Is Kitchen Knife Count?

M

melindagene

Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
3
Hi, I"m new here.

I'm looking for kitchen knives community or discussion to join.
And I"m not sure whether I join the right discussion group or not, a lot of cool knife here, but i"m pretty sure you guys are not using that knife that for cooking:)

Anyway, any pointer will be appreciate.

thanks.
 
Well my friend, as luck would have it, you have stumbled into General Knife Discussion and this is as good a place as any to discuss kitchen knives. I'm sure there are plenty of people here who will be only too happy to talk about such things.
 
if you want good, sharp knives, try Old Hickory ...

They are carbon steel, which will never stay SHINY...

... But...

You can butcher a whale and a godzilla with one, and still be able to shave your face the next morning without aftershave...
 
Educate yourself before you buy.
-Do you want forged or stamped? Forged are much nicer and expensive.
-Carbon or stainless? Carbon will look like crap after a few months, it will cut just as well as stainless though. If you prep food in front of guests this may be an issue. A clean carbon knife may 'look ' dirty. You may alarm people using a stained knife, evern though YOU know it's clean.
-European or Japanese style?

Go to a nice kitchen store and handle some knives. Check out the balance, this is important.

I don't know if you want a whole set or just a chefs knife. If only a chefs knife, 8" is plenty big.


One brand nobody ever heard of, including me, is Icel. They are one of Europes oldest knifemakers. You can get a set for about half what Wusthoff or Henckels go for. I bought a set of Icel forged cutlery several years ago. Some of my chef friends laughed, they had never heard of Icel before.

When they saw and handled my knives, they were blown away. Every one said that they were top notch knives. You could tell they were embarrassed about dissing them previously.

If you only buy one knife, please, get a forged knife, not a stamped knife. You will be so much happier. You can slowly add more as time passes.
 
foodieforums and knifeforums have kitchen cutlery sub-forums, but bladeforums is much larger overall :D
 
I asked a similar question last week. There were several great suggestions including Shuns, Mac Knives, Victorinox. My wife took one looke at Bark River Knife and Tool kitchen knives and now refuses to entertain anything else (except Tom Krein's customs which he just posted and she likes the look of immensely). Good luck on your pursuits.

Things to consider:

1) What is your price point? The prices range from $10 (Old Hickory) to > $300 for top brands. There probably is no upper limit for some of the Japanese knives.

2) Figure out which knives you want to purchase, personally I think it is usually better to buy the specific knives you want rather than get a set. I prefer a traditional chefs style knife of 9", a 6-7" Santuko style knife and a pairing knife. Also a cheap serrated bread slicer comes in handy but I wouldn't pay a bundle for one of these.

3) Try to figure out what the steel the knife is made of. Even if you don't know all the different steel types, if the knife steel material is advertised chances are its pretty good. Avoid knives that list the steel type as 'surgical stainless steel' or provide no description of it at all. When in doubt about a steel type for kitchen use, post a thread on bladeforums and ask. Carbon steel blades have advantages of ease of sharpening which helps you keep a razor edge. As others mentioned they can stain though. Some people control this to some extent by purposely producing a patina by rubbing the knife with potato and letting it sit overnight.

4) Handle ergonomics are important. Handle material can also be important. You want a knife that retains its grip when wet or coated with veggie juices. Mircata seems to work very well under these conditions and looks great. Some quality kitchen knives also round off the spine of the knife. This helps since a lot of grips on kitchen knives involving placing your finger on the spine.

5) Some kitchen knives have special types of edges that require special types of sharpening. For example, some Japanese knives have chisel grinds that are super sharp but require some expertise to resharpen them. There is another high end brand, which I forget the name, that basically needs to be sent back to the supplier for re-sharpening due to a specialized process. That seems like a bit of a pain to me.

6) Consider getting a ceramic steeling bar. The cermaic bar doesn't actually sharpen the blade, what it does is straighten the edge out. In a working kitchen knife, the blades are thin to help slicing and you often get small folds at the edge that can be easily fixed by steeling. Avoid the groved metal steeling bars. These actually grind metal, but usually end up dulling your knife.

7) Get a knife block or a magnetic strip to store your knives. Don't store them in a drawer where they can contact other objects and dull them. Also no quality kitchen knives are dishwasher safe. The steel can usually take it, but again, having them rattle around is likely to damage the edge.
 
knifeforums has a great kitchen section and 99% of the members are into japanese knives which are by far some of the best knives I've handled.
For a backup knife I picked up an inexpensive tosagata from the japanwoodworker.com and it's actually very impressive.
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?dept_id=13198

But there are a lot of options.

I resharpen my japanese knives with my Spyderco sharpmaker and two strops. Some go as far as buying multiple stones but this can be very costly.
 
I happen to own a superb kitchen paring knife. Only trouble is, far as I know, it is unavailable ANYWHERE at ANY PRICE. My mother used to buy these knives at some church bazaar they ran, circa 1950. She bought several, gave them away as presents because they were so nice and SO CHEAP. I think somewhere around a dollar? She gave me a couple which I've lost. I inherited hers and I'm down to my last one. If they allow me I'll post a couple of pics.
http://mysite.verizon.net/crasso/thickness.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/crasso/full_length.jpg
I have no idea what steel is in it. It sharpens easily. It pushes thru a carrot like 'a hot knife thru butter' (0.029" thick!), no sawing necessary. Every paring knife I've ever shopped for, I have several, are constructed so that you may assassinate a sentry with it, just in case you want to. I don't. I'd sure like to find a few extra of these, or someone with enough sense to manufacture some.
 
nobar66,
You might try looking at Forschner paring knives. The ones with nylon handles run about $4 online. I think they have the design and performance properties you are looking for.

