Knife Question

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I scanned over this post briefly, and there are a few bits of misinformation as well as correct. I'm sort of a knife nut, and will add a few thoughts of my own.

The main difference between German (European) and Japanese knifes is.........technique! Not how they are made, how they are intended to be used. German(European) knives use a rocking technique, that someone mentioned above. This rocking technique has continuous contact between the knifes edge and the board. Due to this 'technique' German knives are heat treated to a softer, easier to sharpen rocwell hardness. (56-59) The edge may roll and/or dull, but it will be less likely to chip. German knives also take a more obtues angle for the edge, around 20*/side. The Japanese knives are heat treated to 60-6x rockwell. They are very hard and can take an extremely sharp edge with very acute bevels, around 10*-15*. The technique used with Japanese knives is a 'push-cut' technique where the entire blade is above the board and you are pushing the knife forward and down until the blade meets the board. It seems that this may be harder on the blade, but with proper technique, the blade is 90* to the board, and is only in contact for a split second.

All Japanese knives are not carbon (non-stainless) steel. Their are many high end steels that are wrapped in a softer stainless exterior to ensure an extremely sharp & hard edge with an easily maintained exterior. OTOH, some find that sharpening carbon steel is much easier and can take and hold a fine edge. The trade-off is the extra care necessary and some are turned off by the patina the blade gets.

The Japanese manufacturers have accommodated we westerners by making their blades with 'western' handles, instead of the traditional handles, Wa, I beleive. The Gyoto is the equivialent of a German chef's knife, only the gyoto is thinner and lighter. The Petty is similar to a paring knife. They have a boning knife, but it is very different than what we call a boning knife. When you get into the sushi knives and deba's, you are now getting into single beveled edges. (Think chisel) They are made this way to help break down fish, slice sushi revealing a very smooth edge and take a lot of practice to get used to. The Usaba and Nikiri look like cleavers but are thinner and have a single bevel. They are used for chopping vegetables and are capable of paper thin slices.

That's all I have time for right now. I have a Henkels 4 star set, which is pretty good. I also have a Wustoff 230mm slicer, which again is nice. I ordered an antique Queen Cutlery, slicer & carver with stag handles that are very thin and take and hold an excellent edge. I have a Kanetsugu Pro-M 240mm Gyoto from japanchefsknife.com. Reasonably priced and incredibly sharp. I like it so much, I ordered a Hattori 135mm Petty from the same place. I can't wait for the holidays, to have all the decisions as to what knife to use to carve & slice.

One more thing. The magnetic knife racks. Excellent way to store your knives. If you are at all handy, you can order rare earth magnets from Lee Valley Tools for a few dollars and put one together pretty inexpensively, and exactly the way you want it. Hope this helps!

Oh, and.....DON'T PUT YOUR KNIVES IN THE DISHWASHER!!!

Another thought.

If you have never handled really sharp knives before, you WILL cut yourself. The mind may know it's sharp but the body takes awhile to learn.

Spaceman Spiff

most of the japanese knives stay sharp for along time, much longer than the european knives. they are also much harder to sharpen and most home sharpeners dont have the capability of sharpening single beveled knives. with the european models you can touch things up with a steel were the japanese a steel would ruin the knife. if you dont want to be using a wet stone maybe once every 6 months then stay away from the japanese single bevel knives, but if you do like wet stones for sharpening, one or two of those knives are great in the lineup. so its not just a question on what knife you want, its also a question on how your going to maintain it, ive got one knife in particular, a bunmei oroshi, its the hardest knife to sharpen in my lineup and i wouldnt recommend anyone getting one unless they are finatical about spending hours sharpening a knife from sharp to razor sharp on a stone. the global deba is still my favorite for everyday, not quite a true deba, its a very thin light weight blade, slices thin with the light gliding motion mentioned but can also rock like a chefs knife, and its also the knife i would grab for filleting even over my fillet knife

i can get by with these, from the can cutting knife to the 60 year old ones on the right. a great uncle in the family was a butcher and those were his at one time. the chef knife second from the right is from the 50's, made by lamson, those are good blades and the new ones with rosewood handles are really nice, you should look at those i believe the new ones are guaranteed for life, and the company will also sharpen them for a slight fee

Try http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/

Great prices direct from Japan, Check it out.