Knife Thread

[Anonymous No.8427802]

Which would you buy?

Dexter Russell Basics 8 Inch Chef Knife - $23

Or

Mercer Millennia 8 inch Chef Knife - $17

Inb4 the victorinox meme

[Anonymous No.8427840]

Itinomonn gyuto if you prefer not to waste your money.

[Anonymous No.8427852]

>>8427840
Fucking Christ, weebshit already?

[Anonymous No.8427856]

>>8427852
Yes.

They make the best knives.

Not some sheet-stamped shit.

[Anonymous No.8427862]

>>8427856
I clearly don't want or need the best knife, you goddamn shitbird. I'm looking at $20 knives, not $200. Your autism is out of control

[Anonymous No.8427866]

>>8427862
Yes.

[Anonymous No.8427898]

>>8427802
I have the one in OP, I'm completely an amateur but it has served me well and is still sharp after a few months of regular use and only basic maintenance. Would recommend

[Anonymous No.8427908]

>>8427840
ruined the moment you use them for anything but slicing warm fish, they chip so easily compared to the near elastic european steel

[Anonymous No.8427913]

>>8427908
Maybe if you learned how to use a knife and not rock chop like some ulu-caveman, then you would have something more intelligent to say.

[Anonymous No.8427925]

>>8427913
how could I possibly rock chop with a brittle and straight blade?
have you never had to use a knife in a rough commercial kitchen?

[Anonymous No.8427947]

I use the MAC Professional chef and paring knife for almost everything. I really like the paring knife, it's kinda my go to even though there are situations when I should definitely use the chef knife. You have to keep the edge up on the MACs, but I grind all my knives to the same double edge specs as the MAC knives, even shitty thrift store ones. They all cut just as well as the MAC chef knife, but the fit and finish is a little better on the MAC.

[Anonymous No.8428017]

>>8427802

Victorinox Fibrox 8 inch is the best bang for your buck chef's knife.

[Anonymous No.8428033]

>>8428017
Except it's now the same price as a Mercer Forged because of America's Test Kitchen

[Anonymous No.8428052]

>>8427947
What kind of knife is that top one and what is it used for?

[Anonymous No.8428068]

>>8428052
Seriously? It is a bread knife, a.k.a a bread saw. A staple in every German household, impossible to cut a crusty thick loaf of German bread without one.

[Anonymous No.8428086]

Whatever brand you buy, invest an extra 25$ or so and have it thinned by a professional knifemaker with a belt grinder. I know it sounds retarded to spend 25$ on thinning a 20$ knife, but once you have tried it you will never go back. And no, buying a 45$ knife right away will not get you the same result. I have recently sent away six knives from my collection for thinning and I consider it more than wort the money. The work will be done by Jürgen Schanz, too - one of the best knifemakers in the world.

[Anonymous No.8428384]

>>8427925
I have used a knife in a commercial kitchen.

I was saying that you shouldn't rock-chop period. It's a shite technique.

[Anonymous No.8428397]

>>8428384
why? and what technique should people be using?

[Anonymous No.8428409]

>>8428397
https://youtu.be/Rx1U-bja3i8

[Anonymous No.8428916]

>>8428409
Why is he making a cooking video in a server room

[Anonymous No.8428921]

>>8428916
That's his industrial kitchen ventilator fan in the kitchen of his restaurant.

[Anonymous No.8428929]

how is the mercer forged

that looks stamped as fuck

[Anonymous No.8428931]

>>8428929
The millennia is not forged

[Anonymous No.8428988]

>>8428017
>not uising a full tang knife
>CURRENT YEAR

I fell for the Victorinox meme too, but for fucks sake anon get a proper knife

[Anonymous No.8429266]

>>8428033
fucking this

It was $27 when I first got mine from bed, bath, and beyond a few years ago. Mine got ruined by family over the holidays, so I be-bopped on down to bed, bath, and beyond to pick up a new one. Fuckers are charging $45 for the exact same knife nowadays.

Luckily, I was able to find a pretty decent Wusthof at TJ Maxx a few doors down for $20.

Check places like TJ Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Marshall's, and HomeGoods. You can often find some fairly nice knives for right around your price range.

[Anonymous No.8429410]

>>8429266
I've got a few deals on some nice cutting boards and a pretty nice digital thermometer probe alarm thing. Only $5! My turkey came out pretty well this year and I attribute that to the probe stuck in the inner thigh.

