Octaveman

sushi rice?

Yes, the original profile is pretty flat and many people find that a plus but they're using a push/cut style or basically like a santoku would be used. Asking for more belly does make it a rocker. One can change handles of the same type. Changing from a traditional to a western handle is not an option because the tang is completely different. I suppose it can be done but at significant cost. I'm not a handle maker so I could be wrong on this though. Send EE.com an email and ask them as I know they do make western style handles too. Rockwell on Takeda's AS knives is 61-63. Takea uses a 1:1 exchange rate as they have misc fees/taxes they charge in addition to the cost of the blade. A 270mm gyuto would be closer to $200 shipped. If you get your knife with more belly and you find it doesn't rock enough for you, you can send it to DR Sharpening and have the blade reground too. Just an option to help you keep the knife if you get it. I hate to see someone unhappy with their knives and always try to recommend a fix if the knife is worthy. Takeda's knives are worthy.

That's okay, don't worry about it. I probably am not conveying what I'm thinking into words correctly. I'm actually not sure why Alan was concerned about rocking his knife with garlic when the tip becomes problematic when rocking with much larger items. A longer knife gives the user the flexibility of using those larger items because the fulcrum is yada yada yada. I rock my knives with large items all the time so this really shouldn't be much of a concern. And you're right, moving the food closer to the heel will help make the motion easier with larger foods. I think my main point I was trying to make was that it's easier to rock with longer knives than short ones...so a "German rocker shape" is irrelevant to being an effective rocker. Does that make sense? It does in MY head.

I think carbon steel will be fine for you. I never oil mine. I just make sure to dry them well before putting them back into the block. I have but a few brief points on your questions/thoughts that would be simpler to just list them. 1. The Kyocera knife you have is the same shape as a Japanese gyuto. 2. Honestly, pretty much any chef knife no matter how flat a profile will rock just fine with garlic. This is because the knife just does not get very high to chop said garlic. Now rocking with a large onion is a different story. The longer the length, the easier it is to get the food under the knife because of the higher fulcrum (or something like that). 3. A Santoku has a stubby tip which makes it a bad rocker. Better suited to push/cut style. 4. There are longer santoku's out there but it's not the ideal shape for you since you want a rocking knife. The average 270mm gyuto width is about 54mm from spine to edge (at the heel) so this will give you an idea as to scoopability. Pretty wide. 5. BUT!!! There is an option and is an outstanding option since carbon is now the steel of choice. See the first suggestion. Takeda Hamono Click on Online Catalog on the left and then click on Kitchen Knives. Then click on the Gyuto. This makers knives have incredibly good steel and are what I feel one of the top carbon steel knives out there today. You want screaming sharp? You want a wide knife for scooping? You want it with high HRC? You want a stubbier tip? You want high quality craftsmanship? You want high quality materials? Look no further. 1. The black part is called kuro-uchi and is the unfinished side of the blade after forging. It will not rust, it does not come off on your food, it has a rustic look and feel to it that I find extremely unique and appealing. 2. You cannot pay for it online. You have to send an international postal money order to them. No worries about the process though. I've done it and nobody has had any issues with lost payments or not getting their knife. You should feel comfortable with the process. 3. They do semi custom requests. What you want is the gyuto "with more belly". I made this request and they gave me a knife that had a taller profile and is a great rocker. 4. You want the AS version wich is the Blue Super or Aogomi Super (AS). Tough as hell steel. 5. What you do to order is put the 240mm AS in your cart and fill out the form. In the comments section tell them you do not want a 240 but you want a 270mm "with more belly". Those are the magic words. They will send you an email back with the quote for your knife. You send the money order to them and if they have the knife in stock they will send it off and you'll have it in about a week from the time they get their money. If they don't have it in stock, they will make one. In that case it will take about 2-3 weeks. Here's the one problem with Takeda's knives for you...this knife does not have a european handle design. Given the fact that you're trying to find the holy grail of knife for you this one comes about as close as your going to get without spending 3x's as much for a custom knife. Masamoto Virgin Carbon Steel at JCK in Japan Masamoto Virgin Carbon Steel at Korin in NY This is an option too. I've heard good things about the blade perfromance but have not heard great things about the fit and finish. The handle at times has not been the greatest. I've never used or seen it so I can't comment first hand. It does give you the standard euro handle.

Japanese gyuto's have more of a French shape than a German shape. Shun is the only one I can think of that is more of a German shape. I use my gyuto's in a rocking motion all the time and never had a ny issues with the tip sticking in the board. Plenty of room for rocking...at least in the longer knives.

