Let's see your kitchen knives

bearcut said:
Can all of you please post pictures of your Old Hickory knives for us all to admire? I know we’ll all be impressed.
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I, for one, will be impressed.

Here are the kitchen knives we use in Cucina d'Brogan:

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Shun Elite Parer

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Shun Kaji 8" Chef Knife

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Larrin Thomas Santoku

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Moritaka 260mm gyuto (custom made for my desires)

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Moritaka 90mm parer (fancy handle!)

A few serrated slicers and some other knives, too, but they weren't pictured. :)
 
No pics as of yet, but I have a Spyderco kitchen knife, Old Hickory slicer and paring knife, and a PJ Tomes collaboration production kitchen knife.
 
bearcut said:
The ‘chopper’ crowd seems to think a 10-12” chefs is the best choice for instance. For home, and even restaurant use, 10” is too big for an amateur, and a 12” is WAY too big. Most pro chefs I know, as well as true gourmet cooks, use some form of an 8-9” chefs, traditional style BTW.
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You're saying 10" is too big for an "amateur" and that the "pros" you know use an 8-9". Amateurs shouldn't use them, and pros don't use them.... sounds like you think no one should use a 10". I think the person who said bearcut thinks anyone who doesn't use what bearcut uses is wrong, is right.

Seems like personal preference might play into it. My 10" gives me the extra leverage and distance I need. No one pays me to cook in a restaurant, so I guess I'm not a "true gourmet chef", but I'm an old lady whose been cooking all her adult life. I would take kitchen knife advice from Granny over a hot shot gourmet celebrity - or a knife enthusiast forum poster - ANY day.
 
I completely forgot bearcut's input on this subject from last year. Acting like 10" chef knives weren't used or recommended by LeCordon Bleu instructors, pretending the pinch grip was all mystical and esoteric, and calling people posers if their outdoors and EDC knives were of better quality than their kitchen knives.

The Vu - I deja'd it ftw.
 
Wow, a lot of beautiful and expensive knives, thanks for the pics.

On a Jamie Oliver show he had a friend on making ribs. The friend grabbed one of Jamie's chef knives and started hacking at the rib bones. With each whack you could see Jamie's eyes getting bigger and bigger. When he got the knife back Jamie stared at the edge and shook his head but unfortunately they didn't show a closeup.:p

Wife uses Henckels Twin Gourmet. When I tried some of their lower end stuff with the single guy on the trademark they all rusted within a week. The higher end ones are still chugging along fine. Someone mentioned they changed their production in some way so I'd have to do some research before I'd buy again. Don't bother with the cheaper end Henckels, if you have a problem with it like I did they won't even bother returning your email.

I use a 440c 59rc cryo-treated George Tichbourne chef knife. Fits my hand perfectly and makes chopping a breeze. Way too big for the wife but the Henckels fits her hand well.

Both knives I take down to a keen edge with a belt sander, finishing off with a Lee Valley 1"x30" leather belt loaded with green compound. Both knives hold their edges very well.

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ADD said:
I would sure like to see a kitchen knife sub forum here and put your name in as a mod.
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Thanks for the kind words. Moderating an online forum is above my paygrade. There are some other places for that sort of thing and I try really hard not to talk about politics at them, either. :)

Gak,

Love that Tichbourne chef knife! What a beast!
 
SShepherd said:
They have no bolsters, aren’t balanced, are stamped instead of forged

Not having a bolster, or not being "forged" has nothin to do with the quality of the knife
Having a bolster is an indication the the knife could be forged.
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Indication is the right word. Globals aren't forged, I doubt that Henkels, Zwillings, Wusthofs or Shuns are either. No stainless steels benefits from being forged. The ones with bolsters are in most cases welded. Check yourself, pick up a magnet and place it on the martensitic (=magnetic blade) and then on the austenitic (non-magnetic) bolster. The bolster (or handle on your global) is made from a 300 type steel. Same as your kitchen sink. If you know what to look for you can actually spot the weld it's usually between half and a quarter of an inch from the handle/bolster.

Even thoose stainless steel knives that are forged, which are few btw, are offset forged witch messes up the microstructure of the steel. The only value of forging is for marketing. Since balance (and possibly hygiene) is/are the only viable reason to have a bolster welding would probably be better.

Note: carbon steels behave differently so the steel does not suffer from forging, but no benefits will be added either.

