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nervana posted:I am going to be staying in Chicago for a few months so I thought I might buy a new paring knife (and possibly a chefs knife to go with it). What is a good beginner friendly paring knife?
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Oct 14, 2017 09:33
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SubG posted:The only paring knife I haven't retroactively hated since getting a Dojo paring knife is the Dojo paring knife. https://www.chefknivestogo.com/dojopetty135mm.html Is it this thing? Also CKTG is good? Babylon Astronaut posted:I like this for beginners. You don't really have any preferences to require an expensive one, you won't be adept at sharpening, and you won't have to deal with the dangers of a dull knife. It's not romantic, but they are sharp as hell and you'll never do anything stupid with it, or it will easily break. Should last you a couple years at least, and be really nice at doing what it is supposed to do. Super cheap AND comes with a sheath! Design is so boring but seems like the smart thing to buy.
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Oct 15, 2017 04:15
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Yea, you need the sheath. If not, it's going to chip somewhere. You can't exactly throw it in the silverware drawer. With the sheath, you can. They have rounded tips, because the tip would inevitably break off. This way, it cannot happen with normal use. It also helps that the handle is heavier than the blade. Even if you drop it, it will bounce on the handle and land OK. What specifically are you using this paring knife for? For me, I can get by dropping  every year or so and have a razor sharp paring knife on hand. Maintaining a similar edge in steel is going to cost money sharpening and honing. High carbon steels like both white and blue can also rust, and will naturally tarnish over time. This can be a deal breaker if you want to use it for acidic fruits and vegetables. Ceramic is inert. Depending on what your ambitions are, you might be able to get a better fit for less money. Like if you just want an insanely sharp small knife that is also a bad rear end conversation piece, I like the Okeya brand of small kitchen knives. This little dude is white steel, looks like a crazy shank from hell, holds a wicked single bevel edge, and opens any sort of plastic bag by pointing at it. You'll be surprised how often your cutting task is just getting a stupid bag open, and not having jaggedy rear end cuts in all your bags helps with storage.
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Oct 15, 2017 10:01
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nervana posted:https://www.chefknivestogo.com/dojopetty135mm.html CKTG is fine as far as I know, although mindplux will be in here in a minute to rant about what cocksuckers they are until he remembers it's jck he hates, not cktg.
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Oct 15, 2017 11:44
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ALL KNIVES ARE GARBAGE I HATE EVERYTHING
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Oct 22, 2017 09:28
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbPWitSTe2k
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Oct 23, 2017 16:59
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I feel bad laughing at that but hearing stereotypically mispronounced words done in a pretty good non-regional American accent is kind of hilarious.
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Oct 23, 2017 18:53
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I love how they say don't error the blade with your hand while constantly doing out
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Oct 24, 2017 08:32
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I tipped my big gently caress off knife and I'm not sure if I want to grind from the top and keep all the flat or from the bottom or have more of a curve and do just the tip edge. Nuclear option is to reprofile the whole edge by half a mm.
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Nov 9, 2017 01:21
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:top ... or from the bottom Top is probably simpler with less chance of ruining the temper.
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Nov 9, 2017 07:09
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:I tipped my big gently caress off knife and I'm not sure if I want to grind from the top and keep all the flat or from the bottom or have more of a curve and do just the tip edge. Nuclear option is to reprofile the whole edge by half a mm. send it to the 'will it blend' people
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Nov 9, 2017 09:05
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wormil posted:Top is probably simpler with less chance of ruining the temper. it'll be a hand job so I'm not too worried about this. mindphlux posted:send it to the 'will it blend' people it's hanzo steel, it can never be broken
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Nov 9, 2017 15:56
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:I tipped my big gently caress off knife
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Nov 9, 2017 18:52
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:it'll be a hand job so I'm not too worried about this. Too easy, not going there.
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Nov 9, 2017 19:16
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:it's hanzo steel, it can never be broken all the more reason to send it to them I want to see a video where the blender just explodes and shrapnel hits everything around it
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Nov 10, 2017 12:06
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:I tipped my big gently caress off knife and I'm not sure if I want to grind from the top and keep all the flat or from the bottom or have more of a curve and do just the tip edge. Nuclear option is to reprofile the whole edge by half a mm. Just do it from the top. Rehandled my Tojiros in Maple yesterday, looking good imo.  Gonna slap a western handle on my Goko today I think, I've been dealing with that right handed D handle for far too long. And I've got a few nice pieces of cedar that would be a bitchin dark red after staining.
