Thread: recommended kitchen knives?

Originally Posted by Lemur

My kitchen is filled with Japanese carbon steel and French copper, I will never look back!
Japanese handmade knives don't have to be that expensive, lots of hype around certain brands raise the prices.

What hype?

I swear by my SHUN knives, Ive used and have a set of Henckels that I feel are fair(just my opinion as they were a present) I have several Wusthof and my dream knife would be a 14in heavy steel Whustof Classic, but I cant justify the cost as I oversee Search and Rescue in the Coast Guard and am not a Chef. But my favorite knives are my shun's as I'm a righty, they arent as good if your a lefty and arent for everyone due to the design of the handles but I have had mine for around 8+years with 0 complaints. Perfect weight and I wouldnt be surprised if you could actually shave your face with them, the edges are incredible and stay that way and the price wont destroy you. They are made in Japan, SHUN also makes pocket knives and I have a few of them as well and the steel is just as good.(i had a pocket knife addiction way before my SR addiction started) You can also apply if you havent arlready for the bed bath and beyond coupons and get the 20% of of each one(the coupons never expire contrary to belief except at a handful of stores) be it Henckels, Wusthof, or Shun. Just my two cents, I love to cook, and my knives while not the top of the line are perfect for me. Just like a SR each knife will feel and cut differently, the difference maker for me was initially the SHUN rounded handle but once I got past that it was the amazing steel that kept me buying more.
Respectfully,
Christian

Originally Posted by mainaman

What hype?

Different brands come and go as you know.
I don't want to be part of it so I stay away from naming names.

Originally Posted by broger

mainaman,

I really do agree that Japanese knives are much better. I will try my hardest to acquire some of that yummy hand forged Japanese steel. I looked at some works from Yoshikane and almost want to sell everything I have to fill my kitchen with those pieces of straight edged wonder.

You can get cheaper and better than Yoshikane, check out JNS and look for Itinomonn, I tried one and it is a really really well made knife.

I do alot of cooking,my 40 yr old set of henkles serves me well,Most important chopping and cutting tools for me are my cutting boards.

I have to add; you don't NEED any Japanese or other super knives to cook.
I don't NEED them either but it makes it more fun and I don't mind prepping for 4h if I got good tools.
Cooking is one of my hobbies, it also fills my freezers up with wonderful food!

First, let me say thank to everyone who has posted here in response to my question. Thank you.

Second, a lot of people are trying to make this much more convoluted than it needs to be. I know that all knives aren't the same. I'm not a dumb redneck american who would try to debone a chicken with a ceramic paring knife just cause it's sharp (all you steel buffs try not to diss ceramic knives, they have advantages just like steel). I know that I don't cook one type of food because I like all food too much. Hence why my original post stated that I wanted a Chefs Knife or Santoku and Paring knife. This is because they are very general use knives which is what type of cooking I do. All over the spectrum. I do understand I don't NEED a fancy schmancy Japanese knife. I cook a lot and cut a lot. Japanese knives are notorious for keeping their edges, however I also know English, French, and German steels are good too. That's why I mentioned right off that I am not strictly looking for Asian cutlery. Cutting board material is also something I am aware of.

With all due respect kind sirs, I know enough about knives that I'd prefer this thread be used for recommending good sources of knives like I had intended and start another thread another day for general kitchen knife terminology and usage.

Once again, I thank everyone who responded with the intention of helping me, and please take no offense to the above statements.

Originally Posted by broger

First, let me say thank to everyone who has posted here in response to my question. Thank you.

Second, a lot of people are trying to make this much more convoluted than it needs to be. I know that all knives aren't the same. I'm not a dumb redneck american who would try to debone a chicken with a ceramic paring knife just cause it's sharp (all you steel buffs try not to diss ceramic knives, they have advantages just like steel). I know that I don't cook one type of food because I like all food too much. Hence why my original post stated that I wanted a Chefs Knife or Santoku and Paring knife. This is because they are very general use knives which is what type of cooking I do. All over the spectrum. I do understand I don't NEED a fancy schmancy Japanese knife. I cook a lot and cut a lot. Japanese knives are notorious for keeping their edges, however I also know English, French, and German steels are good too. That's why I mentioned right off that I am not strictly looking for Asian cutlery. Cutting board material is also something I am aware of.

With all due respect kind sirs, I know enough about knives that I'd prefer this thread be used for recommending good sources of knives like I had intended and start another thread another day for general kitchen knife terminology and usage.

Once again, I thank everyone who responded with the intention of helping me, and please take no offense to the above statements.

I read through each response twice, it appears that everyone gave advice, that they truly thought would help you. Yes, I take offense to your tone.

Consider this, should you decide to actually bestow the title of "Redneck American" on someone; it's not a exactly a compliment in all social circles. You would be surprised just how much knowledge there is in the choice & use of knives among individuals that consider themselves Redneck Americans.

You made it clear that you know a lot about knives, yet you ask where these knives can be found ?

To me it's like stating, "I know a lot about bears, so where do I go to hunt them?"

Really ??

Hirlau,

First, I'm not going to apologize that you took offense. I said thank you to everyone twice, stated that my response was to clear up the type of things I know about knives so that people could make their answers more specific to my question, and also stated that my response had zero negative intentions behind it.

I obviously don't know everything about knives, but your analogy was "swing and a miss" in my opinion. Are you going to tell an astrologist that he's full of sh** because he knows a lot about Neptune but needs help to get there? If so, you must be a very intellectually blessed individual.

I posted the above response to this thread to restate the answer I was hoping to get, and while I really enjoy new information about knives (kitchen in particular), maybe another thread could be used for that and this one could stay to sources of good kitchen knives. Seeing as how that's why I started it. However, your above post was laced with negative intentions to "put me in my place." Very mentor-ish.

I'm not surprised at your response, Broger.