I am brand new. I am not a chef but I cook a LOT. I probably use lousy technique and I can't make a souffle, a fromboix or a siouxsefoix. I have a cutco petite carver and trimmer which own. They are both serrated (doubleD). I do like serrated knives as well as straight blades, and particularly cutco serrated knives. I especially like serrated knives for cooked meat. I also have 2 of the paring knives which I like a lot.
The woman that sold me the cutcos was VERY convincing, and if she tried any harder, she could have really taken me to the cleaners. I think her sales practices were extremely unsavory (or were they savory?) and I think cutco should be shut down on that basis alone. Thank god she had mercy or I would have ended up with the extreme knife lovers block set which had about 450 knives in it. Anyway, she is long gone, but my knives are still awesome. I love the American Muscle handles almost as much as the razor sharp blades, and I think they represent. Way cooler than the german stanckles and worsthofs in my artistic opinion, but that is purely personal aesthetic. I've used those before, and even own a Henckel, though I didn't buy it and don't even remember where I got it. I'm sure the steel is good, but it can't be that good or they would have won a war. I just ordered a ridiculously expensive but totally bichin' cutco steak knife (the new REAL steak knife, not the dorky table knife). I'll be paying on that for awhile. I am not invested enough in cutco that I wouldn't have purchased a different steak knife if I wanted to, and I wouldn't be afraid to sell them on ebay (good resale value!) and purchase different knives if I didn't like them.
Here are my questions:
About the steel: The cutco uses 440A carbon/steel, which I have heard is very similar to 440B and 440C which are all softer, as are the Germans, than the harder higher carbon steels in the Japanese samurai knives like shun and miyabi. I want to buy a santoku or a chef knife particularly for chopping up vegetables. Maybe nuts. I like the Miyabi (marketed by Henckel, but made in Japan), and, particularly the Shun (marketed by Oregon's Kershaw, but also made in Japan). There is a beautiful 3 knife Samurai set (3 inch parer, 6 inch utility and 8 inch chef) classic Shun, but it is expensive. I am not interested in the Globals because of the handle, and I don't like the German knives. So I'm looking at either the Shun, Miyabi or CutCo. I know you're gonna say one of the Japanese knives over the cutco, but listen to me first.
The 440 steel is not as hard as Japan's VG-10, but it is very durable. That means it cannot hold an edge as long as a samurai but the samurai is more delicate and brittle takes a lot of tender care, right? I am going to feel like a real ass if I chip such a beautiful (handmade?) work of art. What if I hit a bone? What if I drop it? Sometimes I just randomly fall off my chair. Not often, but it's been known to happen. Should someone like me, who doesn't even know what a souffle is, own a pro knife like a Shun, or should I stick to a CutCo which will be awesome (if not AS awesome) and I can take out a wall, kill a large animal, cut it up (bone and all), eat it raw with my bare hands and still slice a delicate paper thin fromboix, whatever the hell that is.
Also, this might be a dumb question, but it's not as dumb as my username, Santoku or Chef for veggies?
The woman that sold me the cutcos was VERY convincing, and if she tried any harder, she could have really taken me to the cleaners. I think her sales practices were extremely unsavory (or were they savory?) and I think cutco should be shut down on that basis alone. Thank god she had mercy or I would have ended up with the extreme knife lovers block set which had about 450 knives in it. Anyway, she is long gone, but my knives are still awesome. I love the American Muscle handles almost as much as the razor sharp blades, and I think they represent. Way cooler than the german stanckles and worsthofs in my artistic opinion, but that is purely personal aesthetic. I've used those before, and even own a Henckel, though I didn't buy it and don't even remember where I got it. I'm sure the steel is good, but it can't be that good or they would have won a war. I just ordered a ridiculously expensive but totally bichin' cutco steak knife (the new REAL steak knife, not the dorky table knife). I'll be paying on that for awhile. I am not invested enough in cutco that I wouldn't have purchased a different steak knife if I wanted to, and I wouldn't be afraid to sell them on ebay (good resale value!) and purchase different knives if I didn't like them.
Here are my questions:
About the steel: The cutco uses 440A carbon/steel, which I have heard is very similar to 440B and 440C which are all softer, as are the Germans, than the harder higher carbon steels in the Japanese samurai knives like shun and miyabi. I want to buy a santoku or a chef knife particularly for chopping up vegetables. Maybe nuts. I like the Miyabi (marketed by Henckel, but made in Japan), and, particularly the Shun (marketed by Oregon's Kershaw, but also made in Japan). There is a beautiful 3 knife Samurai set (3 inch parer, 6 inch utility and 8 inch chef) classic Shun, but it is expensive. I am not interested in the Globals because of the handle, and I don't like the German knives. So I'm looking at either the Shun, Miyabi or CutCo. I know you're gonna say one of the Japanese knives over the cutco, but listen to me first.
The 440 steel is not as hard as Japan's VG-10, but it is very durable. That means it cannot hold an edge as long as a samurai but the samurai is more delicate and brittle takes a lot of tender care, right? I am going to feel like a real ass if I chip such a beautiful (handmade?) work of art. What if I hit a bone? What if I drop it? Sometimes I just randomly fall off my chair. Not often, but it's been known to happen. Should someone like me, who doesn't even know what a souffle is, own a pro knife like a Shun, or should I stick to a CutCo which will be awesome (if not AS awesome) and I can take out a wall, kill a large animal, cut it up (bone and all), eat it raw with my bare hands and still slice a delicate paper thin fromboix, whatever the hell that is.
Also, this might be a dumb question, but it's not as dumb as my username, Santoku or Chef for veggies?