Okay, good. The length will either be 240mm (9.5") or 270mm (10.5"). My personal view and experience is that if you use a pinch grip on the knife you lose about 30mm of usable edge at the heel because you'd be cutting up food right below your fingers and who likes that? Not me...that's why I prefer a 270mm. I can choke up with a pinch grip and still have plenty of edge to use. This is my prefered length for just about everything including mincing garlic and shallots. Now, for the ideas to consider: Hiromoto AS Item# TJ-20AS or TJ-15AS depending on your preference is an outstanding knife. What makes it outstanding is it has a super blue carbon steel core surrounded or clad by stainless. Only the exposed core will form a patina and rust if you leave it out wet and don't wash/dry it when you're done using it. I know you said you didn't want it to rust, well, then wash it and dry it when you're done. It won't rust upon contact with water. Blue steel is somewhat resistant to staining and rusting over other carbon steels. At any rate, this knife will give you carbon steel performance in a near stainless knife. Great knife and a toss up between this and the Blazen but.... Ryusen Blazen This knife has a powdered tool steel blade and is very strong with great edge-holding capabilities. It is stainless, has great blade geometry, has great fit and finish and it comes with a saya (blade sheath). Kikuichi Top notch stainless knife from a company with a long history. Yoshikane This is one styled different in that it has the traditional Japanse styled handle on it. The blade though is what makes this one stand out. It uses SKD die tool steel and is truely one of the best blades out there in terms of toughness and edge retention. The only thing about this knife is that the handle is not a great one. People I know who have bought this knife have sent it HERE to have the handle replaced. Knives with handles like these are easy to get used to specially if you use a pinch grip. Awesome blade very worthy of consideration. Kanetsugu Pro-M These are surprisingly nice for the money. I've never tried them but people who have felt they are a really good knife. Nothing super special about them, just quality made and come nicely sharpened OOTB. Mizuno Hontanren Series If you think you may consider a carbon steel blade (which is better than stainless in terms of performance) then item# GF-30 is what I would highly recommend. Hand made blades that are made with the highest quality standard. Again, this is a carbon blade so it will patina and it could rust if you are abusive. A definate knife to consider if carbon steel is an option. No need for handle replacement...perfect as is and you get to choose what color ferrule too.

Budget? Let me add something else too. I'm not trying to make you spend more than you want but a Chef's knife is your most used knife therefore the most amount of money should be spent on this knife. I can recommend knives that are under $100 but there is one that is about $200 that will fit what you're looking for. The knives under $100 are no slouches so don't feel you HAVE to spend that much to get a good knife. This thread has some good discussions as to what knife to buy too. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=97416 Also, since learning the skill of sharpening on stones is not an option I can recommend only two places that know how to sharpen Japanese knives and do so by hand. These are the only two places I would trust with my knives. www.epicureanedge.com and D & R Sharpening

The steel he's using is not a glass smooth steel. Hand American is where you can get them. It's basically a smooth rod to use to get your edge back into alignment. A few light, no pressure swipes on both sides and your edge is back into alignment and still intact. By using a grooved, diamond or ceramic steel, the surface will straighten the edge out of course but it will also start to eat away at your original edge. The edge then becomes more "toothy" and while many people think that's a good thing (and it can be) it's something that if done repeatedly will actually dull your knife quicker because it's removing more and more metal with each swipe. Not good when all you want to do is realign your already sharp edge. The smooth steel will not do any of the above other than put your edge back straight. I have one and use it very infrequently but that's because I just pull out a stone to hone my knives and in doing so, I also get a quick refresher sharpening too. I do use it when I'm mostly in the middle of something and notice the edge to be a tad dull. Once per year is a huge stretch. How often the steel is used and how often you sharpen is completely dependant on your knife skills and how much you use the blades. Shun knives are not that hard to only require once/year sharpenings. I have a very expensive, very hard knife that is considered the best you can get and I still sharpen it every few months. Keep in mind he's selling something. I feel there are better knives out there.

Alan, wow!, I must have overlooked your post entirely back then. It was the day after my birthday so I might have been in a fog still. Sorry for not seeing it when you posted. Did you decide on Shun? How often you sharpen will depend on how you use them and how often you use them. Alton claims once per year? That's quite funny. He's probably taking into account steeling but a year is a bit out there IMHO. I sharpen my knives about once per month but it's mostly touch-ups and not a complete sharpening because they're so dull they can't cut anything right. That happens every few months for me. I'd say with very light steeling with a smooth glass steel (not groved, not ceramic, not diamond), your edge would last a few months. If your already sharpening with stones, the steel isn't necessary really. Pull out a high grit stone and lightly take a few swipes on both sides. Few minutes is all it takes.

Ate there for Thanksgiving 2003 and was quite good. Ate there again for brunch Mother's Day 2007 and was not as good as I remembered. This was the buffet so take that into consideration. I've never eatin there off their regular menu so it may be good, I wouldn't know. The location is very nice with a great view of the ocean. I'd ask for a window seat though to get the view unobstructed. Nice hotel too.

