ATOT Kitchen Cutlery Thread

[Chapbass]

I recently gave up on my crappy knives and have been piecing together a Shun Classic set the last few weeks. I opted to buy a block and individual knives so I wasnt buying knives I am never going to use. At this point I have all the basics covered but might add a few more along the line. The 5" nakiri seems to be my most used so far.

9" bread knife
8" chef knife
5" nakiri
4" paring (Amazon sent me two and didnt want it back)

Nice! I'm debating going with eithier the Shun Classic or Premier sets. The premier just looks so pretty, its hard to say no.

 

[MrSquished]

I recently gave up on my crappy knives and have been piecing together a Shun Classic set the last few weeks. I opted to buy a block and individual knives so I wasnt buying knives I am never going to use. At this point I have all the basics covered but might add a few more along the line. The 5" nakiri seems to be my most used so far.

9" bread knife
8" chef knife
5" nakiri
4" paring (Amazon sent me two and didnt want it back)

nice set. just watch out with a steel honing rod. A lot of Japanese steel is a harder grade on the Rockwell scale than most honing steels are made of. Therefore instead of honing the blade, you are just dulling it. The guys over at knife forums recommend a ceramic honing rod for very hard Japanese steel knives. You won't run into that issue.

I took a quick look on Amazon and the Shun knife description doesn't give a Rockwell hardness, just the type of steel it is. So more research is needed. But it's worth taking a look.

 

[smackababy]

Real Damascus steel has not been made since around 1750, not to deride it.

It a nicely made blade from the looks of it.

Due to the nature of us not knowing what is in Damascus steel, we can't say for certain if anyone HAS made it since it disappeared.

 

[MrSquished]

Real Damascus steel has not been made since around 1750, not to deride it.

It a nicely made blade from the looks of it.

looks like it was done in 1981 by some dirty liberals at Stanford:

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/29/science/the-mystery-of-damascus-steel-appears-solved.html

really not sure how much of that has manifested itself in knives sold today as Damascus. It is impressive that something from essentially the middle ages took this long to replicate in some form.

still modern day Damascus blades to perform. And they sure are purty.

 

[d4a2n0k]

Nice! I'm debating going with eithier the Shun Classic or Premier sets. The premier just looks so pretty, its hard to say no.

That Premier Line is nice. I also need a new cookware set so decided to save a few bucks and go with the classic.

 

[Kaido]

I really ought to send back the Dalstrong ceramic knife I purchased, it never really was that sharp out of the box.

That and it was built a bit cheap, the end cap even fell off shortly after starting to use it. Was just poorly glued on.

Maybe I received a bum one, got me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LFUVSNC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I ought to throw out about 95% of the knives sitting in the drawers these days really, most of them are wasted space.

I might try to send it back yet, from some other reviews people have gotten dull ones in the past, can't hurt as I've rarely used the thing really.

I picked up that Infinity blade back from the '14 thread. Mine was really sharp out of the box. However, the 9.5" Shogun series from Dalstrong is way better...not only even sharper (scalpel-sharp, you can easily shave the skin off your knuckles when crab-cutting if you're not careful), but I didn't realize that having a good solid weight was a Good Thing. The Infinity blade is crazy light & makes working for a long time easy, but having some heft on the Shogun knife actually helps out in a lot of ways. I donated the Infinity to a family member & just use the Shogun now. I like it way better than my old Wusthof blades as well...none of them held a candle to the sharpness of the Shogun. Out of stock right now, but here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/DALSTRONG-Chef-Knife-Shogun-Gyuto/dp/B015NFHU9K

I will probably get their boning knife & their 6" knife eventually. I have their small paring knife, but it's not one I ever really use because the 9.5" is so sharp that I just use that for everything. It's been interesting to see what I've ended up actually using over the years...kitchen tools is basically my hobby & as I've gotten better at cooking, my inventory has actually gone down quite a bit. But that's also thanks to multi-functional devices like the Instant Pot, which replaced my electric steamer, my hardboiled egg maker (sounds dumb, but it made them come out perfect every time! although the IP lets me do them in bulk now & is also perfect every single time), my Japanese fuzzy-logic rice cooker, my slow cooker (although I still keep a couple of those for potlucks because I rarely take my IP's out in public haha), etc.

 

[d4a2n0k]

nice set. just watch out with a steel honing rod. A lot of Japanese steel is a harder grade on the Rockwell scale than most honing steels are made of. Therefore instead of honing the blade, you are just dulling it. The guys over at knife forums recommend a ceramic honing rod for very hard Japanese steel knives. You won't run into that issue.

I took a quick look on Amazon and the Shun knife description doesn't give a Rockwell hardness, just the type of steel it is. So more research is needed. But it's worth taking a look.

Thanks, will look into this before I screw things up.

 

[IronWing]

Real Damascus steel has not been made since around 1750, not to deride it.

