ATOT Kitchen Cutlery Thread

[turtile]

When you go to fish markets and restaurants in Asia, they're not using expensive knives to cut and slice the fish. And they slice and serve up lot of fish. Way more than sushi chef at fancy restaurant. Same with when you go to the fruit market. But the blades are very sharp. None of the home cooks with their expensive knives are going to cut fish better than some of the workers at the fish market. Cheap knives are good enough. Expensive knives are not going to help majority of home cooks.

My response was to a comment that properly sharpened knives are a 'hobby'. Now, yes, those knives are very sharp. And you know what the people at fish market do every day? Sharpen their knife! You know that useless 'hobby'. The knife style for cutting up whole fish is completely different. They are made with a tougher steel with more steel behind the blade. In Japan, they use deba knives for carving fish and yanagiba knives for cutting fish for sushi. Many other countries use different clever designs.

A yanagiba would chip apart if used to break down a whole fish. Does that make it a bad knife and a deba better? You don't use an axe to make wood carving and you don't use a carving tool to chop wood apart.

Again, I specifically said that there is no reason that a normal home cook needs a top of the line knife. But a serious home cook will want to develop good knife skills and eventually use a good knife.

 

[ElFenix]

when you're wearing out a knife due to sharpening it every day because it's in constant use, you use a dexter or victorinox with a plastic handle

 

[turtile]

when you're wearing out a knife due to sharpening it every day because it's in constant use, you use a dexter or victorinox with a plastic handle

Most restaurants in my area use Greban 10" knives because they are $11 and extremely durable. They are also swapped out weekly for a sharpening service. They grind the knife so the 10" knife turns into a 6" knive in short time!

 

[MrSquished]

When you go to fish markets and restaurants in Asia, they're not using expensive knives to cut and slice the fish. And they slice and serve up lot of fish. Way more than sushi chef at fancy restaurant. Same with when you go to the fruit market. But the blades are very sharp. None of the home cooks with their expensive knives are going to cut fish better than some of the workers at the fish market. Cheap knives are good enough. Expensive knives are not going to help majority of home cooks.

Nobody needs a top of the line knife. I don't think most of the knives that have been discussed in this thread are top of the line. But they are mostly good ones. Getting a good knife is not going to make anyone a better cook - but getting a good knife and learning how to use a knife properly will help you out in the kitchen - whether by watching videos or taking a knife skills class. It will help with cutting softer things like tomatoes and some fruit. It will be safer - less likely to slip from being dull since it keeps its edge longer. It will also make slicing and dicing in the kitchen more enjoyable. I still remember first using a good knife in the kitchen, it was so much more pleasant. That's the main thing. It made the act of food prep more pleasant from everything from chopping an onion to working with a cut of meat.

Just like any knife you have to keep them sharp - I go to a knife sharpener at a local farmer's market.

 

[WelshBloke]

when you're wearing out a knife due to sharpening it every day because it's in constant use, you use a dexter or victorinox with a plastic handle

[outraged voice] You shouldn't be sharpening your knives every day, or even every month! [/outraged voice]

 

[MrSquished]

My favorite knife I own but currently out of commission - a Glestain.

It's out of my price point normally (don't make ATOT money), but when I started a food truck business we had some startup capital so I bought the business 3 good Japanese knives. They lasted us the whole 2+ years we were in business. The business was really tough work, very frustrating from everything to local regulations and weather, and we were burned out all the time, so we didn't take good care of our knives after awhile. Mine is dinged up and just sitting in my knife roll, waiting for a sharpening.

We broke down so much food with our Japanese knives. Many many pounds of chicken, lamb and pork. Tons of vegetables to make our standard 6 vegan side dishes, falafel mix and all our specials. Every single thing was from scratch. The knives were troopers. Anyways here is my beauty:

 

[herm0016]

we have a bread knife, a 6 in and a 4 in shun premiere that are very pretty and work great, My wife loves these. quick and light for chopping veg and such.
My favorite knife is a 1/8 thick forged carbon steel that was my mothers. the name has long worn off. I can put a super edge on it in just a few swipes of my sharpening steel and cut paper thin slices of anything or i can chop a chicken in half.
i also have a calphalon katana 8 in chef. Pretty good but needs a sharpening.

 

[WelshBloke]

So in answer to this...

This... http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/-classic-fish-fillet-knife-7-18cm.htm

Or this... http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/-classic-flexible-fish-fillet-knife-8.htm#tabbutton3

Ended up getting this...

