Theodore's Profile
finding a knife sharpener
If you have forged knives, ask them if they will grind back the bolster so it doesn't make contact with the cutting board. If they don't grind back the bolster go somewhere else. Ask them if they can reproduce the correct angle on the knife? If they say anything other than yes, go somewhere else.
Henckel Knives Series
Sure, that's easy. The following series are made with stamped blades:
Twin Signature, Gourmet, Everedge, Fine Edge Synergy, International Eversharp, International Fine Edge, International Fine Edge Pro, Everedge Plus, and International Classic.
The forged blade lines are:
Four-Star, Twin-Pro, and Twin Cuisine.
For the purposes of cutting food, either a forged or stamped blade will work fine. They are pretty much the same metal. However, because the stamped blade is cheaper to make, the manufacturers then cheap out on the handles. So if you really want a nice set, the forged knives are better, That being said, forged Henckels and Wusthof knives are a pain in the ass to sharpen. The bolster runs to the edge of the heel of the knife and must be ground away as the knife is sharpened. The following is a partial list of knife brands that sell bolsterless forged knives for people who expect to sharpen them: Ergo-Chef, Global, Messermeister and Shun.
Also, ignore claims of sharpness. It has no legal meaning. All knife makers claim to have razor sharp edges.
Ceramic knife
Suzie, don't do it. It's impossible to sharpen at home and while the manufacturer will resharpen it for you, it's a pain to wrap it up and send it in because the blade is so fragile. That being said, I have a Kyocera 6" Santoku and I like it. The coeffiecient of dynamic friction between the blade and what you are cutting is lower than it is for a metal knife. In other words, the side of the blade is naturally slippery so it appears to cut more easily.
Best small patio grill?
Wow, I didn't know the Q came in a 21,000 BTU option! I've been using the Q100 as a backup grill for when it is raining and it is indeed underpowered, but I like it because it is easy to move. The configuration of the burners on the Q300 is also an improvement because instead of just the perimeter burner, there is a second burner running through the middle. I think I will go buy one to replace my 100!
best carving knife?
It's likely you are having a problem choosing because there is so little information out there. Because there is no definition for the word "sharp" all knife makers make the same claim. Some even claim their knives stay sharp forever and because there isn't any definition of sharp, they can't be sued when the knife inevitably gets "dull."
What you want for a carving knife is a bolsterless design which you will find in any knife from Shun, Global or Messermeister. You don't want a granton-edge knife. Because your carving knife might last a lifetime, the important issue becomes how easy it is to sharpen. Knives with bolsters extending to the edge of the blade make home sharpening very difficult. I'd avoid the granton-edge option because the blade shrinks a tiny bit every time it is sharpened and eventually the edge will migrate up to the scalloped section at which point you will have a very funky weird edge. Shun, Global and Messermeister are the way to go.
Dungeness Crabs, anyone?
I don't know if they ship to Canada, but you can find crab at www.freshseafood.com
How long do knives last?
Gargantua
Most all Asian knives are bolsterless. Makes sharpening a lot easier. Of the Western makers, Messermeister and Ergo Chef make forged bolsterless knives.
looking for gas grill recs?
Yes. The way to evaluate different grills is to ask what the BTU output is for the burners. The smallest weber, called the Q puts out 12,000 BTUs which is similar in output to a single medium size burner on a gas stove. For cooking on a surface that is almost 2 square feet, this is not a lot of power. To be really useful, the grill should put out 35-50,000 BTUs. For comparison, a Weber kettle grill filled with charcoal will give off about 100,000 BTUs - that's way too hot, but it gives you the upper limit.
Hope that helps.
Where to purchase cutlery online
Asian knives, Shun and Global for example, are made of steel considerably harder (Rockwell 61) than is used in Wusthof or Henckels or Forschner or any other Western made knives (Rockwell 55-57). As such, the edges can be ground to a more acute angle that lasts just as long but reduces the cutting effort. If you think of how easy a razor blade cuts, part of the reason is the edge angle. it has an edge angle of 2-4 degrees. Shun and Global are 15-17 degrees and Western knives are 18-20 degrees. The more acute angle requires the least effort.
Global is less expensive than Shun but you have to like the modern handle and if you do, you should never pay retail online. All online merchants sign agreements (just like we do) with the manufacturer not to offer a discount larger than 20%, but if you find one that ships it free, it's like getting more of a discount. Hope that helps.
Pasta Making Machines
Sure. Start with the manual version. It's easier to learn how to do this on the hand crank version - easier to stop and back up when the dough misbehaves. By not using electricty to make lasagna sheets, you don't have to worry about adding to greenhouse gases or terrorist's pocket books (if that's what they are wearing these days).
cutting board - soap or blech?
