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I've worked in kitchens for over a decade now, and the first knives I ever got, a set of Messermeisters I got for Christmas one year, still see daily use. I also have a few excellent Japanese knives, and I can safely say that I greatly prefer them to the Germans. Japanese steel just allows for so much more precision than German steels. As horrible as this sounds, I reserve my Messermeister boning knife (which has been replaced by a MAC Petty and a Tojiro Honesuki) for cutting on metal (pans of cornbread, etc). As a baker, I really shouldn't have all the knives I do, but I was a chef well before I took the dive into baking. After my Messermeisters, I upgraded to Shuns, which are fine if you would like to spend too much money on something a Tojiro is equal to, but I didn't know that at the time. From there, I have gotten several different Japanese knives and all have their pros and cons. The first two were a MAC Petty and a Togiharu Gyuto. From this I learned just how sharp and hard Japanese steel could be. MACs stay sharp loving FOREVER until you think you need to sharpen it and you realize too late that it isn't a 50-50 blade. The Togiharu would take a fierce edge, and even though it has been replaced with a superior blade, I still kinda miss it.   After that I picked picked up a Tojiro Bread Knife, which is the best on the market, period, and a Tojiro Honesuki, which breaks down birds and rabbits like nobody's business. At this time I also picked up a Tojiro Watermelon knife (almost 14 inch nakiri basically) and a Sobakiri because it looked rad. Turns out it is super boss at portioning huge amounts of dough for breadmaking.    Working inside expo at a fine dining restaurant means you need to do a lot of slicing. I needed a knife that would cut like a laser, but I also needed it to not have a super fine point, because I was in close quarters and didn't want to hit the the stainless and use the tip. So I went to Konosuke, and had them make a custom sword-tip takobiki for me. It basically looks like a tiny katana, but it does exactly what I need it to. It's also worth mentioning that Konosukes have the best fit and finish for knives of that price, so if you are looking to get something nice, I'd go for one of those. When I discovered that my future brother-in-law was vegan, I decided to up my produce game, and scored a Moritaka Nakiri. While the cladding on it will wear off a bit, it holds a screaming sharp edge that will probably make your eyes bleed if you look at it too hard. It gets use constantly, and everyone wants to use it.  The most recent blade and crown jewel on my current collection is a Takeda Sasanoha Gyuto. It requires the most care and is more reactive than any knife I have ever used, but even when it needs sharpening, the blade is so thin that it cuts better than the sharpest German knives. All Takedas are handmade, so if you want a saya for those (you should have one for every knife that has one made for it, or magnetic flap sheathes) you have to get it custom made, which can be up to $70 apiece. I do this for a living, and believe that to be an excellent craftsman, you need excellent tools on top of excellent skills, so I pay top dollar for my equipment.  I have paid over 300 for knives, but after that, it's all diminishing returns, and the kind of custom work where the handle is made from walrus penis bone. Yes, they do make those, and yes, walruses have penis bones. Look it up. For all my knives, I only have 3 different stones, a 120 grit no-name steel stone that is abrasive as gently caress and is only for serious repair work, like chips, tipping, and putting edges on spoons because you want to be a dick, a 1000 grit Shapton Glass Stone, and a 4000 grit Shapton Glass Stone. The Shaptons are the best poo poo ever. They don't require soaking, you just splash and go, and they cut very quickly (cutting refers to how quickly the put an edge on a knife) compared to anything I've ever used. At 4000 grit, I almost get a mirror shine, and after that it's more diminishing returns. The 120 grit is so abrasive I can use it to flatten my Shaptons, which is great because the Shapton flattener is expensive as gently caress for no reason. There is such a thing as too sharp, and a lot of people try to take knives there to flex nuts. Yes, you can pour water over your knife and it will split into hydrogen and oxygen, but it lodges itself into the cutting board every time I try to slice an onion, making my job a pain. I do a lot of the sharpening for my colleagues because I use a more precise method which produces a more refined edge compared to what they can do. Most of them are old school where you swipe the entirety of the blade across the stone, but I work slowly in zones so that I can better finesse the blade, because nobody ever uses the entirety of the blade equally. If yall got more questions and don't think I'm a spergy douche yet, feel free to ask! breakfall87 fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Jul 6, 2013 |
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Jul 6, 2013 05:06
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GrAviTy84 posted:Would love to read your method of sharpening. I can put a pretty good edge on but I'm always down to learn ways to up my game. Basically what Chef De Cuisinart said. I start at the heel and do a couple of swipes on each side, then I move down maybe an inch or so and do the next section et cetera et cetera. I find it is much easier to maintain the proper angle and pressure on the blade. I've tried the other method, but with larger knives it is difficult to maintain both of these things and for me personally, harder to train that kind of muscle memory. As long as the sections you are working on overlap and you maintain the same pressure, you don't have to worry about your blade getting all wavy or anything. I'll grab my knives in a bit and get a pic of the wee katana and my sobakiri. If I can find my steak knives, I'll take a picture of them too. They are antiques! $8 for 10 of them and they are super tiny katanas with widdle birds painted on their sheathes. I'm not a mall ninja, I swear, my profession demanded that I own them! Edit for pics!       
