Decoy Knives?

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MAS4T0

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I'm curious what other members do at home for the sake of guests/ family members who want to "help" in the kitchen.

I hadn't really considered it as a problem before as my wife takes better care of the knives than I do (and I do all the cooking in advance when there's guests over).

Anyhow, my parents and grandma came to visit a few days ago and after dinner while I was talking to my dad, my grandma and mum appeared from the kitchen holding drinks with lemon slices on the edge off the glasses... I quickly made an excuse and headed back into the kitchen to find one of my carbon gyuto sitting on the board along with half a lemon!

Luckily I caught it before any damage was done (beyond jacking the patina), but it made me realise the importance of having some decoys.

I always store my knives out of sight, so any decoy knives left on the counter should prevent anyone searching out the special ones.

I'd appreciate some advice on what others do at home with regards to decoys. I don't think I could stand to have a set of cheap nasty knives displayed in the kitchen.

Do I need to lock the special knives away?

Any ideas are most appreciated.
 
just leave a knife out with a sturdy kind of handle and make sure its stainless and doesn't have a ridiculously keen edge so that it can cut threw something like crusty bread with out chipping. I have a blockset of whustofs from when I first started my apprenticeship that I leave near my board they aren't **** knives but they can be used as can openers or axes if need be.
 
I always make sure I have an old knife and old non stick skillet out when the mother in law comes by. She has ruined both in the past..
 
If you have a TK Maxx local then have a look, they sometimes have reasonable stuff that would fit the bill perfectly and normally quite cheap, have a look in the sale section as well, got a Henckels Twin Pollux parer for £5 last week
 
Help?? What is this help of which you speak??

Most know my sharpening obsession and steer well clear of my cutlery. My home set (the good stuff) doesn't travel to parties, etc. The stuff in my case is pretty good stuff (Wusthof, etc.) that I got off of eBay for a song, and won't send me into therapy if something happens.
 
Victorinox or Hiromoto G3. I've got both. All my paring/petty/utility knives are stainless so I'm not worried about those.
 
Should the decoy knives look kind of high-end? That way they won't keep searching around for the good ones?

If that doesn't really matter then I would second the Victorinox.
 
Stainless opinel utility/paring knives. Not great edge holding or anything, but they are friendly enough and usable for fruits and small kitchen stuff.
 
Some henckels. Everybody knows that brand.
 
A Kasumi Santoku, a Messermeister mini chef and a couple serrated Wustoffs are in a block on the counter for easy access. Not like anyone does any real cooking in my kitchen . My wife and friends feel very comfortable around cheap Oxo knives. They don't hold an edge, but I maintain them.
 
Most people are too scared to handle the 240mm gyutos so I usually don't have to worry about them. If they do use it they soon find it "too sharp" and again too scared to keep using it lol. I keep my mom's old knives (cutcos and henkels) in the drawer as decoy knives. Now that I think about it, you probably should keep a few serrated knives in your drawer because that's what people who are used to dull knives usually grabs first.
 
I've got a block of old stainless Henckels that nobody can hurt...agree with what has been said that nobody wants to handle a big/sharp gyuto or cleaver when there is always a smaller less intimidating option nearby.
 
Got an old Henckels and some old whustof's in a block on the counter that way they have an option and don't go for my knives that may still be out :biggrin:
 
i have all my knives on a magnetic bar and a bunch of old wuesthofs on the counter for my girlfriend and guests.she insists on me keeping them sharp and has threatened to use mine otherwise.i make sure to sharpen them twice a week.
 
Global knives seem to be particulary well suited for this task: well known and immediately recognized, well regarded by the general public.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'll have to carefully consider which ones I go for.

I agree that they do have to be attractive enough that people will be drawn to them and not go looking for something better, and everything in my kitchen is high end so I wouldn't want an ugly set ruining the aesthetics. I guess that I could get a block to hide away in the cupboard most of the time and then switch them over with the good knives when people are visiting and might want to participate in the kitchen.

I'll have to see if some Globals or something similarly flashy are on special offer anywhere, it kills me to even consider dropping $100s on a set of decoys which will never be used by either me or the wife.
 
