Another bloody knife thread - which single knife?
Discussion
Just won an award at work, which comes with £100...
After getting steadily pissed off at how my OH uses my Ikea jobbies (that used to be sharp), rather than risk the wrath of the mental, I thought it was about time I got myself something decent.
So, one knife, for pretty much everything, one hundred pounds max. If you can recommend a sharpener at the same time that would be great. I'd like to keep it for years, and only allow myself to use it. A sharp yet beautiful friend if you will.
Oh, bonus points for anything Richmond Cookshop sell, I used to work for them as a Saturday boy so would like to give them the business (plus they might do discount!).
My only experiences with quality knives are Wusthof/Henckel/Global. Didn't like the handles of the globals, and only played with the german super flexible utilities back then - the big b
ds scared me!
Cheers,
Sam
After getting steadily pissed off at how my OH uses my Ikea jobbies (that used to be sharp), rather than risk the wrath of the mental, I thought it was about time I got myself something decent.
So, one knife, for pretty much everything, one hundred pounds max. If you can recommend a sharpener at the same time that would be great. I'd like to keep it for years, and only allow myself to use it. A sharp yet beautiful friend if you will.
Oh, bonus points for anything Richmond Cookshop sell, I used to work for them as a Saturday boy so would like to give them the business (plus they might do discount!).
My only experiences with quality knives are Wusthof/Henckel/Global. Didn't like the handles of the globals, and only played with the german super flexible utilities back then - the big b
ds scared me!Cheers,
Sam
A 240mm Gyuto (or a 210mm if you're a big girl's blouse) from either of these lines:
http://japanesechefsknife.com/Page4.html
http://japanesechefsknife.com/TenmiJyurakuSeries.h...
The first (G3) has a full stainless blade, while the second (AS) has an alloy steel (non stainless) core with stainless cladding, with about 5mm of the core steel exposed at the cutting edge. You'd need to take a bit more care of the second one (if you leave it wet it'll start to rust at the edge), but the edge steel is better than on the G3 (which is also no slouch).
Or just look for anything else on that site that takes your fancy. They're all good.
http://japanesechefsknife.com/Page4.html
http://japanesechefsknife.com/TenmiJyurakuSeries.h...
The first (G3) has a full stainless blade, while the second (AS) has an alloy steel (non stainless) core with stainless cladding, with about 5mm of the core steel exposed at the cutting edge. You'd need to take a bit more care of the second one (if you leave it wet it'll start to rust at the edge), but the edge steel is better than on the G3 (which is also no slouch).
Or just look for anything else on that site that takes your fancy. They're all good.
escargot said:
Looks pretty damn good and i need a good multi use knife 
http://www.stylecookshop.co.uk/product/648/miy3454...
I've got one from this line, and it's just awesome. I love how the layers are exposed.
I've got one from this line, and it's just awesome. I love how the layers are exposed.
http://www.pots-and-pans.co.uk/acatalog/Kasumi_Tit...
i paid half that about 3 years ago for same knife. awesome and very easy to get an edge back on it.
i paid half that about 3 years ago for same knife. awesome and very easy to get an edge back on it.
Just had a play with a Kai Ten (i think) damascus steel santoku.
Amazingly sharp, lovely to hold, perfect shape and balance.
However, they wanted £185. Richmond Cookshop have it for £135, but it's still fairly significant budget creep if I add in a whetstone...
So chaps and chapesses, what's the closest to that I can get for £100?
Amazingly sharp, lovely to hold, perfect shape and balance.
However, they wanted £185. Richmond Cookshop have it for £135, but it's still fairly significant budget creep if I add in a whetstone...
So chaps and chapesses, what's the closest to that I can get for £100?
Sway said:
Just had a play with a Kai Ten (i think) damascus steel santoku.
Amazingly sharp, lovely to hold, perfect shape and balance.
However, they wanted £185. Richmond Cookshop have it for £135, but it's still fairly significant budget creep if I add in a whetstone...
So chaps and chapesses, what's the closest to that I can get for £100?
Do you mean "Kai Shun"?Amazingly sharp, lovely to hold, perfect shape and balance.
However, they wanted £185. Richmond Cookshop have it for £135, but it's still fairly significant budget creep if I add in a whetstone...
So chaps and chapesses, what's the closest to that I can get for £100?
The Hiromotos. Performance, balance etc is as good or better than the one you tried, just without the pretty damascus cladding (which is 100% decorative)
If you want a Santoku and really like the damascus, you can get a Hattori HD5 for around £100 http://japanesechefsknife.com/HDSeries.html. A step above the Kai Shun as well.
uncinqsix said:
Sway said:
Just had a play with a Kai Ten (i think) damascus steel santoku.
Amazingly sharp, lovely to hold, perfect shape and balance.
However, they wanted £185. Richmond Cookshop have it for £135, but it's still fairly significant budget creep if I add in a whetstone...
So chaps and chapesses, what's the closest to that I can get for £100?
Do you mean "Kai Shun"?Amazingly sharp, lovely to hold, perfect shape and balance.
However, they wanted £185. Richmond Cookshop have it for £135, but it's still fairly significant budget creep if I add in a whetstone...
So chaps and chapesses, what's the closest to that I can get for £100?
The Hiromotos. Performance, balance etc is as good or better than the one you tried, just without the pretty damascus cladding (which is 100% decorative)
If you want a Santoku and really like the damascus, you can get a Hattori HD5 for around £100 http://japanesechefsknife.com/HDSeries.html. A step above the Kai Shun as well.
That Hattori looks absolutely incredible.
What would I need to keep that in the condition it deserves? Is sharpening/honing something I can learn easily?
Sway said:
That Hattori looks absolutely incredible.
What would I need to keep that in the condition it deserves? Is sharpening/honing something I can learn easily?
Yep, the Hattoris really are quite nice. We've been using that Santoku and the HD8 Gyuto daily for the past 8-9 years, and they look just as good as they day we got them. They're pretty easy to look after. What would I need to keep that in the condition it deserves? Is sharpening/honing something I can learn easily?
The best way of sharpening is with Japanese waterstones. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it really isn't that difficult and there are heaps of tutorials on Youtube. Practice on your old knives first, and you'll pick it up in no time. Grit wise, you need a 1000 and a 6000, and the cheapest way to get that is a combo stone, like this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Waterstone-King-C...
If you didn't want to go down that route, you could use a pull through-type sharpener, but you'll never get it as sharp as you can with a 6000 grit stone. If you do that, you'll need a Global or Shun one, as they're set up with the correct bevel angles (European knives use a steeper angle than Japanese knives). You shouldn't use steels on Japanese knives, so they're out of the question.
I'd say get a decent sharpener.
I have the Minosharp 3-wheeler which although designed for Globals, will happily sharpen up any old knife - cheapo knives from Ikea included.
It's also a piece of piss to use. Fill the chamber with water and give the knife 20 strokes on each wheel, taking care not to exert any downward pressure.
I have the Minosharp 3-wheeler which although designed for Globals, will happily sharpen up any old knife - cheapo knives from Ikea included.
It's also a piece of piss to use. Fill the chamber with water and give the knife 20 strokes on each wheel, taking care not to exert any downward pressure.
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