someone suggest a new knife to me.

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

floridacatfan

New Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2011
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I have 20 yr old henkels. I have now purchased some magnetic bars. My girlfriend thinks she wants a set of gourmet knives. She will have to wait till christmas.

Anyone have a suggestiong for a daily use knife that will not kill us.

thx
alan
 
Welcome to the forum!

Could you give some idea as to what your budget is? For some people "will not kill us" means $100 and for some it might be $400. It would also help if you mentioned the kind of dishes you like to prepare so we have an idea of what you'll be cutting most of the time. Finally, is this going to be used more by yourself or your girlfriend? Women tend to prefer smaller knives.
 
Welcome Alan!

More info makes the suggestions better.
 
I would pay 100 - 400 dollars.

I mostly cut up vegtables, I could get inot sushu if I had a really sharpp knife - I don't very often ebone a chicken.

Would I be using it or her - she is 45 years old and I am just starting to teach her to cook hahaha
 
That's a healthy budget. Since this is your first knife, I'd recommend something moderate in the $100-$200 range to get you started. Most people eventually end up buying more than one nicer knife, and it really helps to know what you like and what to look for when you make your next purchase so save your money on the first one. Since you will be sharing this knife with your girlfriend, I'd recommend a 210mm gyuto, or 8" chefs knife. If she's like most women she'll be intimidated by anything larger than that. Since you didn't mention a preference for carbon steel or stainless steel, I'll assume stainless steel would be the better choice since it requires less care. A "gyuto" is commonly available with a Japanese style "wa" handle or a western handle, and again I'll assume western handle in this case.

I haven't heard a lot of buzz about this knife recently, but it's gotten rave reviews before - Sakai Takayuki Grand Chef in 210mm with western handle. The steel is AEB-L and is the same as what you'd find in the DT ITK mid tech knives for hundreds more. I'm sure the heat treating is different, but the steel is the same. Excellent edge retention and great geometry in a stainless knife that doesn't break the bank.

There is a wealth of information available here, so if you care to look further you can educate yourself on steel (carbon vs satinless) handles, knife types, makers, and just about everything else you can think of regarding cutting things in the kitchen. I'd also recommend giving some thought to sharpening your knife. Learning to sharpen will save you a great deal of money in the long run and can be a rewarding experience. If you don't want to that's ok too, but keep in mind that the knife will not stay sharp forever. You'll eventually need to send it out for sharpening or take it somewhere to have it sharpened. This can be expensive. Be wary of anyone who seems to charge much less than reputable sharpening services, lots of people out there have no idea what they're doing and can ruin your knives. You could also try a half and half solution of sending your knives out, and touching them up yourself regularly on a strop or honing steel. This will extend the edge somewhat, but the knives will still need to see stones at some point.
 
$400 you say?
Tojiro DP 210 Chef's and Paring $100
Honing Rod(regular honing steels are softer than Japanese steel) $90
16x22 Maple Boardsmith Board $160
King 1k/6k combo stone(or you can skip learning to sharpen and mail it off 1-2 a year to someone talented like Dave)

There. You're still under $400, and you'll likely never need to buy anything kitchen knife related again. That is NEED. These things are quite addictive.
 
Back
Top