I will second Benuser's suggestion for the Global knives. We have some knives in a block and the rest on magnetic bars. It is a really wide assortment. Being in retail it is not unusual for a company to send you a sample or give you one at a trade show. My husband is currently going through some medical issues and lots of family and friends are in and out of our house helping look after him. If any of them need a knife for anything, the Globals seem to be what they are attracted too. I regularly find one on the sink, with cheese dried to the blade, or worse yet, find it in the dishwasher. At our house, the star attraction seems to be the Global 5-1/2 inch vegetable knife.
 
Here are some of my tips:

(1) Segregation. It has worked well for me. The number of times an poor user dips into the knice knives is very rare. And here is the kicker, in order to get some really good segregation you have to buy a lot of knives. Ok, maybe that isn't necessary, but it helps.

(2) Cheap Henkels or Victorinox paring knives. Relatives and in-laws rarely use the big knives, and will mostly go for paring knives.

(3) Wa Handles. Wa handles scream out "DO NOT USE". It's just how it is. And the prettier they are the lower the chance of unauthorized use.

(4) Instruction. By instructing the poor users, you have a win-win situation. If they listen, they might actually learn something, if they don't understand it and think you are a knife knerd then they will be even less inclined to use your blades. Just take out a strop, spray it with diamond spray, and talk about angles and stuff. They will never touch that sh!t again.

(5) Throw in a letter opener into the knife drawer. Just see if anyone uses it -- you'll be surprised and amused. Unless that is until they use your letter opener constantly to cut cheese, spread peanut butter, and on and on. Then you will be forced to label your letter opener because you are sick of people using it for food.

I'd post a picture of mine, but I don't see how to attach photos to this thread.

karring
 
left drawer:
cheap stainless Chinese cleaver, small
Henckels 4-star paring
Victorinox paring
grocery-store paring, cheap stainless, bent

right drawer:
Ashi Hamono cleaver, white #2
San Hang Nga cleaver, carbon
Tanaka blue #2 petty, 150mm
Fujiwara FKM petty, 150mm
Tojiro ITK bread knife

Message to others:
use the knives in the left drawer

Result:
mostly they use the knives in the left and the good stuff is untouched. Sometimes folks pull out the Fujiwara petty, due I assume to the Western handle. Nobody touches the big cleavers or the wa Tanaka. I think Mr. Drinky's right about people shying away from big knives and wa handles.
 
Everyone who's stepped foot in my kitchen has outright said that they're scared of my Chinese cleaver and wouldn't dare go near one.
 
Yeah, my wife still freaks out when she sees my CCK cleaver on a chopping board although I've had it for a while...
When my mum visited our place last time, I actually offered my Sugi 4030 for her to try coz it's smaller and SS, but she got scared and never used it.
 
Yeah, my wife still freaks out when she sees my CCK cleaver on a chopping board although I've had it for a while...
When my mum visited our place last time, I actually offered my Sugi 4030 for her to try coz it's smaller and SS, but she got scared and never used it.
Where do you get them in Aus?
 
Couldn't get it locally. CCK from chefsmall.net and Sugi from JCK (need to send an email to Koki coz the small SS model is not listed on the website).
I heard some Asian supermarkets used to carry CCKs but couldn't possibly find them.

Edit: if you're after CCK, consider Shibazi from the same website I mentioned. I think CCKs are over-priced (at least on that website). I heard Shibazi is as good as CCK but cheaper. It actually featured in this CCTV documentary show here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sijUq_Gxyu4
 
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Fortune kitchenware in Hurstville and Campsie stock some CCKs; you would have to pay Australian pricing though.
 
Thanks Chanop. I am suddenly not keen on that idea :D. Sorry for hijacking thread.
 
Everyone who's stepped foot in my kitchen has outright said that they're scared of my Chinese cleaver and wouldn't dare go near one.

When people say to me, "Oh! Scary cleaver!" I ask them, "Which would you rather have in a knife fight, the cleaver, or some other kind of knife that actually has a point?"
Crickets.
Then:
"Oh! Scary cleaver!"
 
There's nothing worse when someone dear to you is using your knives in an improper way (such as scraping the blade face over a metal bowl to get the remaining diced onions off). Then when you ask them not to do that YOU feel like the anal retentive weirdo. Fortunately, my spouse respects my knives and uses them daily and I never have to worry about her.
 
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