Blade ID question for FoodTV fans...

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Emanym Ton

Joined
Sep 21, 1999
Messages
762
I watch that channel constantly and on "Ming's Quest" he uses a white bladed Santoku type knife. Initially I thought it was ceramic from the color but on one show I saw it flex laterally more like plastic so now I'm stumped.

Anyone know what it is or where to find blades like that? He uses it to slice, chop, etc so it must have some decent strength but also with the flexibility of heavier plastic. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any information!!!

Shawn
 
Hmm, haven't seen Ming in a while (more of an Alton Brown fan :-)), but my local gourmet emporium & cutlery shoppe has a line of ceramic Ming Tsai (sp?) knives. You might try foodtv.com to see if they have them.

Chad
 
i remember ming had a guest on once who commented on how nice the knife was, and ming said 'yeah, i really like the new ceramic knives'
but, nothing more identifying ....
 
Shawn- I'm a huge Food TV fan and know all the shows and if I'm not mistaken, during the ending credits on one of Ming's shows I saw:
"Knives by Kyocera". I know Kyocera as a Japanese based company that does everything from cell phones to apparently knives.
Do a search of Kyocera and hopefully this will help.
Donald
 
I believe Ming has his own line of ceramic knives (made by Kyocera?). It's advertised benefit is that it does not leave a metallic taste to the food it cuts. I've handled the knife and was impressed with its sharpness; however, I do not know how well the edge will hold up and wonder what should be used to re-sharpen it. The dealer told me that I would probably need to send it somewhere for resharpening--that helped me with my buying decision instantly (no sale). Also, it seems that it could break easily if dropped. Ever notice that Ming only uses it to slice/dice "soft" foods? I haven't seen him take apart a chicken with the knife.
 
If you saw him flex a knife, then it had to be a different one than he usually uses. The reason I say this is one of his guests commented on the knife one day, and Ming remarked how sharp it was, how long it stayed that way, but how fragile it was because it was ceramic. So the knife he usually uses is just your standard Kyocera ceramic knife. Santuko style, of course. :)
 
It must have not flexed as much as I thought or perhaps I was mistaking the handle moving up and down for the blade flex... I remember in the show I saw he did this little 'tap' on the lateral side of the blade before starting to slice and I swear it flexed but obviously either not at all or not much. Interesting???

I love FoodTV! I was watching that show every day for about the week before Thanksgiving and changed a bit how I cook my turkey and it came out suberb!! Best turkey I've ever done. I also did a flip on my ham I cooked using fresh rosemary and sliced apples for aromatics and that thing was flavor infused to the deepest layers! Glad to see I'm not the only knifenut who cooks and watches that show.

Those blades look interesting but I was originally on the lookout for some kinda weird camp blade in Santoku style and when I thought I saw that blade flex I thought I'd found it. Definitely not going to put that kinda knife to lug around camping!

On the other hand though I've just ordered my first set of Custom Kitchen blades from George Tichbourne and cannot wait to get them! I've had a love affair with their site for the last year trying to save and finally was able to get a good starter set and Carol and George have been wonderful throughout! I even picked up their new bread knife so can't wait to see how they work. I've always had POS kitchen blades and spent more time sharpening than cutting. Gonna be a whole different story now!! ;)

Thanks for the great info and links guys!!

Shawn
 
You know, I need to go to Tichbourne's site and see about getting some kitchen blades. I've already blown it for Christmas, but I could probably get a set before my wife's birthday. She always complains when she starts actually trying to cut something other than crisp vegetables with the kitchen knives we have. They are OK, but just don't hold their edge very well. Or maybe I can pick up one at the Timonium show from PJ Tomes.
 
I suspect that many of us knife fans are also into cooking since we're always looking for excuses to cut something. For awhile, it was ironic that I could justify paying $500+ for a custom knife but not $40 for a kitchen knife. Finally came to my senses and bought some decent cooking knives. :D
 
my little brother bought one for mom for x-mas t'other day.
doesnt feel very sharp,but then when i tried to shave some arm hair,it came flying off!!!

yes,there are downsides, easy to break,cant sharpen at home,etc,but the edge is supposed to last a long time.
 
Given that the ceramic blade knives have all the desirable properties we hear about, how DOES one resharpen or touch up one when it needs a little attention? Do you have to send it away? If so, that is a serious deawback. Imagine having to send your EDC away every time it needed a little stroke. Can someone with some experience with ceramics help us out here? Thanks!:D
 
Originally posted by Emanym Ton
Those blades look interesting but I was originally on the lookout for some kinda weird camp blade in Santoku style and when I thought I saw that blade flex I thought I'd found it. Definitely not going to put that kinda knife to lug around camping!
Shawn
Click to expand...

Hmm, have you taken a good look at the Trace Rinaldi Tactical Kitchen Knife? I've got one and love it (purchased through BladeArt). It's just about the best combo kitchen/camp knife I've ever seen. Joe Talmadge had quite a bit to do with the design and intended it for camp food prep in addition to whittling tent stakes, light chopping etc. Worth a look.

http://www.pe.net/~thrblade/Knives/ttkk.htm

Chad
 
Kyocera or Boker Ceramic, I believe. www.foodtv.com might have some more info bout them, or you can email them.
 
On the show Good Eats, he uses an Asian knife of some kind for general cooking work. His new cookbook doesn't name the maker but he does tell us the following:

a) It is an 8-inch Asian style cleaver.
b) It was handmade by the only American-born master of Japanese blade making.
c) If he could have ony one knife, this would be it.

Anyone have any idea what the knife is and where it can be purchased?
 
Hey Guys

I have a Kyocera Ceramic utility knife, not the big one that Ming has but a smaller 4 inch blade that I use to cut tomatoes,peel potatoes and other small tasks. I really like it, for some reason the ceramic cuts tomatoes almost like it was serrated. It comes out of the box quite sharp, but not that scary hair popping sharp that most of us prefer and it has stayed that way pretty much since I bought it a year ago. I've tried to touch it up with my Spyderco ceramic sticks but haven't really been successful. The knives are quite fragile, I lost about a mm of the tip from dropping it on the kitchen floor. I wouldn't imagine bending one. To get them sharpend you have to send them to Kyocera where they will professionally sharpen and/or fix those lost tips although i'm not to thrilled about sending a ceramic knife across the border to the states from Canada these days.
I like my ceramic knife a lot but it isn't my primary kitchen knife. I prefer to use my ravor sharp Henkel Chef that I bought and use the kyocera for light tasks.

BTW ---> Because this knife literally weighs nothing (feels like those plastic knives that you bring to picnics) I bring it along camping with all the family where it sees lots of kitchen duty.

TornAdo
 
a) It is an 8-inch Asian style cleaver.
b) It was handmade by the only American-born master of Japanese blade making.
c) If he could have ony one knife, this would be it.
Click to expand...

I wonder if he could be talking about Murray Carter - who is head of a traditional Japanese smithy in Japan (also recently attained ABS MasterSmith status). Murray makes wonderful kitchen cutlery. But Murray's Canadian I believe.
 
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