A good knife? - Page 2

Well dang folks..that was a lot of useful to know knife info from all of ya. Feel like I has set through a full semester with Wolf Gang Puck..or Bobby Flay etc. Thanks a lot. Now I was raised on big Old Hickory Butcher Knives. Was the only knife my mama owned I think and she used it very effectively on everything. Guess thats why each time I open my knife drawer I see so many of them crazy things:) Now it can make sliced raw tomatoes taste sorta funny sometimes. But iron is good far ya right?

bigwheel

i use a g-20 global 20cm chef's knife. very sharp, very nice blade altho i had to get used to it switching from big thick german knives to a thinnner japanese one. but still very good, very sharp.

Bigwheel,that's funny. My knives are Tridents, but I keep one Old Hickory filet knife for nothing but slicing tomatos. does a beautiful job.

Tony

Bigwheel...Um, where do you keep your beloved cutlery???

Well I got two main repositories for knives. The house knives stays in the cabinet drawer in the house. My good pride and joy fancy smancy Forschners stays in the original box they came in safely stored inside Fredericka the world famous wannabe roach coach and mobile sausage kitchen which stays parked in the driveway next to my crib. Formerly Fredericka was a 1977 20' Leprechaun brand Ford Motor Home..then she got outfitted with triple ss sinks and work tables etc. I only bring the good knives in the house as needed cuz the warden always trying to run em through the dishwasher. I keep threatening to back hand the fire outta her coola if she does it again but some wimmen is hard headed ya know?

bigwheel

I have to admit, I am a Wusthof man, they are my favorite and always will be.
They fit my had well and hold an edge.

Dont think anybody will argue the ***** knives will hold an edge..the big problemo seems to be getting an edge back on there once you lose the one you got. Remember well at a bbq cookoff great pals o mine had the dullest Hennickles granton edged brisket slicer I have ever seen or heard tell of and they was gonna have to slice brisket with it later in the day. Swear I spent half a day with a steel trying to get that goofy knife sharp and it still wouldnt cut hot butter when I was done. Now Forschners dont treat a person shabby like that. Just hit with the steel a few times and you be ready to shave with it. Last plenty long enough to stay sharp till the cutting is done too...least for my purposes. Now since you is a pro Chef do realize your cutting chores be mo tedious than mine most likely. In my most vivid dreams might could envision a scenario where longevity of the edge might be the prime motivation factor:) With the Forschners you might need to stop at the midpoint and give em a touch up on the steel..but that aint no thang. I can usually debone and cube 2 or 3 pork butts (Boston butts for yankees) with my Forscherner 6" curved boner afore it needs a lick or two or the steel. Time you get to butt 4 it definitely needs a lick or two.

bigwheel

I know what you are saying BigWheel, but my Wusthof seem to hold and sharpen well. I run it with my steel always before I use it. I also never forget to sharpen every so often. And one thing that you should keep in mind is that if that knife you were talking about was already dull, a steel will not make it sharp. The steel will make the edge "true" but it will not sharpen it, more or less take tiny,tiny burrs out. Just remember always use you steel, and sharpen with tri-stone every once in a while. If you dont have a tri oil stone, it is a good investmen.

Well see..with Forschners you can skip the sharpening step..throw away the grinding wheels..whit rocks etc..cuz all you will ever need is a steel. Now this do not count if you trying to bang it through rebar with a sledge hammer etc. I aint sure completely but sorta think you could do the same thing with a ***** knife if you used a diamond steel maybe. At any rate I dont normally buy cooking stuff without checking with some folks who know about that kinda stuff. If you got a Forschern all you need is a steel. This not even count me talking to all them butchers in the DFW area who had their Forschners for 20 years or so and never bumped into a whitrock etc. Ahh the wonders of soft steel. The Germans had the same problemo with Luger pistolos if you might remember. They just built em too good. Little mud make em clog up etc cuz the tolerances was too tight. Old .45 ACP guv'ment model just keep on spitting em out cuz it was made Loosey Goosey. I think we got similar anal retentive scenarios here but dont take my word for it. :smiles:

bigwheel

Bigwheel, Nope. Sooner or later you're gonna have to sharpen your knives, using some kind of an abrasive. The knife's edge is basically two bevels that meet, and whre they meet is razor sharp and very thin. Imagine a piece of paper standing on edge, that's the edge of your sharp knife under a microscope. Use your knife for a while and you'll have to keep it tuned with the steel, why? Because the very thin edge has curled over, soft metal more than hard, and aggresive chopping or hard cutting boards will accelerate this too. The steel, with it's grooves, straightens out the edge from it's curled state to straight edge again, and you're in business. But after steeling your knife you should wipe it clean on a piece of paper towel, or else you'll get black crud on what ever you cut.

That black crud you wipe off your knife every time you steel it, is minute bits of metal filings, small pieces of the edge that have fatigued and broken off. So yes you can steel the edge many times, but after a while (for me about every 3 mths) the edge is just plain dull. Under a microscope it would look kind of rounded over, with no distinct bevels, and the steel can't straighten out the curled edge, because there isn't any edge. When this happens you have to use an abrasive method to get two new bevels and a new edge. I do this as LITTLE AND INFREQUENT as possible, because it is abrasive and your knives will shrink every time it's done. Then again a dull knife is about as usefull as a gun without bullets...

Ahhh well...I got kin who live up near Missouri so somebody gonna have to show me. With Forschners just use the steel till the knife disappears and then go get a new one. Simple huh?

bigwheel

FoodPump, I am guessing you are a fellow chef, or just have a **** of alot of knowledge becuase I couldnt have said it better. No matter what kind of knife you have, Forchners, Wusthof, Furi, Henkles, F.Dick, Shun, or whatever, your knife will eventually need sharpening.

Mmmm. F. Dick. Not a popular brand here in N.A. Got a F. D. smoked salmon knife, and a meat pounder. Manged to wrangle am very large F.Dick poster out of the salesgirl. Shows a very Germanic, uh, lady, next to a snorting bull. In German it says " Gegrundet 1778, Volles Gewahr fur Jedes Stuck. Ca. 600 Arbeiter. (Founded 1778, full guarantee for every piece, aprox 600 workers) Love it, got it framed and named it "My big Dick"...

FoodPump you seem like a funny and respectfull person... what is your position in the Kitchen?... I am assuming you work in a kithchen because you sure know your stuff...Anyways funny story... Actually I hope I do not get in trouble for saying this on these message boards, but here goes, When I was at Johnson & Wales, the Knives that were issued to us were a set of F.Dicks... Anyways the joke around the school was that everybody had a 10 inch you know what.. (for the french knife).... Anyways I am new to these boards and if some of you members dont mind I wouldnt mind an introduction with your experience and credentials.... whether it be a homemaker, BBQ Dad, Line cook, Newbie in the business or 50 year vet chef...

My postion in the kitchen? Well, lets see, I do just about everything: Pastry, hot and cold, training staff, supervising, driving, general maintainence, ordering, dealing with customers...Come to think of it, I own the place too...

I only asked because you referenced a "knife drawer"...where knives go to die. I'm pleased to find out that it may have been more of a generic term for a respectable destnation for beloved steel. Otherwise, I was going to have to shank your a*s! :)

That is very cool. I wish I had the opprotunity to do more Pasty, I paid to the extra money to take the course at JW and rarely get the opprotunity to do it... Last time that I got to do it was like February at an Easter Seals benefit...

Anyone have much experience with Globe Knives?

You mean "Global" knives?

I've used Henckels for most of my career, but most recently I purchased a 10inch Wusthof Culinar. I have to admit, it's the best knife that I've ever used. I have small hands, but it's not too heavy or big, and the edge stays sharp forever, just run it over your steel after every use.
I also bought a Grohman knife a little while back. Grohman is a German-owned company in Pictou, Nova Scotia and it's a great knife as well.