Forschner overall delivers excellent value for the dollar. To get better you need to spend 2 - 3 times as much.
 
nobar66 is referring to the rada cutlery knives been using them for many years still made in the usa.got mine at a flee market.try googleing them and welcome to the forums.
 
Mr. Clean said:
knifeforums has a great kitchen section and 99% of the members are into japanese knives which are by far some of the best knives I've handled.
For a backup knife I picked up an inexpensive tosagata from the japanwoodworker.com and it's actually very impressive.
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?dept_id=13198

But there are a lot of options.

I resharpen my japanese knives with my Spyderco sharpmaker and two strops. Some go as far as buying multiple stones but this can be very costly.
Click to expand...

I may have to get the Santoku. Looks promising!
 
As a whole, I like the Shuns. I did a LOT of research a few weeks back, and if I were to buy a set, I'd buy the Shuns by Kershaw. my fiance bought me a set of them including the 10" Chef (too long, buy a 8"), a 9" bread, 9" slicer, 6" Chef (good for female hands), and a 3.5" parer.

I'm going to add there 7" Santoku, a 6.5" Nakiri, a 6" Utility, and a Sheepfoot parer and I'll have everything I need. Now, I'm going a little all-out and yes, I don't need a $40 paring knife nor a $70 utility, but personally, I want to match as a set, AND they offer a lifetime warranty on sharrpening because Kershaw is awesome and there customer service is unrivaled.

If I were to buy all over again without using a set... I'd buy Yoshikane knives hands down. These are TRUE Japanese knives, and although the Shuns are also made in Japan, they have more of a French styling - it's personal preference. Two of my favorite chefs use Shun, and for the quality of blade and overall style, I love them.

I would never buy a German knife...

But, look at Shun as a whole, and Yoshikane as well...

$.02,
Ryan
 
I only have five kitchen knives myself.:D

KNIF-1000-RD.jpg
 
Hi and WELCOME to Bladeforums!

THis is a great place to talk about kitchen knives...

Here are some tips for ya:

-Always wash your knife by hand, never in a dishwasher
-I use a 12" Wood handled Forschner for everything they are great, inexpensive knives that take a good edge and keep.
-Check in Asian markets for great deals on carbon knives, the upkeep it tougher but the score is $$ spent. The Debas and Veggie Cleavers are spot on when found and most will not cost more than 10$.
-Learn how to steel your blade to keep it sharp, a good knife only need be sharpened once a year, everything else is maintenance.
-A great more expensive knife to impress friends and family is a Tojiro! They look and act the part but cost much less than the comparable customs.
-Shun by Kershaw is goo but overpriced for what it is, look to the Calphon VG10 "Katana Series" damascus knives for a better priced, easier on small hand design that is not right hand specific (unless kershaw has changed this).


Any other questions which may come up, shoot'em out! There are lots of good people here to help.
 
The Chef said:
-Shun by Kershaw is goo but overpriced for what it is, look to the Calphon VG10 "Katana Series" damascus knives for a better priced...
Click to expand...
Chef, the Katana Series is a VG-1 clad not VG-10 clad or SG2 like the Shun, this difference of course is why there is a price difference. Then there is that country of origin difference as well.
Sometimes you just want to look like something your not...and apparently it can be effective:cool:
 
Thomas W said:
Chef, the Katana Series is a VG-1 clad not VG-10 clad or SG2 like the Shun, this difference of course is why there is a price difference. Then there is that country of origin difference as well.
Sometimes you just want to look like something your not...and apparently it can be effective:cool:
Click to expand...


Sounds great, but I have used them both in the kitchen and the Katana outperforms the Shun hands down. Appearances are great unfortunately in the hand and for the cost the Katana is a better knife (Value + Feel). I understand after looking up the Calphalon that is indeed inferior metal no biggie, its reflected in price. As to where its made, thats a slippery slope argument, at best. I love German kitchen knives (Wusthof, Messermeister) but would be hard pressed to pay the money for them because they have a made in germany stamp. I sense that there is definite hint of corporate propaganda here and I am not good at double entendre. If I offended your sensibilities, I am sorry, mine is simply opinion from use. I always recommend a Forcshner first best knife out there for the money IMO, the rest is just feel in the hand.

Once again thanks for setting me straight on the materials used in making the Shun line.
 
The Chef said:
Sounds great, but I have used them both in the kitchen and the Katana outperforms the Shun hands down. Appearances are great unfortunately in the hand and for the cost the Katana is a better knife (Value + Feel).
Click to expand...
Funny...I have just the opposite experience. The Katana's felt and performed up to their price point, didn't feel much more. I may have some bias though.;)

As to where its made, thats a slippery slope argument, at best. I love German kitchen knives (Wusthof, Messermeister) but would be hard pressed to pay the money for them because they have a made in germany stamp. I sense that there is definite hint of corporate propaganda here and I am not good at double entendre. If I offended your sensibilities, I am sorry, mine is simply opinion from use.
Click to expand...
No argument or propaganda, just know what goes into Shun, and high end knives made in Japan.

We have factories in both Japan and China, and I just don't think you will find any blades coming from China that can match up. Although if there would be any type of cutlery that could get there it would be blades for the kitchen (much easier to manufacture than a folder).

At this time I'd be very surprised to see any volume manufacturer import high end steel to the mainland, kinda would defeat the purpose. The VG-1 Clad is probably as good at it gets. looks good. I have a hard time understanding how it out performs VG-10, but don't dispute your findings.

I do understand what you are saying about our "D" shaped handles. Lefties may not be overly fond of them. Personally they feel like a dream to my dominate right hand. FYI, the "Elite" and "Kaji" series we produce have not incorporated the "D" shape handle.

In any case no offense taken, it's a good discussion with a subject (kitchen cutlery) I wish there was more of.:thumbup:
 
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