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The Ultimate Knife...


pjackso

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Old full carbone Sabatier au Carbone

Ditto here, I really love my my old carbon steel Sabatiers, but did you know Sabatier is a style of knife not a company. Just like Laguiole knives, lots of different companies make them. This accounts for the huge variation in quality. Some are even made in china, so be careful! I mine are from several different companies but the ones from "Chef au Ritz" Paris are the highest quality.

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Old full carbone Sabatier au Carbone

Ditto here, I really love my my old carbon steel Sabatiers, but did you know Sabatier is a style of knife not a company. Just like Laguiole knives, lots of different companies make them. This accounts for the huge variation in quality. Some are even made in china, so be careful! I mine are from several different companies but the ones from "Chef au Ritz" Paris are the highest quality.

My wife bought me a set of authentic full carbon steel Sabatier knives. I feel like a Samurai Chef with them. They just sing.

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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My wife bought me a set of authentic full carbon steel Sabatier knives. I feel like a Samurai Chef with them. They just sing.

Yeah, with all this new technology out there carbon steel is kind of like driving a '69 Camaro through downtown Manhatten. WANNA RACE? :cool:

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I've been looking for a Vintage 10" Carbon Sabatier for some time now, and have seen many come and go on Ebay but I just don't know what to look for to ensure quality.

How do I tell? :huh:

No mention of MAC yet...can Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter be wrong? :blink:

"You like Thai?"

"Yea, you like shirt?" -Trent Steele & Max Power (From The Simpsons Episode No. 216)

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No mention of MAC yet...can Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter be wrong? :blink:

I've got a friend who has MAC knives; she swears by them even though her greatest challenge is cutting bell peppers into strips. I tried them and they have as comfortable a hand feel as my Wustofs but I elected not to buy. Why? I saw the eGullet thread about Alton Brown pimping Kershaw Shun and then got a chance to try one of the blades.

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The ultimate knife is the one that brings a smile to your face each time you pick it up. I have 3 ultimates:

My 5 1/4 inch Hattori Fruit knife.

My 9 inch Bob Kramer Meiji style chef's knife. I have had this one about 5 years.

My 7 inch Bob Kramer vegetable knife. This was a Christmas gift from my wife and I just recevied it last week. In looking for a link for his damascus steel knives, I noticed he put a picture of my knife on his web site. So: Michael's new knife -- last pic on page

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Beto, thanks for posting the picture here.  I wouldn't know how anything would hold up in the dishwasher -- none of my knives has ever seen the inside of a dishwasher.  :biggrin:

That's a good idea, considering this knife is for instance worth about 2 or 3 good dishwashers. :biggrin:

Silly.

We''ve opened Pazzta 920, a fresh pasta stall in the Boqueria Market. follow the thread here.

My blog, the Adventures of A Silly Disciple.

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Beto, thanks for posting the picture here.  I wouldn't know how anything would hold up in the dishwasher -- none of my knives has ever seen the inside of a dishwasher.   :biggrin:

That's a good idea, considering this knife is for instance worth about 2 or 3 good dishwashers. :biggrin:

Silly.

900 bucks for a chef's knife? Sounds like a yuppie thing to me.

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I'd be too damn scared to use it! My MAC was $140.00, a beautiful and functional tool I don't mind actually using... :wink:

"You like Thai?"

"Yea, you like shirt?" -Trent Steele & Max Power (From The Simpsons Episode No. 216)

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Beto, thanks for posting the picture here.  I wouldn't know how anything would hold up in the dishwasher -- none of my knives has ever seen the inside of a dishwasher.   :biggrin:

That's a good idea, considering this knife is for instance worth about 2 or 3 good dishwashers. :biggrin:

Silly.

900 bucks for a chef's knife? Sounds like a yuppie thing to me.

Lighten up guys. It was a gift; the cost is not important. It is a functional work of art that I will use cheerfully and often for its intended purpose -- this knife will not be a display case queen. And I will think of my wife every time I pick it up.

Is it any more extravagant than the piece of jewelry that I gave her? I submit not.

Edited by MichaelB (log)
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All MAC for me. I'm a personal chef and lug my stuff from house to house. I love their light, sharp flexibility. The only time I ever wish for a heavier knife is for some huge winter squash, and there's a MAC to handle those, I just haven't popped for it yet.

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Kyocera ceramics. Once you use them you'll never want a metal knife again. Expensive, fragile, but absolutely intoxicating in their ease of use. :cool:

I have the Black Beauty (given as a gift).

I use it for sashimi or to thinly slice strip loin or ruib eye steaks.

That's about it.

If I used it as a real knife there'd be ceramic knife shards in the food.

Still nice though, even with Ming Tsai's sig on it. (Sigh.)

I like me Henckel's and Wusthof's.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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The ultimate knife is the one that brings a smile to your face each time you pick it up.  I have 3 ultimates:

My 5 1/4 inch Hattori Fruit knife.

My 9 inch Bob Kramer Meiji style chef's knife.  I have had this one about 5 years.

My 7 inch Bob Kramer vegetable knife.  This was a Christmas gift from my wife and I just recevied it last week.  In looking for a link for his damascus steel knives, I noticed he put a picture of my knife on his web site.  So: Michael's new knife -- last pic on page

Dude. Those are some seriously beautiful knives.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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i used henkels for years but recently changed to global. alot lighter,,,i was getting carpel tunnel from the weight of the helkels. :blink:

The metal grip creeps me out. A wet palm, five pounds of cremini...

One of my favourite things in life is still chopping mounds of mushrooms at full speed.

The Global knives always bring a bodily flinch of disaster when I've touched them.

Am I wrong?

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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i used henkels for years but recently changed to global. alot lighter,,,i was getting carpel tunnel from the weight of the helkels. :blink:

The metal grip creeps me out. A wet palm, five pounds of cremini...

One of my favourite things in life is still chopping mounds of mushrooms at full speed.

The Global knives always bring a bodily flinch of disaster when I've touched them.

Am I wrong?

I actually like the metal handles on my Füri and Global knives. I hold my knives the French cook way with my thumb and first finger on the blade so the handle is more for stability than ultimate control. I do prefer a bolster though to prevent slipping. That said, I still prefer my wood handled japanese knives. I love the ovular or haxagonal handles and the heaviness of the blades. I can fillet a fish with my deba much better than with a German style bendy filleting knife. It is all in the motions I guess.

I have tried Mac and was somewhat impressed. I loved the sharpness, but didn't like the feel of their western handles. I am thinking of purchasing the Mac usuba.

I was unimpressed with the Shun Pro series as the handles didn't feel as nice in my hands as other japanese style handles. I find Damascus steel to be somewhat over-rated as well (I own a Kasumi petty knife that is sharp and pretty). More for looks than anything.

As for the Kramer knives, those are insanely expensive. They are very beautiful, but I would feel guilty sharpening them or using them for that matter for fear of nicking them in some way or another. For half the price you can pick up a Nenox Gyutou that is probably every-bit their equal, allbeit not as pretty.

I have had surprising luck with some real cheap knives over the years too, particularly Stainless Steel -Va/Mb blades. I have been using the same rosewooded handled 10" French knife from some cheap Japanese manufacturer for 12 years now and it is still one of my sharpest blades. Ikea has some really cheap tolerable knives that do the job, but style-wise they are nothing to write home about.

A good Chinese cleaver is also a great knife to have around, especially for chopping mushrooms.

I know that if I bought a ceramic knife I would end up dropping it and that would be the end of that.

Mark

Edited by Librarian_chef (log)
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