The bamboo boards are made up of many small pieces of bamboo glued together. Because it is held together with glue, and the wood absorbs water and swells, if you wash it in water or bleach, you will destroy it over the course of a few years depending on use. Applying mineral oil every week for a month will give you some protection and if you buy a metal pastry scraper, you can scape your board clean, but the primary cause of all early cutting board failure is water.
Classic Chef's knife or Santoku knife?
Choosing between the Shun Santoko and Shun Chef's knife isn't going to be easy because they both are made of steel that is much harder (Rockwell 61) than Westen knives (Rockwell 55-57) and can therefore support a more acute edge angle which makes cutting easier. Also, because they are both bolsterless, it will make it easier for your sharpener. Either one is a good choice, but if you are a purist, the Santoku shape is designed for cutting fish and veggies, not meat (although it can). The Chef's knife is a Western design for a do-all knife. Hope that helps
I'm buying a good knife: 8-in chef or santoku???
Sure, that's easy. The Santoku is a traditional Japanese bolsterless knife designed to chop fish and veggies. The Santoku blade is thinner than the chef's knife so it's not useful for cutting up a whole chicken, for example or anything with a bone in it.
Because the Santoku is bolsterless, it will be easier to sharpen than the chef's knife. The dimples on the edge look great but there's no academic evidence they do any good. They work against you over time because if you keep your knife professionally sharpened, at some point the dimples become the edge and the edge will be wavy.
Need a new set of knives.
The reason shopping for knives is confusing is because there is no accepted standard for measuring sharpness. Every knife maker can legally claim his knives are "razor sharp." This is a baseless claim because it cannot be proved. And since every maker claims the same thing, the only way to get you to buy one brand versus another is sheer marketing power. Knife makers have to generate brand loyalty to sell knives and you can see from the postings here that brand loyalty works well.
Here is some hard data that may help:
Asian knives are generally made of a harder and more brittle steel that measures 60-62 on the Rockwell C scale. Western knives are softer and measure out at 55-57 except for Cutco which tests out at 59. The scale is logarithmic meaning the difference is a lot bigger than it looks.
When people say they want a "sharp" knife they generally mean they want one that requires the least force to cut with. This can be measured scientifically but no one has ever done. (It would really be a bad day for Wusthof and Henckels if they did since their marketing budgets are the biggest in the industry.) Cutting force is a function of: 1) the edge angle; 2) the profile of the edge and; 3) the coeffecient of dynamic frictioon between the knife itself and the thing being cut. The knife makers give us the edge angle, a everything else being equal, a more acute angle will require less force while cutting. A more acute angle can be put on any blade, but will last longer on a blade made of harder steel. This is why Asian knives, like Shun and Global are demonstrably better than Western knives. Asian knives can hold a more acute edge angle longer than Western knives. Another point in favor of Asian knives is that they are made without bolsters. This makes it a lot easier for the guy who sharpens your knives.
Hope that helps.
Henckels Twin Select, Wusthof Grand Prix, Global, MAC or Shun Stainless?
Billmarsano,
Responding to your request. Shun and most Asian knives measure out at a Rockwell hardness of 60-62. This doesn't look like a big difference compared to most Western brands which come in at 55-57, but the scale is logarithmic. Anyone who has sharpened both can tell you the difference in huge. We've done high powered optical analysis on the effect of a traditional steel on a Western blade and have the images to show that it works by realigning the edge, but we haven't done it on Asian knives. Theoretically it should work the same but we haven't done the work yet to substantiate it. Thanks for asking.
But wait, there's more ... Sonic Blade?
Hi. The Sonic Blade thingy is just a tarted up commercial for an electric knife with batteries. The informercial plays on the fact that most people have dull kitchen knives. The alternative to dull knives shouldn't be buying a device that contains lead, cadmium, and other hard to dispose of materials. The alternative should be to get those knives sharpened.
ANODIZED MAGNALITE HELP, STAT! PLEASE ADVISE!
The anodized coating will erode over time. It can be replaced but it would cost more than buying a new set of pans. You can still use them with the bare aluminum if you want. Thanks for the great story.
Henckels Twin Select, Wusthof Grand Prix, Global, MAC or Shun Stainless?
OK, this is going to help.
The Henckels Twin Select is a stamped blade welded to a metal handle. This is a slick marketing trick used to tart up their stamped product line. The reason you don't want this is that the bolster is fake and it will be impossible to properly sharpen the knife. As the knife is sharpened, the bolsters get in the way of the knife edge making contact with the cutting surface. Over time the bolster has to be ground back with the rest of the blade. Because the bolsters on these are fake, if you grind them back, it will just open a hole in the handle.
