Becker vs Becker in the Kitchen. The Winner is ........

[2manyknives]

I'm looking for opinions about what is happening here.

Let me begin. I have owned a BK5 since they were reintroduced into the Becker lineup. It's a great knife and I use it a lot in the kitchen where it performs admirably. The only thing I would change about it is to get rid of the swedge - it is sometimes a nuisance when you need to apply some pressure to the spine in food preparation. It is essentially unmodified apart from a good sharpening and the replacement of the standard grips with the much nicer micarta option.

The tweeners were a long time coming - I had the opportunity to handle the prototypes at the 2011 Bladeshow and was impressed. When they finally hit the market I bought the BK5's little brother, the BK15 (and a BK17 that I haven't done much with yet).

I shall now change direction for a moment. Yesterday I prepared a favourite dish - Spicy sweet potato, quinoa and speck soup. (recipe available if anyone wants it)

Now sweet potato (some of you might call it kumara) is a big tough vegetable - dry, hard and near three inches in diameter. I decided to put the BK15 to the test. Well I'm sad to say it was hard work; so hard in fact I brought the BK5 into action. That big knife was a champion and reduced the sweet potato to small chunks in no time. The 15 on the other hand did not want to slice.

Why the big difference do you think? I must assume the steel and heat treat are identical. Both knives were sharpened by yours truly in much the same way on the same equipment. There are two obvious things that I can think of. The first is the extra power afforded by the big grip on the BK5. The second is the blade coating. The 5 is smooth and slippery while the newer 15 has quite a coarse finish. I know that I could strip both knives to remove the variable, but I prefer to keep the coating for protection, or at least until it becomes very worn.

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[RogueBowie]

Bigger knife=more power.

That coating can't have helped at all though on the 15, it adds a lot of friction when going through the media. Maybe try not stripping it, but sanding it a big? I might have to take you up on that recipe...

 

[brady.kevin07]

I think everything you assumed there answered your question. lol How do you like the 5 and 15? I'm looking at getting my first beckers and I wanna get a full size and the matching tweener and those two are what i'm leaning towards most right now.

 

[2manyknives]

The 5 is great (apart from my view of the swedge mentioned above). The 15 is a nicely scaled down version of the 5. I haven't really used it much apart from the experience above. The grip is at the margins of comfort for me ( I have big hands). I will try to fatten the grip up a bit to see if that helps. I made a set of liners but found the issued bolts wouldn't reach through far enough to attach the grivory. I need to find some longer bolts and play around with the thickness of the grip. It is a stylish knife and I can see the attraction to those who like to customise.

 

[Wolf_1989]

I sanded the rough coating on my BK-15. Big improvement.

 

[2manyknives]

Sounds as though I can smooth the coating by sanding without removing it - any tips on doing this?



ps - have had a few messages re the recipe so rather than reply individually have provided it here:

Spicy Sweet Potato, quinoa and speck soup

If you can't get speck or pancetta then bacon or ham can be substituted but the stronger
taste of the speck is preferred.
The quantity of chilli flakes is a rough guide only - the amount below is mild. Increase to your preference.
Coriander might be better known to some of you as cilantro and sweet potato as kumara.


1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
200g speck or flat pancetta, sliced
1 brown onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
800g sweet potato, peeled and chopped with Becker BK5
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes or more to taste
1.5 litres chicken stock
2 cups baby spinach leaves
coriander leaves to serve


Soak quinoa in water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat.
Add speck and cook 4 minutes.
Add onion and garlic and cook for 4 minutes or until softened.
Add sweet potato, chilli and stock and bring to boil.
Add quinoa and cook for approx 15 minutes or until sweet potato is tender and quinoa cooked.
Add spinach leaves and stir to combine.
Top with coriander to serve.

 

[CascadeSam]

Thanks for the feedback on the knives and the recipe. I'm ordering the BK5.