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Can someone help me get a good set of Japanese knives

5421 Views 24 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  ordo
My current set is walmart cheap special, so everything is a definite upgrade. My husband is a really good cook. I like making bento boxes and I have done quite well despite my knife set. However it is starting to bug me. The uses I use them for is sushi, apple swans and other similar 3d food art, and i bake bread daily. He uses the basic traditional chop and slice and parring activities. My biggest problem is I'm semi left handed in certain knife activities. My husband likes Japanese knives and I think they will suit my cooking style very well compared to the german.
  • My budget is about 600-800 (for all 4)
  • My husband prefers the hammered finish (tsuchime) bc he thinks it's pretty (this is flexible if i can convince him the knife is very good and pretty)
  • I really just want a bread, chef, parring, and utility. Extras would be boning knife and slicing knife but trying to stretch the budget. Also need a honing steel.
  • Ambidextrous (husband is right handed and i go back and forth)
  • VG 10 (very important to me)
  • Husband has nickel allergy
  • We don't care about brand, I care about function, will it work for me, and is it comfortable
  • Looking for mid-high end knives that will last a lifetime
My husband and I keep getting stuck on a fracking shun premier set but i have to compromise on the ambidextrous that I want and the knife set that fixes that is something he doesn't like the look of therefore He'll be more reluctant to take care of.

I know shun aren't the cream of the crop or any blade dream but is there any other knifes someone can recommend. The others i'm finding don't feel right. The shun feel good but then i'm stuck not using my better hand on some things (I'm ambidextrous but left hand dominant)

What is a good solution? get a right handed set now to please him and then get a left handed set for me? Is there an ambidextrous set similar to the shun premier in price and blade finish? I'm just feel cornered without options on knives

I get 10% off shun knives too so that helps the cost but I'm still not sold and I think there may be better for the money. Thank you in advance for your help
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1 - 3 of 25 Posts
ALL japanese knives are going to be asymmetric one way or the other. The only question is how asymmetric and if you can deal with it.

How about this for the chefs knife? I've heard some lefties have been happy with it and it matches the aesthetic you're looking for. No nickel in swedish stainless AFAIK

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com.../gonbei-240mm-hammered-damascus-wa-gyuto.html

Dunno why VG-10 is very important to you. I think it's just an average steel that's hard to sharpen. If you're worried about Nickel for allergies, double check anything you shop for with this site http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/articles/kkchoser/kksteelp2.shtml It lists the composition of each steel. Iron, carbon, magnesium, chromium etc. all of what is in each steel and the %.
Probably the birchwood.  Damascus cladding is just on the outside.  It's not SG2, but some mystery stainless.   This is very different than damascus all the way through the core.
1 - 3 of 25 Posts
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