[Anonymous No.8429714]

>>8427802
i had a wustoff classic that has seen heavy heavy prep use so I basically beat the shit out of it. I've been using the plastic handles for the past 4 years because fuck lugging around my knife roll on the subway.

Just wasted $250 on a new knife because I had christmas gift cards that I wouldn't have used otherwise. The kicker is I didn't even go to the store and try it out I just bought it online and its probably going to be terrible.

[Anonymous No.8430716]

In the market for a new knife, looking at this one right now http://knife-gallery.com/?pid=89136853
I'd be able to get it for about 110€
Is that a good price? Any other recommendations?

[Anonymous No.8430733]

>>8427802
The cheaper one. It's not going to be too much of a difference.
>Victorinox meme
It was only marginally the best, but then the meme drove the price way up.

[Anonymous No.8430734]

>>8427802
Neither. Get a Chicago Cutlery chef's knife for $15. Full tang. Good shit.

[Anonymous No.8430865]

>>8428086

This advice only applies to most European style kitchen knives. Japanese kitchen knives tend to be made significantly thinner than most European style knives, and will start roughly as thin as the thinned out Euro knives.

[Anonymous No.8430870]

>>8428988
>full tang

Why? Do you baton much wood in your kitchen? A full tang serves literally zero functional purpose whatsoever in a knife that's going to be used for food prep.

Maybe it might be useful in a heavy butcher's cleaver meant to chop through bone, but otherwise it's a total normie dollar extraction meme.

[Anonymous No.8430880]

>>8427856
>Stamped vs forged

In a lot of ways the kitchen cutlery industry is totally archaic at this point. The days when stamped vs forged had any inherent meaning are long over, as it's possible to get high quality sheet steel stock in most steels today.

Really it's the quality of the steel, the quality of the heat treatment, and the blade geometry that matter and not stamped (or stock removal methods in general) vs forged.

However kitchen knife manufacturers like it the way it is now because it lets them avoid disclosing what precise steel they are using and how it's heat treated, they can just say "it's forged" and rely on marketing to sell them.

[Anonymous No.8431013]

Is there a big difference between X30Cr13 and X50CrMoV15? In real life home cooking

[Anonymous No.8431597]

>>8430880
This. EVERY knife form a mass manufacturer is stamped nowadays. The bolster is formed by induction heating a part of the stamped out blade, then squishing the glowing part together until it thickens. Drop forged is not a quality mark anymory anyway nowadays.

[Anonymous No.8432420]

>>8431013

No. Quality of heat treatment and QC is going to matter a lot more.

[Anonymous No.8432423]

>>8427802
>tastes like bitch nigga titties

[Anonymous No.8432984]

How'd I do

[Anonymous No.8433700]

Looking for a higher end knife, however, while i know knives and steels, i know them from a tactical and survival (well camping) perspective, not cooking. What are sone higher quality brands, and what size knife is best for general use? Pricepoint is 150ish max, tho i can stretch a little if needed. Sick of my S.O. ruinining cheap knives by dishwashing them and by cutting improperly

[Anonymous No.8433753]

How do I even use a knife? I can only find food related jobs around here so it'd be nice to be a cut above.

[Anonymous No.8433899]

>>8430865
>

[Anonymous No.8434020]

>>8433700
Kill your SO. Problem solved

[Anonymous No.8435104]

>>8434020
Well, current knives suck anyhow, just cuisinart shit i got second hand

[Anonymous No.8435127]

>>8433700
Get a Miyabi utility knife and learn how to take care of it. About $60 on Amazon and has high quality steel.

If you want to fuck around with kitchen knives get a Kiwi from a local asian market...cheap as fuck but if you screw up the maintenance on it it's not like a money pit; they're like $12 tops and a good learning knife.

When you're ready buy a honing steel and a wet stone, and we'll talk about that later.

[Anonymous No.8435174]

I got a Wusthof Classic knife set from my mom for Christmas. Best knives I've owned, probably.

[Anonymous No.8435208]

>8 inch

[Anonymous No.8435815]

>>8435208
Must be jealous

[Anonymous No.8435850]

>>8427802
Shell out just a little more money and buy a Mundial. Have their 10"and love it.

[Anonymous No.8435860]

>>8427802
>victorinox meme
kill you are self

[Anonymous No.8435867]

>>8435860
In other words, you fell for it

[Anonymous No.8435871]

>>8430870
I've snapped cheap knives trying to cut the backbone out of chickens before.

[Anonymous No.8435882]

>>8435867
I own several and they're great knives.

