Kitchen Knives: Preferences, Tips, General Care

[KarenS]

I like Wusthoff Trident. I have a nine inch that they have replaced twice! (gotta love that lifetime guarantee). I also have a few Sabatier that I really like. It seems to me that men are often happier with Global knives then women. Knives are a totally personal thing; it is how they feel in your hand.

[SG-]

Okay finally made my way to the local Sur La Table store here in greater philly today, they're the only ones in the area that carry messermeister. Cutting edge definitely looks more respectable than wusthof but overall the finish still pales in comparison to the better japanese knives (global is not in this category unfortunately in my opinion). Have not got a chance for an upclose view of eberhard schaaf which is supposedly the best built german knife.

At this point thinking of giving up on german knives altogether and just build my collection exclusively of japanese knives, the are just way superior be it stainless or carbon steel!! For those who have not handled nenoxs, suisin, mac, masamoto, glestain, misono etc, you have to try them out at least once and compare to the europeans. Ony drawback is that no one I know of makes the super functional german shape.

Might have to resort to a custom made from Bob Kramer. For current owners how do they compare to the likes of say a nenox?

[mpav]

I bought the G5, the G2 and a little parer (GSF 15?) I use the parer all the time, the G5 quite a bit, and the G2 not so much. I'm still partial to a Sabatier I've had since high school. I just had to have a knife like Julia's.

The Global's I bought on Ebay, at a substantial saving, even with shipping, over prices in Manhattan. At least prices I found.

[Schneier]

Anybody on this thread know where to buy these knives at reasonable prices? Or, at least, more reasonable than the average way-too-expensive kitchen supply store?

Bruce

[Chad]

I have a collection of Henkels (4 star and a 10" professional S), and I just bought a 10" Kershaw/Kai Shun chef's knife. I've been building the Henkels collection for years, so they're very comfortable, but I do like the new knife -  see it here. It's got a D shaped handle in cross-section, so if you're a lefty, it won't work, but which works very well for my hands, which are kind of big.

The blade is beautiful - which has to count for something!

It's *very* sharp, and holds its edge far better than the Henkels. It's also put together better, in my opinion. The gaps between the handle and butt-cap and blade are non-existant. Very clean and beautifuly finished.

It's a little heavier than a global, but not as heavy as the Henkels.

I recommend them so far. Time is the test though, and they're new.

This is a very cool knife. Kershaw has a good reputation and the Kai/Shun line is the coolest thing to come out of Seki in a long, long time. I've long felt that VG10 would be the ultimate kitchen steel. It takes an insanely sharp edge, holds that edge for quite while, even under heavy use, is relatively easy to resharpen and keeps a "toothy" profile. Nifty. Damn nifty.

I've had custom kitchen knives in ATS-34, BG42 and several other exotic steels, but nothing has sliced and diced as well as my VG-10 pocket knives. Sad but true. Until now, no one made a good kitchen knife in VG-10, except Falkniven's "Blue Whale" and I hate the design. Needless to say I have a serious lust for the Kai/Shun 10 incher. Dunno why they just used VG-10 as the core. It wouldn't have been any more expensive to use it for the whole blade. But then you wouldn't get the cool Damascus steel look that they've gone for. That's something, I suppose.

Nice score.

Chad

[Human Bean]

[...]nothing has sliced and diced as well as my VG-10 pocket knives.

Largely unrelated, but but my shrimp peeler/de-veiner knife is an old Buck penknife with a 1.75 inch blade; it's what I've always used, so I guess I'll keep on using it. The closest "real" knife that I have is a Mac 4 inch paring knife, but it wouldn't be the same. Both are kept more-or-less razor-sharp.

The best knife is the one that's most comfortable to use, and that is sharp enough when you're using it. (And you need to keep it sharp; see the tutorial.)

Brand names are largely irrelevant if it's comfortable and sharp.

[Schneier]

Many Japanese blades are beveled only on one side as opposed to the typical "V "of a European knife.

Does this make a difference if you're a lefty?

Bruce

[ronnie_suburban]

Many Japanese blades are beveled only on one side as opposed to the typical "V "of a European knife.

Does this make a difference if you're a lefty?

Bruce

Yes it does..they can be made specifically for a right or left-handed user.

=R=

Edited September 22, 2003 by ronnie_suburban (log)

[Schneier]

Yes it does..they can be made specifically for a right or left-handed user.

We'd have to get two, and then work out some sort of system. I'm left handed, and my wife is right handed.

Bruce

[ronnie_suburban]

We'd have to get two, and then work out some sort of system.  I'm left handed, and my wife is right handed.

...and you married her anyway?!

=R=

(another lefty married to a righty)

[Marlene]

We'd have to get two, and then work out some sort of system.  I'm left handed, and my wife is right handed.

...and you married her anyway?!

=R=

(another lefty married to a righty)

Same here. I'm a lefty, hubby's right handed. He's always complaining about my left handed scissors

[Schneier]

I've resigned myself to contorting my hand and using right-handed scissors, just as I've resigned myself to holding my hand funny when I write.

Bruce

[PseudoFinn]

My work knives. The ones that go with my EVERYWHERE-

10" wide cooks

10" standard cooks

8" cooks

10.5" bread

12" flexible salmon slicer

6.5" santoku

5.5" tomato

3.5 inch sheeps foot

2.75" fluting

toss in a 10" wide steel a pair of poultry shears and an arsenal of sharpies and that's my road kit. They are all Wusthof classic series blades. I swear by them. The nice German steel is high-maintenance though- I spend about 15 minutes a day on them. It's worth it.

