isn’t completely flat, so it wobbled as we pushed it lightly while it was placed on a table. It also has a high center of gravity and a tapered heel — big no-nos — but to some extent, the heavy weight makes up for that.
The Muller keeps its balance well on a dry and clean wooden table or marble countertop. It’s taller than most devices, but thanks to the flat and frictious base, we never had to use excessive force to keep it in place during our multiple tests.
Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface
The slippery cooking oil and salt on the countertop didn’t seem to affect the device’s stability to a great extent. Neither did the salt pose much of a challenge to the textured rubber feet.
We had to be a little more cautious on a messy slippery countertop, but as long as you don’t work too fast, balance and stability won’t be an issue.