Edit: I have a Shun Kaji Santuko 7", a 8" Shun Elite chefs knife, A 4" Shun Elite paring knife, an EKA 8" kitchen knife and two Mora of Sweden proffessional butcher knives that can wittle wiskers.
 
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Also I want to comment on the "stamped" subject. The vast majority of knives are made from strip steel. Since strip steel does not get thicker than about 0.190" (after that it does not coil up very well) you need to use bars for making thicker blades, handles or bolsters. Sure you can CNC but it's expensive and very inefficient from a material point of view. A lot of waste. That is why the steel is being cold rolled down to the thickness required and the bolsters handles are welded to the blade. The actual blade shape is either stamped (if the steel allows and the volume is high) or lasered out of the strip.

If there are anyone out there who pictures their knife made by a blacksmith out on the countryside from a piece of ore he carried home on his donkey I regret to inform that the process is slightly more modern today, unless you go for customs.

For me the bolster adds no quality touch or estethic value. Functional for balance maybe. For hygiene maybe.
 
Jerker,

Many of 1.4116 steel knives are drop forged. It's all done with presses and dies and is of no benefit to the performance of the steel being used, but those knives are forged.

Speaking of stamped steels, I'm told the cooks knife I've been wanting should be available in the USA in about two weeks. So hoping the importer isn't familiar with Jerry Busse's version "two weeks." :D
 
Here is my rather pedestrian kitchen cutlery:
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I think that sharpness is more important than forged versus stamped, bolster versus non-bolster... If it is sharp it will cut and slice. If I go into a strange kitchen with unfamiliar but sharp cutlery I will be able to work efficiently. The common denominator on all cutlery is the edge.

I do not like bolsters. They interfere with the sharpening process. They complicate things when you need to relieve them to get at that last bit of the heel. I like things simple and uncomplicated.
 
thombrogan said:
Jerker,

Many of 1.4116 steel knives are drop forged. It's all done with presses and dies and is of no benefit to the performance of the steel being used, but those knives are forged.

Speaking of stamped steels, I'm told the cooks knife I've been wanting should be available in the USA in about two weeks. So hoping the importer isn't familiar with Jerry Busse's version "two weeks." :D
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lmao..2 weeks

is that in calendar days, or business days? or semi custom days?
 
Razorsharp244 said:
Also I want to comment on the "stamped" subject. The vast majority of knives are made from strip steel. Since strip steel does not get thicker than about 0.190" (after that it does not coil up very well) you need to use bars for making thicker blades, handles or bolsters. Sure you can CNC but it's expensive and very inefficient from a material point of view. A lot of waste. That is why the steel is being cold rolled down to the thickness required and the bolsters handles are welded to the blade. The actual blade shape is either stamped (if the steel allows and the volume is high) or lasered out of the strip.

If there are anyone out there who pictures their knife made by a blacksmith out on the countryside from a piece of ore he carried home on his donkey I regret to inform that the process is slightly more modern today, unless you go for customs.For me the bolster adds no quality touch or estethic value. Functional for balance maybe. For hygiene maybe.
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rotfl !! and that goes back to the romantic idea that forged is better..somehow..riddle of steel, etc. Even drop forged whustof have to be ground
 
Damn, I wish I had my shun with me. It's a Shun 6.5" Santoku and it's the best knife for general kitchen use I've ever used. I love love love it!
 
Capt. Carl said:
Damn, I wish I had my shun with me. It's a Shun 6.5" Santoku and it's the best knife for general kitchen use I've ever used. I love love love it!
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For some reason Santukos get a bad rap from knife snobs. I have the Tramontina Santuko I posted above. It is thin and sharp. It is probably the knife I reach for most often. It handles every chore I throw at it.
 
It gets a bad wrap; the whole brand does; because it's commercially popular. They hate the Classic line because the VG-10 is too soft, but praise Hattori for softening the VG-10 in the line Ryusen makes for him and go nuts for Masamoto's even softer VG-10. They hate the Pro line because the VG-10 is too hard. They hate the chef knives because they're too curvy, but love the exact same curve on one Suisin's chef knives. I got rid of my Suisin for having that curve, but kept my Kaji, because, well, because it's just awesome. I'm part of the they; a shameless knife-snob; but the darksider in me says: "Thin knives, super-thin edges; affordable considering the materials and labor - lemme at it!"
 
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