Knife Quest: Kitchen Edition

Eli Chaps said:
I've arrived at a place in my life where I can afford a little better things than I could a few years ago. Nothing extravagant, but if I'm discerning, better. I'm a function over form guy and that holds very true for my knives.

Some time ago I set out on a quest to find "my" best pocket knife/knives. Along the way I learned a lot. Like so many knife nuts out there, it can be hard to find places that have decent selections of knives that you can actually hold so we do our best to study, largely on the internet. I also gave away a number of knives during that endeavor. I'd narrowed down my selections enough that they were all quality offerings so I knew if I didn't like a particular model I could easily find a home for it. And, honestly, that was a large part of the fun. My son in law for example, now has a new appreciation for a good knife.

Anyway, it's time to embark on the kitchen knife edition. For about the last, I don't know, maybe eight or ten years, I've been using a mix of Wusthof's Gourmet and Le Cordon Bleu lines. Excellent knives for sure and high up on the function vs. form scale. I can get these knives stupid sharp and maintain them with little effort. The Gourmet line is very comfortable but my the couple "LCB" offerings I possess have skinnier handles than I like.

Although the Gourmet line is considered "entry level" or "budget friendly" I think they are excellent choices for folks who may be using a blister-pack Walmart special.

I only added in that background to give folks a semblance of where I'm coming from.

A few months ago I started getting serious about slowly "upgrading" the kitchen knife collection. Upgrading might not be the best term but I wanted to begin exploring what was out there and finding knife brands, designs, steels, etc. that really clicked with me.

There's some awesome makers here on BF and Eric J.S. and Robert Erickson really captivate me. More than once, I would've bought one of Eric's offerings if the timing had been right.

Okay, so my first knife on this quest has been given to me by my wife and it is a Yaxell Dragon 8.5" Gyuto. I spent weeks bouncing between my traditional western-style chef's knives and the flatter santoku's I have. Am I more of a rock chopper or a push cutter? Do I like a tall blade? And so on. I asked here on the forum about BD1N and received reassurance that it is pretty easy to maintain so that was a huge help. A new to me steel!

I was soooo close to just getting the Wusthof Ikon chef's knife. So close! But my Gourmet's are so similar in blade design and I reminded myself that I want to try different things.

The Yaxell offering is definitely different for me! The build quality is excellent and it is beautiful. But the knife design is so different than what I've been using for so many years that it feels a foreign. But that doesn't mean bad and I can't wait to spend a few weeks using and learning this knife and deciding it it will stay in the collection. During my self-torment of asking my wife for the Yaxell or the Wusthof, I was sharing with a friend and he said he would just go with the Wusthof because that is what he knows and he'd be afraid to try something different. But for me, that's the entire point of this endeavor!

I'm very intrigued by nakari's and there's some awesome pairing knives out there. And of course, more chef's knives that need exploring.

What say you all? Have you undergone this journey? What knives do you like? What styles do you prefer? Why? What else? Educate me.

Long winded I know but just hoping to generate some discussion not just around specific kitchen knives but the whole buying and testing process.
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For a western kitchen knife check out the Bob Kramer Henkles Zwilling knife. My friend who is a chef just got one and it is apparently outstanding.
 
You can certainly do anything you likely need to do with a Victorinox knife. You aren't going to get the ease of sharpening as other steel or the sheer enjoyment, but YMMV. Some chef's certainly use the product, but quite a few use nicer knives too.
The Kramer knives are interesting, like an overgrown honesuki. Fine triangular tip, very tall and heavy at the heel. There is a subtle difference in feel between the damascus and plain blades.
 
Phil Indablanc said:
My all time favorite chef knife is my Bradford in M390 with a carbon fiber handle. I don't think there are any in stock and I am not sure if they will be making any more though.
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So very nice. A Bradford Chef in M390 is on my wish list. Can I ask, how thick is the stock on those and how thin behind the edge?

Here's my current work force. The Shun Premier line has walnut pakkawood handles, which in retrospect, I should have sprung for. That would be my advice - one piece at a time and spend more than you think you should. Build your tool kit over time. Start with a primary chef blade, then fill in behind it, based on your needs.

Shun.jpg
 
Eagle Scout said:
So very nice. A Bradford Chef in M390 is on my wish list. Can I ask, how thick is the stock on those and how thin behind the edge?
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It is relatively thin behind the edge, but not to the same extent as some of the finer Japanese knives that I have handled. I find it to be precise enough for the delicate jobs but tough enough when necessary. I pulled these details from Epicurean Edge:
Blade length: 7.50 in.
Cutting edge length: 7.10 in.
Total length: 12.50 in.
Blade height (at heel): 2.05 in.
Blade thickness (near bolster): 0.11 in.
Blade thickness (at midpoint): 0.09 in.
Blade thickness (near tip): 0.06 in.
Item weight: 7.20 oz.
 
Ourorboros said:
You can certainly do anything you likely need to do with a Victorinox knife. You aren't going to get the ease of sharpening as other steel or the sheer enjoyment, but YMMV. Some chef's certainly use the product, but quite a few use nicer knives too.
The Kramer knives are interesting, like an overgrown honesuki. Fine triangular tip, very tall and heavy at the heel. There is a subtle difference in feel between the damascus and plain blades.
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The Victorinox Fibrox knives are generally thinner than many other chef knives and because they are slightly softer (55 vrs 58) they sharpen a bit faster. But the critical thing about kitchen knifes is how well they function for food preparation and the Victorinox Fibrox knives seem to excel in this area. Probably the best thing to do is try various knives and see which you like when preparing a couple of complete meals.



 
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