Don't confuse "boning" a chicken and chopping it up. Boning is just taking meat off the bone. A cleaver is not needed for that but is a good idea if you want to split thigh or leg bones in half.

Chef's knives or santoku's of any brand are not made to go through bones. These are general prep knives of veggies with double usage as slicers in a pinch. You can probably use them to go through joints and to take the meat off the bone but never use them to split bones in half or any portion thereof. Rib bones, maybe but you'd be taking your chances on folding or chipping your edges. If you insist, I can recommend a good knife sharpener. Santoku's don't get very long so they're only useful to a point. An 8" chef is the smallest you should go with 10" being about the top end but some of the longer Euro knives start to get blade heavy at this length. Shun Classic (not Ken Onion) would be my choice and the 8" is well balanced. The 10" is a bit blade heavy but would be more versatile. If you want a good, cheap boning knife to go along with your new chefs knife, get the Honesuki (F-803 Boning) at this retailer. It will be on your doorstep in less than a week.

Kouign, sorry, but that kind of cracks me up with the 3 strawberries. We spend all this time watering, babying, protecting the precious strawberry plants only to get a small handfull of fruit. I had a miniature SB plant once and I was all excited when I saw fruit coming and after all my patience and nurturing, I got a few berries that were about the size of a dime. Most definately not worth the payout.

Very nice looking fruit Mukki. I'd be pissed too if people were stealing the goods.

It's just another style of knife to cut stuff up. Santoku, chef's, Nakiri all do the same job...some better than others.

Those rubber boards are meant to stay on the counter. Think of them as a semi permanent counter doubling as a usable as a cutting board. If I had enough counter space that didn't see a lot of traffic, I'd definately get one.

Last night was a recipe from Supatra Johnson's cookbook the Crying Tiger: Chicken with Lemon Grass. Loved this dish. Served with white and brown Jasmine rice. Tonight was a simple yet delicious pot roast.

Shapton stones are the way to go. They will last a very very long time. Very quick cutting action. http://www.shaptonstones.com/stones/profseries.php http://www.shaptonstones.com/stones/glass.php

Don't know but this guy may be able to get something to order... http://www.theboardsmith.com/

Well, that was difficult to read. If they haven't showed up in an hour, you call their hotel to see if the checked in and if they're still there. If they've check in and are not at the hotel, give them an hour then leave to meet them at the hotel. If they are smart they would've taken a taxi. If it were me in that group I would've suggested ditching you for not meeting us at the hotel and taking us to the restaurant in a foreign country that we don't speak the language and we don't know the area and we've never been there before and we're on vacation to have a good time not spend it driving around the city just to eat dinner..

If you do, ask to sit in the back close to the back wall. I won't tell you what's back there but it's a very very nice spot to sit and eat your meal.

You betcha. Let us know what you think when you get them...them? How many you getting? Or, what are you getting?

Hello and welcome. Out of your choices I would say in order of preference.... 1. Hiromoto AS 2. Tojiro powdered 3. Masamoto 4. Hattori HD The Hiromoto has a super blue carbon steel core so it's not 100% stainless. The handle is very comfortable. It is an awesome knife and is my hands down favorite of those above. The Tojiro is a very tough work horse of a knife. I've never used the Masamoto but the line is very good. The Hattori is also very good but is a bit more fragile than the others. Cheers, Bob

Hard to say really because reviews of knives are purely based on personal opinion and it's rare that one person will have tried all the others in addition to the Sakon. A guy I know and who's opinion I trust has one and loves it. The picture of the Sakon is kind of deceiving in that the nickel damascus finish has more of a chrome look that what you see in the picture. The alternating dark/light colored pattern is due to reflection and not actual finish of the blade. I saw the gyuto in this brand and it's not a finish I prefer but that's just me. I do have to add that the blade material is very tough and will hold up well to normal usage. I think it's a powdered steel of some kind. Here are a few pics of a Carter that someone I know just bought. Elegent in it's simplicity and perfect in it's style #1 and #2. Can you tell I'm pushing you toward the Carter? You said you wanted something special...this is it. But to answer your question directly do I think the $210 Nakiri is worth it's price compared to the others? Will the Sakon perform 4 times better than the Tojiro DP? My answer would be no, not to me. The higher price is due to the damascus and to some extent the core steel. Since I'm not thrilled about the knife's finish I wouldn't buy this knife. For the money, the DP is a great knife. More people own a Tojiro DP than do a Sakon. Some of those people own the DP Damascus and find it's a beautiful knife. The Carter will probably cost around $200+ but to me, it's well worth the money given that it's hand-made by a westerner who studied in Japan for 8+ years and became a master bladesmith (cliff notes version). This guy knows how to make Japanese knives and frankly is one of the best. I would take a hand-made knife over a production knife anyday.

I'm in the wrong business.