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Nov 10, 2017 15:16
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Can you knife experts recommend me a good chef's knife to get my partner for Christmas? Looking to spend up to $100, including sheathe.
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Nov 10, 2017 18:46
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silencekit posted:Can you knife experts recommend me a good chef's knife to get my partner for Christmas? Looking to spend up to $100, including sheathe. I'd get them a Tojiro DP Gyuto, either the 210mm(8 inch) or 240mm(9.5 inch) model depending on how large they like their knife, then a blade guard like this.
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Nov 10, 2017 19:04
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Those look perfect! Thanks!
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Nov 10, 2017 20:19
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I'd get them a Tojiro DP Gyuto, either the 210mm(8 inch) or 240mm(9.5 inch) model depending on how large they like their knife, then a blade guard like this. I mean I don't want to try to talk anyone out of buying someone else a knife as a gift (assuming they're not from one of the cultures that are superstitious about it) but I feel like buying a kitchen knife sight unseen is usually a risky choice for yourself even if you have a really good feel for what kind of knives you think you like. I know that all the daily-use knives that I currently own aren't the first ones I bought for myself, and each one looks wildly different from what I started out thinking I wanted out of a knife.
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Nov 10, 2017 20:52
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SubG posted:Tojiro DP is a good knife for the money, but it's probably worth pointing out that knives are almost certainly the kitchen equipment choice most affected by personal preferences. Without actually picking a knife up and handling it it's difficult for most people to guess ahead of time what they want in a kitchen knife, much less anyone else. I agree that finding the right knife is very much a matter of personal preferences, but if they are getting it as a gift there is not much they can do about that issue outside of getting a gift certificate to a brick and mortar store that actually sells decent knives and most of the knives sold in those places are well over their budget. The Tojiro DP is a good starting point and will certainly impress someone who has never used a really good knife before.
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Nov 10, 2017 21:22
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silencekit posted:Can you knife experts recommend me a good chef's knife to get my partner for Christmas? Looking to spend up to $100, including sheathe. I agree with SubG. What if you printed out a picture of a fancy kitchen knife and said "let's go shopping" for Christmas? You could put it in a nice box, etc. Option 2 is buy from a place with a generous return policy and do essentially the same thing but with a placeholder knife.
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Nov 10, 2017 22:04
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Chemmy posted:I agree with SubG. What if you printed out a picture of a fancy kitchen knife and said "let's go shopping" for Christmas? You could put it in a nice box, etc. Yep, I think that's the plan! Brilliant. Also, we're doing Christmas with my folks a plane ride away, and this mitigates the bring--knife-through-airport-security problem.
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Nov 13, 2017 21:19
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Recently got a Tojiro DP. As far as sharpening goes, anything new to add that's not in the OP? I've also got a couple older knives also that I'd like to get back into shape. Also need a honing steel suggestion that can handle the Tojiro's hardness.
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Nov 21, 2017 05:28
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odinson posted:Recently got a Tojiro DP. As far as sharpening goes, anything new to add that's not in the OP? I've also got a couple older knives also that I'd like to get back into shape. Also need a honing steel suggestion that can handle the Tojiro's hardness. Use a ceramic honing rod, use very light strokes since hard steels like the blade of the Tojiro tend to chip instead of bend.
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Nov 21, 2017 10:46
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The zwilling/henkels Kramer chef knives are options for my wedding registry. Any reason why I shouldn't put a 10" chef knife on there with the hopes that someone bites, and should I go with the carbon or the damascus? Supposedly the carbon is a touch thinner and more flexible at the tip, but I've also never had carbon before, and I know at my last kitchen I wouldn't have wanted to deal with it. On the other hand, the damascus one is gorgeous and probably just as serviceable for the most part. That being said, I currently work at a place where I'd be a fool to bring my own knives, so either way it'd be babied at home.
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Nov 27, 2017 15:49
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OP is missing a recommendation for a low/mid-price meat cleaver - any reason not to grab a $25 Victorinox from a restaurant supply store? Might pick up a gyuto to replace my chef's knife, but I understand cutting bone might cause it to chip. I occasionally use my Wusthof to split chicken breasts or break apart carcasses but I wouldn't be trying to hack through anything tougher than poultry.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:50
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If you have a good knife sharpener/set, grab one of these: This is the best utility knife I’ve used so far. Holds an edge really well and is super cheap. I did varnish the handle to give it a nicer feel, but it’s not needed.
