Chef Knives?

[COVRTDESIGN]

DSC_9018-01.jpg

Finally put up a few of the many knives on the wall.
Huge thanks to Craig @carbonknifeco for the sharpening services and the new handle. First time I’ve ever let someone else sharpen my knives and they came out fantastic!
Speaking of Carbon Knife Co, all but the shuns and the kirisashi have been bought from Carbon Knife Co.
From left to right.
Shun Classic pairing knife,
Kitaoka Migaki 180mm Deba
Shun Fuji 180mm Santoku
Sakai Takiyuki 165mm Nakiri
Takeda 165mm Nakiri
Sakai Takayuki 180mm Gyuto
Shun Classic 180mm Gyuto (had this for 16 yrs)
Kurosaki 210mm Gyuto with custom orange handle

[guido]

That is some amazing steel you have there!

DSC_9018-01.jpg

Finally put up a few of the many knives on the wall.
Huge thanks to Craig @carbonknifeco for the sharpening services and the new handle. First time I’ve ever let someone else sharpen my knives and they came out fantastic!
Speaking of Carbon Knife Co, all but the shuns and the kirisashi have been bought from Carbon Knife Co.
From left to right.
Shun Classic pairing knife,
Kitaoka Migaki 180mm Deba
Shun Fuji 180mm Santoku
Sakai Takiyuki 165mm Nakiri
Takeda 165mm Nakiri
Sakai Takayuki 180mm Gyuto
Shun Classic 180mm Gyuto (had this for 16 yrs)
Kurosaki 210mm Gyuto with custom orange handle

[COVRTDESIGN]

That is some amazing steel you have there!

Cheers! Excited to get back to the restaurant again soon and get my other knives back. These are my ones primarily for home cooking and training.

[mzilliox]

a savage trio.
[IMG]someknives by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr[/IMG]
the tanaka is amazing, my first true Japanese knife... and its a fine example
The.9nine is a laser, quite thin at the tip
The Heldqvistmide is incredible. a custom done for me. 260x60mm. 266 layer damascus cladding over 26c3 "spicy white" core. ebony and reindeer antler in the handle. viking kitchen sword

[mnoble485]

Matt and Covert,

I can’t give you a definition of porn but I know it when I see it. This is applicable to me when it comes to knives. I’m trying to learn. If you guys are cutting with Dura Ace/ Campysuper record, can you recommend 105 or even Tiagra in the knife world

Mike

[COVRTDESIGN]

Matt and Covert,

I can’t give you a definition of porn but I know it when I see it. This is applicable to me when it comes to knives. I’m trying to learn. If you guys are cutting with Dura Ace/ Campysuper record, can you recommend 105 or even Tiagra in the knife world

Mike

I always recommend Shun. For $100 for the Shun Classic range, you cant beat the steel and how long they hold up. I have put 16 years on the 3 Shun knives in the pic. Westhoff is nice as well, butI don't like German steel personally.

Knives certainly get expensive. I have a few custom Japanese knives that cost about $3k each. The picture above has about $1900.Being a now ex Executive Chef and now running a cooking youtube channel, they are well worth the investment.

[mzilliox]

Matt and Covert,

I can’t give you a definition of porn but I know it when I see it. This is applicable to me when it comes to knives. I’m trying to learn. If you guys are cutting with Dura Ace/ Campysuper record, can you recommend 105 or even Tiagra in the knife world

Mike

I consider my knives to be ultegra or record level, not quite super record or dura ace level.
While shuns do hold up, i find them more difficult to sharpen well, and the geometry is lacking, but they will give you lots of life. good values for certain. the next level seems to start around 300USD.
If you can swing it, a konosuke FM, or anything used on ebay by blacksmith yoshikazu tanaka. there really is a magic in the geometry of Sakai village knives
what makes these knives better to me is not necessarily the steel, although the steel is nice and hard and gets very sharp. its the way they are ground. that is to say the way the bevel of the knife takes shape behind the edge. there is a term, "thin behind the edge", and now this must apply to my knives or they go.

so the knife on the left, a yoshi tanaka made gyuto, 225mm x 51mm and white 2 steel. this is my best dollar to performance knife for sure. its a top 3 cutter for the majority of foods, and my best onion dicer. I have a thing for iron clad carbon steel, but thats just me, some folk prefer the full polished look, i like the hazy kasumi finish, and buy knives specifically to be able to polish them as well.

[mnoble485]

Thanks for the input. My friends call me cheap but I prefer frugal. My Serotta and my Hampsten were both bought from the original owners so used is appealing. I found a couple of websites that I will explore.
Any and all recommendations are appreciated.


Mike

[COVRTDESIGN]

a savage trio.
[img]someknives by matt.zilliox, on flickr[/img]
the tanaka is amazing, my first true japanese knife... And its a fine example
the.9nine is a laser, quite thin at the tip
the heldqvistmide is incredible. A custom done for me. 260x60mm. 266 layer damascus cladding over 26c3 "spicy white" core. Ebony and reindeer antler in the handle. Viking kitchen sword

sexy!!!

[Too Tall]

Cheers! Excited to get back to the restaurant again soon and get my other knives back. These are my ones primarily for home cooking and training.

Oy. I do love good knives. My go to, don't laugh, is the family Sabatier Chefs knife. That rascal has seen my thru the years.

[winmonster]

The bolster on most western knives is maddening. I have some old Henckels and some Wusthof knives that are serviceable and regularly abused by the SO. Sharpening them is a pain in the ass. I'll get some fancy Japanese knives one day just for fun, but the Misono UX10s I bought back when they were hot are performing well in the mean time.

My kid goes away (maybe...) to college in the fall. He is developing into a decent cook, is beginning to appreciate nicer things and also recognizes value. I'll send him off with Victorinox knives.

[Too Tall]

The bolster on most western knives is maddening. I have some old Henckels and some Wusthof knives that are serviceable and regularly abused by the SO. Sharpening them is a pain in the ass. I'll get some fancy Japanese knives one day just for fun, but the Misono UX10s I bought back when they were hot are performing well in the mean time.

My kid goes away (maybe...) to college in the fall. He is developing into a decent cook, is beginning to appreciate nicer things and also recognizes value. I'll send him off with Victorinox knives.

Good calll on the Victorinox. I've been using their bread knife in our camper and have zero regrets. If someone gave me that for going away to college I'd still have it.

[guido]

The bolster on most western knives is maddening. I have some old Henckels and some Wusthof knives that are serviceable and regularly abused by the SO. Sharpening them is a pain in the ass. I'll get some fancy Japanese knives one day just for fun, but the Misono UX10s I bought back when they were hot are performing well in the mean time.

My kid goes away (maybe...) to college in the fall. He is developing into a decent cook, is beginning to appreciate nicer things and also recognizes value. I'll send him off with Victorinox knives.

I have a Victorinox Santoku that really does the job on a day to day basis. Quite well shaped and balanced, sharpens nicely, holds that edge and doesn't require extra care. A perfect college knife.

[mzilliox]

i dont mean to knock these wonderful knives from europe or wherever. they are low maintenance, hold a reasonable edge, and dont patina. all good and useful things

the first time you slice an onion or potato with a properly ground and sharp J knife will be like the first ride on that custom steel bike. there is a tangible difference in the quality of the cutting performance.

and the smile while cutting with my custom knives, priceless! i cook every day, more than i ride, it made sense to make a fun investment.