I have more expensive wusthof and henckels chefs knife, but prefer the Victorinox

[Anonymous No.8435888]

>>8435871
ydiw m8
ww

[Anonymous No.8435889]

>>8427802
Why is it a gift from my parents on our wedding many years ago works great as long as I keep it sharp? You knife guys are overdone autists in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.8435903]

>>8428033
yeah, looks like the price shot up in 2013
http://camelcamelcamel.com/Victorinox-Fibrox-Chefs-Clamshell-Packaging/product/B000638D32

[Anonymous No.8435909]

>>8435850
Beat me to it. Mundial is the best of the cheap beater knives.

[Anonymous No.8435940]

>>8435871

Uh, how the fuck?

[Anonymous No.8436779]

>>8435127
I knowhow to care for knives and sharpen them, most of them i maintain at 20-25° (depends on the knife and steel)
I know knives, not chefs knives is all.
Pic related, last production Doug Ritter Griptillian in M390
My edc knife is a $180 benchmade 940-2

Im just unsure of what chefs knives are memes and what ones arent. Currently looking at a Shun Classic in vg-10
From what i can tell, its steel is better than the Wusthof Ikon classic, if you know how to work with a stone.
Am i correct in this assumption?

[Anonymous No.8437079]

>>8429714
what did you buy?

[Anonymous No.8437087]

>>8427802
i like dexter knives. they're cheap and easy to worth with. i'm p good with them too. it's what i use at work.

[Anonymous No.8437112]

>>8436779
better depends on the application
generally Japanese steels will be harder, which means harder to sharpen and more likely to chip, but also take and hold a keener edge
there are people who swear by the heavier Wusthof blades, there are those who like the Shun for being not so hefty, better for fine work

[Anonymous No.8437118]

Got this piece de la shit for free so I don't know what to make of it, thoughts?
https://www.procook.co.uk/product/procook-professional-x50-santoku-knife-18cm-7inch-promo

[Anonymous No.8437122]

>>8433753
Look on youtube, "knife skills". Except the one episode of cooking with Jack, where he has a chef show her "knife skills", that one is terrible.

[Anonymous No.8437125]

>>8433700
Epensive knives are much more delicate than cheap ones and will be fucked up much more easily.

[Anonymous No.8437130]

>>8437118
That seems like a really nice knife. Expensive linen micarta handles, and the geometry (blade thickness) doesn't seem too bad either. A good candidate for a professional thinnning job.

[Anonymous No.8437217]

>>8437112
General kitchen use, think one knife fits all. Id love to have a set of either but im looking at one or two knives to function in every role i could need.

[Anonymous No.8437734]

>>8436779

Shun are a massive rip-off. The Tojiro-DP line is superior in every way and way cheaper. KAI, as usual, cares more about making good looking knives and minimizing their expenditure on heat treating and post-Ht quality control (see: Shun, Kershaw and ZT).

[Anonymous No.8437752]

Gonna buy a more high end knife in a bit (interested in the replies to >>8433700 becuase i'm in the same situation minus the SO part) but i figured i'd get a stone in the meantime:

Is this one a decent combo of grits? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DT1X9O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2SS1FVT35UT8T

Also soliciting recs for decent cutting boards.

[Anonymous No.8437783]

>>8437752
>soliciting recs for decent cutting boards
www.theboardsmith.com

[Anonymous No.8438080]

>>8437752
That one is very good, as is most snything made by king.
An intermediate stone around 4000 would be nice

[Anonymous No.8438122]

>>8433700
it's just as easy to damage expensive knives. the edges get chipped and fucked up in no time. stick with cheap ones. from a utility perspective, some of the cheap ones are just as good. that's why chefs use them

[Anonymous No.8438239]

Can someone red pill me on wooden cutting boards? I see acacia and teak boards are pretty popular, are they good?
Looking for something in the 50-100$ range

[Anonymous No.8438580]

What grit(s) of whetstone would you use for German steel? I see a lot of shilling for the King 1000/6000, but I'm assuming that's for harder Japanese knives?

[Anonymous No.8439060]

>>8438239
I have this Zwilling Bamboo endgrain cutting board at home. Pretty good, desu. Doesn't wear the knives horribly and seems tough enough. Haven't started warping yet. It's needed a few refills of oil as it came a bit dry, but that's to be expected.
Side grain oak and ash at work. They all crack after a while and the oak is rough on the knives.

wouldbuyagain/10

[Anonymous No.8439087]

>>8439060
>bamboo endgrain
Wouldn't the surface be like 40% glue?

[Anonymous No.8439090]

>>8439087
No.

