Kitchen Knives

Originally Posted by Gradstudent78

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I use the Forshner knives and have enjoyed them. However I've never put money into a more expensive set.

I've used the 8" chef's knife and it takes as keen as edge as my Wusthofs. I like the Wusthof's heft a bit better, but for lots of chopping, that kind of heft can be a drawback at the end of a heavy day of cooking.

I didn't care for the Shun handle but the blades were astonishingly sharp - they were sharpened to a more acute angle than the Henckels I was comparing them with. Then again I'm not sure anything compares to high-end Japanese steel. If I ground my other knives to Shun's angle, their edges would crumble pretty quickly.

Funny thing, it's that way with japanese chisels and razors, too. You put an edge to the blade and they go and go.

Couple of places for Japanese knife Pr0n:

Japanesechefsknife.com

Korin Korin has a showroom in NYC.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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I've used the 8" chef's knife and it takes as keen as edge as my Wusthofs. I like the Wusthof's heft a bit better, but for lots of chopping, that kind of heft can be a drawback at the end of a heavy day of cooking.

I've never had to cut and cut all day, but aside from that, my experience with my Wusthoff GP chef and my Forschner chef is exactly as Thomas says. The Forschner represents the best bang for the buck I've seen in kitchenware, with the possible exception of my 12-inch cast-iron skillet ($6 at Ross).

Originally Posted by Tyto

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I've never had to cut and cut all day, but aside from that, my experience with my Wusthoff GP chef and my Forschner chef is exactly as Thomas says. The Forschner represents the best bang for the buck I've seen in kitchenware, with the possible exception of my 12-inch cast-iron skillet ($6 at Ross).
Back when I did have to cut and cut all day I used a Forschner that was not the bottom of the line plastic handle without tang, but one that was the classic French chef's knife shape but was high carbon stainless. It was a great knife, but I retired i when it went from 10" to 6". I don't believe that they are available anymore. Globals are great for ligtness, but IMO, nothing compares to the classic french shape. Here is what I am talking about for those who are not familiar with them since so few like them. The shape is great for slicing and dicing but not for rocking. Most French shefs would tell you that rocking is an improper way of cutting anything other than parsley, but that does not fit very well into the standard way of cooking at home where people mutilate shallots and onions into an unspeakable mush.

What you call "mush" some of us call "mince." Not everything is salsa, requiring neat, distinct cubes.

6" seems much too short. 8" I can understand. 10" makes certain tasks much faster.

Originally Posted by Manton

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6" seems much too short. 8" I can understand. 10" makes certain tasks much faster.

If I hadn't been following this thread, I might have thought that you're talking about something else entirely.

Originally Posted by Manton

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What you call "mush" some of us call "mince." Not everything is salsa, requiring neat, distinct cubes.

6" seems much too short. 8" I can understand. 10" makes certain tasks much faster.
Well, it wasn't 6" until it had been oversharpened too many times. As far as dice, I agree with you, but do believe that onions and shallots should be sliced or diced and not mushed. One day I was at a cooking class at Draegers Market in Menlo Park put on by Hubert Keller from Fleur de Lys. He claimed that cutting by rocking was verboten in his kitchen. My chef was Spanish, so he didn't really give a **** about stuff like that.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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Well, it wasn't 6" until it had been oversharpened too many times.

As far as dice, I agree with you, but do believe that onions and shallots should be sliced or diced and not mushed. One day I was at a cooking class at Draegers Market in Menlo Park put on by Hubert Keller from Fleur de Lys. He claimed that cutting by rocking was verboten in his kitchen. My chef was Spanish, so he didn't really give a **** about stuff like that.

I dice my shallots, after I've put them in hot water for a couple minutes.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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I dice my shallots, after I've put them in hot water for a couple minutes.

Now I know how Manton feels when somebody mentions a button down shirt with French cuffs. There is a right way to do thngs and a wrong way. If you are as serious about cooking as you claim to be, you need to do things the right way while you are still learning and then you can use these cute little tricks. It is the only way to learn.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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I dice my shallots, after I've put them in hot water for a couple minutes.

Do you also use goggles?

Ill throw my towel in for the Global knives.
I have tons of knives, ceramic (total waste of money), both german brands, a couple of french carbon steel (I like them), and now I am collecting the Japanese.
I tend to make large involved meals that require tons of chopping, and fine knife work.
The germans are too heavy, not sharp enough, and the tang gives me blisters.
The French knives are good for any work that requires a rocking or scissor motion.
The Japanese brands are light, agile, much sharper than the others.
I think MAC is the best value out there!
http://www.macknife.com/index.html

These are the knives Charlie Trotter uses...

As for sharpening Global knives. You can get a ceramic system that will hone to the correct angle to correct the blade. They are like $30.00. I have one on hand, my steel seems to correct any issues and keeps them crazy sharp.

I own that knife (and a lot of other Sabatier knives.)

I've been extremely happy with my Sabatier knives. They take and hold a keen edge, and it is very simple to touch up the edge if they do get dull.

A Damascus steel kitchen knife seems a bit odd to me. I can't imagine any circumstances in the kitchen where one would need the properties of a Damascus knife unless you were attacked by a sword wielding assailant and had to use your chef's knife to parry his blows.


[Edit] I believe that the secret to the Sabatier's performance is that they are less "stainless" than some others. They have a very high carbon content, and less chromium than other stainless steels. So, they don't stay quite as shiny as other stainless knives, but they remain sharp longer and are easier to sharpen when they do become dull.
A couple of my Sabatier knives (ham slicer and boning knife) are the non-stainless high carbon versions. They discolor very quickly, but they are literally razor sharp and it is easy to keep them that way.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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Here is what I am talking about for those who are not familiar with them since so few like them. The shape is great for slicing and dicing but not for rocking. Most French shefs would tell you that rocking is an improper way of cutting anything other than parsley, but that does not fit very well into the standard way of cooking at home where people mutilate shallots and onions into an unspeakable mush.

Originally Posted by Kai

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I own that knife (and a lot of other Sabatier knives.)

I've been extremely happy with my Sabatier knives. They take and hold a keen edge, and it is very simple to touch up the edge if they do get dull.

A Damascus steel kitchen knife seems a bit odd to me. I can't imagine any circumstances in the kitchen where one would need the properties of a Damascus knife unless you were attacked by a sword wielding assailant and had to use your chef's knife to parry his blows.
Yeah, they are great. Because of this thread, I went into our storage last night and grabbed out my old Thiers-Issard Sabatier (4-star elephant brand) carbon knives and ran them over the stone. I think I'll use them for awhile.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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Yeah, they are great. Because of this thread, I went into our storage last night and grabbed out my old Thiers-Issard Sabatier (4-star elephant brand) carbon knives and ran them over the stone. I think I'll use them for awhile.

How are their knives?

On their straight razors, the gold wash is not very well-done and sometimes a bit sloppy.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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How are their knives?

On their straight razors, the gold wash is not very well-done and sometimes a bit sloppy.

Wait until you see their new silverwing line of razors. I think they dropped the gold wash but improved the rest of their quality control to make some exceptional razors. If I ever got the urge for another razor, that would be the one.