Octaveman
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Posts posted by Octaveman
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These type of sharpeners (electric) are not made for single-beveled knives. These are made for symmetrical ground knives like a chef's knife.
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Yes, use the knives on whatever you want. After use though just rinse off real quick. The level of acidity in food will not harm your knives unless you left it sitting in it. Your knives will out live you so don't worry about it.
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Good points Gabriel, thanks. I will definately taste for balance next time.
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Well, other than visually probably nothing. The French slicer just has a taller profile than the sujihiki. Why Masanobu has those two I'll never know. I'd have to see them in person to tell further.
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Since it is not 100/0 I would strongly suggest to put an angle on the backside even if very slight. If you don't put an angle on the backside you will scratch your entire blade up and you still wouldn't be hitting the edge until the backside goes flat. Being 90/10 says that 5% of the combined angle is on the backside. Let's say for example your knife has a combined angle of 20*. This means that 18* on the front side and 2* on the backside. Here's a trick...put a pencil flat up against each side of the knife so that it touches the spine. You can see light between it and the blade as you look toward the edge. Even if on the odd chance there is aboslutely no light between the pencil and the edge (making sure the pencil is touching the spine), I still wouldn't lay the knife down flat. If that's what Korin was suggesting, that was bad advice.
But here's the thing...you can sharpen it to whatever angle you want. You can turn it into a 50/50 edge if you wanted. There is no bevel angle police that's going to force you to keep the same angles. Since it's a boning knife I wouldn't make it too acute overall but changing the bevel angles is not so much a big deal because you're working around bones anyway. Because of it's use, it would not harm anything to change the bevel to your liking. Trying to sharpen and keeping the original angles on a 90/10 or 95/5 beveled knife is not easy and definately not easy for the sharpening newbie. If it were me, I would use two pennies on the backside to give you an idea of how low to take your blade. if you insist on using the original angles, don't get too pissed if you scratch your blade up.
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It's not single-beveled but it is assymetrical...I would guess around 80/20. I'm still highly suggesting you either get Korin's DVD or Dave Martell's DVD. They both can help you tremendously in seeing how it's done with Dave's being more complete. The Korin DVD doesn't spend a whole lot of time explaining how to sharpen western styled knives. It's enough to get you started but there's a lot that needs to be talked about that the Korin DVD just doesn't do. Dave's DVD is very thorough and will give you all you need to know for free hand sharpening.
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I mixed them together and poured it all in at once when the food was ready for it.
On a side note, I velveted the chicken and cooked it in boiling water instead of oil. First time doing it this way and the meat came out exactly as I had expected to see in a restaurant. I've done veleveting in oil with beef before but never with water for any meat. I'm thrilled.
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I'm resurrecting this thread because I made Moo Goo Gai Pan tonight and used my standard "white sauce" recipe posted above but the taste was off for some reason and I was hoping someone might have some opinions.
If you look at what I posted above I assumed that the ratio of ingredients can be used in multiples...meaning I can make a 3x batch and all ingredients will be proportionally added. The problem tonight was that I tripled the ratio for a huge stir-fry but the sauce was very Shao xing intensive. What I'm unsure about is...
1. My rice wine was too strong (pretty dark in color)?
2. If the ratio of wine should be reduced as you increase (double, triple, etc.) the volume?
3. The wok wasn't hot enough to burn off the alcohol when added?
Thanks,
Bob
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aHA!!! I said here's a pic of it, I never said when the pic was taken. What is up with people and stickers lately?
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Yeah, these are really really good knives. Hard to pass one up at $55 for a 240mm gyuto. Hidatools site is kind of hard to get around. If you find the cuterly page and select the Chef's knives, they call it "Hiromoto Brand All Steel Meat Chef Knife". I've had mine for years and it's still a fun knife to use. It's on the right in the pic.
BTW, I think nHidatool is the only place that still has engraved kanji rather than printed left in stock. Better hurry.
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Toufas, I must have missed what boning knife you have. Please post a picture or show me a link to where you got it. If it's a western styled knife you will sharpen on both sides but at different angles for each side. DO NOT lay the knife flat on the stone. Let's see what you got first.
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yes, sticker are quite tacky...specially the glue aspect of them.
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Sweet pic of some great stuff. Yeah, those knife forums are a dangerous place when you have money to spend and even more dangerous when you don't. As Prawn said, there are a few custom makers in Japan that you can get fantastic stuff from. Watanabe, Takeda and Moritaka for example and some other websites that have great stuff too like Tadatsuna, Kiku Ichimonji, Mizuno Tanrenjo, Fujiwara Teruyasu and the one with the most knives on my wish list...Nenohi.
Edited to add the links I had to look for.
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which website you use for your japanese knives? or you go to japan?
Fantastic place to buy knives from Japan...
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As Chad wrote in the tutorial: - "Sharpness is not just a function of creating a super-thin edge that will readily sever free-hanging nose hairs;
This cracks me up. I can't wait to read his book. I'm sure it's going to be filled with enough sarcasm and wit to make my day.
