Knives

[Hawging It]

I'm old school so I recommend getting a set of Old Hickory Knives. They are great and been around for ever. Quality knives that you can pass down to your kids and grand kids.

 

[rc4u]

I use a custom made chef's knife. and others. i like 1095 carbon steel as so easy to sharpen and touch up and it has a thin spine so easy to cut thru any item. tempered to 59-60
Gyuto Chef knife
1095 Carbon Steel from Aldo
Full Flat Grind with convex edge, 400 grit finish, razor sharp
.120 at spine
8-1/4 inch blade 13 inch OAL
59-60 RC
Maple Burl (stabilized) with micarta bolster, corby rivets and mosaic pin
First I'll take it, gets it.
SOLD delivered to the USA includes zipper pouch.

 

[JLeonard]

clifish yeah im no where near the level of some folks on here. But tired of feeling like in trying to slice with a dull butter knife.

 

[gmc2003]

Lets see, I've used various plastic knives, a cheaper set of knives we got for a wedding present in 85, my old stand-by electric knife, and of course a partial set of knives that I inherited from my mother, who inherited them from her mother.

Chris

 

[chopsaw]

About 30 years ago my wife came home from the mall with a 3 pc set of Forever sharp knives .
Bought from the guy that bugs you when all you want to do is keep walking .
1 boning / fillet
1 slicing / carving
1 paring
I think she paid 20 bucks for the 3 .
My thought was " That's a waste of 20 bucks " Since she bought them for me , I said Thanks .
Went in the drawer and I never used them .
About 3 years ago I needed a knife in arms reach . Pulled the boning knife out of the drawer . Still had the sleeve on the blade .
Fit my hand good , and was one of the sharpest knives I had ever used .
Tried the slicer . Same thing . Paper thin slices on tomatoes and onions .
Still to this day have not used the paring knife , but it's crazy sharp as well .
I use the boning knife everyday since that day . For everything from boning out butts , cleaning up cryo vac'd meats to slicing veg .
I'm not comparing these to high end knives , or suggesting that you get them over something else .
I am saying that I use mine everyday . Super sharp , and they are about 10 bucks a piece still today .

 

[SmokinAl]

I have knives that I paid $200 each for, but my favorite knives are from sam’s club. They are in the restaurant dept. & I just love them. They do need to be sharpened more often than the expensive knives, but they just cut perfectly & feel good in my hand. Of course Judy uses the $200 knives & I keep them sharp for her.
Al

 

[kawboy]

My wife enrolled me in the culinary program at a semi-local community college for this year. I'm kind of excited to see what I get in my $300+ knife kit. Should be better than I have now.(I hope). Actually I have a priceless knife my father made while working at the railroad many many decades ago that will cut through anything.

 

[noboundaries]

My favorite knife is a 6" Burrell utility knife I've had for decades. If might have come from a set we received as a wedding gift. I sharpen it maybe once every year. Daily though, a few swipes with a steel and it slices through anything like butter.

Several years ago my wife wanted new knives. I picked up a retail set of J.A. Henckels Internationals-Classic. Made in Spain, not Germany. The Classic has a better fitting handle than other versions. Less expensive but go quite a while between sharpening (year or two) and a steel swipe restores a nice edge that also slices like butter.

 

[whistlepig]

I like the Dexter-Russel Sani-Safe knives in carbon steel. Carbon steel is a lot more hassle to care for than stainless but I can get a better edge and better edge retention with carbon steel. The are some exotic stainless out there that will mirror good carbon steel with less maintenance but the price for these is pretty high.

 

[roadkill cafe]

I am really enjoying the three dalstrong knives I have purchased. Bought the cimitar, then a clever, then a 8" chef and they are some of the nicest I have used. Stay sharp too.

I’ll second that on the Dalstrong knives. I have a 6” chef in the Shogun X series. Sharp as a razor and stays that way. Good looking knife too. You can purchase direct or on Amazon.

