what kind of knife do you have? - Page 3

I have several, but the one I use mostly is an 8 inch JA Henckels that I bought for 1/2 price at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet.  Some people swear by the Santoku knives.  I can't seem to use them as well.

• 8" Zwilling Cronidur
• 4" Paring Zwilling Cronidur Knife
• 6" some Henckels Santoku Knife (bought it from Walmart) - my first knife :D
• 10" Mercer Cutlery Forged Riveted Chef Knife
• 3" Mercer Cutlery Paring Knife
• 6" Mercer Cutlery Boning Knife
• 12" Mercer Cutlery Serrated Knife

 

All the Mercer Cutlery was from my culinary school.

 

Newest addition:

• Suisin INOX Honyaki Gyuto 240mm

Edited by Dennie - 1/31/12 at 4:23pm

i have a miyabi kaizen chef as my go to knife, and the rest are a random assortment from wusthof to chicago cutlery

As time goes on, I seem to be simplifying:

 

300mm blue steel yanagiba (secret maker, extremely high quality, long story)

195mm yellow steel (?) yanagiba (minor local maker)

210mm white steel Aritsugu (Tsukiji) usuba

210mm black Aritsugu (Kyoto) deba

105mm Masamoto KS deba

 

OXO peeler

some sorta somethin-er-other bread knife thing

weird but functional serrated cheese knife thing

 

um....

 

I have a box grater. Does that count?

Most of my knife work is done with either a Tojiro DP Nakiri or a Kantesune 240 Gyuto.  While I have others, I generally reach for one or the other.  IMO the most overrated knife is the Santuko, the most underrated the Nakiri. 

 

I keep several Forschners left over from my packing house days.  IMO they are the best of the inexpensive knives.  As value packed J knives, I would prefer the DP. 

 

 

I've not used a Nakiri. What makes that knife more appealing than a gyuto at any given time? I keep thinking more knife types would be cool but then don't know when I'd pick them up instead of a gyuto.

What I like about the Nakiri is that while it is a relatively flat blade edge, the tip is rounded and the knife glides back and forth along the cutting board.  Somewhat like cutting on a meat slicer or mandoline.  It also has a large enough surface to scoop up the product.

 

The Nakiri is designed as a vegetable slicer, but works well for meat for me.  Like many knives, it works best if very sharp.  You don't want to saw with it.

 

I'm a fan of the DP line from Tojiro.  OOTB the knife is as sharp as any I have.  I don't sharpen my own knives, but send them to a very good sharpener, including new knives.  He suggested I use this one without his services.  He was right.

Thanks, jimbo,

I make my own.

 

dcarch

 

Those are some wild looking blades. I'm going to make a wild guess that you make lots of knives that are not kitchen knives, too (?)

When I read this first thought I had is how does the nakiri compare to the usuba?

 

Could this knife be the answer to the various problems some relate to a usuba, or are they too very different?

 

 

 

Being my Tojiro DP santoku is close to being my second most used knife (running close with a 120mm, and due to the fact I do a good amount of quick small jobs, and sometimes on a smallish board) I have to wonder if a nakiri could possibly change this? :)

 

 

I have a Shun Kaji 12" chefs that I use for most tasks. I find that Japanese steel just holds a sharper edge, and longer than the German knives. Love the handle design on the Shun as well as someone mentioned before. I would never go back to a more traditional style handle after using my Shun.

 

Jumbo

That all makes sense, and a nikiri and also a Chinese cleaver are two of the knives least like what I have used but also both on my future wish list.

Thanks for your input, and never worry about not being an expert as personally at least I have found non professional reviews very helpful as the info seems much more useful as the experience level may be more similar etc. Not to take anything away from professional reviews and just that some of the things important to one is not always the same with the other.

A Chinese cleaver is a knife that I will someday buy on impulse, although I can't tell you why.  I have heard good things about the CCK, a cheap Chinese that apparently has good steel but is poorly finished.  I someday will buy one and see if it can be made into an excellent knife with a little tweaking.

 

Anybody have one of these?

I think the CCK is good geometry for a cleaver, not particularly good steel. You pay a lot more for a more finished handle. I have one. I learned that I'm a gyuto person. Some people are cleaver people.

Last year i toke my first head chefs job. my trusty victornox set had taken me on a good session in the years but i though i would treat myself to a couple of shuns. yes they were costly at the time. but from my first day in my new kitchen i new they were well worth the money. Ben