New Eggcessory

cortguitarman

Just ordered an 8 inch Wsthof Ikon chefs knife. I'm really excited to use a quality knife.

Dillonjm

Nice knife! Would that be considered expensive for a quality knife? I have a standard knife set that I just keep sharpened but does have me wishing for something better.

Skiddymarker

Congrats and enjoy your new knife - what is more important is to respect it.

@Dillonjm - Wusthof makes a very good knife. There are a number of thoughts on knives, on one hand you have the super hard steel that can last forever with very little attention and on the other end is a much softer (cheaper) blade that requires sharpening before every use. If you know how to sharpen and don't mind the time and effort, great results are possible. The handle fit to the user's hand is the most important consideration, IMO. 

SGH

@Dillonjm‌
I would like to offer this as well if I may. Price doesn't relate to how a knife will perform. 95% percent of all purchased meat was broken down and reduced with Victorinox "breaking" knives. Why? They flat out work. Nothing wrong at all with purchasing quality items. But my point is that there is not a high dollar knife on the market that will reduce a primal any better than the Victorinox breakers. The steel on Wusthof is superior for sure, and they are forged vs stamped. There are numerous things that will determine how well a particular knife will perform for you. Size, shape, balance and grip just to name a few. At the end of the day you can't go wrong with any of them if you know how to sharpen and care for theme friend.

Bojangles

nice buy!

GATraveller

Which leads us to the question......what's the best knife sharpener for dummies???

SGH

@GATraveller‌
If you are not well versed in hand honing then I would recommend a set of crock sticks that include both the white and brown sticks. The coarse brown sticks for your breaking, butcher and general use knives. The white sticks for your fillet, boning and finess knives. I also recommend that the set you buy have 3 different guide angles. 17, 20 and 25 degree. The reason is self explanatory. The set will properly sharpen any knife except for serrated and can be purchased for less than 40 bucks.

Eggcelsior

GATraveller said:

Which leads us to the question......what's the best knife sharpener for dummies???

@GATraveller

The Spyderco Sharpmaker is similar to a crock stick assembly but offers more options(sharpening angles). It's a little bit more expensive($10 or 15 bucks) than crock sticks. It will sharpen serrated blades.

If you are an absolute dummy, the Edgepro is hands down the easiest sharpener to use. It looks involved to set up, but once you follow the steps, the rig does all the work for you(setting angle). All you do is move the stone arm along the blade and gives you the most consistent sharpening performance with little or no experience. Of course, it is also one of the most expensive options, starting at $245 bucks.

Personally, I would go with whetstones. They do require the most skill but you can train muscle memory easily with something like Razor Edge clamps. They clamp to the heel of the knife and hold the edge angle for you.

Lastly, another option is finding a local knife shop. Mine charges me $2-4 per blade so it would take years to make a sharpener worthwhile. YMMV. 

tarheelmatt

Is a knife an "eggcessory"? 

SGH

Here is one of the sets that I speak of