 

[noboundaries]

I've noticed a change in my daily knife usage since relearning how create a great edge using whetstones.

I basically used three knives prior to whetstone sharpening: a 6" Burrell utility knife, 7" Henckels santoku, and the 8" Henckels chef knife.

My 6" Burrell utility knife is still my go-to for quick jobs like wedging an orange or apple, but that's probably habit more than anything else. It's always kept a nice edge that's even sharper now.

I used to use the 8" Henckels' chef knife quite a bit, but now I reach for a 6" nameless Japanese steel chef's knife more than the 8".

The high carbon-steel meat and vegetable Cutluxe cleaver is in my hand for almost anything meat and hard veggies related, except boning. The 8" Henckels and 10" Chicago Cutlery chef's knives used to be my go-tos. The cleaver made them backups.

The 6" Henckels boning knife has seen more use in the last month than in the 8-10 years we've owned the Henckels knife set.

 

[Bigheaded]

I'm no expert here, but I love love love my Global knives, definitely not cheap. But are a lot less $$$ than Miyabi and most if not all Shun. Appearance is a subjective thing, but I love the way they look. They're super sharp and seem to be perfectly balanced. I have the original series, not the newer ones. I just got into smoking and was sad when I checked to find out they don't make a slicing knife that looks like the brisket knives most pitmasters use. The Miyabi SG2 Birchwood's & SG2 Artisans are #1 & #2 on my buy list when I have enough funds. Both are stunning.

 

[noboundaries]

For those in the market, watch the sales at Cutlery & More. My wife just got me a Zwilling Henckels Pro 7" Chef's Knife and a 7" Pro Rocking Santoku for $15 more than the cost of one knife alone.

 

[noboundaries]

I have 10", 9", 8", and 6" chef's knives. I needed a 7" chef's knife to round out my knife collection and found the knives shown above, the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Pro 7" Rocking Santoku and Pro 7" Chef's Knives.

I was REALLY debating if I wanted a lighter, truely-made Japanese knife with harder HRC 60+ steel, or a heavier, more durable and forgiving German knife. In the end I chose the German HRC 57 steel. Why?

I see a lot of chef's on YouTube talking about edge retention, and a few poo poo knives with softer steel. First off, I'm a kitchen/backyard cook with decades of experience but not a pro. I do the vast majority of food prep and cooking at home. Until recently, I machine sharpened my knives. Honing swipes on a steel maintained the edge for a year or more. Now that I'm stone-sharpening my knives again, it will be interesting to see how much longer the edges last. Since stone- sharpening all my knives in Feb, even my cheapest knives have shown no sharpness loss at all.

So, back to the knives. My wife wanted to buy the new Lego Space shuttle so I said Happy Mothers Day! She said Happy Birthday and ordered the knives I wanted and her new toy. That's how we buy gifts around here!

Review of the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Pro 7" Rocking Santoku and 7" Chef's Knives. HRC 57. Lifetime guarantee. Total cost on sale for the two knives was $150 at Cutlery and More website, so $75 each. If bought separately the prices are about $135 each.

First impressions: Great finish for a robot-made knife. Nice fit (I have bigger hands), and sharp out of the box. I use a pinch-grip the vast majority of the time and the angled bolster is really nice. Standard German weight at 253 grams each (9 ounces) but nicely balanced.

The edge on both knives was razor sharp but had some hiccups on magazine paper. I could feel the spots with my fingertips. A few light honing swipes on a steel followed by an equal number of strokes on a wood-mounted leather strop gave me sweet shaved slices on the magazine paper.

The rocking santoku is the one I reach for the most. My wife likes the chef's knife. Are they worth the full $135 price each? Not to me. $75 each was perfect. I believe I saw the rocking Santoku on their website for $80 on sale.

I'm done buying knives with these two (uh huh...right). Might buy used knives and sharpen them for gifts, but my collection is now complete.