[Anonymous No.8439144]

>>8439060
I don't know if it's Zwillings, but I bought a bamboo cutting board that looks exatly like that pic, and it shows no knife marks whatsoever after 6 months of daily use. I did notice I have to sharpen my knife more often, but that's kind of a zen thing for me so I don't mind at all.

[Anonymous No.8440524]

>>8438580
German steel isnt a steel type. I use the same stones for all my knives though. That 1k/6kis good for all knices that have some edge to begin with. On kitchen knives you should only have to sharpen it ince a month max if you want peak performance, unless it's a hard steel where a honing rod wont work.

[Anonymous No.8440612]

All bamboo cutting boards are shit. Bamboo fibers are really hard and tough and contain a lot of minerals. Very hard on the edge. A really good endgrain cutting board made from maple or acacia will last you the rest of your life if you take care of it.

[Anonymous No.8440633]

>>8428409
> index finger not on blade
discarded, further posts from you hidden

[Anonymous No.8440643]

>>8437217
santoku (if you can deal with the shape) OR gyuto OR euro-style chef's knife in the 16-20 cm range AND a paring knife
everything else is gravy. you will probably want a bread saw at some point, but you can buy any old piece of shit for the purpose.
if you're into primal cuts, you will find that you need a fillet knife
if you're into sushi, you will find you need a longer gyuto for clean draw-cuts
for field-dressing work you will need something a bit longer than your griptilian
if you break down carcasses, you will need a big no-nonsense fuck-off butcher's knife to supplement your fillet knife when breaking into joints and such (go for inox steel, it's softer, infinitely less likely to chip on bone)
that's about it...

[Anonymous No.8440718]

>>8439060
>>8439090
Bamboo is a grass, and is only utilized for cutting boards due to its extremely low cost. The fibers soak up massive amounts of glue in the construction process, though, which is much harder than wood and ruins the point of an end grain cutting board. You'd be much better served with a hardwood from a tree, like maple or cherry.

[Anonymous No.8440722]

Any recs on a cheap sharpening steel? I wanna go as cheap as possible without getting a total piece of junk.

[Anonymous No.8440746]

Thinking about getting a larger chef's knife. I've always just used shorter knives for everything and always missed not having the extra length. What's the longest knife recommended for a 12" x 18" cutting board? I'm thinking 9 inch, but it's hard to test this for myself.

Also, is the Wusthof Le Cordon Bleu line any good? I've played with my father's Wusthof Classic and it felt breddy gud. Is there any real difference except for the shape of the bolster/finger guard?

[Anonymous No.8441406]

>>8440746
Bumping for answer to this.

[Anonymous No.8441488]

I've got a Zwilling Twin Four Star II, 8" chef's knife.

It was a gift, and so far it's absolutely fantastic. Comfy as hell, ridiculously sharp and has held its edge for a couple of months now.

I'll have to see how it holds up over a year or so to really give it a good review, though.

[Anonymous No.8441642]

>>8440722
get a smooth/microgrooved steel, I have found them to be much more effective for realigning the edge than a traditional groved steel. If you want an additional sharpening effectt (i.e. removing material from the edge) try a ceramic rod. Or the underside of a ceramic plate.

[Anonymous No.8441677]

>>8440746
If you want a longer knife just get it, and if your cutting board is too small get a larger one too. Both will be used several times daily and can easily last you for the next 20 or 30 years if you are a homecook, it doesn't make a lot of sense to count every dollar for purchases like that. And yes, the Cordon Bleu series is pretty good. I was able to find one of the last 10'' knives made from that series, in mint condition, for my collection. I don't think they are better than the Classics though, just lighter.

[Anonymous No.8441727]

>>8441677

I'm with you on getting something good to grow into, but I'm kind of looking for a guideline as to how much cutting board space is required for a given knife length. If I have to get a larger cutting board, how much larger?

A lot of times, I see chef's on TV or youtube videos who are using an entire wooden countertop for food prep with a long knife. It's hard to know how a 9" or even 10" knife will handle in actual practice, given a certain size work space. For what it's worth, all of my current knives are shorter than 6".

[Anonymous No.8441738]

>>8441642

> ceramic rod

Or a diamond coated rod, won't shatter if you drop it.

[Anonymous No.8441748]

>>8441727
a 9'' blade on a 12x18 shouldn't be any problem, I have just tried it out with an even smaller board. That said, I personally use a 14x20'' acacia endgrain board and it makes working sooo much easier.

