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The Ultimate Knife...


pjackso

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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 have a couple of Globals and don't really use them very often for two reasons. First, the grip does get slippery from either the moisture of the product or (really slippery) the fat (think ducks).

Second, my knife hand tires and cramps very quickly whenever I use a Global for serious work. The size and shape of the handle just isn't right for me and the top of the bolster hits where my knife callus is not.

Thanks for the appreciation of my newest art tool.

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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:

Hi pjackso,

Sabatier.JPG

Here are my vintage carbon steel Sabatiers (Man they look sad compared to that $900 knife! However, I can assure you you can very nearly shave with anyone of them) I picked them up one by one at junk stores and garage sales over the years. I don't think I have ever paid more than 10 bucks for any of them. As you can see they are from several different makers. The first and 5th knife are marked "Chef au Ritz" Paris. They are much better quality than the others. The handles are heavier and steel is finer. The vintage Elephant brand is common and only average quality, same is true for the vintage Loin brand. I can't say for sure if "Chef au Ritz" is the best Sabatier ever made but it certainly is much better than the rest of my carbon knives

There is a guy on e-bay selling vintage knives and a week or two ago he had a "Chef au Ritz" 10 inch chef's knife: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZralph1396

he has a good selection and seems to know his stuff.

Good luck and I hope I helped. :rolleyes:

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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 am just not afraid of "hurting" the knife. It can be replaced or repaired, after all. In fact, I used it just once for a few minutes and then ran it across my finest stone a couple of times -- sort of like kicking your new car just after you leave the dealer's lot.

Using my knife for its intended purpose is probably safer for it than using a lot of other expensive hobby gear for its intended purpose. I am thinking of fast cars, custom golf clubs, fly rods, camera lenses. You get the picture.

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Perfect!

This is just what we need...photos of you knife collections.

...anyone up for it? :biggrin:

"You like Thai?"

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

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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:

Hi pjackso,

Sabatier.JPG

Here are my vintage carbon steel Sabatiers (Man they look sad compared to that $900 knife! However, I can assure you you can very nearly shave with anyone of them) I picked them up one by one at junk stores and garage sales over the years. I don't think I have ever paid more than 10 bucks for any of them. As you can see they are from several different makers. The first and 5th knife are marked "Chef au Ritz" Paris. They are much better quality than the others. The handles are heavier and steel is finer. The vintage Elephant brand is common and only average quality, same is true for the vintage Loin brand. I can't say for sure if "Chef au Ritz" is the best Sabatier ever made but it certainly is much better than the rest of my carbon knives

There is a guy on e-bay selling vintage knives and a week or two ago he had a "Chef au Ritz" 10 inch chef's knife: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZralph1396

he has a good selection and seems to know his stuff.

Good luck and I hope I helped. :rolleyes:

NICE! Finely crafted things age beautiftully. The patina they take on tells its own story.

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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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.

Abra,

Which MAC's do you use? :huh:

"You like Thai?"

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

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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.

Abra,

Which MAC's do you use? :huh:

Which ones do you have, PJackso? Western style? Japanese style? What sizes?

Mark

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My main knife is a MAC TH-100.

Its a 10" with a Granton edge. No bolster though, I find paying an extra $100.00 for a bolster is a bit crazy, considering the entire MAC line is stamped.

Without a doubt the best knife I've ever used and I've had 'em all. :wink:

"You like Thai?"

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

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Since we are among friends and I'm in a "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" here are my Nogents: (These are the knives that Julia Child used on her earliest cooking programs and are said to be her favorites.) The stainless blades are hard to sharpen compared to the carbon blades but I like their style and the are light as a feather.

Nogent.JPG

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I have 2 each of the SA - 80 and SA - 70, and also the PB - 60, the MK - 40, the BS - 90, and the PKF - 30. Definitely not the high-end assortment, just a working girl's collection.

Next up for me will be one of the TH series. I gave one to my son last year and he's always bragging about how he has the best knife of any of his friends.

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First, there is no perfect knife or knives.

I use Wustoff for two reasons. First, I believe that the knives should all have a common feel and cut to avoid injury. I have custom knives that are sharper than the Wustoff that I use for certain things but carefully. I would not let anyone else use them because they are so sharp.