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Sorry, toufas, can you give me more info on the stone you have now? What are the grit sizes? King is a good brand so no worries with that one. Yikes! You guys DO have to pay steep import fees. That sucks. Also, what do you mean westernized?
Everyone develops their own technique for sharpening so I can see how you might be a little confused by watching various people. I think it would be better for you to pick one and work with that. Be it Korins DVD or Dave's DVD. I know Dave's DVD is more thorough so you will be able to learn a lot from it. Plus he's a real nice guy and will answer any questions you would have via email or by phone if you want to spend the long distance charges.
Actually Dave has some video's that people posted a while ago. This is not what the DVD but it comes from a get together of knife nuts with dave giving a lecture/seminar on how to sharpen. The DVD is as professional as one would expect. Dave is a member here at Egullet too. Maybe he'll see this and chime in.
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Up until now, Bob's really helped me and I've gone too far now to not listen to his advice about stones and whatnot. These knives will be for professional use. I'll be bringing them with me to work and I'll be sharpening them at home.
With that out of the way, would this edgepro thing be better for me or will Bob stand by his original advice? I checked the site out and saw that the edgepro apex 3 kit is $200.
Read the Edgepro thread and you decide.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=104022
I still stick to my guns...waterstones all the way baby! I'm not dissing the Edgepro. I've never used it. Everything that I've read is that it is a good way to quickly sharpen your knives taking out the guessing game of proper angles and such by hand. I may be wrong but I don't think the Edgepro can sharpen single beveled Japanese knives like a yanagiba or deba. It's also my understanding that you can scratch your knife too but there are fixes for that. It's also my understanding that you cannot get as acute of an angle on the Apex as you can stones. But to get those acute angles you want on a Japanese knife, it takes some practice on the stones. The edgepro doesn't take a whole lot of brain power or skill to get good results. I've never personally seen a knife sharpened with the Apex so in all 100% honesty I have no clue whether the Apex is better or not. But based on what people have told me and of what I've read on knife forums, stones are the way to go. The Apex is a foolproof way to sharpen your knives. Put the knife in the grip, attach the stone, set the angle and away you go. Any monkey can do it.
But this thread is not about a discussion of stones versus the Apex. Aqquirrejr inquired about what stones to get and I answered that question. Toufas already has a stone so why would I say throw it away and spend $200 on an apex?
Also, now that I see his knives will be for work, I would say getting that HA glass steel would be a good idea. I guess I never realized it previously. You could certainly still use your stone at work to hone but the steel would be quicker at work. Use a very light touch as all you want to do is realign the edge back to where it was. As long as the edge itself remains intact (didn't get damaged) it will be just like new after steeling. Even if micro chips appear, the knife is still very usable. I get chips in my knives often because I like my edges thin. I don't bother with removing them until the whole knife gets dull. why remove all that metal if you don't have to. But then again, it's for work so you'll probably be sharpening every night anyway.
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It may be pure coincidence, but aaguirrejr's $300 budget does exactly match an EdgePro Apex Kit 3 (which includes a diamond 'steel' and much else) ...
And Toufas might be interested in the video there, the comments here (with a few notable exceptions
) and Chad's comments in the mega eGullet Sharpening Tutorial - http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036
Well, if he gets the edgepro, then the video explaining how to use the edge pro would be advisable. Then you will be well on your way to producing acceptable or awesome results depending on your perspective. Chad's tutorial is good indeed. There are plenty of articles on how to sharpen knives and when I got started I read and re-read Chad's article. I even printed it out so I could read it and have it handy to refer to when I needed. I also joined two knife forums to read about how to sharpen my knives. Problem was I needed a visual pictures alone could not provide for me. I asked questions at these knife forums and until I actually bought Korin's DVD, I hadn't any idea what they were saying. I tried real hard but just couldn't quite get what people were saying. Korin's video is what got me started and it did the just that. Dave's video on the other hand is more complete when it comes to sharpening any kind of knife on whetstones and it's been just recently available. Hence the recommendation over the video by Korin. And if you get whetstones, the Edgepro video will be useless.
Curious to know which one's you are referring to.(with a few notable exceptions ) -
Toufas, you need to get the sharpening DVD from David Martell I linked in my post above. It does a very thorough job of explaining how to sharpen. I strongly recommend it. Also, you will need to get another stone or two. Which stone do you have now?
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FT, I'm sure David can make your board 1.5 inches but honestly a 1/2 inch is such a small difference that I would see no point in it. Of course the overall size you get will affect it's overall weight but they're not any more heavy than the thick boards sold by Williams-Sonoma or any other place that has them. I have a 18x24 Boos maple board that is fairly heavy but not so heavy it becomes a burdon. I would guess this board probably weighs between 12-15 pounds. Not bad at all IMHO.
When I clean my boards I do take them to the sink, stand them on end and scrub it down rinsing with the spray. I don't know if I feel comfortable just wiping it down as it set on the counter. Not really cleaning it completely.
When I'm not using my board I stand it on it's side pushed back at the end of the counter. Only takes up a few inches of space.
