ChefTalk Knife buying, selection and care guide

[Montelago]

As far as the knife roll goes, get rid of it and get a good tool box that you can lock and carry all of your essential goodies in. That way you are ready for anything. I have

8" chef
7" santoku
10" slicer
10" scimiter
6" flexible boning
7" stiff boning
bread
cleaver
paring
steel
peeler
rubber spatula
arkansas stone
shears
antibiotic
band aids
bamboo skewers
metal spoon
slotted spoon
fine wire whip
2 and 4 oz ladles
injector needle
larding needle
needle nose pliers
microplane
ice cream scoop
butcher twine
tomato shark
wine key
can opener
ruler
sharpies
small immersion blender
meat mallet
measuring cups and spoons
saffron
lime and white truffle oil
pastry bag and tips/couplers
probe
candy thermometer
fish spatula
small plastic mandolin

I know it sounds like a lot of stuff, but I promise you it will fit in a decent size Stanley tool box. Then you can walk in and kick ***. This is extraordinarily handy when interviewing for serious jobs and are required to do a tasting. Never rely on their kitchen to be stocked with the items you will need to pull off a miracle.

[adamm]

does any one know where you can get a old carbon steel(not high carbon new stuff) chef knife, i have checked ebay but most the knives on there seem beat up. I have read things about how the old knives you can keep really sharp and they stay that way for a long time. Im looking for a wusthof one in particular, or and old sabatier since they seem like the ones that were very well known for there knives.

[adamm]

i have been searching around and found sabatier still makes carbon knives. I cant find a dealer though in the use that carrys chef knives. Any one have any links?

[Vince]

I own a set of Henckles knives that I bought from U.S.A. about 22 years ago and they're still sharp. I keep honig them regularly, my colloegues are always using them too. That time around this set of knives had a lifetime guarantee, matter of fact one day i dropped my 8" the handle broke in two, and it was replaced without questions asked. Henckles the best

[BrooklynChef]

I am a strict Japanese Knife loyalist. Even western style japanese knives are far superior to anything the french, germans, or americans make. My Gyotu or chef knife is made by Nenox. It is quite expensive, but there are less expensive japanese knives available with outstanding quality, such as Misono and many more. There is a place called Korin Japanese Trading company in NYC. Check it out in person or on line. There is nothing quite as pleasurable as using these blades. As far as additional equipment. I always keep a paring knife (misono) a bread knife (embarrassed to say cutco) a few wooden spoons, needle nose plyers, an offset peltex, and a few slotted and normal large metal spoons, as well as a Kuhn Rikon veg peeler. Check out korin though, they have really cool stuff like a shark skin grater - the one morimoto uses to grate fresh wasabi.

[BrooklynChef]

I used to think (back in culinary school) that German, specifically wustoff, were the end all be all. My Mother allways swore by them, and that was the brand given to us in culinary school. I then quickly learned in the real world how wrong I was. If you really really care about your knife, and you should because it is a chef's best friend, then Japanese is the way to go. It takes some effort to learn how to properly sharpen them, but once you get the hang of it, you will find it to be part of your ritual after service every night. I never touch my nenox or my misono to a honing steel. 1) because it would kill my knives, 2) because I do not need to because I sharpen on a fine and then super fine wetstone every day for about 3 minutes, and 3) if a japanese cook ever saw me touch my knife to a steel I think he would take my head off and bury my knife. Seriously it is important to have a great Japanese knife. Perhaps nobody does more percision cutting than the Japanese. They really know finesse. Check out Korin Japanese Trading Company, look them up online. Or if you are in NYC they are at 57 Warren St.

[phatch]

Originally Posted by BrooklynChef

Even western style japanese knives are far superior to anything the french, germans, or americans make.

That's a big statement to make. So please quantify how it's better and why so we can understand your claim.

I think there is premier level knifemaking happening all over the world including Japan. But that Japan gets a fake mystique from their samurai history. Pattern welding and differential hardening are easily exceeded in modern manufacture of powdered, sintered vacuum melting processes.

[BrooklynChef]

It may be a big statement, but from my experience, and those of the many people with whom I have worked, Japanese knives (many brands) get sharper and are easier to sharpen than Sabatier, Wustoff, Henkels, Furi, and the list goes on. In addition, many of them are much lighter in weight. Now, that being said, much in the discussion has to do with personal preference of comfort, balance, etc... As I said in the previous post, I used Wustoff for a long time, and my world changed the day someone talked me into buying a misono. In my business, I do instructional cooking parties as well as private cooking lessons in peoples homes. While I myself use a Nenox Gyotu with a white Corian handle (it is way pricey), I have a bunch of misono's for my clients to use. Most of them have Henkels or Wustof that they probably got off of their bridal registry. The minute they pick up either my nenox or my misono, and dice or slice on onion, they are converted.
Now, this is not to say that the French, Germans, Australians, and Americans do not make high quality knives, because many of them are fine. But because so much of what makes a knife great is in the pudding so to speak, and not in the quantifiable atributes, I would say that while these others produce high-quality nice knives, brands like Nenohi(nenox), Misono, masamoto, togiharu, Aritsugu and others are simply better. I urge anyone in question to try them out.
Shun and Global do not count. If people are basing their negative opinions on these brands then I understand their feelings. try some of those I mentioned above.