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Dec 1, 2017 20:05
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Discussion Quorum posted:OP is missing a recommendation for a low/mid-price meat cleaver - any reason not to grab a $25 Victorinox from a restaurant supply store? Might pick up a gyuto to replace my chef's knife, but I understand cutting bone might cause it to chip. I occasionally use my Wusthof to split chicken breasts or break apart carcasses but I wouldn't be trying to hack through anything tougher than poultry. I also really like the CCK #1 Butcher's Knife (KF2208), but it's a 14" monstrosity that looks like it might be a weapon drop from a Mordor Orc and so it's definitely not for everyone. Owns for fabricating bigger poo poo, though.
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Dec 1, 2017 21:42
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SubG posted:I really like the CCK #1 Kitchen Chopper (KF1201) for poultry bones and that kind of thing. I think the only place you can buy CCK cleavers online is cktg and their prices (at least on CCK cleavers) has gotten silly lately, but if you have a Chinatown within driving distance you can probably find a place that'll sell you one for less. Thanks to both of you, I'll check on those. I looked at the CCK cleavers on CKTG and the vegetable cleaver is now $70 instead of $40 like in the OP, with some complaints of poor workmanship. I think the Winco above will fit my needs just fine but I do have a Chinatown in my area so might as well look around 
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Dec 1, 2017 22:15
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I’ll throw in the Dexter meat cleaver for contention, too: it was like 30 bucks at my local restaurant supply and it is heavy and just sharp enough to do what it needs. I really like how it feels when I use it to hack through carcasses and the like!
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Dec 2, 2017 17:22
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I’m looking to get a smaller knife for my wife and her tiny hands. We have an 8” Shun Western Chefs knife (Had a massive gift card to Williams Sonoma and sadly they don’t have a huge selection, I love the knife though) and she finds it too heavy and big. Would something like a Tojiro DP 150mm Petty be an OK choice for her for general knife work around the kitchen? Any other ideas?
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Dec 2, 2017 17:42
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Kinfolk Jones posted:I’m looking to get a smaller knife for my wife and her tiny hands. We have an 8” Shun Western Chefs knife (Had a massive gift card to Williams Sonoma and sadly they don’t have a huge selection, I love the knife though) and she finds it too heavy and big. Would something like a Tojiro DP 150mm Petty be an OK choice for her for general knife work around the kitchen? Any other ideas? I'd recommend a santoku, that will be about 6 inches in length and will still have the height of a chef's knife for knuckle clearance.
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Dec 2, 2017 18:05
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I really think we should remake the knife thread I'm so tired of people coming in here being like "I don't know what I should get, should I get a Tojiro DP????" the OP is basically uninformative, lists "Tojiro DP" for like every knife category, I don't know who the hell the poster is. I'll go ahead and nominate SubG as the most suited person to remake the knife thread. I'll do it if need be. Kinfolk Jones - check out MAC santokus. they are my absolute favs. my wife is tiny, they are her favorites as well.
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Dec 4, 2017 09:33
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mindphlux posted:I really think we should remake the knife thread How’s chef knives to go treating you these days?
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Dec 4, 2017 11:58
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fart simpson posted:How’s chef knives to go treating you these days? He's not wrong about it being the "everyone who has a question should just get a torijro" thread, but go ahead and pretend his occasional misunderstanding regarding an unrelated question invalidates anything else he says, clearly it's a helpful and informative position to take.
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Dec 5, 2017 03:59
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Oldsrocket_27 posted:He's not wrong about it being the "everyone who has a question should just get a torijro" thread, but go ahead and pretend his occasional misunderstanding regarding an unrelated question invalidates anything else he says, clearly it's a helpful and informative position to take. I'm not saying that, I just think it's funny he keeps getting confused.
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Dec 5, 2017 06:26
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mindphlux posted:I really think we should remake the knife thread The new advice is go buy a $10ish veggie cleaver for veg prep, a petty if you need to do fine work, and break down chickens, and a 6-10in gyuto for everything else. But yeah, just buy a Tojiro DP, or watch ck2g for closeouts/seconds/open box.
