Chef’s knives?

[Timberridge]

but maybe I haven't used the right cleaver.

You may want to try the beaver cleaver.

[XXX-er]

Growing up without that particular kitchen appliance, keeping mom's knives sharp was never an issue. Wife's family would remark how nice and sharp our knives are, and would ask me to bring my stones when visiting, until I saw them put their knives in the dishwasher. If clues were shoes and all that...

I'm not Gordon fucking Ramsay here so its all about the convienience & the clean ... just another strategy

also have half a doz of them small nylon cutting boards that I thro in the DW with the knives

[house]

Did someone say cleaver?


I found these in the garage among all the previous owners’ stuff. The cleaver’s tang is a quarter inch thick. It weighs a ton and I’ll never have a need for it, other than preparing kindling maybe. The machete looking knife is old German steel. I don’t butcher anything, so I’ll probably end up giving these away.


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[billyk]

I bought an IMarku 10” chef’s knife off Amazon last year for $20 that I like a lot. It has German stainless steel, a sharp, thin blade, and a comfortable handle. Holds the edge very well.

Sure probably not as sharp as one of those carbon steel exotic blades, but more than adequate for my use, and cheap!

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Did someone say cleaver?


I found these in the garage among all the previous owners’ stuff. The cleaver’s tang is a quarter inch thick. It weighs a ton and I’ll never have a need for it, other than preparing kindling maybe. The machete looking knife is old German steel. I don’t butcher anything, so I’ll probably end up giving these away.


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You bought a house from Bill the Butcher?


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[house]

You bought a house from Bill the Butcher?


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Yeah, it has good bones.


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[Neil Fiedler (Not Neil Armstrong)]

Back to the OP... https://www.surlatable.com/shun-chef...ze=8in#start=6 Great knife to have if you want "fancy" just keep it clean (by hand, no fucking dishwasher!) Don't cut on metal or extremely hard surfaces.

[BCMtnHound]

I'm not Gordon fucking Ramsay here so its all about the convienience & the clean ... just another strategy

also have half a doz of them small nylon cutting boards that I thro in the DW with the knives

That's my second pet peeve. When I use our knives, I am constantly rinsing or wiping them clean through the prep. My better half uses the knife and then sets it aside dirty to allow it air dry to a nice hard crust.
I love her, and I steer well clear of the kitchen when she gets her swedish chef persona on. I then buck up after the meal and properly tend to the knives and cast iron.

[neufox47]

Man I hate the handle on the Shun. Yea you hold it by the blade most of the time but for those times you need a good grip... I guess that’s the point, if you need to apply pressure grab a different knife.


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[tgapp]

Man I hate the handle on the Shun. Yea you hold it by the blade most of the time but for those times you need a good grip... I guess that’s the point, if you need to apply pressure grab a different knife.


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^^ this. tojiro knives, IMO, are the best value for a gyuto or santoku. standard western handle + japanese blade (15 deg) + vg10/vgmax steel all for about half of what the shun will cost

[Conundrum]

That's my second pet peeve. When I use our knives, I am constantly rinsing or wiping them clean through the prep. My better half uses the knife and then sets it aside dirty to allow it air dry to a nice hard crust.
I love her, and I steer well clear of the kitchen when she gets her swedish chef persona on. I then buck up after the meal and properly tend to the knives and cast iron.

All cabinets left open, bowls and cutting boards everywhere, multiple pans (even grease from part of the cook poured in a new pan to cook next step) new knife for each stage...I'm resolved to do what you do and come in for heavy clean up when done. We have a pretty small kitchen and looking at a bigger version. I'm pushing to stay small. The only thing more counter space and cabinets will buy me is more cabinets to close and things to clean.

[XXX-er]

I always say i'm pretty lucky mrs XXX thru me out so i could do it all my way period

except at GF's place i do it her way and she has her quirks

we all do

[BCMtnHound]

All cabinets left open, bowls and cutting boards everywhere, multiple pans (even grease from part of the cook poured in a new pan to cook next step) new knife for each stage...I'm resolved to do what you do and come in for heavy clean up when done. We have a pretty small kitchen and looking at a bigger version. I'm pushing to stay small. The only thing more counter space and cabinets will buy me is more cabinets to close and things to clean.

Yup. We are in a similar stage, looking at purchasing a larger property, maybe a slightly larger living space. Literally the double edged knife.

Back when I managed large silviculture contracts/projects, we would ask the question of how much space a tree planting contractor will use if given either 1ha or 5ha of space to set up camp. The only correct answer is all of it. Told the lady that one, she didn't get the humour of it.

[Supermoon]

We really like our Shun knives.

