ScoopKW

Maybe someone can help me out. (And will be drawn with laser-like precision to this topic.) Is there a decent version of the theme -- a variant of "Tu vo' fa l'americano" -- floating around?

B&B is great. Last time I was there, I noticed that they play entire CDs, start to finish. So long as they don't put on that heavy metal disc Pat Boone made awhile back.... The food is excellent. But one of their pasta dishes was too salty. I ate every bite because it was still delicious, even if over salted. Mario is also one of the few people with the stones to put tripe and brains on the menu in Las Vegas. That's reason enough to go there.

It's just that my experience with stainless isn't at all good. (Wusthof classic.) And my experience with Japanese carbon steel is sublime. If the carbon steel blade is guaranteed by more than one knife nut not to brown an onion, I don't see a down side. But if you see a down side, I'm all ears.

And I'd like to thank you for all your thoughtful advice. It's looking like a Tadasuna -- if they'll grind a lefty bevel for me. Everything else is exactly to my specs. It's not stainless, but the KnifeForum people assure me that my onions, avocados and artichokes will not brown. They're also advising me to skip the nakiri for now. Getting good with the 240mm Gyuto may obviate the need for the nakiri. (We'll see. The nakiri is the only blade I can truthfully say, "I'm good with that knife. Garlic and root vegetables, beware."

I've only used the nakiri -- the usuba looks similar, except more rounded near the tip. What's the advantage there, in your opinion? If I'm good with a nakiri, is there going to be much of a learning curve with the usuba?

Yeah, my posts have been kind of "all over the place" in this thread. Basically, I find myself wanting a little extra leverage over the 165mm Santoku in the left-handed Watanabe set and the 8" Wusthof chef's knife that I have. Without a doubt, I'm going to buy a better nakiri for breaking down veg. I use my nakiri every day, and it's probably my favorite knife -- other styles are better multitaskers. But I've gotten to that sweet spot with the nakiri where I rarely reach for a food processor because the nakiri is quicker (counting setup and breakdown of the machine) for any quantity smaller than "a sack full." So that knife has got to be non-reactive. One of the places I want the longer knife is for cutting through chicken wings and necks in stock production. 10"+ knives seem to be a lot better at this than the 8" knives I have. Anything thicker than a wing bone, and I'm reaching for a deba or a cleaver. One of the things I'm learning is that a lot of people spend 90% of their prep time with a 240mm gyuto in their hand. After trying a couple, I can see why. So the 240 will likely be doing a myriad of tasks -- but not cutting through chicken legs, beef short ribs, or granite slabs. Since 240mm seems to be my length and weight sweet spot, I want something that will be suited for the widest variety of tasks. I'm also a "buy quality and cry once" kind of person. Most of the stuff I own is "own it for a lifetime" type stuff. (Consumer electronics and such excluded, naturally.) So, my budget for this purchase is, "Whatever it takes to get the knife that will do what I want and last at least a lifetime." Cooking for me isn't a career, or a hobby or whatever. It's a life skill. I like to eat. I've found that I also really like to cook***. I'll amortize this purchase over a lifetime and not really care what the initial outlay is. That being said, I really don't care if the knife is pretty or prestigious. It's a tool, not a piece of art. If there's a $10 knife that will do what I want, that's the knife for me. If I have to spend megabucks for the knife that will do what I want, then that's the knife for me. I would rather the knife look plain -- less chance of theft than a flashy damascus blade. *** The only two days of the week I look forward to are the two days I spend at culinary school. After six hours of prepping veg and protein and then cooking it, I find myself wishing I could spend just a few more hours before going home. I would rather be brewing beer, of course. But there aren't a lot of brewing jobs available. (And none where I live. And I can't move for awhile.) I simply don't fit in except in a restaurant. So I'd rather dice onions or concasse tomatoes for 12 hours straight than work at my current "it's a crap job, but at least it's a job" job.

I found a place in town that sells Mac knives. The MBK110 10 1/2" Gyuto is so far the most comfortable knife I've tried in this quest...