[Anonymous No.8441756]

>>8441738
I have a diamond coated rod myself that I bought out of curiosity for the beater knives in my collection, and I have to say I would rather sharpen even my cheapest knives on the curbstone outside my house than on that thing. It is horrible to use.

[Anonymous No.8442187]

>>8437079
miyabi birchwood, its surprisingly pretty good

a lot lighter than I'm used to.

[Anonymous No.8442203]

>>8442187
I like those birchwood handles, and that line rates better than shuns in most reviews. I have a couple miyabis but not a birchwood...have fun with it.

[Anonymous No.8442218]

Just bought a Hattori FN 210mm gyuto. How did I do?

[Anonymous No.8442224]

Just bought a Hattori FH 210mm gyuto. How did I do? Should I expect this thing to chip the first time I use it?

[Anonymous No.8442461]

Mercer culinary genesis is probably the best price/performance

[Anonymous No.8442511]

>>8442224
>Should I expect this thing to chip the first time I use it?
Do you intend to use it on a rock?

[Anonymous No.8442546]

>>8442224
It's VG10 stainless steel, not gonna chip.
Even carbon steel knives won't chip easily if you're not a retard.

[Anonymous No.8444162]

>>8442224
No, you shouldn't. Hattori is famous for kowing how to heat treat VG 10 better than any other manufacturer. Just keep it away from bones, to be on the safe side. Most harder knives chip when they are being "walked" across the board, i.e. pressing down on the tip with your left hand and rocking the handle with your right hand while moving it from side to side.

If you press too hard with your left hand, the edge will dig into the board and when you swivel the blade with your right hand the edge chips due to the twisting forces.

[Anonymous No.8444166]

>>8444162
BTW this "walking" is done for mincing herbs. Just keep a beater German knife around for that, and for the bones. The round profile of a German knife is better suited for mincing herbs anyway.

[Anonymous No.8444184]

>>8442546
Pretty much any steel can be made to chip if you don't kow ho to treat it, even "German" steel. VG10 is known for chipping issues when you don't get the heat treatment right. Shuns used to have a massive issue with that. Maybe they still have.

[Anonymous No.8444207]

>>8427802

Bought my boyfriend a Wusthof 8' inch for Christmas. He's a real big fan of German steel, and watching him play with it as soon as he opened it was so sweet.

Any idea what I should be looking for when picking him out a paring knife for Valentine's day? I know nothing about knives.

[Anonymous No.8444213]

>>8444207
>8'

Whoopsie, I meant 8".

[Anonymous No.8444238]

>>8444207
the classic wusthof paring knife is a fine paring knife and he'll have a matching pair so you won't have to worry about triggering any previously unforeseen autism about non-matching items

[Anonymous No.8444311]

>>8444207
If it's not classic trash it.

[Anonymous No.8444988]

>>8444207
Paring knifes are used only a few percent of the time, so spending big bucks on one doesn't make a lot of sense. If you do want a really nice paring knife see if you can get a Herder Windmühlen Messer like these https://www.amazon.de/Messer-Set-PLUS-3tlg-Windm%C3%BChlenmesser-Kirsche/dp/B005LE583O/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1483893386&sr=1-2&keywords=herder+windm%C3%BChlen+sch%C3%A4lmesser

They are ground ultra thin and will just slide through food and are considered the best paring knives among professionals. Way superior to a matching Wüsthof Classic parer, where most of your money is spent on just the matching handle. BTW as a knife enthusiast I would rather have a really good smooth steel Look for F. Dick "Dickoron", (yes really) - or Eicker microgroove steels like this one https://www.amazon.de/EICKER-Professional-Wetzstahl-oval-MicroFeinzug/dp/B00CG6QJCE/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1483893677&sr=1-1&keywords=eicker+wetzstahl+microfeinzug

Or you could get him a really nice waterstone. 200mm length, 1000-1500 grit.

[Anonymous No.8445191]

>>8444988

Holy shit, someone who actually knows what the fuck they are talking about?!

And understands why Herder paring knives BTFO any other?

WTF are you doing on /ck/?

[Anonymous No.8445197]

>>8444207
lol, i think you meant perry knife

[Anonymous No.8445206]

>>8444162
>>8444166
Good advice. My only other experience with Japanese knives are several Shuns that my parents own and after years of use, they all are full of chips. I read that the Hattori is properly heat treated and I have an end grain cutting board, so am hoping I can avoid chips.

[Anonymous No.8446402]

[Anonymous No.8448050]

>>8445191
I used to hang out a lot at kitchenknifeforums.com.