The Wusthof classic has a forged blade and this is the pure vanila choice.
The Shun is made of significantly harder metal (Rockwell 61) than the Henckels or the Wusthof (Rockwell 55-57) and as such can support a more acute cutting angle. A more acute cutting angle, ceteris parabus makes cutting easier (Wusthof and Henckels are 18-20 degrees, Shun is 15 degrees and a razor blade is 4 degrees).
So if you want the better cutting instrument, the Shun is the answer.
(NB There is no accepted engineering standard for sharpness like there is for hardness. This allows all knife makers to make the same claim: "sharp as a razor" and why knife discussions are so lacking in quantitative data. The Knife engineers info is getting us closer to useful data, but the problem is that people say they want sharp knives when what they really want is something that requires less cutting force. Cutting force is a product of the profile of the edge of the knife, i.e. concave or convex or flat, the edge angle in degrees and the coeficient of dynamic friction between the side of the knfe and what it is cutting.)
apartment size kitchen range or cooktop for a small galley kitchen in the Back Bay
The issue for you is that if the burners on the range go much beyond 12,000 BTU each, you will need a vent hood that vents outside. If you have that, or you want to put it in, your range of options increases quite a bit. Look for the BTU rating of the burners to make comparisons between ranges.
White residue on vintage aluminum? cookware.........
Throw it away. Acidic food, hard water and salt will create this mess. It isn't worth the trouble to keep the pan clean. It's a chance to try something new.
Santoku knives -- are they that great?
The Shun damascus finish is indeed applied. It is the result of a vacuum deposited atomic layer of material which has nothing to do with the structure of the blade. That being said, the Shun and Global knives have a Rockwell hardness above 60 which is far harder than Western knives (think Henckels and Wusthof) and as such can support a more acute cutting angle on the edge. Because these knives have a more acute cutting angle, the force required to cut food is reduced and is why people who use them, like them so much. Sharpness is not a defined term and that is why every knife maker can make any claim to sharpness that they want without fear of being sued. Consumers want the cutting effort to me minimized and that is determined by a combination of cutting edge profile, cutting edge angle and the coefficient of dynamic friction between the knife blade and what is being cut.
Hand cranked coffee mills???
I'm assuming it is. All the ones I've ever used were adjustable. Some had a screw in the bottom, others had an adjustable collar below the crank. :)
Hand cranked coffee mills???
That's easy. You want a Turkish Coffee Grinder. Here is the Amazon option but there are others, I am sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Coffee-Grinder-Pepper-Mill/dp/B000BR9CS8/sr=8-1/qid=1166641701/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7745487-0671063?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden
need a versatile knife, suggestions
Get the same knife and that way, when you send your knives out for sharpening, you will always have one to work with. Also, I'm guessing you will have a sous chef in your kitchen and then you won't have to fight over who get's the Global. ;)
Chef's Choice Manual Diamond Hone Sharpener
Throw away the Chef's Choice and buy yourself a Shun Combination stone. http://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0708-Combination-Whetstone/dp/B0000Y7KLS/sr=8-1/qid=1166559289/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7745487-0671063?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden
Put the stone in the sink, turn on the water so it hits the stone then sharpen your knife. No mess, no oil, nothing to set up or clean up. Yes, you will have to learn how to hold the knife at the correct angle, but that's not hard either.
Michel Bras / Kai Knives
Your observation is correct. The Ken Onion knife is a stamped blade with a 1/2 bolster bolted on to each side. It will make the knife very hard to regrind because the bolted on bolster curves forward and it will hit a grinding wheel before the wheel has a chance to grind the edge closest to the handle. It's a real marketing gimmick.
Good knife rec needed
It sounds like the reasons the knife you have is staying sharp for a shorter and shorter length of time is because it needs to be reground and it's being used all the time. The sharpening steel is a misnomer. It doesn't actually remove metal, it simply straightens out the edge. At some point the edge rounds over and it needs to be reground. To see what condition your knife is in, hold it at chest level looking directly down at the edge in a room with bright overhead light (or take it outside in the sun). If you can see any light reflecting off the edge, it means the edge is rounded over and needs to be reground.
Now if this is the go to knife in the kitchen and you buy one more like it, then you will extend the life of both edges quite a bit.
You have lots of options in the $100 range, but the question is this...does your husband use the knife mostly on meat or veggies. If the answer is veggies, then get him the Santoku style knife.
Hope that helps.
So what is it about suntoku knives?
A great big thick bolster that extended from the handle to the edge of the blade? Do you have a link?
