special knife recomendations.

[Pete Franklin]

I have been given some money to buy myself something special for my 30th birthday and would like another kitchen knife. I have an array of global knives which fulfill most of my requirements but I find the g2 a bit light for heavy work. I want to stick with Japanese. A large chefs knife in folded steel and larger / heavier than the g2 would fit the bill nicely. Love the look of the shun professional range but they're a bit over budget. Looking to spend 100 to 150. the knife needs to look special, hold its edge and last for years to come.

Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers

Pete

[Pferdestarke]

Have you seen this range?

http://www.kinknives.com/

The Saturday kitchen crew use them, as do the Hairy Bikers.

[SVX]

I present to you the "Blue light sabre":



Mine's into it's third year and still going very strong.

[Bacardi]

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com

Lots to choose from. I've ordered twice and have been satisfied with prompt service.

[skwdenyer]

My wife, who uses her knives professionally, suggests that, instead of another knife, the OP instead considers investing £90 in the Leith Knife Skills Course. Not only will it teach a great deal about how to use a knife, and how to choose the right knife for the right application, but it will provide lasting skills in the knife department, and access to great professional chefs who can make decent recommendations based upon the OP's particular needs.

[uncinqsix]

Bacardi said:

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com

Lots to choose from. I've ordered twice and have been satisfied with prompt service.

+1. It has some of the exact same knives as on the Kin Knives site, but a considerably lower price...

[croakey]

I've got a rather nice folded Damascus steel hattori hd I can thoroughly recommend

[Pete Franklin]

Bacardi said:

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com

Lots to choose from. I've ordered twice and have been satisfied with prompt service.

I've seen that site before- looks like an imressive amount of choice.

Do you know how much shipping is to the UK and do you have to pay Tax on top of the dollar price stated?

[Pete Franklin]

croakey said:

I've got a rather nice folded Damascus steel hattori hd I can thoroughly recommend

After looking on the above site and doing a bit of research the Hattori HD 270mm gyuto is top of my list but i might need to raise my budget (as usual)

[uncinqsix]

Pete Franklin said:

Bacardi said:

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com

Lots to choose from. I've ordered twice and have been satisfied with prompt service.

I've seen that site before- looks like an imressive amount of choice.

Do you know how much shipping is to the UK and do you have to pay Tax on top of the dollar price stated?

Postage is US$7 anywhere in the world (at least it was last time I used them), and there is no additional tax at purchase. Some of the others who've bought from him will be able to tell you whether they got stung for VAT on import to the UK.

If you wanted a cheaper option than the Hattori HD, but without the flash cladding, the Hiromoto Gingami 3 is very good.

[Juicetin1]

Ive got a Tojiro DP from www.nipponkitchen.com, really happy with it and highly recommended.

[croakey]

Pete Franklin said:

After looking on the above site and doing a bit of research the Hattori HD 270mm gyuto is top of my list but i might need to raise my budget (as usual)

Did you order one in the end??

[Pete Franklin]

Funny enough after a lot of deliberation I just ordered a hattori hd 270 gyuto about a couple of hours ago. Will update with some pics when it arrives.

[pidsy]

Well worth looking at the kyocera ceramic bladed professional knives.

Incredible bit of kit:

http://www.theknifeshop.co.uk/product/655/kyocera-...

[Pete Franklin]

Well Hattori HD 270mm Gyuto arrived on Friday and its brilliant. Perfect weight, lovely balance, handle feels great, size works really well for me, beautiful to look at and most importantly ridiculously sharp, so very happy.



only problem is my globals now feel dull in comparison. they are still sharp, but not a patch on this, which brings me to my next question. I have used the minosharp wheels and a ceramic steel to keep the edge on my globals. If i want to get them back up to "factory sharp" what should i be using? I would guess that some wet stone setup is in order? Am I likely to be able to get them back to their factory sharpness with wet stones? does anyone have any recomendations for something reasonably priced?

Cheers

Pete

Edited by Pete Franklin on Tuesday 6th November 11:37

[dazco]

Pete Franklin said:

Well Hattori HD 270mm Gyuto arrived on Friday and its brilliant. Perfect weight, lovely balance, handle feels great, size works really well for me, beautiful to look at and most importantly ridiculously sharp, so very happy.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gylSdBRGDOg/UJj...

only problem is my globals now feel dull in comparison. they are still sharp, but not a patch on this, which brings me to my next question. I have used the minosharp wheels and a ceramic steel to keep the edge on my globals. If i want to get them back up to "factory sharp" what should i be using? I would guess that some wet stone setup is in order? Am I likely to be able to get them back to their factory sharpness with wet stones? does anyone have any recomendations for something reasonably priced?

Cheers

Pete

I have been on quite a few knife fora over the last few days because I was choosing a knife off the same website you got yours from. I have Globals, and they are nice knives, but as I practice my cooking a bit more I have started getting cramp in my hand from the chefs knife, and when I was trying to slice (hack) hard bits of serrano ham the handle was rotating in my hand because my hand was slightly greasy. I did not like it.

Anyhoo, I digress, according to many knowledgeable knife maniacs on the internets, when the Jap knifes come to you they then need sharpening properly and a 50/50 bias put on them. THEN they are really sharp.
Most send theirs away to an expert every couple of months.

[Juicetin1]

Most folk will recommend whet stones but I've found them really tricky to master. I am considering a Spyderco Sharpmaker or even a Catrahone Diamond Power Sharpener, which, although an electric sharpener, is supposed to give excellent results even on Asian knives.

[skwdenyer]

dazco said:

I have been on quite a few knife fora over the last few days because I was choosing a knife off the same website you got yours from. I have Globals, and they are nice knives, but as I practice my cooking a bit more I have started getting cramp in my hand from the chefs knife, and when I was trying to slice (hack) hard bits of serrano ham the handle was rotating in my hand because my hand was slightly greasy. I did not like it.

Anyhoo, I digress, according to many knowledgeable knife maniacs on the internets, when the Jap knifes come to you they then need sharpening properly and a 50/50 bias put on them. THEN they are really sharp.
Most send theirs away to an expert every couple of months.

Slightly OT but, if you otherwise really like your Global, try using some Sugru to modify the handle to better suit your grip.

[dazco]

skwdenyer said:

Slightly OT but, if you otherwise really like your Global, try using some Sugru to modify the handle to better suit your grip.

I like the look of that stuff but my knife is mid Atlantic

[uncinqsix]

The cheapest way of getting the Japanese water stones you need is a 1000/6000 grit combination stone, such as the King 1000/6000, which can be found at http://www.rutlands.co.uk/knives/knife-sharpening-...