It a nicely made blade from the looks of it.

I am adding the "no real Damascus" thing to the list that includes "why would you give the govt a no-interest loan" and "that's a tune, not a song".

Anyway, I'm liking serrated knifes a lot more these days. I also have this small claw shaped knife that is totally awesome for opening boxes and about useless on food.

 

[shortylickens]

All I've ever known is generic garbage and Calphalon.

I like my Calphalon.

 

[ponyo]

All you really need is about $15 generic 8" chef knife and $5 sharpener.
https://www.amazon.com/KitchenIQ-50...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W766FM4PQ7A43KFKM6QN

You can buy fancy $200 knife and $150 Chef Choice electric sharpener if you have money and want to look cool while chopping.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I use a Global chef's knife and pairing knife. I'm happy with them and they look cool.

 

[MrSquished]

Thanks, will look into this before I screw things up.

Yah mon. I have a borosilicate honing rod but the company HandAmerica where I got it from is on the fritz. Korin has a ceramic rod and does mention the same warning:

http://korin.com/Knives/Steels_2

 

[ponyo]

I use a Global chef's knife and pairing knife. I'm happy with them and they look cool.

That's the combo I have and I'm happy with it too.

 

[MrSquished]

All you really need is about $15 generic 8" chef knife and $5 sharpener.
https://www.amazon.com/KitchenIQ-50...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W766FM4PQ7A43KFKM6QN

You can buy fancy $200 knife and $150 Chef Choice electric sharpener if you have money and want to look cool while chopping.

those style knife sharpeners will just destroy a good blade

and you will notice the difference between an el cheapo knife and a good one. i thought spending money on a chef knife was dumb, until I read about it. It was a life-altering experience in the kitchen. My mom always had cheap knives and cooked a ton - I bought her a Wusthof when she was in her 60's after decades of doing it one way and she was blown away.

 

[ponyo]

those style knife sharpeners will just destroy a good blade

No it won't. The $150 Chef Choice sharpeners come in several different models. You buy the correct model for your style of knives. If you send in your poser Shun knife for sharpening, they'll just use electric grinder on it. The Chef Choice will probably do better job.

 

[MrSquished]

No it won't. The $150 Chef Choice sharpeners come in several different models. You buy the correct model for your style of knives. If you send in your poser Shun knife for sharpening, they'll just use electric grinder on it. The Chef Choice will probably do better job.

I was referencing the linked up one on Amazon. Those are terrible.

Have to read more about the Chef's choice.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I have the global sharpener. Should I avoid running it through it too much?

https://www.amazon.com/Global-Speed...d=1483991416&sr=1-1&keywords=global+sharpener

 

[MrSquished]

I have the global sharpener. Should I avoid running it through it too much?

https://www.amazon.com/Global-Speed...d=1483991416&sr=1-1&keywords=global+sharpener

That looks ceramic so it should be ok. As long as your knife is double beveled it might sharpen it. If the knife is more of a traditional Japanese knife with a right handed or left handed configuration, aka single beveled, it probably won't do anything.

 

[WelshBloke]

I treated myself to an 8" Wusthof chefs knife and a smaller Robert Welch kitchen knife and I'm really pleased with them both.
I want to get the Wusthof flexible fish filleting knife but I'd be open to a Japanese style alternative to that (I generally prefer German style chefs knives) but for fine fish work I could go something a bit lighter.

 

[jlee]

All you really need is about $15 generic 8" chef knife and $5 sharpener.
https://www.amazon.com/KitchenIQ-50...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W766FM4PQ7A43KFKM6QN

You can buy fancy $200 knife and $150 Chef Choice electric sharpener if you have money and want to look cool while chopping.

Aaaagh those $5 sharpeners make me cringe.

 

[Crono]

Anyone use a sharpening/whet stone? Looking at getting a King medium (1000 grit) stone and a double-sided Taidea (2000/5000 Grit) stone to go along with the Shiro Kamo AS nakiri. I've only used inexpensive sharpeners with European-style chef's knives before, though, so I've been watching youtube videos on how to do it properly. Do I need a stone fixer as well?

 

[WelshBloke]

Aaaagh those $5 sharpeners make me cringe.

They are fine in the context ponyo mentioned.

I don't think that a £100 knife really lets me do anything that I can't do with a £20 one. And you can bung cheap ones in the dishwasher!

 

[WelshBloke]

Anyone use a sharpening/whet stone? Looking at getting a King medium (1000 grit) stone and a double-sided Taidea (2000/5000 Grit) stone to go along with the Shiro Kamo AS nakiri. I've only used inexpensive sharpeners with European-style chef's knives before, though, so I've been watching youtube videos on how to do it properly. Do I need a stone fixer as well?

You shouldn't need to sharpen your knives very often.
I just take mine to the shop a few times a year and get them done by someone that has lots of practice.

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[WelshBloke]

I love that knife!