Thanks!
Lots of good comments at my post asking about kitchen knives. Reading now.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
Uncle Pays the Bills
 |
|
Find Local
|
Categories
- ATF (769)
- Death Match (10)
- Eminent Domain (225)
- In the bag (9)
- Notes to Junior (546)
- Poker (74)
- Recipes (142)
- Shotgun Noob (11)
- The Airing of Grievances (19)
- uncategorized (47,725)
March 12th, 2012 at 10:34 am
I chimed in with “tactical spork” and was going to come back later and mention what I use, but it would have been lost in all of the other replies.
I have a variety of knives that include Cutco, etc. In my variety are three Santoku knives by Calphalon that I turn to the most. So out of 30 knives, my selection is made by the knives I find most pleasurable to use – the ones that I return to as favorites.
I used to sharpen knives only once I noticed that they are dull. Now I’ve gotten into the habit of using the knife steel every time I grab a knife. The knives are so sharp that I fear for my fingers.
Invest in a good sharpener, and certainly in a knife steel to hone the edge correctly.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:46 am
As far as sharpeners go we just bought a(nother) Henckels two-step sharpener as a present for a friend. We already have one. 1.) It’s nice (plain) looking without all the swoopy tactical plastic-ninja chromed dive-bomber “designed” effects. You just draw the blade a couple times through I and then II and it’s sharp as kittens.
As for knifes we bought a set of WMF Spitzenklasse knifes in a block-set at Costco. They were about $150 for the 9-piece set.
My German friend from HS is now an Exec for WMF, so it’s like a friendly reminder – and I can shout things like “Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik!” in German when I’m chopping and cutting.
They’ve been in THE business manufacturing metal products and knives since 1880, and are easily equal to Henckels and Wüsthoff – and it’s ALL made in Germany, no Spanish or Chinese steel. In fact the “Spitzenklasse” (Top/Peak/Point Classic auf Deutsch) and “Wusthof Classic” and Henckels “International Classic) forged knives are so similar I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they are the actual manufacturer…
March 12th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
I didn’t add anything because I don’t know jack about high end kitchen knives.
What I do know is I got to use a Cutco bread knife (slicer) many years ago in a French restaurant, and it was better than everything else because the serrations are on both sides.
March 12th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
I would not recommend those pull through sharpeners they damage your edge and shorten the life of your knifes. They basically scrape steel off of your knife. Bench stones are the best but it does take practice to sharpen a knife with them but I consider knife sharping one of those skill anyone who wants to own a quality blade should know.
March 12th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
For sharpening I only use my stone to fix booboos. A leather strop properly conditioned with jewelers rouge will put a surgical edge on any quality non-serrated knife. I tend to strop only when needed since even that works by removing steel.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:36 pm
All knife sharpening is making the edge thinner by removing metal. I use a soft Washita on my pocket knives to give them a literally shaving edge. For my kitchen knives I use a 6″ flat mill file. It leaves invisible little saw teeth that bite into a ripe tomato and you can slice paper thin. The bevel is very important. A factory flat grind like my Forschners never needs more than a light freshening whereas a saber grind like Old Hickory needs a lot of work to put in a good working edge initially.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Not to be a Victorinox salesman, but their stainless steel was designed for knives. Other stainlesses now used for knives, such as the 400 series, were designed for such things as jet turbine blades with abrasion and heat resistance, and ease of manufacture foremost and not for ease of sharpening or edge-holding.
March 13th, 2012 at 10:33 am
My mother’s knife: http://www.krites.blogspot.com/2012/03/for-uncle.html Safe for work.