Wusthof Classic boning knife (blade 16 cm) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00005NANS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_eRRDybGYGTZ7E

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Great sale right now at Sur La Table.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1951979/Global+10+Piece+Knife+Block+Set?_requestid=1107054

plus 4% cash back with ebates.

 

[ponyo]

Great sale right now at Sur La Table.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1951979/Global+10+Piece+Knife+Block+Set?_requestid=1107054

plus 4% cash back with ebates.

Who needs 10 piece set?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Who needs 10 piece set?

Considering most pieces are $60-150 each, you'll still come out on top.

 

[Gibsons]

Great sale right now at Sur La Table.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1951979/Global+10+Piece+Knife+Block+Set?_requestid=1107054

plus 4% cash back with ebates.

Maybe a great deal, but I don't need 10 knives. That's about 6 more than what I want, and 8 more than what I can reasonably say I need.

 

[ponyo]

Considering most pieces are $60-150 each, you'll still come out on top.

Only if you pay MSRP. If you're buying pieces you don't need, you're overpaying. I paid around $75 for Global 8" chef and ~$45 for Global 4" paring knife.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

A couple of things, buy only the blades you need. Stay away from knife sets. As a professional Chef, I use everything from Costco blades to Henkel 4 stars on a daily basis. I also sharpen the blades on a daily basis with a three stone sharpener and have NEVER worn out a blade that way. The perfect knife is one that works for you. One of my Chef instructors told me something I always remembered, it's very easy to get a blade too small for the job but, it's very difficult to get one too large for the job.

 

[BoomerD]

Maybe a great deal, but I don't need 10 knives. That's about 6 more than what I want, and 8 more than what I can reasonably say I need.

I know Global makes good quality knives...those are FUGLY as hell, IMO.

 

[MrSquished]

I know Global makes good quality knives...those are FUGLY as hell, IMO.

I'm not really a fan of their aesthetics either. Some of their knives are nicer looking than their others - the Chef's knife is not bad, while the knives to the right of it are pretty bad. It's that wacky deep angled notch between the blade and handle that to me throws off the looks.

 

[sdifox]

I'm not really a fan of their aesthetics either. Some of their knives are nicer looking than their others - the Chef's knife is not bad, while the knives to the right of it are pretty bad. It's that wacky deep angled notch between the blade and handle that to me throws off the looks.

So, form over function?

 

[smackababy]

So, form over function?

What makes you think their form is more conducive to good function?

 

[sdifox]

What makes you think their form is more conducive to good function?

He's complaining about how ugly the global knives are.

 

[MrSquished]

So, form over function?

I don't believe in form over function for something like a knife. However in this industry there are more than enough options so that you get both together, quite nicely.

 

[turtile]

I'm not really a fan of their aesthetics either. Some of their knives are nicer looking than their others - the Chef's knife is not bad, while the knives to the right of it are pretty bad. It's that wacky deep angled notch between the blade and handle that to me throws off the looks.

I think that's there for knuckle clearance. After trying Global knives, I wouldn't buy one because of the handle. It's hard to hold when you have gloves and kind of feels awkward.

 

[MrSquished]

I think that's there for knuckle clearance. After trying Global knives, I wouldn't buy one because of the handle. It's hard to hold when you have gloves and kind of feels awkward.

I mentioned the Global handle earlier. Don't like it either, the fact that it's metal.

 

[MrSquished]

I had a 7lb pork butt to break down today. When I was co-owner of a food truck for 2 years we used a lot of pork butt. I was more front of the house, my chef friend was back of the house, but I did a shitload of prep and dishes. All our pork butts were boneless.

Well not the one I had today. I was gonna simply cut it in two, to cook in two separate batches. Had a nearly 10" Gyotou to use. And then bam, big bone. I stuck with the big knife and did pretty good breaking down around the bone. Not bad.

One of my Chef instructors told me something I always remembered, it's very easy to get a blade too small for the job but, it's very difficult to get one too large for the job.

I guess that's kinda true. You'd have to have a fucking machete to be to big for a lot of jobs.

 

[Chocu1a]

Most restaurants in my area use Greban 10" knives because they are $11 and extremely durable. They are also swapped out weekly for a sharpening service. They grind the knife so the 10" knife turns into a 6" knive in short time!

Lmao...so true. We have this "filleting" knife that started out as 10" chefs. Piece of crap. I really want to just toss it out, but I don't own it. I just sharpened my 10" & 8" Tojiro DP gyutos, santoku, Henkles 5 star boning & 12" Wusthof Grand Prix slicer. Used a couple of King stones. Sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm.

 

[Fenixgoon]

i miss my ceramic knives