Chef Knives?

[mzilliox]

a savage trio.
[IMG]someknives by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr[/IMG]
the tanaka is amazing, my first true Japanese knife... and its a fine example
The.9nine is a laser, quite thin at the tip
The Heldqvistmide is incredible. a custom done for me. 260x60mm. 266 layer damascus cladding over 26c3 "spicy white" core. ebony and reindeer antler in the handle. viking kitchen sword

[mnoble485]

Matt and Covert,

I can’t give you a definition of porn but I know it when I see it. This is applicable to me when it comes to knives. I’m trying to learn. If you guys are cutting with Dura Ace/ Campysuper record, can you recommend 105 or even Tiagra in the knife world

Mike

[COVRTDESIGN]

Matt and Covert,

I can’t give you a definition of porn but I know it when I see it. This is applicable to me when it comes to knives. I’m trying to learn. If you guys are cutting with Dura Ace/ Campysuper record, can you recommend 105 or even Tiagra in the knife world

Mike

I always recommend Shun. For $100 for the Shun Classic range, you cant beat the steel and how long they hold up. I have put 16 years on the 3 Shun knives in the pic. Westhoff is nice as well, butI don't like German steel personally.

Knives certainly get expensive. I have a few custom Japanese knives that cost about $3k each. The picture above has about $1900.Being a now ex Executive Chef and now running a cooking youtube channel, they are well worth the investment.

[COVRTDESIGN]

a savage trio.
[img]someknives by matt.zilliox, on flickr[/img]
the tanaka is amazing, my first true japanese knife... And its a fine example
the.9nine is a laser, quite thin at the tip
the heldqvistmide is incredible. A custom done for me. 260x60mm. 266 layer damascus cladding over 26c3 "spicy white" core. Ebony and reindeer antler in the handle. Viking kitchen sword

sexy!!!

[mzilliox]

Matt and Covert,

I can’t give you a definition of porn but I know it when I see it. This is applicable to me when it comes to knives. I’m trying to learn. If you guys are cutting with Dura Ace/ Campysuper record, can you recommend 105 or even Tiagra in the knife world

Mike

I consider my knives to be ultegra or record level, not quite super record or dura ace level.
While shuns do hold up, i find them more difficult to sharpen well, and the geometry is lacking, but they will give you lots of life. good values for certain. the next level seems to start around 300USD.
If you can swing it, a konosuke FM, or anything used on ebay by blacksmith yoshikazu tanaka. there really is a magic in the geometry of Sakai village knives
what makes these knives better to me is not necessarily the steel, although the steel is nice and hard and gets very sharp. its the way they are ground. that is to say the way the bevel of the knife takes shape behind the edge. there is a term, "thin behind the edge", and now this must apply to my knives or they go.

so the knife on the left, a yoshi tanaka made gyuto, 225mm x 51mm and white 2 steel. this is my best dollar to performance knife for sure. its a top 3 cutter for the majority of foods, and my best onion dicer. I have a thing for iron clad carbon steel, but thats just me, some folk prefer the full polished look, i like the hazy kasumi finish, and buy knives specifically to be able to polish them as well.

[mnoble485]

Thanks for the input. My friends call me cheap but I prefer frugal. My Serotta and my Hampsten were both bought from the original owners so used is appealing. I found a couple of websites that I will explore.
Any and all recommendations are appreciated.


Mike

[COVRTDESIGN]

Thanks for the input. My friends call me cheap but I prefer frugal. My Serotta and my Hampsten were both bought from the original owners so used is appealing. I found a couple of websites that I will explore.
Any and all recommendations are appreciated.


Mike

Carbon Knife Co Japanese Chef Knives, Sharpening Stones, Chef's Supply

[Too Tall]

Cheers! Excited to get back to the restaurant again soon and get my other knives back. These are my ones primarily for home cooking and training.

Oy. I do love good knives. My go to, don't laugh, is the family Sabatier Chefs knife. That rascal has seen my thru the years.

[winmonster]

The bolster on most western knives is maddening. I have some old Henckels and some Wusthof knives that are serviceable and regularly abused by the SO. Sharpening them is a pain in the ass. I'll get some fancy Japanese knives one day just for fun, but the Misono UX10s I bought back when they were hot are performing well in the mean time.

My kid goes away (maybe...) to college in the fall. He is developing into a decent cook, is beginning to appreciate nicer things and also recognizes value. I'll send him off with Victorinox knives.