Second, Wustoff has the largest selection of ANY manufacturer. I'm not talking about what you see in on-line or print catalogs. They show only a small number of the available knives and the smaller knives suitable for smaller hands. You need to acquire the full set of Wustoff catalogs to get an appreciation for the variety. Try finding a 13" bone splitting knife from any other manufacturer!-Dick

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I really really love my Kershaw Shun 6 inch utility knife. I ended up getting the Alton's Angle design and the funny thing is - I think that's my only complaint about it.

The angle makes it harder for me to use on some things since my hands are so small, but my husband who has much larger hands loves the angle. I think it really depends on what you will be using it for the most and what style you like.

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I was going to post a picture but apparently the photo I uploaded to my album can't be posted.

When I click on it, instead of getting the window that allows me to copy the URL, I get a new message window.

I don't have all one brand of knives. Some makers have certain knives that work better for me than other makers. I handle a knife and see how it feels in my hand before I buy.

I have some very old knives that I still use and some newer ones that have become favorites.

These are the ones I use all the time, perhaps not every day, but at least several times a week.

The oldest is the smaller boning knife, made by Case, which I have had for about 40 years.

The middle sized boning knife is a Dexter and I have had it for at least 30 years.

I have several big chef's knives like the one at the top but this Forschner feels the best in my hand, has the best balance for me.

The narrow bladed F. Dick utility knife and the custom made one 2nd to the left of it are the knives I use constantly, several times a day, along with the paring knives. The white handled boning knive is one of the super flexible ones sold at Smart & Final and it is amazing how much the blade can be bent and it is fantastic for boning out a ham or a leg of lamb or similar cut, the blade slides right around a bone with ease.

The Wusthof slicer at the far right and the Robinson slicer at the top are the best of several long-bladed slicers I use and the Robinson is my favorite bread knife.

I have had the three Global knives (plus a long filleting knife which I can't find) for at least three years and find they are wonderful for slicing larger fruits and vegetables. I like the way the blades that are beveled only on one side behave when cutting firm vegetables.

Getting these out, I discovered some of my knives are missing and I realized that I took them to my neighbor's and left them there in my knife safe the last time we had a joint cooking venture. Obviously they are not ones that I use all the time.

I have many more knives, I have not pulled out any of my butchering knives which I use only occasionally, or the specialty knives, such as the cake knive with the 14 inch blade or the real Chinese cleavers and knives that I also use rarely.

I love knives, and am always searching for a new "perfect" knife but have been more than satisfied with these.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Anyway, the picture is in my public album so anyone can look at it. Rather than mess around with another system, I will wait until imagegullet is working correctly again.

When I get my other knives back I will post a photo of an old chef's knife, the same size as the Forschner, that was made for me many years ago. The guy who made it took a high carbon saw blade and cut the knife with full tang from it. It was a huge round saw blade from a saw mill so was much thicker than what we ordinarily think of as a saw blade. It takes and holds an exceptionally keen edge and until I got the Forschner, it was my "go-to" knife for cutting stuff that resisted everything else, acorn or butternut squash, no problem whatsoever.

The blade looks stained but it has always been that way, dark and light spots that are part of the metal.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I lerve my Wusthofs, especially the Culinars. I don't mind the metal handle at all - i've never had an injury because of slippery-ness. I agree with Jinmyo, though, on the Global handles. Not because of slippage. Just because i don't like the feel.

knifeskillsimage3.jpg

Marsha Lynch aka "zilla369"

Has anyone ever actually seen a bandit making out?

Uh-huh: just as I thought. Stereotyping.

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SWISS_CHEF, your photo made me weep with envy, and the teeth-gnashing is still happening. Vintage Sabatier, as I've noted elsewhere, would be my knife category of choice.

I have a metric tonne, and serious money in Wusthoffs and like Teutonic Big Boys, and I hate them. Clunky, heavy, boring and requiring more time than I want to spend on maintaining their edges. (And yes I have every stone and steel known to man.)

I love the dimpled grip on my Global , and have never had a slip.

Now let's exploe the eight buck category. I was away on business and had a suite with a tiny kitchen. No knives in the cutlery drawer. There I was at Wegmans, with all that good bread and fruit and no way to cut. I came upon an Oxo Good Grips display and shlled out 7.99 for something that looks like a five inch chef's knife with a serrated blade.

I'm ashamed to say how often I use it back home.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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My main knife is a MAC TH-100.

Its a 10" with a Granton edge.  No bolster though, I find paying an extra $100.00 for a bolster is a bit crazy, considering the entire MAC line is stamped.