To Myste- the gourmet series is crap. THat's basically the same product as the junk Emeril the Ewok series. No good. It's stamped. Wusthof has a 4 ton forging hammer. That's what you want to make your knife- if it's nice Solingen steel. Get a forged knife. All you need it an 8" cooks knife anyway.

Schneier- If you're looking for a good place to buy them.... KnifeMerchant.comor Knives and Tools. The latter has cheaper prices on WUsthofs and most other brands. About 60 bucks for your brand new 8" forged Wusthof cook's knife from them.

I love Wusthof blades. Always will. Until I get lazy and get some Globals like our favorite "Celebrity" Chef did some time back. (Tony... you out there?)

Kyocera ceramic products are very cool. Not very practical. Sure Ming looks bad ass with his feather-light blue carbon blade- but you can't chop with it, seen a half-moon crescent come out of a yellow squash from a jackhole twisting it goofily somehow while chopping into it. Aside from that... ceramic is brittle. Drop it once in a kitchen down to the floor and it's all over. Expensive knife too. Silly, impractical- very cool.

Other than Wusthof basically being God's gift to me as far as I care, people like Mac knives. Globals feel akward and silly in my hand- henkels are just totaly wrong and Lamson Sharp makes a good blade- but I don't think I can get down on an American knive. Just like when SKY came out. Really.... American Vodka? Throw it out with the Absolut shit.

/rant

[pfibiger]

I found for the Wusthof knives (classic series) that we bought ourselves (about half of them were wedding gifts), the cheapest way to get them was to wait for one of the bed, bath & beyond 20% coupons to show up in the mail (if you don't get them you can sign up on their website to get periodic mailings).. I think after the discount, I got the 8" chef's knife and a 3-4 inch peeler for under $80.

[oraklet]

MAC knives, without question.

Gee Rob. Really I'm working on getting my MAC knives shortly.

ALL the mac chef's knives i've seen have gone "CLONK" when used for chopping. like newer sabatiers, the curvature of the blade has been sloppily finished. same with many new henckels.

[Todd Stein]

I think knives are such a personal thing. What ever feels best in your hands and does the job is the best way to go. Over the years of cooking i have used so many different knive but what I have settled into the last 2 years are japanese knives made by 2 companies, Mac and Masaharo. They can be both purchased at jb prince. They hold the best edge and are juxt beutiful to use. The downside to Japanese knives is that they require a lot of attention(honing and stoning) I use a 3 different stones and a ceramic "steel" to keep them going

Best of Luck

Todd Stein

[Schneier]

So, is there any consensus from this thread? Seems that it's just too personal a thing to be able to give advice.

Bruce

[melkor]

So, is there any consensus from this thread?  Seems that it's just too personal a thing to be able to give advice.

I think the consensus sharp blade, handle that fits your hand, and the curve of the blade should match your cutting style. It's definitly too personal to give advice to someone without them trying several knives first.

[Devout Salumarian]

Great thread,

What's the best size/kind of knife for dicing garlic? That really fine dice you get when you cut the clove along the width then lengthwise just to the end so the clove is still intact and then slice down widthwise for a nice 1/16 dice. 4" paring? Shorter? Different blade?

Thanks for any input

[eksahlman]

With all these knives- what does everyone do about sharpening?

Do you suggest professional sharpening or home sharpening-such as a Chef's choice sharpener?

How often?

[melkor]

With all these knives- what does everyone do about sharpening?

Do you suggest professional sharpening or home sharpening-such as a Chef's choice sharpener?

How often?

I use a steel almost every time I use a knife, and I use a $3 water stone when the knife loses its edge, which happens monthly with the knife I use for all things (10" chefs)

[snowangel]

Be sure and check this out, as well as the accompanying Q & A:

Knife maintenance

[PseudoFinn]

As for the garlic. Get out your 8 inch cooks knife. If you don't have one, the only question is- why?

Really it's the only knife you NEED. It can do everything. It is your foodprocessor. It is your best friend.

And no... there is going to be no consensus here... you might as well ask us what the best car is. I'll tell you what I use, and the guy next to me will tell you what he's got in his roll- but the only way to know what is going in your knife roll is to check them out. The feel of them in your hand is what really counts. We all use these things a lot, hours and hours everyday. They ARE very personal items. Just like Tony says, "Don't touch my dick, DON'T touch my knife." It's a good rule. Just get something that feels good in your hand, that's made with good steel and is DEFINATELY forged. If you get a decent one and maintain it, you'll have the same blade for the rest of your life.

I use a hard arkansas stone mostly... and a honing steel. I do NOT use oil. I use water. Particles of stone and steel that comes off the knife will actually become suspended in the oil, and break down that nice edge you're working so hard on. It's not a big difference or anything, but you're guarranteed to loose your edge sooner.

Get some blade guards and a nice knife roll too. Don't just chuck those GD blades in a roll- heathens.

[oraklet]

Great thread,

What's the best size/kind of knife for dicing garlic? That really fine dice you get when you cut the clove along the width then lengthwise just to the end so the clove is still intact and then slice down widthwise for a nice 1/16 dice. 4" paring? Shorter? Different blade?

Thanks for any input

very light and fine parer, stamped, for pre-cutting. smallish (8") chef's knife for dicing.

there ARE good (or at least acceptable) stamped knives out there. they're called victorinox (the swiss brand that you'll know for their "swiss army" pocket knives).

[PseudoFinn]

It's true... Victorinox stamped blades are ACCEPTABLE. But that's as much as I'll offer them. Acceptable. For a home cook, or someone who isn't serious.

Shell out a couple extra bucks and get a forged knife. And maintain that edge!