[Too Tall]

The bolster on most western knives is maddening. I have some old Henckels and some Wusthof knives that are serviceable and regularly abused by the SO. Sharpening them is a pain in the ass. I'll get some fancy Japanese knives one day just for fun, but the Misono UX10s I bought back when they were hot are performing well in the mean time.

My kid goes away (maybe...) to college in the fall. He is developing into a decent cook, is beginning to appreciate nicer things and also recognizes value. I'll send him off with Victorinox knives.

Good calll on the Victorinox. I've been using their bread knife in our camper and have zero regrets. If someone gave me that for going away to college I'd still have it.

[guido]

The bolster on most western knives is maddening. I have some old Henckels and some Wusthof knives that are serviceable and regularly abused by the SO. Sharpening them is a pain in the ass. I'll get some fancy Japanese knives one day just for fun, but the Misono UX10s I bought back when they were hot are performing well in the mean time.

My kid goes away (maybe...) to college in the fall. He is developing into a decent cook, is beginning to appreciate nicer things and also recognizes value. I'll send him off with Victorinox knives.

I have a Victorinox Santoku that really does the job on a day to day basis. Quite well shaped and balanced, sharpens nicely, holds that edge and doesn't require extra care. A perfect college knife.

[mzilliox]

i dont mean to knock these wonderful knives from europe or wherever. they are low maintenance, hold a reasonable edge, and dont patina. all good and useful things

the first time you slice an onion or potato with a properly ground and sharp J knife will be like the first ride on that custom steel bike. there is a tangible difference in the quality of the cutting performance.

and the smile while cutting with my custom knives, priceless! i cook every day, more than i ride, it made sense to make a fun investment.

[mzilliox]

Thanks for the input. My friends call me cheap but I prefer frugal. My Serotta and my Hampsten were both bought from the original owners so used is appealing. I found a couple of websites that I will explore.
Any and all recommendations are appreciated.


Mike

you will thank or hate me: kitchenknifeforums.com

[guido]

you will thank or hate me: kitchenknifeforums.com

Yet another black hole... You are evil!

[mzilliox]

also check out oblivion blades on IG. Hes Australian and forges his own san mai steels. Good exchange rates make him pretty close to 105 level pricing for ultegra quality

[Mark Walberg]

I bought several Hattoris about 10 yrs ago, when they were affordable. Use them every day. Great knives. look good, too. They sharpen very nicely. 

I also regularly use a great Nakiri. It was one of the cheapest ones from japaneschefknives.com.
You do not have to go expensive to get a great knife from them.
Most Americans don't use a nakiri.
They sure are great for cutting veggies though.

[dgaddis]

Just got my first Japanese knife, a Takamura 180mm gyuto. It's fantastic. So thin, so sharp, looking forward to seeing how the steel holds up.

It is interesting comparing it to my 8" Wusthof Classic chef knife. The steel is half as thick on the Takamura, but is ground differently. The Wusthof has a full flat grind, so from the spine to the cutting edge it's getting thinner the whole way down. The Takamura maintains it's full thickness until about half way down to the cutting edge.

[spopepro]

That's a beautiful knife Dustin.

The shape is due to tradition of single bevel, hand ground construction. Not all double bevel japanese knives have the defined shinogi line (one of my gyuto has it, one doesn't), but I find that it helps with keeping foods from sticking as much to the blade surface, as well as a guide for sharpening. When you go to sharpen this blade, the correct angle is to lay the kireha (cutting surface) flat on the stone. You will want to both press on the hasaki (edge) and the shinogi, as you will want to remove material evenly to keep the geometry the same, although the shinogi might take more work. It will move up, slowly, as you use and sharpen the knife.

The other thing you might notice is that your blade was probably sharpened initially on a wheel, giving the kireha a slight concave shape. The first few hand sharpenings will actually look a little strange, as you will get a much more mirror like finish at the hasaki and shinogi, but spots in the middle of the kireha will remain with the linear wheel marks. It will pass relatively quickly.

[dgaddis]

A little over a month with the Takamura, I'm still super happy. I use it pretty much daily and it's still crazy sharp, no chipping of the blade, etc I've stropped it a few times but that's it. It's actually picking up a bit of a patina, which I didn't expect but am totally okay with. I'm pretty diligent with washing and drying it once I'm done with it, it doesn't sit around wet.

Will report back again later and have more pics then.

[dgaddis]

PICS