Without a doubt the best knife I've ever used and I've had 'em all. :wink:

I have info to the contrary that says the Pro and Ultimate lines are both forged.

Terrarich

Crashed and Burned Cook

Current Wannabe

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i've sort of settled for (mostly) sabatier carbon steel for my bigger knives. i like the classical french triangularish blade shape and the relative lightness of the knives compared to, say, wüsthof. and even modern carbon steel seem to be easier to get a good edge on than most stainless.

don't know how to post pictures so here's a description:

chef's knives:

8" antique carbon s. nogent style; i hesitate to use it as i see it more as something that belongs in a museum, but it is a wonderful knife.

8" victorinox ss. wife's favourite.

10" carbon s. modern lion; my favourite size. not as flexible as the older ones, though. i would like to get hold of an old 10" nogent style.

12" semi antique carbon s. "grapes"; used to love it, but it's a bit too big for my smallish kitchen...

slicers:

10" carbon s. semi antique elephant. flexible, more like a big fileting knife.

9" semi antique ss swedish (eskilstuna) nogent style. stiff blade, very fine slicer.

deboning: ss 5" sabatier. but i mostly find myself using

paring: ss 3" sabatier. though actually i mostly do my paring with some stamped victorinoxes.

bread knife is the best there exists: 10"+ victorinox.

i've tried mac, and they're all right. i've tried global, and don't like them. german style knives are too heavy for me (the older ones may be different, though. i've donated a semi antique f.dick to the in-laws' summer house kitchen, and it's a lot lighter, and a little flexible).

can't get used to traditional japanese blade shapes, but my in-laws brought back an ancient smallish sushi knife that i find myself using once in a while. it can be honed to an insane sharpness.

edit: most of the bigger knives are cheap finds from ebay or thrift shops.

Edited by oraklet (log)

christianh@geol.ku.dk. just in case.

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My main knife is a MAC TH-100.

Its a 10" with a Granton edge.  No bolster though, I find paying an extra $100.00 for a bolster is a bit crazy, considering the entire MAC line is stamped.

Without a doubt the best knife I've ever used and I've had 'em all. :wink:

I have info to the contrary that says the Pro and Ultimate lines are both forged.

Terrarich,

All I know is that the line that Charlie Trotter endorses (that has a bolster) is stamped. :wink:

Here's a link:

http://www.charlietrotters.com/store/gifts...=5&productID=87

Edited by pjackso (log)

"You like Thai?"

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

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Hands and knives are a chef's most valuable tools. The knife is an extension of the hand for a chef. That's why we have so many different preferences here.

SABATIER!

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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I love my small set of Henckels 5 star series. I like the handles a lot, very comfortable. We get a lot of use out of the bread knife and sausage knife, and I personally use the chef's knife (being the chef in this house, hah) every day.

Funny: When I mentioned wanting this particular set of knives, then saying offhand that it was a famous German brand, my German husband looked confused. (all Germans know all famous German anythings. It is so they can always say exactly what their country produces which is better than XYZ product. :raz: ) I did a search online for them, and he said "OH. Zwillings!" And since, I've noticed in stores here, they are also refered to by this part of their name. Because of the 'twins', their trademark symbol.

mmm knives :wub:

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For all you folks who have and use a Kershaw Shun, what's their durability like?

I am going to be upgrading my knife collection (current model: 13-piece Farberware knife set, complete with rust spots (they came later, though), which cost around $100, that my wife and I got as a wedding present), and, well, given the choice of several like items of approximately equal quality and price, the deciding factor usually ends up being "whichever one looks the coolest."

And I have to say, I really like the look of the Shun knives (though I need to find someplace local that carries 'em so I can see how they feel in my hand).

But one of my friends cautions me that the current enthusiasm for Japanese knives is just a "fad," and that Japanese knives, being lighter and thinner, are much more "delicate" than the heavier, thicker European knives, and thus need to be kept far away from such things as, for instance, chicken bones, lest they get all nicked up.

Does his assessment in any way reflect reality? Or is he just being his usual curmudgeonly self?

Can you use a Kershaw Shun Chef's Knife as vigorously as you could use, say, an F. Dick Chef's Knife, lopping off the ends of chicken leg bones and chicken wings and so on?

* AB drinks one of those "Guiness Pub Draught" beers, with the nitrogen cannister in the bottom of the can.

* AB wonders what Budweiser would taste like with one of those...

<AB> . o O (Like shit, still, I should think.)

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