Edge geometry, edge geometry, edge geometry! Did I say that enough times?
Even in the depths of the tac knife daze that I forgetfully wander into from time to time, I never forget the wisdom I've learned from Joe Talmadge, Mike Swaim (mps), and Steve Harvey, among others, that the thinnest edge has the best "cut-through" ability.
That same line of reasoning holds in spades for cutting any sort of firm objects that resist the "wedging in" of a knife blade. You'll encounter these firm objects in the kitchen everywhere, potatoes, onions, apples to name a few. So, the best kitchen knives for me are the thinnest ones with good edge geometry, but still retain enough thickness to be rigid, and are easy to maintain, at the most reasonable price.
Here's what handles most of my kitchen chores.
An 8" Victorinox/Forschner chefs knife. At the heel/tang of the blade, the width is a shade over 5 cm, and the thickness at the spine is 2.0 mm. Since this knife is flat-ground all the way from the spine, the edge is frightfully thin, and this baby slips right through most veggies. Since the cut-through qualities are so strong due to the thin edge, I've dispensed with Joe Talmadge's suggestion of polishing the edge for the best push-cutting, and instead sharpened the knife on the coarsest stone I could find.
Result?
A knife that has incredible cut-through effectiveness by virtue of a thin edge, and great slicing capability (ripe tomatoes anyone?) because of the rough edge. It uses some soft stainless steel that has never spotted with rust (high chromium), but is soft enough to stay very sharp just by steeling. Total cost: $30 Cdn, so approximately $20 US
A Carbon Steel Chinese cleaver, from Chinatown, with a blade 21 cm long, 9 cm wide, and blade thickness 3 mm at the spine. This baby flat-out cuts! In fact, I'm willing to wager that this cleaver will outcut just about any knife in your kitchen. The reason for this is the paper thin blade as it tapers down to the edge. At 1 cm up from the actual cutting edge, the blade thickness is about 0.3 mm. At 2 cm up, the blade thickness is still 0.3 mm. At 3-4 cm up, the blade thickness is 0.5 mm. Only past 5 cm up past the cutting edge does the blade thicken to 1 mm. Compare THAT to your average kitchen or folding knife! Note: These cleavers look to be hand-forged as my sample has many hammering marks. I had to search through 5-10 cleavers before I found one this thin. It is also capable of taking a coarse edge, but I find slicing with a cleaver to be cumbersome, so the coarse edge really isn't that beneficial. Total cost: $10 Cdn, or $6.66 US.
Edge geometry is what determines cutting efficiency. I beleive that on the hard materials found in a kitchen, a thin knife with a duller edge will still have greater cut-through ability versus a polished, shaving sharp edge on a thicker knife, due to encountering less resistance when wedging through the hard medium. The Victorinox, and Chinese cleaver have the edge geometry, and because of their softness are easily made sharp with a stone, and kept that way using a steel.
At these sorts of prices, they're well worth a shot. Try 'em, you might pass on the Henckels.
Ian
[This message has been edited by Protein (edited 01 April 1999).]