I just received email back from Shinichi saying, basically, "buy a different knife if you're concerned about oxidation." So I'm back to buying a pig in a poke. It really sucks that there is no venue in a city with 10,000 restaurants for selecting a purchasing a decent knife. I realize that holding and simulating cutting in a knife shop isn't going to find me the right knife, either. But it will allow me to immediately nix the uncomfortable and wonky knives.

Paul, Would you go to this page: http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/pro/pro.htm And look at the bottom of the page about the steel recipes. With the chromium in the "blue steel" it seems to me that these blades would not be immediate onion oxidizers. I've been using my other Watanabes for about six years, and I've not noticed any kind of patina that stops onions from browning. I don't mind spending $500 on a knife. But I want to be sure it isn't going to ruin food.

Draw a big T on a sheet of paper -- the ingredients on the left, what to do with them on the right. Name, yield, and oven temp on top of the T. Draw a horizontal line wherever appropriate. I usually have three or four of these going on any given night for dinner. Just part of my mise. Feels good checking off the second to the last step. (I never check off the last step, I just tear the paper off the vent and toss it in with the recycling.)

My cookbooks are pristine -- because I find it difficult to hang the book from my overhead vent with a piece of tape. If I'm going to do a recipe, I write it out in T-format and tape it to the vent. That way I can check off the steps with a sharpie as I complete them. I've considered installing a cabinet undermount book holder. But I think my system of striking through the steps as I complete them is more efficient. Even online recipes get T-formatted. It's just how I like to work.

The thing that bothers me is that in Las Vegas, if I wanted to try a Patek Philippe, Rolex, etc. -- no problem. $10,000 watches are everywhere. Hell, I can buy a $20,000 Cartier watch at my freakin' Costco. A decent 10" chef's knife? No such luck.

I am so trying that next time I make paella.

I tried all the blades I am able in Las Vegas which means: 1) Wusthof Classic 10" -- decent feel. But I have a lot of this line already and prefer Japanese knives for the sharpness. 2) Wusthof Le Cordon Bleu 10" -- Blah. Too light. 3) Wusthof Grand Prix 2 -- Wonky handle. No thanks. 4) Ken Shun Onion -- Meh. Another wonky handle. I pinch-grip my knives, so no-go. 5) Ken Shun Kaji -- better than the Onion, I guess. But looks to be more about pretty faux-damascusing than actual use. 6) Henckels -- Didn't like it as much as the Wusthof Classic

Las Vegas has an intolerable level of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) naturally present in the tap water. Stock (which already mentioned is alkaline) made in alkaline baking-soda water is abomination. I use reverse osmosis water for stock. If pressed, I would purchase bottled water for stock fabrication rather than use Las Vegas tap water. (Dissolve 1 tablespoon of Arm and Hammer per gallon and make stock if you'd like to see why so many sauces in Las Vegas fall so very short of the mark....)

You can always add more. Saffron is one of those things where a little is good. And more is not necessarily better. I'd rather have too little. Too much tastes like some sort of toxic chemical. I threw a paella away once because I used too much saffron and the dish tasted like plastic. Never made that mistake again, I'll tell you -- waste of seafood, saffron, and a lot of cooking time.

I use a tiny little spoon that I once used for dosing out another kind of powder. As for where to buy, I use "We're low on saffron" as an excuse to vacation in Spain. I then buy in quantity and freeze it. I try to time it so that I'm low on cigars and low on saffron at about the same time. [Please mentally insert an image of Saffron Monsoon (aka Julia Swaltha) from Absolutely Fabulous. I couldn't find an image that would pass muster with copyright.] EDIT -- That was probably too snarky. In reality, I only do a few different saffron dishes. So I pinch an appropriate amount of threads. It doesn't take long to simply know how much to pinch.

I went to a few places and tried out some knives. Nothing really did it for me. It seems like Las Vegas should have a high-end cutlery store considering how many restaurants are in town. Maybe I should ditch my dream of opening my own brewpub and just open a knife shop instead....

