Help! I'm buying a chef knife for me to use for the foreseeable future. $200 budget

I

Ilikesharpthings21

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Nov 29, 2014
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Hello sharpness connoisseurs!

I'm a twenty year old guy that wants to buy a quality chef knife that will last me in the kitchen for a long time. I'm a big believer in go big or go home and even with a limited income I want to invest a decent amount of money into a kitchen knife. I want something that is 8"ish and is $150-200. I've done more than a few hours of research and from what I have gathered, on the cheaper end I would get the Fujiwara Fkm for under $100.

For a sharpening stone if I am going to get a stainless steel knife I'm really leaning towards this pretty cool deluxe DMT Diamond set that includes an angler so I can get precision sharpness on my blade.

If you know of any other knives that would be of better quality thats in my price range please feel free to share. I was also considering custom. Would that be better quality than getting a manufactured blade? If it would be some direction on that would be great. Thanks for the help! :)
 
Shuns have always worked well for me over the span of almost 10 years. Always used the higher end ones and being backed by KAI I've had zero issues.

Edit: Left you a visitor message
 
I started my collection 20 years ago with a set of "Professional S - Henkels". They took some serious abuse over the years travelling to catering events, being used in the restaurant everyday and I have just recently replaced them. They were a good knife with a hard steel that sharpens just o.k.

I have recently pieced together a set of Shun Premier knives and love them. They hold a razor sharp edge and a great for every day use. My 2 favourite knives are My 8" chef knife and my 5.5" Nakiri. At the beginning of my career I always thought bigger was better and started with a 12" chef knife. I now know that for my personal preference I love the control I have over a smaller blade.

The Shuns have a thin blade that makes slicing the most delicate of ingredients a breeze with no worry of it breaking for the more intense tasks. They hold a great edge, pending the frequent use of a good honing steel.

Hope that gives some insight. Here are the two I am referring to. These regularly go on sale at Williams Sonoma and if you are in the trade they have their "Professional Chefs" free membership that gives 20% off of anything.

Have a great day.

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The Fujiwara FKM is a nice knife. I would recommend a 240mm gyuto, about 9 1/2". A 210mm is about 8".

The FKM has an asymmetrical edge, each side would be sharpened at a different angle. A double sided 1000/4000 waterstone and taking the time to learn to sharpen freehand would be money and time well spent. There are a lot of videos online for sharpening Japanese knives.

The FKM would be much easier to sharpen than any of the Shuns. The shuns have a harder steel. My experience with the Shun knives I have is that the edge chips easier than other knives I have.
 
I agree with grelcar

You can always start in the cheaper end and find out what you like. It also doesn't hurt that much if you damage your knife while sharpening :)
Its also difficult to find the steel you prefer. After trying a lot, Ive found out that my choice is a sanmai construction with a 52100 core.
Here you find cheap entry to different steels: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/riar.html

I I should by a mid class lvl I would go for Konosuke or brands like that.
 
I have two furii knives that are excellent and can be had for considerably less than your budget.

I have a Spyderco that is my favorite kitchen knife. It has a thin blade and it takes a wicked edge quickly and easily and holds it for a long time.

If in a budget the twenty dollar kitchenaide knives are surprisingly good. I have one and it cuts well and sharpens easily. It doesn't hold an edge as long as my other knives but it's very good for it's cost.

All my knives are Santuko profile as I am not a lightning fast chopper and feel I have more control vs a chefs knife.
 
I am a big fan of Shun for kitchen cutlery. I have two of their entry level line, the Shun Sora knives, and I am extremely pleased with them. For a step up, I would recommend the Shun Classic, as it is of similar steel, but a much nicer handle material. That said, I am perfectly content with the handles of my Soras, as they clean up very well and are effective in their use.

For a sharpening system, I strongly recommend a Spyderco Sharpmaker. It works great for regular touchups and sharpening, which has been perfect for kitchen use.
 
Great post, The FKM's are great, but there are similar MAC, and I think there's a Tojiro special floating a round with a chef's and paring combo for $100. These will last you forever if taken care of. For years they were my primary knives in professional kitchens, and now they serve at home with distinction.

Customs now have gotten much more competitive with pricing, but I think it's great to have a simple starting point before developing your preferences as you go along. You wouldn't think they'd change, but they do.
 
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/higykn24.html
This knife is the absolute shit.
I almost bought it recently, but I decided to get the Moritaka. And since you seem to want stainless, this Hiromoto has an Aogami Super Steel core (Rockwell hardness of 64-65) with the Stainless outer steel. You got the western handle too.
This is my next purchase.
 
Mikey's Deli said:
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/higykn24.html
This knife is the absolute shit.
I almost bought it recently, but I decided to get the Moritaka. And since you seem to want stainless, this Hiromoto has an Aogami Super Steel core (Rockwell hardness of 64-65) with the Stainless outer steel. You got the western handle too.
This is my next purchase.
Click to expand...