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Dec 31, 2017 14:37
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mindphlux posted:I really think we should remake the knife thread No one has written a new OP and I don't really consider myself enough of an authority to do it myself, but I took a crack at a proposal for the "I'm just starting out" section. Feel free to use, modify, or discard entirely. Please also fact-check as needed, I do not know much about knife hardness and the like, and despite owning at least three different sharpening systems, I know almost nothing about knife sharpening. All of this is original but I used the current OP as a reference for some of it. It contains a lot of the same information but hopefully has some clearer information for complete newcomers. I don't have any kitchen knives. What knives should I get? There are lots of specialty options and you can get really far down the rabbit hole, but if you are just starting out, the answer is to buy an affordable chef's knife and paring knife. The go-to options for these are the Victorinox 8" Chef's Knife ($30-35) and whatever paring knife you want. Victorinox also sells a 3.25" paring knife and it is perfectly fine if you aren't sure what to get. They are $6 and I own four of them. You can 100% stop here. If you buy these knives and take care of them, you never need to buy another kitchen knife again. You can do at least 95% of kitchen tasks with a chef's knife and the paring knife will fill in the gaps. A cheap bread knife is a good choice for a third knife. Alternatively, you can do what most of us do and buy 30 more knives because knives are neat. You do not have to buy those specific knives, even if a chef's knife and a paring knife is what you want. But if you come into this thread asking what knives to buy as a beginner, and you don't supply any more specific requirements, everyone will tell you to buy those, and also they will hate you. I want more knives. Okay. Broadly, you are choosing between Western-style knives and Japanese-style knives. There are also some weird outliers, including some popular ones like Chinese cleavers. Western knives are usually made from softer steel (which will both sharpen and dull more easily) and are more general-purpose; the standard Western chef's knife has a more rounded belly than its Japanese counterpart. Japanese knives are made from harder steel, meaning they are harder to sharpen but don't dull as easily. There are some other differences as well deriving from that harder steel; you'd want to be more careful about bones with a knife made of harder steel, for example. Here is some information on some of the kinds of knives available to you. Primary knives Chef's knife: Western-style knife, the main workhorse of a kitchen. Typically 8-10", you can do almost anything with one; I would venture to say 8" is the "standard" length. Longer ones can cut larger stuff more efficiently but may be harder to manage. There are 6" ones as well but they are the exception, not the rule. Rounded belly makes it suited for rock chopping. Gyuto: The Japanese answer to the chef's knife. Similar lengths, usually expressed in mm rather than inches (210mm is the approximate equivalent to the 8" standard chef's knife). Flatter profile makes it less suited to rock chopping and more suited to push chopping. Santoku: Popularized in the West by... Rachael Ray I think? Usually shorter than a chef's knife (6" is common), flat blade. You can do whatever with a santoku that you can with a chef's knife or gyuto. Because of the shorter length they can be easier to handle. Note that these knives do essentially the same jobs, you don't need more than one of these three unless you just want them for funsies. It is also fine if you do want them and that's why. Personally I don't have any gyutos but I have a couple of chef's knives and a santoku. Secondary knives Paring knife: Small, comes in three different types (standard, sheep's foot, bird's beak). They each have reasons for existing but if you care about this then you probably already know which one you want. For detail work and working in hand. Utility/petty knife: A kind of Goldilocks size between a paring knife and a chef's knife, for those times when a chef's knife seems too big and a paring knife seems too small. You don't need one, but they can be nice to have. Slicer: For slicing meat, mostly. Very long blade to necessitate less back and forth sawing and therefore making cleaner cuts and nicer looking results. Boning knife: For removing bones from bone-in meat. Meat cleaver: Heavy enough to cut through bones, which is not good for your other knives. Not the same as a Chinese vegetable cleaver. You will damage your Chinese cleaver if you try to hack through bones with it. Chinese cleaver: I mention this because they are popular in this thread; they are not very common in the West. They are for vegetable prep, and while they look comically large for the job, you can do very delicate work with them. The CCK Small Cleaver was the go-to recommendation for these when they were $30; now they are twice as much or more and I have no idea if there is a cheaper option that's any good. Bread knife: For bread, and also for stuff with thick skins like tomatoes because of the serrations. You don't need to spend a lot on a bread knife. They are hard to sharpen and you will probably just replace it when that time comes. There are a trillion Japanese knife types for specific purposes, like deba (for