Culinary knives and knifeknuts

T

thombrogan

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Nov 16, 2002
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Just spoke to one of the other forum folks and he busted my cookies because I have a ton of high-end/high-performance sporting knives (folders, bowies, other fixed blades), but only 4 good kitchen knives and the best of those was a gift he sent me.

How many other folks here have the latest, greatest knives from Busse, Kershaw, Spyderco, and (insert other favorite here; such as Ranger Knives, Swamp Rat Knifeworks, and custom makers or whomever floats your boat), but have a kitchen knife setup that fails to impress your food?

I can't be the only one, but are there only two more or three thousand more?
 
Yeah, I kind of fall into the same category - lots of pocket knives but few quality kitchen knives. I have a 6" Henckels chef's knife and a 3" wusthof paring knife but the rest of my kitchen knives are a bunch of no-name junk and ---gasp--- a handful of ginsus. I'm in the market for a good boning knife and a carving knife - maybe a slicer too.
 
This is a very interesting topic.

I guess in order to answer your question, what is considered a "good" kitchen or culinary knife, as defined by knife nuts?

Would a Henckels 4 star, be considered "good"?

I know Wustoff is considered an excellent brand.

What about kitchen knives produced by brands normally associated with high-end cutlery, outside of the kitchen? Spyderco, William Henry, I'm sure there are others, as well as custom made options.

I don't have all of the latest in pocket or fixed blade cutlery, but have a pretty decent and varied collection, of about a dozen mid-priced knives (up to about $170 in retail, max, with anodized aluminum, titanium, micarta, wood, SS and even carbon fiber handles).

I have a set of 4 star Henckels, which are perfectly suitable for me. I guess they could use a sharpening for even better performance, but I've owned them for approximately 8 years, with no issues.
 
fishwatcher said:
I guess in order to answer your question, what is considered a "good" kitchen or culinary knife, as defined by knife nuts?
Click to expand...

Pretty much any knives not sold in commercials, informercials, or dollar stores. If you can recognize its name or its steel, it's 'good' by knifeknut standards. From there, we can argue endlessly about steel type, stamping versus drop-forging, German-style versus Japanese-style, and all of the useless bickering and fawning we do here, but that's where the starting point is.
 
"You need, for God's sake, a decent chef's knife. No con foisted on the general public is so atrocious, so wrongheaded, or so widely believed as the one that tells you you need a full set of specialized cutlery in various sizes. I wish sometimes I could go through the kitchens of amateur cooks everywhere just throwing knives out from their drawers - all those medium-size 'utility' knives, those useless serrated things you see advertised on TV, all that hard-to-sharpen stainless-steel garbage, those ineptly designed slicers - not one of the damn things could cut a tomato. Please believe me, here's all you will ever need in the knife department: ONE good chef's knife, as large as is comfortable for your hand. Brand name? Okay, most talented amateurs get a boner buying one of the old-school professional high-carbon stainless knives from Germany or Austria, like a Henkel or Wusthof, and those are fine knives, if heavy. High carbon makes them slightly easier to sharpen, and stainless keeps them from getting stained and corroded. They look awfully good in the knife case at the store, too, and you send the message to your guests when flashing a hundred-dollar hunk of Solingen steel that you take your cooking seriously. But do you really need something so heavy? So expensive? So difficult to maintain (which you probably won't)? Unless you are really and truly going to spend fifteen minutes every couple of days working that blade on an oiled carborundum stone, followed by careful honing on a diamond steel, I'd forgo the Germans. " - Anthony Bourdain
 
I would define "good" in kitchen cutlery as a knife with an identifiable steel at hardnesses used in good cutlery of other types. I might even go so far as to say that as long as it had an acceptable hardness you could call it "good". I recently bought a Japanese made santoku that had a clad "high carbon Cobalt Swedish steel" center and had an advertised hardness of 60-61 Rc, I would call this knife good.
It seems quite nice. (I haven't gotten a chance to use it because it is a birthday present to someone.)
 
Yeah I am guilty of cheapo knives in my kitchen. The best knives I have which I consider super users are several of the A.G. Russell woods walker models I use a lot. My fave is a 6" chefs knife I bought for $.25 at a junk store though. I buy a lot of knives that way for the kitchen actually. I get a kick out of buying them at estate sales and taking them home and sharpening them up. This one has worked very well. My wife likes it also.

I'm going to get some high end ones before long but my wife is not kind to anything in the kitchen so I have to be very careful about what I get with her. At least with my folders and fixed blades for sport and hunting I can control the use and what they go through. I lose track too easy with the kitchen stuff. When she is on one of her cleaning sprees stuff will get done and if I'm not there to stop her from putting something in the dishwasher I might not want run in there she will do it and it will be done before I can do a thing about it. Whatever I get in a more expensive knife or knives for the kitchen will have to be dishwasher safe for sure. :D

STR
 
Guilty. Guilty.

