Two weeks without kitchen knives

Griffon · Dec 8, 2000

There are often threads in Bladeforums about "if you had to choose only X knives" which often seem to disregard those you use for cooking. I thought it would be fun to see if you really can manage with nothing but "general purpose" knives in the kitchen. (The short answer is "yes, you can manage without kitchen knifes in the kitchen" and if you don't want to read it all the winners are the two last ones.)
In the process I got some surprises, got some things I thought I knew confirmed and learned something about knife design. One conclusion can be summed up as "real kitchen knives are (almost) always better".
The knives I choose to use all had good edges (edge holding wasn't part of the trials), suitable for general utility, washable and stainless (with one exception which turned out to be interesting). No folder was considered at all as I consider them too unsuitable for almost everything in the kitchen which has to do with preparing the food itself.
The first surprise I got was that you actually don't need a serrated bread knife. (But I really learned that before, when I tried out my Fällkniven K1 and K2.) Or rather, that a sharp regular knife handles bread well. The rest follows together with the description of how useful the different knives were:

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/fallkniven/wm1_side.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/fallkniven/_wm1_side.jpg"></a>Fällkniven WM1
This one worked pretty much as I had expected it to. Good, sharp edge, cuts pretty straight as the blade isn't especially thick, the guard isn't much in the way so you reach the things you cut well enough. Short, very useful for small things, but there are of course there are lots of things too big for it. Good handle so you get a good grip when working on a cutting board.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/marttiini/marttiini_127012.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/marttiini/_marttiini_127012.jpg"></a>Marttiini 127012
The first surpise. Since the edge is very good and it cuts other things well I included it in the test even though it's got a untreated wooden handle and isn't stainless. It cuts lots of things well, but it doesn't cut food well. After the initial cut, it takes too much force to follow through to make it suitable in the kitchen. This was a first indication that perhaps I'd too much fixated on blade thickness. It's not thick, but it's not wide either, so the angle isn't very favourable. The handle isn't all that good for working against a cutting board either and the widening at the but is in the way for some otherwise useful grips.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/cs-mo.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/_cs-mo.jpg"></a>Cold Steel Mini-California Outdoorsman
I included this one and the Mini-Tanto as I thought it would be interesting to compare two very knives but with different grinds. (That one is 440A and one 440C is immaterial for this purpose.) This one is satisfactory in the kitchen, although not the very best. No problems cutting with the flat grind, blade and guard shape OK so you can cut with a good part of the edge, comfortable handle for the "pinching" grip you may need when working from above.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/cs-mt.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/_cs-mt.jpg"></a>Cold Steel Mini-Tanto
This hollow grind is useless in the kitchen. The angle is much too steep so it takes too much force to cut. In addition to that the blade shape makes you cut with just a little bit near the tips since you need to get all the way down to the cutting board.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/ch.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/_ch.jpg"></a>Custom, Christer Henriksson
This hollow grind (D2) worked much better, since it goes further up the spine. The edge isn't the thinnest, but it produced nice clean cuts with little effort anyway, and the lack of guard gives good use for almost all of the blade. Unfortunately the handle doesn't easily lend itself to more than one grip, and one that's not much useful in the kitchen.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/jl.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/_jl.jpg"></a>Custom, Johan Lindhe
This was one of the better knives. Wide, hollow ground (12C27) blade, thin edge, good handle of smooth stabilized oak. It's main drawback is the short blade and the protruding guard. Otherwise it's better than just OK. Cuts straight slices with no great effort.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/tmpimg/fallkniven_s1-b.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/fallkniven/_fallkniven_s1-b.jpg"></a>Fällkniven S1
This was a pleasant surprise which to a large has made me appreciate it more overall. I was convinced that a blade this thick wouldn't be much use, but as I neede something larger too I included it. It cuts bread well. The length of the blade and the small guard makes it easy to use much of the blade, you get a good grip on the handle, edge geometry makes for nice easy cuts in the kinds of food I tried. In short, you can use it for everything. With one reservation though, it doesn't easily cut straight slices of everything.

 <a href="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/eka/eka-w11_side.jpg"><img align="right" style="border-color: #669;" src="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/eka/_eka-w11_side.jpg"></a>EKA Nordic W11
I had much the same opinion about this as the S1 when I started and I changed it in about the same way afterwards. Since it's got no guard whatsoever and a cutout for the first finger, its shape makes it a bit more comfortable to use sometimes. If I "had to choose one", this or the Fällkniven S1 would be my choice. I prefer the S1's straigter blade and better grip, but the shape of the handle on this one. It's hard to put one in front of the other.

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Urban Fredriksson www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/
Latest updates:
A Marttiini and a Brusletto knife, links to Scandinavian manufacturers, Fällkniven K1+K2 kitchen knives

"All this takes only about ten seconds, and then I hang the knife vertically, with a nail through the thong hole (and that's one of the big reasons why most every LOVELESS knife has a thong tube; it makes things easy, handling the blades and knives here in the shop)."
- How to make knives, Richard W. Barney and Robert W. Loveless

Will Fennell · Dec 7, 2000

Griffon,
GREAT idea! This is a good, easy way for folks to learn the virtues of blade geometry!
I use my TALON, a Spydie MORAN,BK&T MAGNUM CAMP KNIFE, and one of my Fillet knives all the time in the kitchen.

I would suggest that next time, include some of your favorite folders,....they will handle the corrosion problems better than you think. Just rinse them off after use. I mena, you are standing there at the sink

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Stay Sharp!
Will Fennell
Camillus Cutlery
www.camillusknives.com

Shawn R Sullivan · Dec 7, 2000

Griffon,
Thanks for the review. I spend alot of time at my inlaws home and I use my folding knives for lots and lots of food prep. I agree with you that deep hollow ground knives aren't that great for food prep. I find that a full flat grind works best in the kitchen.

Shawn

Joe Talmadge · Dec 7, 2000

If you ever get the chance to check out a Rinaldi TTKK, do try it out in the kitchen. It was designed first as light camping knife, and since a high percentage of light camp chores revolve around food prep, the TTKK has been designed to work well there. I use mine in the kitchen all the time, often going for weeks choosing the 4" or 5" version over my standard kitchen knives (which are so abused by my family that they're often not sharp).

Joe

Shawn R Sullivan · Dec 7, 2000

Joe,
I thought that I was the only one with nice sharp knives every where but the kitchen! I usually have two or three sharp knives in the kitchen and a whole bunch of dull ones. Do you ever use your BM 710 for food prep? I use mine all the time. What folding knife do you think works best in the kitchen?

Shawn

cerulean · Dec 8, 2000

Thanks for the great post, Griffon! There's a lot of good information there.

[This message has been edited by cerulean (edited 12-08-2000).]

Two weeks without kitchen knives

Griffon

Will Fennell

Shawn R Sullivan

Joe Talmadge

Shawn R Sullivan

cerulean