Same. Got this one a few months ago as an upgrade to our cheaper ones and love it.

https://www.surlatable.com/shun-clas...iew#turntodone

[oftpiste]

I always say i'm pretty lucky mrs XXX thru me out so i could do it all my way period

except at GF's place i do it her way and she has her quirks

we all do

this

[nickwm21]

Did someone say cleaver?


I found these in the garage among all the previous owners’ stuff. The cleaver’s tang is a quarter inch thick. It weighs a ton and I’ll never have a need for it, other than preparing kindling maybe. The machete looking knife is old German steel. I don’t butcher anything, so I’ll probably end up giving these away.


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Before you give them away.... Rent an autodoner and carve some gyro with that saber. Just to say you did it.


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[oftpiste]

That saber would make a killer carving/butchering knife. I often buy bulk meat at the resto supply and that would be the perfect tool for trimming. I'd be delighted to take it off your hands.

[abraham]

Before you give them away.... Rent an autodoner and carve some gyro with that saber. Just to say you did it.


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You can rent one of those??? I know what I'm doing for my birthday

[::: :::]

Did someone say cleaver?


I found these in the garage among all the previous owners’ stuff. The cleaver’s tang is a quarter inch thick. It weighs a ton and I’ll never have a need for it, other than preparing kindling maybe. The machete looking knife is old German steel. I don’t butcher anything, so I’ll probably end up giving these away.

maybe fingerprint those things and start digging in the basement?

[CovertM]

After owning many "fancy" knives, I am continually reminded that not much beats a Victorinox. Bought a couple smaller ones for butchering recently and they are hard to beat. I even think PapaPooh referenced the same recommendations in one of his delightful tales.

If you want to get fancy, you can always buy the Rosewood handled version.

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Sw...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[dan_pdx]

Worth mentioning given the Shun love in this thread: Kershaw/Shun have an annual in-person warehouse sale at their site outside of Portland, but this year, given the ongoing shitshow, they've moved it online. The Shun sale is December 9-10.

https://kershaw.kaiusa.com/blog/

[wwwllw]

https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com...210mm-wa-gyuto

I bought this for my wife last year. It’s our new favorite. I had to wait a while for it to come back into stock.

[Supermoon]

Worth mentioning given the Shun love in this thread: Kershaw/Shun have an annual in-person warehouse sale at their site outside of Portland, but this year, given the ongoing shitshow, they've moved it online. The Shun sale is December 9-10.

https://kershaw.kaiusa.com/blog/

Oh nice, thanks for the tip. Kinda wish it was just local so there was less competition for the deals!

[old goat]

Most of those were modern blades that were made specifically for the military to issue to officers, but some were family heirlooms. Either way, people have had some success in finding the families of the officers that carried them and returning them. I guess there's some kind of registry in Japan of the military-issued blades; I'm not sure how it would work for the heirloom variety, but presumably there's some information on the tang that would help. Not saying this is something that you absolutely need to do - I understand that it's become a family heirloom for your family now - but it would make a hell of an interesting detour for your next trip to Hokkaido. "My vacation? Pretty good, I guess: 5 days skiing pow in Hokkaido and 2 days in Tokyo drinking sake with this Japanese family."

As best as I can tell from google my katana is a generic officer's sword, not a family heirloom. These were machine made, are not considered valuable, and as weapons apparently cannot be brought into Japan to be reunited with a family, and the swords do not have markings to indicate the identity of the officer it was issued to. My dad picked it up after the war when he was stationed in Japan, billeted with a Japanese family. Apparently these swords were surrendered at the end of the war and were brought home by the hundreds of thousands by GI's. I imagine a few of them were taken directly from Japanese soldiers--living or dead--but I'm pretty sure my dad never saw either kind. He was a lab tech on New Guinea before VJ day.

Respectfully disagree, though you're correct in that you certainly can get bling for $. I've had lots of different kitchen knives from thrift store no-name carbon to fancy-ish stainless Germans to big ass Damascus thunkers ordered from Pakistan on Etsy as an experiment.

The Zwilling Kramers have been a game changer in terms of usefulness as long as they're hit on the steel routinely.

Whatever you end up choosing, consider good carbon steel vs. stainless. A lot of the highly rated knives from the big companies are highly rated so often because they're decent and require little care compared to carbon. There's a lowest-common-denominator factor there as the reviewers know most people won't like the upkeep of carbon steel. Decent carbon doesn't come cheap and that difference IMHO can't be reduced to bling.

I like carbon blades. They will take a sharper edge but do require care to maintain and won't look as purty as stainless. All my woodworking blades are carbon, except for the carbide saw blades of course. It's a pain in the ass to keep them from rusting in the garage, but a plane blade has to slice through hard rock maple, not a tomato.

[RootSkier]

There's a difference between a maple cutting board and a figured walnut countertop... sheesh, what are you people, troglodytes?

That "figured walnut countertop" looks like plastic veneer to me.