Knife Question

Hoss

My wife is planning on buying me a couple of really good quality knives for Christmas.What brands would any of you reccomend?Also,Chef or santuko?

Little Steven

Hoss,

I use Global and MAC. I like the Mac a lot better. For a chef's I would go with a European brand like Wustoff. A flat vegetable knife is great too.

Steve

stike

chef chef chef

santokus look cool (i bought one), and sure, stuff doesn't stick to them, but they don't roll nice and smooth like a chef's knife does. i don't get such a relief from eggplant not sticking to it that it outweighs the somewhat awkward feel (in my hand)

pick what feels best. ideally, try someone's out.
but i find the santokus have a short curve, then a much straighter section that prevents me from rocking them knife. it sorta starts to rock, and then turns into a chop, when the entire flat edge comes down all at once instead of smoothly rolling along.

if it's your first "real" knife, you might consider the old go-to wusthofs and the like. don't get fancy grips and all, get something that is a prototypical chef's knife. after that you can go nuts with the high carbon japanese stuff, damascus steel, ceramic blades, etc. etc. but by then you'll know what you like and don't like.

save money, too. an 8" chef's knife, and 4" paring knife, are the only knives you NEED. beyond that, it's a bonus. if the house is on fire, and you can only grab one knife, it'd be the 8" chef's knife, i don't care who you are.
hahaha

Hoss

Thanks guys.

gdenby

If you check out the "kitchen" section of the
knifeforums.com, you'll find a lot of folks who are fanatics for Japanese knifes. The upside of the Japanese blades is that they can take an amazing edge, and are faily light. The down side is that most are carbon steel, not stainless, and so require a lot of care.

One style of knife, the gyuto, is very close in shape to a Western chef knife.

Among the European makers, I've heard Messermeister is well regarded. Last week, a fellow I work with was showing of his set of Henckels Twin Signature Series. I found the handle design very nice, and the balance was pretty good. The European blades generally don't hold a really acute edge as well as the Japanese, but, being for the most part stainless, will not corrode if you happen to forget to clean them right after use.

Also, I'd recommend checking around on the net and seeing what lesser known brands are available. Last year I got both my daughters for their weddings a special edition of 3 kitchen knives made by Benchmade. The design, weight and keeness of the blades was really outstanding. There may be other reputable makers offering kitchen knives.

SmokeyBones

Hoss, I've heard great and amazing things about ceramic blades. Never go dull, no fear of catamination from other meats, never need sharping. I'm in the process of looking to buy a couple. I'd look into them if I were you.

gdenby

I have a ceramic. It is great, but, f-r-a-g-i-l-e. Light as a feather, razor sharp, and very little sticks to the surface. But after getting a chip after just nicking a chicken thigh bone, I reserve it strictly for making paper thin vegetable slices.

fishlessman

i use my global deba about 90 percent of the time, i dont like the handle much, but the blade material and shape works well for me for most things. i think alot of folks use a pairing knife about half the time, i have them, plus a big chef knife and a large oroshi slicer, but the deba wins hands down for me. you do need to get used to a single edge but after a while it grows on you

Little Steven

Hoss,

The other thing to think about is, if you can find a chef's or restaurant supply, they usually sell at about 60% of retail. The ones that I go to are open to the public. Nella Cutlery carries most major brands.

Steve

Big Papa

Good Knife website


www.knifemerchant.com

Fidel

I agree with stike on this (again). Chef's knives just feel better and are more versatile.

I like shun knives. Here is a photo of some of my knives side-by-side so you can get a sense of what stike is saying regarding the roll of the blade.

I also think that a good boning knife is indispensable. I keep the boning knife as the sharpest in the drawer and it is great for removing the silver skin from loins and various other cuts.

From left to right are boning, 8" santoku, 4" paring, and 2 shun chef's knives in 6" and 10".

Hoss

That's a cool holder.What is it, a strong magnet?

Fidel

The 2 dark lines are magnets in the rectangular aluminum base. It is held to the wall by a couple screws and clips. It holds the knives very securely and out of curious little hands in the kitchen and keeps the edges from getting banged up.

