traditonal kitchen knives: OH or GR?

Metis

Metis

Joined
Feb 18, 1999
Messages
742
so, i'm either getting Old Hickory or Green River knives for the kitchen (tired of having the hodgepodge of china-cheapies). have gone too long without addressing my kitchen knife deficiency.

i grew up with Old Hickory in the kitchen, but i heard the new ones are too soft and someone recommended upgrading to Green River knives (just about double the price, but still inexpensive).

thoughts?

thanks for looking.
 
First off i would like to say hi, as this is my first post. In my kitchen i use a mixture of both old hickory and dexter russell knives. Both are fine knives for the price however i do have a slight preference for the russell knives. The steel while still thin is a little thicker on the new russell's than the new old hickorys. I also find that due to the full flat grind they have that the Russell knives seem to slice better and not bind as much as old hickory knives do. Both make great knives for the kitchen, field, and butchering. hope this helps. Joe
 
I know you want something traditional but just thought i’d add my .02 incase you decided to get something more modern.

I'm a chef by trade. My home kitchen knives are made by calphon. Good for home use but I never use them. Mostly for show.

All I need is a 210mm & 240mm gyuto (or one good cleaver -- you can do almost anything with a good one), a pairing knife, and a good inexpensive boning knife and maybe a scimitar if you plan on doing your own meat fabrication.

I say just get a nice 3" paring knife and a Misono 210mm UX10 gyuto to start. If you're good with a stone this is all you'll need at home. I'll sometimes only bring these two knives when i do full course private dinner parties.

Koki is the man: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/ Email him directly and he will take care of you. He'll have whatever you're looking for in the mail in no time.

If you're wanting something with a more custom flair. Fish n Poi (his forum handle) over at knife forums can hook you up with a nice handle: http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/763433/
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Another more traditional route are the fine Japanese knives made by Watanabe, Takeda, and Murray Carter. They make some the best kitchen knives in the world and with traditional technique. They are also the sharpest knives i’ve ever owned.

http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/

http://shop.niimi.okayama.jp/kajiya/en/index_e.html (i recommend emailing them directly for a AS21cm gyuto with more belly)

If you want Murray Carter he sells through a couple purveyors (arizona custom knives is one) and has a catalog you’ll have to email him directly for.
 
Metis,

Do you have a URL for the Green River knives? I've poked around and can't find a good one.

James
 
I have knives by Murray Carter and Ryusen. I'm not a cook of any sort. I will say get a couple of good ones. I have two Murray Carter knives and 3 Rysen Blazen.

Two good knives will take care of most anything you want to do. Either a 110mm or 135mm Petty and a 210mm or 240mm Gyuto. If your going to be cutting bones I've simply use a cheap Cleaver I've had for years.
 
thanks for the feedback guys.

i suppose i'm mostly working off nostalgia here in my choices. :)

i agree a good paring knife and a longer slicer will do pretty much everything i'll need. i've got an antique chinese cleaver/knife that i use fairly often, but is very thick with a convex edge (instead of a chisel i see more often). i had a carbon nikiri hocho for veggies that i loved, until someone used it to cut pizza and chipped the edge in three places.

my needs are basically slicing meat and chopping veggies. i can count the number of times i've deboned anything on one hand.

oh, source for Green River's:

http://www.crazycrow.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=841-400-000
 
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