fish), nakiri (for vegetables), yanagiba (for sashimi), and so on. You can absolutely get these if you want but it's a lot to get into here. What are some good knife brands? Hoo boy, everyone has the ones they like. Victorinox and Tojiro (the DP line) are frequently recommended low-end options that offer good bang for the buck. I like Macs myself. Wusthof and Henckels make a lot of poo poo in their low-end lines and perfectly good knives on the higher end. Wusthof's Classic line is a good place to start in their range. One thing people recommend avoiding is knives with a bolster that runs into the back of the blade, because of the difficulty it presents in sharpening. There is a ton of bullshit in circulation about knives and you will sometimes see a Kickstarter or something similar about a revolution in knifemaking. These are lies. Do not buy them. Knives evoke a cult-like kind of behavior for some reason. Try not to get too deep in the weeds about which knife is just right for you. They are just knives. You will be okay. What about knife sets? Everyone I know registered for a knife set when they got married. Knife sets usually have an awful lot of knives, and as you can see above, you really only need two. You can get one, but usually it's better to buy the specific knives you want; you'll spend less money and have nicer knives. Where should I buy knives? The real answer is in a store, where you can try it firsthand and see if you like the way it feels, the grip, etc. Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma have limited ranges but will let you try knives out there. In practice, a lot of us are interested in stuff that those stores don't carry and buy them online. This is okay, but you may find you hate the knife when you get it. Amazon sells knives; Chef Knives To Go is another reputable vendor, and they specialize in Japanese knives. There are others but those are the stores I've bought from personally. How do I take care of my knives? I'm glad you asked! Rule number one is don't put them in the dishwasher. Wash them promptly by hand after you are finished using them and dry them immediately. Not doing these will make your knives dull, rusty, broken, or some combination of those things. That's all you really have to do; it's nice to have an edge guard on them to keep the edges from dulling. Or from cutting you by accident. Victorinox Bladesafes are nice, and have apparently gotten cheaper; there are also some other (weirdly expensive!) options and even cheapo $0.50 cardboard sheaths). What about cutting boards? Your choices are plastic and wood. Do not buy glass or marble or whatever other cutting boards, they will dull your knives. There are lots of debates about which is more sanitary; it does not actually matter very much provided you take care of them properly. Wash them promptly with soap and water; plastic ones can go in a dishwasher if you want, wooden ones can't. Wooden boards need some special treatment like oiling occasionally. You may want to throw out and replace a plastic board after a few years. About honing and sharpening Once a year or so is a good frequency for a home cook to sharpen their knives, or have them sharpened. If you are a big time cooking enthusiast and use your knives more than most people, do it more often. Professionals will definitely do it more often. If you are going to sharpen your own knives, do not use a pull-through or electric sharpener, they are bad for your knives. You can do it freehand or with a number of assistive tools. The thing you do with the metal or ceramic rod is honing, not sharpening. You can do that every time before you use your knives. People usually recommend ceramic rods for Japanese knives because they are harder. Ceramic is also fine for Western knives. Ceramic ones will also break if you drop them. Here is a video on honing. guppy fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Jan 2, 2018 |
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Dec 31, 2017 22:23
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guppy posted:No one has written a new OP and I don't really consider myself enough of an authority to do it myself, but I took a crack at a proposal for the "I'm just starting out" section. Feel free to use, modify, or discard entirely. Please also fact-check as needed, I do not know much about knife hardness and the like, and despite owning at least three different sharpening systems, I know almost nothing about knife sharpening. All of this is original but I used the current OP as a reference for some of it. It contains a lot of the same information but hopefully has some clearer information for complete newcomers. I'm probably the target audience for this, or pretty close to it, and wanted to say that I found it easy to read. I think perhaps you want to briefly (like two sentences tops) describe what an edge guard is and why you'd want one (I know, seems self explanatory, but I'll admit I had to google it about 6 months ago to figure it all out since it wasn't 100% clear to me). I'd also recommend putting a good link to a basic resource on honing (particularly since you mention doing it every time the knives get used, ie it sounds important). Sure, everyone has probably seen some scene in a movie where a professional chef does it, but trying to imitate that seems like a good way for a newbie to damage their knives and themselves.
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Jan 1, 2018 22:08
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