The juice groove does take away usable cutting board space. Unless you're thinking of getting a large board (18x24 for example) then I would not recommend it. Plus it hinders the act of sliding food off the board directly into a bowl or onto a plate.
Yes, the feet are very nice. It stops the board dead cold from moving. While a big heavy board would stay in place better than a smaller board you are having concerns about weight so my guess is that you won't be getting a huge board. I do recommend them as they make the board stay in place extremely well. If you do get a big board, then you can certainly get it w/o feet and have one side grooved and the other not grooved. My Boo's 18x24 board is like that. My board from David has the feet but is a smaller 12x14 board. I will be getting a 18x24 Walnut board from him to match the smaller one some day.
Unless you had some specific size you wanted I think a 16x20 board is plenty big enough without going too big. A 14x18 would be decent too but it's better to have more room than you regularly need then not enough.
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p.s. your choices for your knives are outstanding. Man I love spending other peoples money (well, okay, mine too but there are consequences).
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Without question...Shapton Pro series stones is your best bet for standard sharpening. They do not need to be soaked like most other whetstones. Just keep the surface wet and your good to go. For rebeveling, chip repair and thinning the DMT DiaSharp stones are your best bet. You will need all of these things eventually but can start out with the stones that have an asterisk.
Regarding the steel...it's not needed. With the stones you will get and the fact that they don't need soaking you can do what I do. I whip out the 5k and do a few light swipes on both sides and I'm done. If you INSIST on wanting one there is only one steel I would recommend. The Hand American glass smooth steel with micro grooves. It does a great job from what I hear from users and from Dave at JKS.com. For a home user though, I don't see the urgency to get one.
There is one more thing I would add. It's a how-to DVD on learning how to sharpen Japanese knives. Dave Martell from the sharpening site below has produced a DVD that is outstanding. I have taken instruction from him personally and can attest to his ability to teach and his knowledge on the subject. Dave also does sharpen knives professionally as that's his job. I highly recommend it.
Japanese Knife Sharpening.com
Glass smooth steel Item #11 - $55
Sharpening DVD - $45*
The Japan Woodworker
1,000 grit - $49*
2,000 grit - $56
5,000 grit - $74*
And the ultimate polishing/finishing stone:
Naniwa 10,000 grit super polishing stone - $90
Craftsmanstudio.com
D8XX (120 grit) - $63
D8C (325) - $36*
D8F (600) - $35*
Stone holder - $12.50*
Total of stones, etc that have an asterisk is $252. You will be completely fine for quite a while with buying just these 4 stones, the stone holder and the DVD.
Why did I leave out the others?
I left out the Shapton 2k because I wanted to explain why it's there so you can make the decision whether to buy it or not. Grit is measured by particle size in Microns. The bigger the micron, the bigger the particle size, the lower the grit. Think of it just like sandpaper and you'll understand. The Microns in the lower grits make huge jumps from stone to stone while the microns in the higher grits make smaller jumps. Look at THIS chart. As you can see the difference in particle size from a 1k to a 5k is huge Whereas the difference between a 1k and 2k is only cut by half (and the 2k to 5k jump is siginificantly reduced as well). What does this mean to you? One of the biggest reasons for progressing though a series of stones is to remove the scratches left by the prior stone. If the jump in microns is too big, those scratches will not be completely removed and your bevels hazy. This is what is involved to polish your bevels and subsequently refine the very edge of your blade further and further by reducing the ridges (making the edge less and less toothy). Bottom line is that you can get away without the 2k but I recommend it. It certainly is within your budget.
At some point in the near future you will demand more from your knives and will want to get that edge you've never seen before. That's when the Naniwa 10kcomes into the picture. An incredible stone**. I use it to polish and put that final edge on all my knives. The Diasharp D8XX will also be needed at some point when it comes time to rebevel your knives (aka thin them out) back to where they were when you got them. That though won't be for a while.
You will need to keep your stones flat in order to sharpen your knives properly. Many people including myself use the Diasharp D8XX for this as this stone is made from metal and is machined dead flat. You can spend extra money for a dedicated flattening stone but not really needed. Only use this stone up to the 2k though. To flatten the 5k stone, you can use the D8F and to flatten the Naniwa you can use the Shapton 1k.
**An incredible stone for sure but not one to be taken lightly. It's a very soft stone and easy to gouge. I highly recommend this baby but I would suggest not using it until your proficient with your regular stones (4-6 months). Seriously, It requires someone will enough skill sharpening to use it or you'll end up cutting into it left and right and ruining the stone.
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Funny, Miles, thanks for covering.
I looked at the post what must have been three or four times and that's all I could come up with. Didn't know how to answer it. 
Had to start somewhere.
Cutting Boards
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted · Edited by Octaveman (log)
Wow, 10 lbs for 1/2" difference. Thanks for asking and posting what David said. That is good to know. I knew there was a thickness limit to avoid warping just wasn't 100% positive what that was. Maybe my Boos board weighs more than I thought. Glad you got one. What wood type did you get? Be sure to post pics when you get it!