breakfall87 fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Jul 7, 2013 |
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Jul 7, 2013 00:02
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The Honsho looks really nice, and appears to be thinner than the Tojiro. I know a couple of people with Richmond blades, and they both seemed pretty disappointed  Fujiwaras, Kikiuichis, and Suisins are all nice slicers and from what I hear, Fujiwaras are super easy to sharpen. I wouldn't recommend something between one-sided and 50-50 bevels. I jacked my MAC up not knowing, and it's not something you want to trial and error with (at least I'm not comfortable with it). Personally, I would recommend a Konosuke. chefknivestogo.com offers them in several different lengths and steels, and if they don't carry exactly what you want, you can call up and get a custom one done like I did. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kowh2st27su.html http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kowa271.html
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Jul 8, 2013 23:05
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I work with two guys who both have the Tojiro Sujis and they love them. I would've gotten one myself if I could've justified having more than one slicer! (Still considering it because I like it a lot)
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Jul 8, 2013 23:09
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Grav, a Moritaka without the black finish is the final SSJ4 form of a Moritaka knife that you can only achieve from owning one or buying it used. My Moritaka barely has any black finish left, and it almost outperforms a knife that is more than double the price. Moritakas are super thin, and the kurouchi finish kind of encourages wedging in a way. Once most of the black was wiped away, even from gentle scrubbing, it glided through onions like that's the only thing it was designed to cut. It takes an edge so quickly and easily. At first I was terrified that I lost some of the black cladding, but as I lost it, the performance actually increased. As long as you remember to rinse, wipe, and oil the knife after use, it will soon be the only thing you use to cut anything and everything.
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Jul 9, 2013 01:52
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Yeah, you can repair the knife, potentially, got a pic of the chip? Yes, yes, it can be repaired as long as it is not ridiculous! A coworker of mine had a boning knife that looked like a can opener and I was able to put a new edge on it and it looked good as new, albeit a touch thinner. You have to use a stone under 200 grit to get serious repair work like that done. I was nervous the first time I went to repair one of my knives, but once I did, it turned out exceptionally well. If you aren't that well versed in sharpening, shoot me a PM and we can work something out. As far as knife handles go, your best bet is to hit up a Sur la Table, as they will actually let you cut things with the knives in the store. You can hold a knife in Williams & Sonoma, but you can't cut anything with it. If you work in the industry, ask a coworker to let you cut up an onion with one of theirs. I greatly prefer wa-style (Japanese Style) handles to Western, but it isn't a crippling defect. Really I just can't do Henckels, Wusthof, Global, or Chroma. If you really want a Chinese Cleaver, go to chefknivestogo.com and get a CCK. I had one before a drunk friend decided it was his birthday and he needed to hack up his old couch with it. Then people decided to hide it from him, and they hid it too well, and we never found it again, which I wasn't too angry about because they are so inexpensive! Unless that happens, a CCK will last you drat near forever, but if you just want something to break down birds, check out the honesuki by Tojiro that I posted earlier!
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Jul 9, 2013 02:02
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Invisible Ted posted:It'd be much more worth your time to have the edge professionally reground, fixing that with a low-grit stone would probably take...too long. I've done something similar with a Shun, but it was just one big chip instead of that nonsense. It took a solid 15 minutes on a 120 grit, and you have to grind the entire knife down, which I wouldn't recommend you try to handle on your own if you've never sharpened before. I'd take it to a shop, it would probably be the least expensive solution.
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Jul 9, 2013 15:50
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I feel anything above a 2k grit is kind of a waste on German steel due to how soft they are, but that's just personal speculation.
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Jul 9, 2013 23:00
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Chemmy posted:Gyuto I suppose. I'm using an 8" chef's knife now, probably would like something longer, don't care about material it'll hardly be the fussiest thing I own. The Kono No Wave listed would be great. If you don't like the light handle, you can usually ask and they'll get you an ebony handled one, which is so boss. These would be good options if you'd rather go stainless: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/ko24wa.html http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohhstfugy24.html breakfall87 fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jul 10, 2013 |
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Jul 10, 2013 16:00
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GrAviTy84 posted:Edit: seriously look at this beastly fucker I love my Takeda, it is so monstrous! If, like me, you don't want it so tall, the Sasanoha model is more of the traditional Sabatier profile! I posted it earlier in the thread somewhere!
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Jul 10, 2013 23:35
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I've never had a wa-style handle fall off or even get loose, for that matter. If they aren't epoxied in and sealed, a lot of times they are burned in and sealed, but usually you can tell right away if it is of low quality. And chiming back in on the Moritaka love, I'm the one with the nakiri, and it's honestly probably my most used knife. The finish rubs off with a quickness, but few things can take an edge like it can. One of our prep cooks has one of their pettys and she loves the little thing. To whoever mentioned earlier that they were afraid of re-profiling their blade, if you have experience sharpening your blade, then you will be just fine. As long as you make sure to touch up the entire blade, and not just the problem area, you will be fine. Otherwise you are more likely to create an uneven cutting surface. It also helps to let your knife naturally dull a bit before taking it to a low grit, because you don't want to be running a razor sharp tip across those stones.
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Jul 31, 2013 23:10
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My mom got my dad one of those knives and he returned the absurd thing within the week. In other silly rear end knife news, one of my cooks brought his knives to me so I could sharpen them (at a cost, obviously), and he had a Tojiro from the ITK Shirogami line on CKTG, and it was coming unclad. That's right. Unclad:   Got to be a factory defect.
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Aug 3, 2013 04:53
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Tojiros have a bit less belly than the rental blades, but you will get used to it quite quickly. I went from Messermeisters and Shuns to Togiharus, Tojiros, and other gyutos and I can still cut with a rocking motion just as well as before. You'll notice yourself naturally compensating to prevent tipping the knife.Aliquid posted:Hey knife people! I'm doing some long-term traveling and my knives have gone dull. I found a hardware store that sold a sharpening stone for $5 and I jumped on it. How do I use this thing correctly? It's very light brown and somewhat smooth, the package says it's from Italy. It's about the size of a cigarette, but in a half-cylinder shape. That will work fine for what you have. If you can find a matchbook or something like that to set your angle, it will help you tremendously. Stones that small aren't quite as easy to use as the bigger ones.
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Feb 9, 2014 04:27
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