My wife only has one decent kitchen knife, and she won't let me near it (not even to sharpen it...it's usually rather dull).

I think, no I'm sure, the whole 'I'm collecting knives, dear' thing burned her out.

I keep suggesting a nice set of Japanese kitchen steel. She keeps telling me to mind my own business.

Sigh.:o
 
OldPhysics said:
Guilty. Guilty.

My wife only has one decent kitchen knife, and she won't let me near it (not even to sharpen it...it's usually rather dull).

I think, no I'm sure, the whole 'I'm collecting knives, dear' thing burned her out.

I keep suggesting a nice set of Japanese kitchen steel. She keeps telling me to mind my own business.

Sigh.:o
Click to expand...

Forget the set.

Forget any sort of 'presentation' of a knife. Get one that may prove useful, use it for something mundane like spreading PB and then leave it dirty on the counter.

When she asks, just say it's a $20 knife and to go ahead and use it. Act like it's nothing and they will pick it up and use it on their own.

If they think nothing of it, they will let you know right quick if they like it or not.

I got a fair amount of Busse and Swamp Rat blades tested this way.

LOL The big winner though was the $6, 4" Mora. It is one hell of a paring knife.

Rob
 
Bieng an ex-cook and kitchen manager I fall into the opposite. >< I wish my folder collection more resembled my kitchen knife spread.
 
Hmmm. I like that. Subtle and sneaky at the same time.

Going to have to try that out. Thanks, WetDog1911!
 
We use a Ken Onion set of kitchen knives made in Hawaii, 8 pieces in all.
It was a gift from some very wealthy customers of ours.

Peace.
 
Interesting question, and interesting responses so far.

I think I fall into the 'not guilty' category here, but not because I have a good dedicated chef's knife (I've made a few, but I keep giving them away as gifts!). Instead, my kitchen is equipped with a few nice blades originally intended for camp or hunting use, pressed into culinary service. For example, I use a Ghromann #4 for large chopping work, and a #1 flat grind for most vegetable / fruit prep. These tools get the job done nicely, and they allow me to use some knives on a regular basis that would otherwise be relegated to camp duty.

- Mike
 
The turkey always gives a sigh of relief when it finds that it's going to be carved by a very experiences carver with a very fine Shun knife !!
 
I have a mix of some fairly cheap and some a little costly but I like all that I have. I've been holding back on getting a few but it's hard.
 
I have 6 kitchen knives. They all get used, but the 8" chef and 4.5" paring get used the most by far. Others like carving, boning and bread knife get used, but not as much.

I always think about getting some others, like maybe a nice big 10" chef, or one of those cool looking 6" chef, or of course a santoku because they are thinner than a chef but the tip has such a tendency to dig into the cutting board, or a thin tomato knife, or a grapefruit knife, or go wild and get a cleaver, or a set of those fancy cheese knives like my chichi friends have.

Plus I always wonder what a really good knife would be like, such as Global or Shun or name your favourite high end brand here instead of my economical Calphalons. Maybe even really treat myself to a George Tichbourne knife.

But so far I have resisted, preferring to have a small number of knives that I know how to use rather than a big block full of them to impress my guests.

When I start to get tempted, instead of thinking "what knife should I get", I think "what cutting task do I have that would really be better served by a knife I don't have".
 
Hey Bruce, now yer talkin!

I put the handles on George's kitchen knives and shape them.

Apart from the EDC knife in your pants pocket, your kitchen knives are the ones in your house that gets used the most. They should be good quality and be kept sharp. Sharp knives don't slip and don't need the dangerous pressure that blunt knives do. Plus, a sharp cut through careless use, stitches and heals quicker. :)

A 'normal' kitchen needs a general knife about 6" to 8" long, a paring knife, a bread knife (crust is very abusive to an edge), and a slicing knife.

After that, you can start adding the fancy stuff. The Santoku is a good shape. It has a sharp tip, a good edge, a wide blade for lifting cut food, and the blunted rounded top edge is great for spreading butter on your sandwich.

I have about 60 kitchen knives, all good quality, but I am a trade chef.

If you are ever near the shop, pop in and say hello. We will show you how they are made. We had Korean television in today!
 
I keep a few good kitchen knives. I have a Tojiro powdered steel parer and powdered steel santoku. I have a Murray Carter general purpose knife in blue steel. I also have a Hattori parer in VG10 damascus. The Tojiro powdered steel knives are great because they are thin and hold an edge well.
 
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