Thread: Kitchen Knives

Not a good argument considering
a)a kitchen knife shouldn't be used for butchery and
b) many high end chefs have in fact...high end kitchen knives.

I just use a moderately priced set of Global knives but I like them... they feel good in hand, well balanced and have held up well over the last 5 years.

Regarding wood boards to chop on, I read a study a while ago that some woods such as Camphor Laurel have natural antibacterial properties and are better than Nylon etc. And nobody with any good knife would ever cut on glass.

Glass boards are a no no for good knives. Glass is hard and will roll the edges on softer steels and chip the edges on harder steels. Poly boards are what most kitchens use because the health inspectors want things hygenic and clean and don't realize that the deep cuts in the poly boards can hide bacteria and are very difficult to clean since the poly can kinda self heal a little and close the bacteria in. Wood boards are actually toxic to bacteria and a good hot soapy water washing will work to keep the boards clean. Some use poly boards for proteins and wash them in very hot water and then use the wood boards for veggies and produce. At home, I only use end grain wood boards and my edge life has gone way up since switching from the bamboo board I used previously.

Steeling a knife is OK with soft steel, but what happens is that the edge will eventually fatigue and break, leaving a flat spot on the edge where there is no apex to the edge bevels. Steeling bends the steel back and forth and weakens it until it breaks and needs to be resharpened again. Steeling a Japanese knife puts way too much pressure on the edge in a tiny spot and with the thinner, harder steels they use, can lead to chipping. Steeling on a ceramic rod is a little better for Japanese knives, but care must be taken to use little to no pressure, kinda like on razors.

For butchers, they use cheap knives because they are cheap. They have several sets in rotation with one in use, one at the sharpeners and one on standby usually so they always have something else to go to and they have contracts at the places for the sharpening and replacement usually. They work for what they are doing, but again, they are using butchers knives and not kitchen knives in general. They are a specific style/grind to work well. Most Japanese knives are not made in the same shapes, so there isn't much cross correlation. A Hankotsu works well for deer, especially trimming silver skin. When I process deer with my uncle, we use a normal style boning knife to break down the deer and debone the quarters. We then switch to Japanese knives and use a Hankotsu or a thinned out Honesuki to trim, de fat and remove the silver skin and then I use a gyuto or a suji to steak out the cuts. We did 3 deer in one day. I had made a AEB-L boning knife (same steel as in some Japanese knives) with a thin edge and that held it's edge much better than the regular boning knife we had used, but the blade was a bit too stiff, so I gotta regrind it thinner at the spine. I used another AEB-L Boning knife (Richmond Artifex) with the thicker factory edge and more flex and that held it's edge very well, but the handle was too small for my Uncle, who has huge hands. Neither AEB-L knife needed to be touched up and the regular butchers boning knife we touched up a few times. We used the 2 AEB-L boning knives for trimming as well w/o touch ups, too. Both my gyuto and suji did the cuts on the 3 deer with no touch ups needed.

I wish there were more Japanese made versions of the European style butchering knives, but the higher quality steel will make them too expensive to have multiple sets. Butchers use what they use because they are cost efficient, easy to replace and if they get messed up, they don't care, plus the styles/shapes is more designed to what they do. The Japanese do the same with their fish/sushi knives; they are ground/shaped for the specific tasks, but they have a set that they take care of and sharpen themselves when needed instead of sending them out.

Chefs will often fall into 3 categories. 1) They use the house knives. 2) they have their own knives, usually Henckels, Wustoff or whatever their culinary school pushed 3) they switched to Japanese/Japanese style knives from entry level to high end. Most chefs fall in to the first 2 categories.

Head to head, Japanese knives will outperform, out cut and hold their edges longer doing the same tasks in a pro kitchen than the European style knives will. The European knives tolerate abuse better and are less expensive, which is also why many chefs still use them.

Hard not to get sucked into this thread LOL

Yeah I've been enjoying the thread- still loving my knife!

DC! Haven't seen that name since foodieforums went down I was TimJ on there IIRC, same screen name on most of the other kitchen knife forums.

Nice thread, I'm loving Mr Magnus' display.

I've been quite happy with one decent knife for a few years now. It's a carbon 210mm Kochi gyuto. Somthing small, perhaps a petty, is on the list but I'm in no rush.

Originally Posted by AndrewJM

Regarding wood boards to chop on, I read a study a while ago that some woods such as Camphor Laurel have natural antibacterial properties and are better than Nylon etc. And nobody with any good knife would ever cut on glass.

I recently bought a Japanese paulownia chopping board (manaita).
Great pairing with hard J/knives rather than hardwood I was using.

Originally Posted by taz575

DC! Haven't seen that name since foodieforums went down I was TimJ on there IIRC, same screen name on most of the other kitchen knife forums.

Thought I recognized the name I've been out of the forums for a while now. Trying to get back a little at a time

Originally Posted by Proinsias

Nice thread, I'm loving Mr Magnus' display.

I've been quite happy with one decent knife for a few years now. It's a carbon 210mm Kochi gyuto. Somthing small, perhaps a petty, is on the list but I'm in no rush.

I have that same knife and LOVE that size for home cooking, well that all I can do now Still have my LR Harner's, Hiromoto AS's & HC, CCK, and so many others... LOL More than I'll ever be able to wear out

Still have my Board Smith mahogany board, my wife is not allowed to touch it anymore Grrr....