Andie, I would love to see you do a side-by-side comparison of those two spoons. I'm guessing I would prefer the Kunz, because it's more "spoon like." The above spoon looks interesting, but also looks more ladle-like.

I remember reading a book that mentioned a "Chivas and Grape Tang" cocktail. Wish I could remember the title. I also wish I could find a public domain image of grape-flavored Tang to complete this message. In other Scotch abomination stories: I once worked in a liquor store (for a few months). Two men came in and purchased 750ml of Johnnie Walker blue. Before they left the store, one said to the other, "Oh, shit. I forgot the Diet Coke." Yes, I asked. Yes, they were going to mix them. Overpriced $200 blended Scotch and diet cola.

I have a Krupps burr grinder that I think cost $50 -- we received it free at Macy's through a promotion. Meh. I have to grind with both hands on the grinder -- that way I can shake some beans into the works when it makes it's "high-pitched squeal of displeasure." It's still better than a whirly-blade grinder. But a pain nonetheless. A better grinder is in my future. But not my immediate future.

I have All Clad Cop*R*Chef that I bought on eBay for diddly-squat. ($50 for two pots and a 10" fry, with copper lids. Yes, I realize that's almost criminal. It took three hours to get the crud off of them. Still, score!) I made a pound of Beurre Noisette for the first time today and nailed it because the 1 quart pot is super responsive. As soon as I could smell it, I was able to stop the cooking just by lifting the pot off the fire. When I was using crap cookware, I often made beurre noisette or, worse, "beurre carbonne" by trying to clarify butter and screwing it up. I haven't ruined any beurre since acquiring the copper pots. And as mentioned above, browning onions is a joy. Definitely worth the $50.

Thanks for that info. What I really want, I suppose, is a blade that takes (and keeps) an edge like the Watanabe knives I have, but doesn't brown onions* just by touching them. Is there a "best of both worlds"? * And also bruise basil, and practically ruin avocados upon contact.

Forgot to mention -- I have a serviceable cleaver (another Wusthof -- I have about a dozen Wusthofs from the 8" Chef's knife on down to the pairing knife.) I like the chef's knife for removing the backbone. If I have to go through anything tougher than that, I'll reach for the cleaver. I've also been wanting to reach for a 10" knife often these days, and don't own one. So it will be used for a lot of things. My experience is limited, but I think if I had a 10" French knife or Gyuto, it would be my "go-to" blade. (The Go-to -- that's kind of funny. Maybe a Japanese knife maker with a sense of humor will release a line of Gotos.)

I'm in the market for a 10" chef's knife. I need a little more leverage and heft when dispatching poultry. I also like the extra two inches for when I'm rocking. I have a good set of Wusthof classics that I'm OK with. I much prefer these Watanabe knives -- http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/standard/l6knife.htm -- they're not the best he makes, but I love the edge I can put on them and keep on them. And I do a lot of pull cutting. My one problem with this set is it tends to oxidize onions and bruise basil compared to my stainless Wusthofs. (Yes, I wash and wipe regularly during use. If anyone has any advice as to why my nakkiri oxidizes onions so quickly, I'm all ears.) I don't have a means of trying out Hattori or any of the other high-end knives. I could go to Williams Sonoma and try some Shun Ken Onions -- but they top out at 8 inch. I don't mind spending a little more for this knife because I've been borrowing a friend's 10" Wusthof, and I much prefer it to the 8" that I have. But in general I prefer the Watanabes, so I'm wondering if Iwao's 10" knife would be the knife for me. (It would run about $500 for the left handed 240mm Gyuto. (http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/pro/pro.htm) Do you think Iwao's blue steel blades would oxidize veggies as quickly as his carbon steel blades? Other than the veggie oxidation thing, I quite happy with the knives. Anyone know a place in Las Vegas where I can demo decent steel? I can't find any place that sells such knives (which I find odd considering all the restaurants in the area). Or am I being ass-backward? Should I just buy the Wusthof because it's built like a tank? (And it's going to be used for a lot of poultry dispatching.) And then find a nakkiri that doesn't oxidize onions? Thanks in advance for what I'm sure is going to be a broad range of opinion!