My wife got it somewhere. Pretty nifty gadget to have.

fishlessman

definatly get the magnet strip, you dont want to put good knives in a block or have them sliding in a drawer, you can even get the strips and put them in the drawer, but its handy to have them on a wall over the cutting area.

Spaceman Spiff

an 8" chef's knife, and 4" paring knife, are the only knives you NEED

Yep - what he said.

I have looked at/purchased/tried a variety in the last several years - Shun, Hattori, etc but what I decided on was Henckels Twin Cermax. The handle looks weird but feels nice. They are Japanese powdered steel technology. The only REALLY sharp factory knives I have seen. (And I have seen a LOT of knives)

Spaceman Spiff

PS: Get Chad Ward's "An Edge in the Kitchen" book before deciding. Lot's of good advice.

PSS: Don't use a steel on Japanese knives.

Little Steven

Rod,

What's that funny looking knife on the right hand side for?

But seriously, My MACs have a ceramic (steel) and I was wondering what the Shun steel composition is.

Unknown

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/809833/

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036

his book is much expanded version of the above link

http://www.chadwrites.com/

basically a chefs knife, a paring knive and a good bread slicer.. which can then be used to carve roasts..
i am happy with my wusthof classics , i have an expanding collection of japanese steel including 2 shuns.. beware japanese steel including shun is very brittle and will not take the abuse that a german knife will

Fidel

I only use that steel on the Henckel's. I have a ceramic I use for the Shun's, alas it doesn't stick very well to the magnetic strip.

I'll try to remember to look at the steel composition on the Shun knives when I get home. I have the boxes in the cabinet.

stike

i have them in a block, but resting blade up, rather than cutting into the wood

tried to find a source for regular industrial strip magnets 9as opposed to the fixed length ones on the kinfe holders). might just have to steal them from my dad, who liberated them from his employer 1970 or so

Spaceman Spiff

We had this knife 'block' made when we had our kitchen remodeled this year.







Spaceman Spiff

jeffinsgf

Hoss,

I haven't seen Forschner mentioned. I believe you'll find the brand consistently highly rated by Cooks Illustrated and others, but not as widely embraced by home chefs as other brands. You'll also find that they are much less expensive than German and Japanese knives. It's the brand my cooking mentor uses both personally and in his 3 restaurants.

I also like Global.

As mentioned, ceramics are highly fragile.

As for shapes, I have a block full of knives, but basically only use a few. One that I have recently needed a couple times and don't have is a boning knife.

Spaceman Spiff

I agree about Forschner/Victorinox. I have used a 4 1/2" paring and a 7 1/2" chef's Victorinox knives for years and still use them for my everyday cutting chores.

But the original post was about higher end knives.

Spaceman Spiff

lowercasebill

on topic this guy wwants knives read the replies

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/835826/


magnetic knife block

http://www.benchcrafted.com/

jeffinsgf

"Really good quality..." is what I read. I don't take that to mean custom or hand made or outrageously expensive, just really good quality, which I personally feel includes Forschner. If you're coming from Chicago Cutlery, Forschner is a very big step. First question Hoss needs to answer is if he wants a knife to use or one that will impress people hanging on the wall.

stike

i've seen them like this in a line between cabinets, or at the back of an island. nice idea.

KingSmono

Nice set of knives! I have a couple Shun Classics... a 10" Chef's knife and a Paring knife.

I also highly recommend a magnetic strip for your knives... I got mine from BenchCrafted.com. You can order them in many different types of exotic woods too. The magnets are insanely strong.

stike

those are actually CHEAPER than the metal rail ones i've seen. very nice idea....

KingSmono

I believe the Shun's are made of multiple layers of VG-10... but I could be wrong... :unsure:

DryFly

Global. I have 4. Razor sharp and expensive. Forschner are very highly thought of, and a whole lot cheaper.

KingSmono

Yeah, the price was pretty good, and I actually feel better about putting my steel knives against the wood (as opposed to steel on metal).

Chef in the Making

Before I buy any knife I would hold it in my hand to see how it fits the palm and also to see if you like the balance.

Also Cook's Illustrated rates knive as does Fine Cooking magazine and it is surprising to see that it is not always the most expensive that wins top honors.