Go to the Article: Do You Need an Expensive Knife?
Thank you for the excellent resource you are assembling here! I truly look forward to every update!Despite the specific need to judge a knife based on comfort and specific use, can you recommend some specific knives or knife sets as a reference (like you have done for scales, thermometers, etc)? Perhaps even a range "good", "better", and "best"?
Jonathan – This is a great question to pose on our forum, probably in the kitchen tools and hardware section: http://forum.chefsteps.com/
Thanks, Chris. Keep up the great work!
Just bought the cutting board you guys recommending. Wow Its Gigantic compared to my previous one!! What knife is used in the Salmon 104 video?
What do you think of bamboo cutting boards?
- originally posted by Susan
They can be nice if well constructed. Bamboo is quite hard compared to maple, so they will dull your blades a bit faster.
The knife is a UX10 270mm slicer (sujihiki). Misono used to make this knife with a granton edge years ago when Grant made the purchase but all newer ones do not feature the granton edge.
What the F* is point of this video ?
- originally posted by wat
I just bought this cutting board. Could you explain wood cutting board Maintenance?
And to top it all off I have often found very high quality knives in the thrift stores that were only dull too. You really do need a decent set of stones to get them back into shape and almost any whetstones will work so long as you have a coarse, medium, and fine.
My coarse and medium stone is a fairly cheap combination stone sold for carpenters. If you are lucky it with not be full of oil and you can simply rinse it with soap and water while using it to clear the metal filings and grit away.
The finest stone I use after setting up the bevels on the coarser stones is actually the unfinished ceramic ring on the bottom of a cheap cup plate or bowl. If you turn the plate over you will see the raised circle which is unglazed. It should be smooth and not rough or lumpy (but it should not be glassy). This will unglazed ring will sharpen just as well as the expensive ceramic stones or sharpening rods do.
Also many of the modern stainless steels are just as good as the carbon steel knives but you really need to know the brand names you are loking at when you are poking around in the thrift store. I found my set of MAC knives in a thrift store, also some nice Sabatier, Victorinox, Case, F. Dick, etc.
how money we can get that japan knives?
What are the grits of this two sided whetstone? I would like to buy just one stone like this one.
Thanks..
"What makes a sharp knife is sharpening it" Lol, nicely put
Have a bit of a think, I'm sure you'll figure it out.
You can condition and make wood cutting board last longer by apply food safe mineral oil. This helps prevent the board from warping and when the board does wear out with hard to clean grooves, you can sand it down again and reapply mineral oil.
My asian bias makes me want to place either a cleaver or at least an Usuba in the 3rd or 4th place. Blade plus bench scraping all in one.
Forged knives are better?
Loved the article, hated the video. Seriously could've just named the video, "will a sharp knife outperform this dull knife".
Most of the time a more expensive knife should be better from a metallurgical stand point. With a high carbon steel one can expect a fine grain structure which means it can both take on a keener edge and hold it longer ie get sharp stay sharp. Secondly cheap stainless knives could have somewhat of a dubious heat treat which means it could be a fantastic blade or awful depending on the luck of the draw. where as if the knife is more expensive you have more of a guarantee that the maker took the time and effort to heat treat well.
Also cheap knifes have loads of chromium just to ensure stain resistance but this makes very hard carbon/chromium carbides in a soft steel. Meaning the knife will dull fairly quickly but that it will be difficult to sharpen due to large amounts of chromium.
what about the japaneese rubber cutting boards used in restaurants. I have a 33" one at home and love it.
What about these diamond coated sharpening rods? Are they any good? Are they too dangerous?
I use cutting boards that are flexible and not sure the material. Made by Kitchen Gizmo and sold on Amazon. Roughly 11x10 and about 3/16" thick. I like these because they are easy on the knives. I wash these on the lower rack of the dishwasher that I know is better than hand washing. Our hot water is 160F in the DW. As a long time woodworker and one that worked in food manufacturing for a career I understand food safety. Wood is porous and I have trouble believing one can clean these that well, and then store them somewhere not so good. These Kitchen Gizmo mats allow me take my chop material, hold over the pot and bend them to allow the material to flow into the pot.
I use a set of wet stones for my woodworking chisels and blades, and also for my kitchen knives. I suggest buying cheap knives and practice on wet stones form 1000 grit to 4000 to 6000 grit. A dull knife is a dangerous knife. Once you learn to sharpen well, then the knife that feels best in your hand almost regardless of blade material, will work best for you. Just keep it sharp.
Your discussion of the carbon steel / stainless steel for knife blades is way too simplistic. There are many types of both 'stainless ' and 'carbon ' steels.
My fave knife is constructed of HAP40 steel, which is, in fact, a high speed tool steel. It contains so much alloying elements that they cannot be melted together, but have to be powdered, compressed and sintered. This results in an incredibly hard steel of great toughness. This cannot be compared to a cheapy stainless 400 series steel - they are chalk and cheese! And what about all the other stain resistant steels such as SG1 VG 10 etc, etc.
Discussion of knife steels needs a far more serious approach!
I love your cooking, but get serious about knives!
