mr drinkie

By they way, the Fowler blade (second from left on top) is for sale at Kitchen Knife Forums. $400 with leather sheath. k.

Did you mean bottom left? The bottom right one in the OP photo is a Takeda and doesn't look to be hankotsu style. Anyhow, most of them that I have seen people have are the Misono but Kikuichi has it in their elite carbon line too. Masahiro also has one I think. IMO I'd probably go with the kikuichi. k.

By the way, the owner of the knives in the OP wrote a knife article for an upcoming issue. There will also be more pictures of knives in there. http://www.buzzfeed.com/luckypeach/knives-out-the-best-knives-in-america k.

Thanks for the points everyone. The maker is actually going to ship me a couple to demo before making more and I am going to let some bartenders try them out. Just a few responses/comments to your input: * Regarding the twist being rough on the hands, two of the bartenders I spoke with about the stirrer requested the twist as they used the second stirring variation in slkinsey's post. They demonstrated to me how the twist made it easier. With that said, I see your point and the variation in the twist pattern on the spoon may not be as hand friendly. * I like the ice crushing concept. I hadn't thought about that. * The teardrop shape also appeals to me, and I might have him make the second demo with a teardrop. * As for the teaspoon measure idea, it sounds good, but I don't think that will be quite possible with hand forging. To try calibrate an exact teaspoon when hammering the spoon portion out would likely be a PITA. Also, I looked at my measuring spoons, and the teaspoon is actually quite big. Do the ones at Cocktail Kingdom hold a teaspoon of liquid? I could maybe see a half teaspoon working -- if it is even feasible in terms of being hand made. And since the topic of hand-forged spoons rarely comes up, I will use this opportunity to attach some pictures of my hand-forged damascus spoon k.

The one pictured is made out of 304L stainless steel. Just FYI. k.

I must admit that I am more into wine than cocktails, but recently I have fallen into a bad crowd of enabling bartenders and decided that it would be cool to have a hand-forged cocktail stirrer/spoon made. I know it sounds like a luxury (and it is), but they all seem to really like the idea. I got some input from my bartender buddies, and the metalsmith out of the UK has made me a test spoon. I would appreciate thoughts/concerns from this cocktail-centric crowd. I'm not trying to research anything, this is just for personal use and gifts for bartender friends. See the pictures below. I just want to say that I am not trying to make the perfectly functional spoon but something that is very functional and also unique. The length is 12 inches, but this is my time to make improvements to the design. And if you are tempted to suggest the fork at the end, that has already been ruled out. k.

If you want to see more of Matt's knives go to this link. And from the photos, the last one #10 is a konosuke. k.

Just keep in mind that Rader is mostly making these knives to an individual's requested specs. His knives are definitely not 'delicate' and he prefers western to wa handles, but I've handled this knife of Mr. Rader (link below) and it is amazing. Rader 270mm Gyuto k.

Rader's integral bolster western handle knives are amazing. He produces some of the most beautiful knives out there -- but it will cost you Fowler is newer to kitchen knives. I have a couple of his, and he is playing around with profile and styles a bit, but his knives keep getting better IMO. The Gesshin Heiji from Japanese Knife Imports is an interesting line. Jon at JKI brings in some really exciting knives and his service is above top notch. His site is like a knife porn site. I give up on the idea of ever owning a custom Kramer. And I agree with the previous poster that the Devin Thomas ITK is amazing. I have a 270mm gyuto and it keeps its edge for a scary long time. k.

1. Michael Rader 2. Stephan Fowler 3. Kramer 4. Carter 5. Devin Thomas ITK 6. Gil Cote Fillet 7. Carter 8. Gesshin Heiji (I think) 9. Shigefusa (I think) 10. Not sure about the last (maybe another Devin Thomas) k.

I am always confused by egg storage. In much of Europe and the rest of the world, eggs are not refrigerated. I thought I read somewhere that in the US our farms wash the bloom off the egg making the shell permeable so we have to refrigerate our eggs. I'm not sure if that is true or not. And if our egg distribution is good, you have to admire those countries that imprint a number on every single egg in the name of food safety. Bravo. With that said, I did have a miracle with my eggs recently. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a dozen eggs and every single egg had a double yolk. Either that is a miracle or I don't want to know what drugs that bird was on. k.

Is your Wusthof one of those grooved metal steels? Those can be pretty aggressive. The Togiharu isn't that hard of a steel -- I think they are 57-58 hrc. So using a rod of any sort is less of an issue. My Japanese-style knives are all 60+ hrc. The edges don't fold over as much and the thinner edge is prone to chipping, so aggressive steels aren't a good match. With that said, I think a fine grit ceramic rod would be an improvement over any grooved steel and they aren't that expensive. I do have one rod that I sometimes use with my harder steel Japanese knives, which is made out of borosilicate/glass. It is finer and less aggressive yet than the ceramic rod. I used to employ it more often, but I love my strops so much now that I don't use it as much.

For my Japanese knives I run them on a leather bench hone loaded with diamond spray before each use. For European blades I use a ceramic Idahone rod before each use. I take all my knives to the stone when they need it. I will go to a higher grit with my J-knives (up to 8k). k.

I probably wouldn't even worry about the seeds. Big seeds are too fibrous in my opinion. I have had some pumpkins (not giant ones) with very large seeds and they didn't roast up as well. Big pumpkins are just that: big. Btw, if you go to Hope, AK to the Bill Clinton museum in town you can see pictures of Bill Clinton right next to farmers with giant watermelons.

Good point about the sizes. Just FYI, I was too tempted at the Farmers' Market today and bought a few different squashes (all about the size of an acorn squash). I roasted them up and they took way too long and all of them obviously cooked at different speeds. I was a pain, but at least one of the varieties turned out very tasty.