Jonpong

I believe you have to do the clarification at room temp, which takes about 8 hours or so. But i have yet to try it, hopefully this week if im not too lazy

Hey Octaveman, so my FH Gyuto arrived and its an amazing knife! Thanks for the recommendation again. Cheers.

Octaveman, how would you compare these knives to the ones you recommended? http://www.paulsfinest.com/Hattori-Knives-p-1-c-26.html

Fantastic. I was planning to get a pair of shapton stones. Time to whip out the card and start shopping. Thanks for all your help Octaveman.

What i meant by "traditional" was that the steel wasn't stainless, and as i understand it the steel is much harder than european knives so it takes more work to sharpen the edge, but would keep the edge longer than the softer euro steel. But since you stated that VG10 is harder, im used to using Henkels, would a 1000 grit and 4000 or 5000 grit whet stone be feasible for using on the Hattori knives?

Thanks for the link and info. I had wanted to replace my chef's knife but the gyuto is definitely the knife i would consider getting now that you pointed it out. And the VG10 steel is similar to european knives im assuming, so sharpening is much easier than traditional japanese knives. I like the style and design of japanese knives but the hassle of maintaining them has kept me away.

What exactly is the pinch grip? Is it when the index finger is over the back of the blade and the thumb on the other side? cause thats how i hold mine. How do you find the steel, edge wear wise, and how easily it takes on an edge? could you compare it to any other knives? I was checking out some japanese knives, could you recommend a brilliant santoku thats rust resistant? Im just a bit overwhelmed by all these blades and i just wanna find a really good chefs knife and santoku blade.

Im thinking of getting this knife from a canadian knife maker, Thomas Haslinger, which is the Evolution, its the one on the bottom right, Santoku style but with straight edges http://www.haslinger-knives.com/available.html Anyways, was wondering if anyone had experience with Haslinger or would care to comment on this blade cause its a lot of money for me to commit.

Good point about the probes, i'll have to look into that. Thanks.

Im looking for a professional thermometer for use in the restaurant. Been checking out some industry probes and would like anyone whose played around with any good ones if they could share a bit. Planning to spend between $50-150, with a really good temperature range -50 C to +300 C, with 0.1 C resolution and preferably 0.5 C accuracy. Are the Thermapen's any good? Seem quite basic and simple, which is fine, but expensive so im guessing their quite durable. Also was looking into those combo thermometers, probe and infrared.

Mmmm ya those Shapton stones look amazing... I just have to find a retailer in canada who has em. Thanks for the recommendation. I still might get a spyderco if i can find a reasonable price for it here, be helpful to sharpen scissors and serrated knives.

Thanks for the input guys. Ya the aphex edge pro is abit outta my range, and it seems to me that it would be a bit clunky to have at work, though im sure it does an amazing job. Another question i had was that im having trouble finding the Spyderco sharpmaker in canada for a decent price, anyone know of retailers in canada? And again, if anyone has any comments about the global whetstones i would be more than pleased to hear em, or if i should just pick up some random japanese whetstone instead...

I've been using whetstones for a few years, but i haven't really researched about all the different types until recently. My last stone was a Global Ceramic Whetsone, medium grit 1000, 5 mm depth, until it got nicked at work! Anyways, now im shopping for a new one, i really enjoyed using the global, but ive been reading about the Spyderco 204 sharpmaker a lot, and it looks quite promising... Just wondering if i should get the spyderco instead, even though i enjoy using a whetstone. And if i were to get another whetstone, what are your thoughts about the Global Ceramic series?? the 24mm depth Global's look even more attractive, or if you guys could recommend any other stones, im looking for a 1000 and 5000 grit stone, no combo ones though. Thanks.