[Nil]

Hi,
Quick background, I'm looking to buy my fiancée a knife or two to celebrate our upcoming wedding. We've always used your typical cheap knives, but we're ready for something nicer. She's a cooking hobbyist and is debating going back to school for culinary. Cooks primarily asian dishes, but also any variety of other cuisine. These will be used for regular home-cooking.

I think the best start for us would be a versatile Chef knife and a paring knife. I'm looking in the price range of $100 per knife. Give or take, I'm flexible here. Priority is a functional knife, but simple beauty is appreciated as it'll be stored on the wall with a magnetic bar (unless there's reason not to do that?). I'm leaning towards Japanese style knives with a metal that is not at high risk of rusting. We're up to the task of caring for a knife, but hopefully not something that requires heavy maintenance. Sharpening and routine maintenance though is fine and expected.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[rick alan]

welcome to cheftalk Nil. I'll just assume you're from the States. Fujiwara and Tojiro DP are the 2 most recommended entry level knives, Fujiwara is a little more money but a better knife.

I haven't heard any bad about these knives, though nothing good either, nothing at all really except from someone who sells them and says they are equal to Japanese knives, and given the high-grade steel, initial offering low price and fine looking F+F I'd say they were worth a shot.
http://www.thebestthings.com/knives/fischer_bargoin_zen_knives.htm

If you don't mind carbon the K-Sabatier Au Carbon is pretty slick looking and a good cutter, though you have to deal with that silly full bolster, sells cheap on Amazon and some reputable online sites. Don't buy the stainless though, relatively poor steel.

 

[GCS C.C.C.]

Hi Nil. The Fujiwara knives are the Rolls Royce of chefs knives; with a price to match. These knives are handmade by master craftsman following the same methodology used to make the world's finest katanas dating back to the days when Japan was ruled by a shogun. A 10" chef's knife will run about $700 CAD. 3 of the knives in my roll were made by Fujiwara; they are lighter in weight than a comparable knife made by Henckel and perhaps a little better balanced. Fujiwara are good to their word: their knives are "authentic and sharp no matter how long you might use, moreover, you might realize one as a precious practical utility". I can literally go for weeks without reaching for my steel and I haven't yet ever felt the need to put it to a stone since I got them as a present more than 10 years ago.

You said approx $100 each and for that price you may get lucky to afford a gyuto and a petty made by Fujimoto Nashiji or Misono but you'll have to sweeten that pot some more I would suspect. The Henckel five star line would be more likely to fit your budget and fulfill your expectations if you keep an eye on sales.

 

[rick alan]

GCS you must be thinking of Turiasu Fujiwara, not Fujiwara the huge mass production company that sell knives mostly in the $100 and under range. As far as German stainless, I personally wouldn't touch it. Far better to be had for the same money or less.

 

[millionsknives]

For a first japanese knife it's hard to beat this: https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...als/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-wa-gyuto

Basically you want something goldilocks would like- not too hard not too soft.

About sharpening.. Make sure you learn to sharpen it as a double bevel japanese knife. There are plenty of posts about it here and on kkf if you search, and JKI and korin have tutorial videos on youtube.

 

[rick alan]

Geshin stainless, talk about function and simple elegance, I should have included it. Similar steel as the Fujiwara but from a better source and but much better heat treat and grind, no comparison.

 

[azenjoys]

You may already be planning to do this, so ignore me if that's the case, but I suggest you take your fiance knife shopping with you and let her choose. Women, on average, tend to have smaller hands than men, tend to be smaller in stature, and tend to have less upper body strength - all of which can influence what type of knife will be most comfortable and work best for someone. My fiance and I, for example, have pretty similar tastes in knife shape/material but I really don't like using his knives bc I find the handles really bulky and the weighting always feels unbalanced/too heavy. Fwiw my favorite of all my knives is still the Miyabi (Western handle, morimoto edition) I got right out of culinary school for around $100 (might have been a sale price).

 

[rick alan]

The knives mentioned are as light or lighter to the Myabi

 

[Nil]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! Very helpful and definitely got me looking into the right areas.

I end up going with https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...als/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-wa-gyuto and expect to be delving into sharpening tutorials soon enough.

 

[rick alan]

Bravo! That's some quick decision making, and you really couldn't do better for the price. Ask for the initial sharpening if you haven't and still can. Let us know when it comes and the 2 of you have used it.

 

[Nil]

I had read about the initial sharpening, but forgot by the time I got through checkout. Contacted them 2 hours later in case it hadn't shipped yet. They got back to me today, saying it had already went out, but they managed to contact the postal service and intercept it. Quite an amazing level of customer service. I wouldn't have blamed them one bit if they weren't able to retrieve it. It was my fault for forgetting to request it initially. Oh well, big thank you and props to japaneseknifeimports for that excellence.

Will update once I get to try them out.

 

[millionsknives]

JKI customer service has been top notch in all my experiences, but that is a whole other level!