deanpike's Profile
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
I did not realize KF meant Knifeforums. Right, then. Thanks for the advice. I will be polite as always and so far the place looks informative and interesting.
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Was I impolite? I didn't think I said something bad.
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Oh, dude! Those videos are very cool. Thanks for that. and I don't chop like that. I tend to rock. He's pretty fast!
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
I am leaning away for now, but not too far. I'll take a closer look at stones at the knife stores and the links you all have mentioned for sure. The idea of doing it myself still sounds like fun. The grits you mentioned above, to which side would you be more willing to go? More 240 than 500? More 1000 than 2000? More 400 than 8000? And there is nothing wrong with double sided stones? Even philosophically? Scubadoo97 suggested a strop rather than a rod. Which would you recommend, and why?
Going back to the knives though, it looks like the contenders are the Tojiro DP, the Togiharu Molybdenum, the Fujiwara FKM, and maybe the MAC Pro MBK-85. How does that sound? Does anybody have any opinions on the Misono Molybdenum?
As an aside, what do you all think of Kikuichi knives? I ruled them out because of price, but am curious about what is said about them. I was not wowed by them. And I will check Knifeforums for opinions about them all I promise.
More to the side: what would be your knife of desire? Assuming budget was unlimited.
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Yes, I cook everyday and use some knife a couple of times a day. I need to sharpen my knives a few times a year, each one a couple of times about. I won't give the new Japanese one to someone who I do not trust. The guy with the new sharpening shop seems all right. Both he and the commercial sharpener have not replied to my latest email, but they are my best bets so far and I will see who gets first crack at it when I actually get one. I do not think it gets expensive, $15 a knife every few months; I am ok with that for now. And yes I have tried out the Shun Classic, and I actually did not like the feel of the handle after all. And I also do not prefer the damascus style. Thanks for the suggestion. Scubadoo97, you suggest a strop instead of a rod? I did not think a ceramic rod would do such "damage". Does a steel rod do the same with carbon steel knives? I agree that the reason for having a Japanese knife is a question of performance, not only of the quality of the object, but how you perform with it. I am excited to try one out. When I felt how light they were, pinching it and going thru the slicing motions at the store, it felt very good; it did not feel like I was holding on to something, but just sort of reaching out to do some work.
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Macbillybob, tell me a more about your experience using your knives. What are the differences? If you use it more often, how does the MAC compare?
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Cowboyardee, you are right about Knifeforums, I landed on the "subscribe" and did not see the "register". On Korin, the stones looked reasonable in price. But I delved a little deeper into sharpening accessories on the knife shopping sites and it looks like there is a lot for me to examine. Frankly I do not know which grit I would need. Which grit(s) would you all recommend? How much should I spend on one?
So you say skip the honing rod. A wet-dry sandpaper would be easy enough to get. I will look into that.
I do not mind a learning curb at all; I prefer little money and lots of knowledge. But right now, I can easily get my knives to a professional sharpener.
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Scubadoo97 and Chemicalkinetics. Sure, they have to be taken care off. I was thinking of taking it to the commercial sharpener (see above), but I will have to verify with them again because I did not mention the angle of the edge. There is also a new sharpener near my place - he's the one whose store I tried some Japanese knives - and he specifically sharpens Japanese knives on stones. I will check with him about cost, he had said it usually only takes a half hour. BTW the least expensive knife he had was more than twice my budget. He seems like a sympathetic guy. To be honest, right now I do not have the interest or the desire to sharpen my own knives, even though I'm pretty sure I will find it fun. I should get a ceramic honing rod, which is not expensive; because I'm sure I will use it every few days, like for my other knives. For right now, I will be fine and glad to let someone do the sharpening for me, as before. I sharpened my knives every few months; it was at a reasonable price. I saw the EdgePro, and dudes, I do not think I will be getting that. I will see how it goes with the professional sharpeners and then see into acquiring stones, which do not look like an unreasonable purchase. As for the cutting board, dudes I am lucky, my friend and I had divided a large butcher block an old client did not want anymore after a renovation job. Thanks for the concern guys. How often or how many times a year should I consider sharpening my knives? Like I said I use them every-day, but the short Henckels and the Sanelli more often than the rest I would say.
Merci!
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
To Eiron:
Thanks for the recommendation on the Kanestugu. The steel sounds good, but the handle seems too rounded. I'll study it against the others. I had read the CFE's test and I feel that it could give a good general picture with certain caveats. It is nice to see that the knives I am considering are higher in ranking but I am not completely convinced. Look at me, I'm such a nerd. Maybe I have it wrong. I really like the site anyway.
To Chemicalkinetics:
Right, the Suisin is not an SS knife. Cowboyardee mentioned that I can rule them out, and I guess I forgot. In and of themselves they seemed pretty good knives, but do not meet my criteria. Like you, I also think the Fujiwara could be a contender. I like that form of handle, the fell of the grip both longitudinally and laterally. It is very similar to the MAC and Tojiro: slightly rounded and practically flat at the bottom. One thing bothers me a little though. To me, it does not impress me that they describe some history about making swords. A modern kitchen knife is not made with the same considerations and circumstances as a bloody sword. No? Pardon the tangent here. I will take a look at the Japan-blades site. Thanks for your advice.