New here (this is my first post). I have this knife - it's very nice. Takes and holds an edge well. The stainless cladding means less worrying about staining. It's nicely balanced. Two things to consider: the handle is ok but not great. I also prefer a taller knife for most tasks. However, for the money, the cutting edge is hard to beat.
 
RipD said:
New here (this is my first post). I have this knife - it's very nice. Takes and holds an edge well. The stainless cladding means less worrying about staining. It's nicely balanced. Two things to consider: the handle is ok but not great. I also prefer a taller knife for most tasks. However, for the money, the cutting edge is hard to beat.
Click to expand...

To tell you the truth. I have a Moritaka iron-clad, Aogami super steel core, 240 Guyoto.
I prefer the Japanese octagon handle. And it isn't really hard to maintain in regards to staining. I also really like the length. Any bigger than 10" is too big for me.
 
Mikey's Deli said:
To tell you the truth. I have a Moritaka iron-clad, Aogami super steel core, 240 Guyoto.
I prefer the Japanese octagon handle. And it isn't really hard to maintain in regards to staining. I also really like the length. Any bigger than 10" is too big for me.
Click to expand...
That's a great knife! I have the Konosuke 240 with HD semi-stainless with an octagon handle. In retrospect I should have gone for the Kono with Aogami #2 or the Morikata you have. Don't get me wrong - the HD is a very nice knife and holds an edge like crazy.

I've come to the conclusion that I actually prefer a shorter knife (8") for general prep work. The Moritaka 210 is on my wish list. I suspect it could become my go to knife.
 
RipD said:
That's a great knife! I have the Konosuke 240 with HD semi-stainless with an octagon handle. In retrospect I should have gone for the Kono with Aogami #2 or the Morikata you have. Don't get me wrong - the HD is a very nice knife and holds an edge like crazy.

I've come to the conclusion that I actually prefer a shorter knife (8") for general prep work. The Moritaka 210 is on my wish list. I suspect it could become my go to knife.
Click to expand...

Yeah I totally thought about the 210. I hemmed and hawed for a couple weeks on that one. But Dude, the Konosuke is a great knife. If I had the cashola...!
It's on my short list. I have a long, short list. ;)
 
Mikey's Deli said:
Yeah I totally thought about the 210. I hemmed and hawed for a couple weeks on that one. But Dude, the Konosuke is a great knife. If I had the cashola...!
It's on my short list. I have a long, short list. ;)
Click to expand...
That Kono is a great knife. However, here's what I have learned from owning it: it's really a compromise metal. It's better than stainless in terms of hardness, but not as good as the best steels. It will rust less, but it will still rust. Somebody left it sitting on a cutting board or 8 hours after cutting fruit and veggies and it now has a few spots of rust. For situations where the knife may be used by careless people, I would just go stainless.

I also learned the hard way to segregate my knives. My good non-stainless knives are in their own block marked "RidD only!" to keep the kids and any uninformed house guests from using them. Still trying to get the wife trained to wipe down the the knives during cooking, not 2 hours later.
 
RipD said:
That Kono is a great knife. However, here's what I have learned from owning it: it's really a compromise metal. It's better than stainless in terms of hardness, but not as good as the best steels. It will rust less, but it will still rust. Somebody left it sitting on a cutting board or 8 hours after cutting fruit and veggies and it now has a few spots of rust. For situations where the knife may be used by careless people, I would just go stainless.

I also learned the hard way to segregate my knives. My good non-stainless knives are in their own block marked "RidD only!" to keep the kids and any uninformed house guests from using them. Still trying to get the wife trained to wipe down the the knives during cooking, not 2 hours later.
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. I keep my knives in my knife bag from work. I just keep all the other knives in the house razor sharp, so they're not temped to mess with mine.

Thanks for the insight on the Kono! :)
 
Mikey's Deli said:
Good luck with that. I keep my knives in my knife bag from work. I just keep all the other knives in the house razor sharp, so they're not temped to mess with mine.
Click to expand...
That's the way to do it. Why have I never thought of this? I'll put my good knives into a knife roll/bag and store them elsewhere.
 
i too just decided to get a for-real kitchen knife. obviously, i don't have any experience for comparison, but i will walk you through my thought process.

i first decided on type. from what i read, a gyuto was a good idea. then i decided on size. i went with a 210mm. this was kind of a "shrug of the shoulders to me". i did read that a lot of folks like the 240mm size, but to me, it seemed that roughly an 8" blade would accomplish what i needed it to. i needed the knife to come in at under $100. well, i didn't need it to, but i wanted to try a knife (or two) before spending a lot.

so, i searched chefknivestogo for candidates. really, i just looked for knives that were rated high that came in my price range. i decided to go with the Yamashan White #1 Gyuto 210mm.
yamashin-white-1-gyuto-210mm-14.png


i like carbon steel and white #1 sounded like one i could sharpen real easy on my water stones, which i like.

again, this is my first foray into kitchen knives. i expect i will try several others to really find what i like. but, in the meantime, i think i will like this knife....
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/yawh1gy21.html

P.S. i know the handle is cheap. that really doesn't bother me, as i trust i could rehandle it. in fact, i am looking forward to it.
 
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