Help me select a 10" chef's knife....

[Blether]

I have a good set of Wusthof classics that I'm OK with.

I much prefer these Watanabe knives

It's just that my experience with stainless isn't at all good. (Wusthof classic.) And my experience with Japanese carbon steel is sublime.

Just stay away from the Kool-aid

[paulraphael]

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.

There are hundreds of stainless steels and hundreds of carbon steels. The only thing that makes stainless steel stainless is 13% or more chromium by weight. The amount of carbon and other alloying elements and of all the various proportions of ingredients make a huge difference. Wustof and the other solingen knife makers all use the same alloy; it's one optimized for corrosion resistance and toughness, at the expense of many other performance-related qualities. This alloy has little in common with the higher end stainless knife steels like the one tadatsuna uses.

When I compared the white steel Tadatsuna to the stainless one, I found the stainless one to have slightly better edge retetention and resistance to chipping. I also liked that I didn't have to babysit the patina, or worry about it discoloring acidic foods when fresh off the sharpening stones. I have friends who have no problem with this, but I personally prefered the carefree feel of the stainless gyuto. In theory, the carbon steel one should take a slightly sharper edge, but with my journeyman sharpening abilities there was no noticeable difference. Both are extremely easy to sharpen. On the stones the stainless blade feel just like carbon steel.

I like carbon steel for knives that mostly cut protein (slicing knives, etc.). I think you can get more bang for you buck with carbon, and for this kind of knife there's no downside.

These are just my personal preferences. I know people who who prefer the carbon steel version of this knife. But I can promise that you won't be disapointed with the performance of the stainless version. It's a killer alloy.

[catdaddy]

I am having a problem with this discussion.

If you want to collect knives I respect that. Finding good blades to use day to day is easy. Forshner, Chicago Cutlery, and et al. make good knives.

After I learned to correctly sharpen my knives I quit wanting to spend hundreds for a single blade.

I have used a Ken Onion Shun (thanks Dad) every day for the last 12 months and love it. For it's hardness as well as the fact that I love holding it. It's far sexier than its European brothers.

The best knife I've ever bought is a stamped Henceks bonig knife. Wish I could find another one.

[paulraphael]

If you want to collect knives I respect that. Finding good blades to use day to day is easy. Forshner, Chicago Cutlery, and et al. make good knives.

I don't think anyone here wants to collect knives. You're right that finding good blades is easy, but the OP was looking for knives that perform like his Watanabes, which are great blades. Nothing by Forschner, Shun, etc. comes close.

[Conal]

It's just that my experience with stainless isn't at all good. (Wusthof classic.)

Wusthof and Tadatsuna are both stainless steel in the same way that Hershey's and Valrhona are both chocolate.

[Dakki]

True, that.

It's also true not all "carbon steels" (which I think to most people simply means non-"stainless") are the same. They range from something like 1060 (which is simply iron alloyed with ~0.60% carbon by weight) to [started on a pointless and needlessly confusing exposition here but got tired of reading my own writing] some really complex alloys.

The ferrous alloy naming game is kind of funny because all steel has carbon, but not all iron + carbon alloys are steel, "stainless steel" can rust and some non-stainless actually has better corrosion resistance (always depending on the particular alloy and the particular corrosive agent, temperature, etc) than stainless, and so on. I could definitely see how a "carbon steel" knife made by one manufacturer might oxidize an onion while another doesn't. No idea who uses what in their "carbon steel" kitchen knives, but it would be interesting to find out!

ScoopKW, if you aren't married to the idea of a single knife to rule them all, you could always get exactly what you want in carbon and a backup in a "fancy" stainless or even one of those ceramic jobs for the stuff that oxidizes with your main knife?

Edited March 4, 2010 by Dakki (log)