Here is my solution to having a tiny kitchen with no place to put a 50 year old knife collection.
I`ve got no drawer space, wall space or cupboard space and some non-magnetic steel knives.I`ve put the thin cheapy knives in thin containers and put them on the kitchen windowsill now.Plus I have quite a few caidaos / gudaos and some weigh over 1 kg so a rack is useless ; too small and not strong enough.I hate unhygienic knife blocks too.
I got creative and rolled my sleeves up.I made an oak box out of scrap wood and put little feet on it and put removable high density foam on the bottom.Then I made custom oversized knife pouches from 3mm polyester felt and used pinking shears and fabric glue as I am dire at sewing and had no sewing machine.
The blade edges don`t touch the felt because the pouches are all oversized.Plus I can wash and iron them all to keep them spotless.I have non perfumed no rinse spray santisers for the wooden box as well as pure isopropyl alcohol to keep everything hygienic.Plus knife racks can scratch because the blades are always in contact with steel or tough woods.Knife blocks and drawer inserts get filthy.Most inserts are not machine washable either.
I was looking for knife rolls for Chinese choppers and nobody does them plus I have some cleavers that are over 5 inches wide/tall blade height and a couple of monster slicers that have 12" - 14" long blades with 5" handles on top and they are really hard to store.
It was just a question of acceptable compromises and I can take all the pouches out for travel.
I cook for the homeless voluntarily most days which I absolutely adore and I just take one caidao ( Chinese chef`s knife ) with me - it`s all I need.
With a big eight inch x four inch cleaver I can scoop, crush, chop, slice, dice, mince, julienne, chiffonade and carve fruit and veggie flowers - I lived in Hong Kong flogging serious stereos for ages so the Chinese taught me tons in the 80`s and 90`s.Now I can prep 35 kg / 70 lbs of meat/fish/veg in 90 minutes with one big chopper - nothing else.It`s just experience and practice.
I`m not a chef or a cook - I just muck about in the kitch; since 1972.
A lot of the above knives were presents and most of the good thin carbon/damascus Japanese Asian style knives are my girlfriends who loves Far Eastern food; as do I.
I`ve got no drawer space, wall space or cupboard space and some non-magnetic steel knives.I`ve put the thin cheapy knives in thin containers and put them on the kitchen windowsill now.Plus I have quite a few caidaos / gudaos and some weigh over 1 kg so a rack is useless ; too small and not strong enough.I hate unhygienic knife blocks too.
I got creative and rolled my sleeves up.I made an oak box out of scrap wood and put little feet on it and put removable high density foam on the bottom.Then I made custom oversized knife pouches from 3mm polyester felt and used pinking shears and fabric glue as I am dire at sewing and had no sewing machine.
The blade edges don`t touch the felt because the pouches are all oversized.Plus I can wash and iron them all to keep them spotless.I have non perfumed no rinse spray santisers for the wooden box as well as pure isopropyl alcohol to keep everything hygienic.Plus knife racks can scratch because the blades are always in contact with steel or tough woods.Knife blocks and drawer inserts get filthy.Most inserts are not machine washable either.
I was looking for knife rolls for Chinese choppers and nobody does them plus I have some cleavers that are over 5 inches wide/tall blade height and a couple of monster slicers that have 12" - 14" long blades with 5" handles on top and they are really hard to store.
It was just a question of acceptable compromises and I can take all the pouches out for travel.
I cook for the homeless voluntarily most days which I absolutely adore and I just take one caidao ( Chinese chef`s knife ) with me - it`s all I need.
With a big eight inch x four inch cleaver I can scoop, crush, chop, slice, dice, mince, julienne, chiffonade and carve fruit and veggie flowers - I lived in Hong Kong flogging serious stereos for ages so the Chinese taught me tons in the 80`s and 90`s.Now I can prep 35 kg / 70 lbs of meat/fish/veg in 90 minutes with one big chopper - nothing else.It`s just experience and practice.
I`m not a chef or a cook - I just muck about in the kitch; since 1972.
A lot of the above knives were presents and most of the good thin carbon/damascus Japanese Asian style knives are my girlfriends who loves Far Eastern food; as do I.
