Foo shops for a Japanese knife

[chogall]

Super fine grit sharpening, at micro level roughness. Apply paste to fine surface and sharpen away. Chromium is even more fine at 0.5 micron.

 

[iamacyborg]

M Carter makes decent knives for a good price. But his knife sharpening videos/techniques is must watch for aspirational chefs.

Why get a deba? If you need something that doesn't chip, get softer and thicker knives instead of thin/stiff carbon steel.

Deba's are about twice as thick as standard Gyutos, not too sure about the hardness, but should be okay for the stuff I want to do.

Look at this as an example. http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HDSeries.html#HD Western Deba

 

[Manton]

I want this one:

http://korin.com/Misono-Molybdenum-Yo-Deba?sc=27&category=8549934

 

[itsstillmatt]

What do you guys want to do with these? For fish, the single beveled ones are the way to go, but as chogall said, those are basically big knives with sharp, thin edges, and for hacking bones, a cleaver is a much better solution, as the edges on these will only hold up to limited punishment. These are just really heavy chef knives, which make sense as an addition to a delicate one for cracking lobster claws and whatnot.

 

[iamacyborg]

I want this one:

http://korin.com/Misono-Molybdenum-Yo-Deba?sc=27&category=8549934

The hardness on that isn't far off my Henckel's Pro S - which basically means it's built like a tank. This would probably be a solid choice too, if you want a 24cm knife.
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpwede24.html

 

[Manton]

I doubt my ability to use a single bevel deba properly.

Anyway, you have a western deba, so why are you trying to discourage me?

 

[itsstillmatt]



I doubt my ability to use a single bevel deba properly.

Anyway, you have a western deba, so why are you trying to discourage me?

Because I never use it except to crack lobster claws or to chop large amounts of parsley.

 

[Manton]

why would you need that heavy knife for parsely?

I unhappy with my current round fish knife options. I suppose I could just get the 7" mac filet knife. I do have a cleaver so maybe there is no need for a deba. I don't break down really big fish. 90% of the whole fish that buy are black bass and red snapper, not that big by any means.

 

[itsstillmatt]

I don't need it for chopping parsley, it just has a shape that seems to rock nicely. I agree that flexible fillet knives suck. No question about that in my mind. I'd suggest getting a deba, but not a western one. The single bevel ones are purpose built to fillet fish, and you would need to learn that technique anyway if you were using a western one, it would just be harder to do.

 

[lordjeebus]

I like Western Debas for poultry (and lobsters). Far from essential.

 

[Zachgranstrom]

Not much of a knife guy, but this knife does the job for me: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/fufkm24wa.html

 

[foodguy]



Not much of a knife guy, but this knife does the job for me: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/fufkm24wa.html

pretty, but despite being called a gyutou, that looks a lot more like a slicer (yaganiba?). would be good for some things, but not a general tool.

 

[Zachgranstrom]



pretty, but despite being called a gyutou, that looks a lot more like a slicer (yaganiba?). would be good for some things, but not a general tool.

You're probably right, but I make do with it.

 

[Bounder]

All of this talk of left-handed, single-bevel sashimi knives sharpened with diamond dust is all very well but what sort of cutting surface are you using? I assume that there is probably some international treaty requiring the use of bamboo for all these super-high-end Japanese knives but I am looking to upgrade my cutting boards from wood and plastic for more ordinary stuff. The contending surfaces seem to be bamboo, Sani-TUFF or Remaindered Skate Board Park.

Are any of these better than wood and plastic? I kind of like the last one, Epicurean, but I am a sucker for this sort of thing. Does anyone have any experience with their surface?

 

[itsstillmatt]

The epicurean is awful, imo. Very hard. Sanituff is fine. Wood is fine. Bamboo is ****. Too hard.