To Cowboyardee:
First, great, great user name. I will definitely check out Knifeforums soon, thanks. I have not gotten around to searching its vast postings. Am I right, do we have to pay to subscribe to it?
I had a couple of Hiromoto's on my long list, including the one you mention. I disqualified it because I was not impressed with the 420 SS cladding, but fine with the aogami super core though. And it is out of my price range. Thanks for mentioning it though.
Thanks for your opinion on the Tojiro, MAC and Togiharu. I somehow feel like I should not get the MAC; as if I should get something not so professional, and the price is at my limit. Then again, I was very tempted this week to buy that Hiro with the Corian handle. I'm being careful about it.
On sharpening: I never sharpened a knife myself. I have a steel honing rod and I guess now I should get a ceramic one like the knife store owner I talked to advised. I also called the professional knife sharpening company (which does sharpening for restaurants too) and they said it would not be a problem given the hardness of the blade. I do not want my purchase of a knife to require spending lots of money on accessories. What your thought on all that?
To scubadoo97:
That Tojiro is looking better and better. I agree that the Molybs can be a very good value. They are stain-resistant and compared to say the Togiharu Inox, the latter might be even higher in carbon and chromium, which may not make it appreciably better for my level or personality. Ahhh, but those MACs... And I also agree with you on having varied weight knives. I would not dream of making garlic paste with a Japanese-made knife, I do use my old mama-given-German for that (not my new German), and for larger bones the cleaver comes in and puts its weight down. Thanks for the support.
Bonne journée!
My first Japanese-made knife: need help
Hello to all,
This is my first post on Chowhound. I currently have two Henckels' chef knives (the longest one is about 30 years old, given to me by my mother, and the shorter one is 10 years old) and a Sanelli chef's knife (which is now a little beat). Both Henckels' are pretty good. The older one is clearly showing its age and it is getting tough to sharpen; the bolster is getting in the way. I am all set in terms of knives otherwise: a heavy no-name cleaver that I bought cheap, a few pairing knives (including one from the dollar store that still works amazingly well) and a pretty good bread knife. So, I think I need a new chef's knife with a longer blade. I cook every day - I use my knives every day - and I have developed my kitchen prep skills through the years; I think I am a bon vivant and a gourmet also.
I like to put emphasis on performance over aesthetics. They are both important of course, but how much depends on the application; I think a built space has more potential for being poetic than a knife, and so here function outweighs looks. I have not spent a lot of money on cutlery so far and do not intend to now. My budget is about $100, not including S&H. Of course, there are a couple of exceptions (see below).
I am not going to buy a European knife this time. I would like a Japanese knife. I used my friend's Global knife and did a little testing of others at a high end Japanese knife store, and I decided that a light knife would be good for me. Besides, the Wusthof Ikon Classic I examined at another store is nice but too expensive at $190. I did not like the feel of the handle on the Global.
I read a few posts here on Chowhound, gone thru online shopping sites, studied information on knives and steel on other sites for a while now. Of course, even after all that I think I have little knowledge about Japanese knives and it is limited to theory. I have made a short list (they are all 210 Gyuto/u and in US$):
- Fujiwara FKM Series ($68.00 @ JCK) of "Molybdenum Vanadium Stainless Steel"
- Misono Molybdenum (±$70.00 @ JCK and Korin) of "High carbon 13 Chrome Stainless
Molybdenum Steel"
- Misono Swedish Carbon Steel (±$94.00 @ JCK and Korin and CKTG) of Swedish Carbon
Steel
- Suisin High-Carbon Steel ($77.00 @ Korin) of "High-Carbon Steel"
- Togiharu Inox Steel ($99.40 @ Korin) of "Inox Stain-Resistant Steel"
- Togiharu Molybdenum ($69.30 @ Korin) of "Molybdenum Steel"
- Tojiro DP ($79.95 @ JCK and Korin) of "Stain-Resistant Steel" (I know it is a 3-ply)
I visited Paul's Finest (Canada) and the knives are more expensive even with S&H.
[Here are the exceptions I mentioned: a MAC Professional MBK-85 ($119.95 @ CKTG) which gets very good reviews generally but out of budget and maybe not for me yet; and a Hiro knife "École de cuisine" ($102.00 @ JCK) of VG-10, whose steel is pretty good (right?) and, to me, looks attractive.]
I guess I would like an SS knife (the Sanelli is but not the Henckels), but either way I will take care of it. From comments and information I have gathered so far I am leaning to the Tojiro, a good beginning I think. The Molyb's seem to be good for intermediates; the others for more advanced users. So say the shopping sites.
I would very much like to read someone else's opinion on these; have a little discussion. What is your experience with these knives? Which would you recommend, given that way-long description above?
Merci beaucoup,
Dean