[phatch]

I agree somewhat. The Henkels/Wusthoffs etc are not hardened sufficiently for really good edge performance.

On the other hand, I don't think Japanese knifes are better than other really high end kitchen knives either. I do like that they are thinner in general though.

Phil

[E_bayone]

as for me i graduated for the institute of technology and we were given mesamister knives. they were awsome for the time being but after working with a few chefs that were die hards in the kitchen i soon leaned to the MAC line. The feel and the weight are like no other in the kitchen, smoothe cuts and and they dont leave fruit or herbs brused. Dont get me wrong i also have a woustof grand prix and its a work horse also. but if you want something that will keep its value and give some prestige go with the MAC.

[Butcher Block]

Hi,
I was a butcher for 16 years and have been in the cooking relm for about 3 years. Here is my two cents. I have used all types of knives and steels and find like anything else, you have to be a professonal before you can make anything work. Just as a professional golfer can hit any club within 1% accurecey, you will have to learn to use a knife and use it to perfection before you can realy make your own call on a knife. I am sorry but that is my take on it. Until you realy get good you will have to strugle with sharpening, cutting, and handeling a knife, any knife. Believe me I have the scars to prove it. Use what you can afford and don't worry about the rest until you have used knives enough to say this feels good or this sucks. It is then you can spend some money on knives that will make a difference in your performance. I have read all the advice these obveous professionals have given and all of it is good, but they have already been through the hours apon hours of working with knives and are trying to show you an easy path but they had to go through it and unfortunately so do you. I hope this will save you some money and aggrevation out of spending too much on something you are not happy with.

[mad pearl diver]

Apparently I have to make five posts before I can include links to other websites. So you will have to do search to see what I am talking about (if you haven't already seen them).

I just got a New West Knife Works "fusionwood" chef knife a few weeks ago, and I freaking love this thing. You may find many the choices for the handle colors atrocious, but I find the "cowboy" one looks pretty cool.

The steel is great. It gets very sharp, but is also easy to sharpen. As soon as I took it out of the box I gave it a few swipes on an oiled Arkansas stone and it was shaving sharp. The overall design seems like a good combination of Western and Japanese styles. The blade is not too thick or too thin.

I still love my old Trident, but this one gets and stays sharper. I also like the way the blade stays wide almost to the tip (more room for my knuckles).

Just my two cents...

[SweetJames]

i'm thinking about getting a 7" wusthof gourmet Santoku Knife.
i'm a pantry line cook right now, and not in need of anything super high end.
is the wusthof gourmet series good enough for the rigors of every day use, or are they basicly made for light home use?

[adamm]

iv never used there goumet knives but i have there classic serries knives. If your serous about cooking just spend the money and get a good knife, if you get a 30 or 40 dollar knife and it last only 6 months and buy another knife at the same price you could have bought your self a nice knive. The choice is utlimily up to you.
I bought my 7 in classic santoku knife off of ebay for about 60 bucks. I also bought my classic 8 in chefs for about 55. I woudl definily try them out in my hand and atleast know if you like the feel.
If you dont want to go the ebay route i would sujust geting victorinox forcher knives there made by the the same people who make swiss army knives. A chefs knife is probaly around 30 and if you want a santoku i belive there alittle less. I have a few knifes of theres and love them very shap durable and pretty easy to sharpen. Cooks illistrated did a test on chefs knives within the past year and they rated the victorinox knives at the top. If you dont want to spend the money for a upper class wusthof i would buy victorinox. But thats me, every ones to there own opinion.

[breadmeister2]

Just go to Tuesday Morning and look to see what knives they're selling. There are some aspects to the type of knife, but ultimately, it is how you use it. All too often I watch an inexperienced cook used the blade side to "wipe" the cutting board and move whatever is being diced to a specific area. As far as I'm concerned, this is the most common reason a knife becomes dull. If you need to move your prep to another area of the cutting board, hold your knife at the angle it is sharpened and push it to the desired area. Otherwise, use the back of the knife (opposite the blade), that way there isn't anything that will be dulled.

If you're cutting lots of softer vegetables, (tomatoes, cucumber, etc.), a thin blade works best. If you're chopping heavy items (carrots, root vegetables, etc.) a thicker blade is better, because you need it to wedge into the item.

I have bought Victorinox, (nice medium thick blade without any hilt) and they are wonderful. Recently, I've been in Tuesday Morning, and found some decent, thin knives which are perfect for a pantry station. Be sure to sharpen them regularly, (whenever putting them to a steel doesn't correct them). If you don't know how to use a stone, make sure you learn on an inexpensive knife. That way you will know what you're doing when you have a pricey knife.

The Henkel Four Star are great knives as well, and I have several. Just make sure if you invest in them, don't let anyone borrow them. Keep some cheap knives to loan. Anyone who needs to borrow a knife should only be allowed to use your worst knife. If they don't like it, let them buy their own!!

Breadman