Hollow Edge or Regular Chef's Knife?

[Boy Hits Car]

Hi all, found this site recently and it's been very helpful with all my amateur cooking questions.

I'm planning to buy my first good chef's knife. I've narrowed it down to an 8'' chef's knife most likely from Henckel or Wusthof. I need to try them out first before I decide. The question I have is:

I noticed that I can get the 8'' chef's knife with the “gratton” or hollow edge blade, like most of the kind the santoku style knifes have, but with the same blade shape as a regular chef's knife. Is there any reason why I shouldn't get a hollow edged chef's knife? Is there something I should know about them? Are they harder to sharpen? Any input would be great.

This is what I'm talking about:

[Blade55440]

The only difference I've noticed on the hollow-grounds is that the food has less tendency to stick, which is the intended purpose. Other than that, everyone I know who has one doesn't have any trouble re-sharpening it or any other problems.

[kuan]

Get a regular edge. Learn to keep it sharp and more important, keep it straight with a steel. The sticking issue is frankly, a non issue.

Make sure you can hack through a chicken leg with heel of the knife. I don't know if the granton edge will hold up.

[Ma Facon]

I agree with kuan, Go with the traditional chefs knife. Over time you will be adding knives to your collection that fit your style and needs, Start with the basics.

[Boy Hits Car]

Thanks everyone. I'll go with the regular edge.

[foodpump]

A granton edge is not a hollow ground edge. Hollow grind edges are ground so that the edge is slightly concave, sharpening is slightly easier, but the edge is slightly weaker. Granton edges were originally used ( they've been around for years, nothing "New"...) for sticky dense foods like cheese, smoked salmon, etc. When drawing the blade through, each pocket on the blade has cushion of air, reducing the friction the blade has on the food. While this is good for cheese and smoked salmon, it doesn't do anything for vegtables or fruit.

[Blade55440]

Cool...learn something new everyday.

Thanks!

[dealinhoz]

i own a wusthof and henckels hollowedge santoku knife. both are **** sharp and reduce sticking of meat/veggies. BUT.... i've learned that b/c these blades are so much thinner than your regular chef knife, they require MORE sharpening b/c you lose the edge quickly. if you're willing to sharpen it often, then go for it. if not, stick w/ your standard chef knife which will keep its edge and still perform well.

[Boy Hits Car]

Heh, the thread is still going. Well I got the Henckel's Pro "S" 8" chef's knife. My wife got jealous so she went out and used her Christmas gift cards and got a Wuthof's Classic 7" Santuko. I like them both, but it seems like the Santuko knife is noticebly sharper. Let's see which one stays sharper longer.