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morunas

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Greetings :) I am a bowel with no water when it comes to kitchen knives maintenance and purchasing knowledge, and probably can learn more on how to use them.
I have only a basic set of knives from a grocery shop and they don't "just slice".


What type of knife(s) do you think you want?
A knife for slicing all sorts of vegetables and a knife for meat although I must admit I barely cut meat (it already comes in stakes or chunks or it's "hand moldable")

Why is it being purchased? What, if anything, are you replacing?
I would like to take more pleasure, precision, fine cuts and speed when preparing food. Must also learn how to make the knives sharpness last. Of course I don't put them on dish washer but other then that I know no other tips.

What do you like and dislike about these qualities of your knives already?

This is not really of my knives but what I would like it to be :)

Aesthetics- if customizable carvings that would be awesome! other then that plain simple pretty would be fine as long as it gets the job done
Edge Quality/Retention- I want a knife that stops if the blade should ever come towards my fingers :p hehe I don't know what kind of edges and qualities are there
Ease of Use- no idea how I can describe this
Comfort- hmm, how to describe... the grip should not be too thick but I wouldn't know what "thick enough" for good grip would be... better consider this blank for now...

What grip do you use?
If it's the material of the grip I would like to have metal because I feel that wood and rubber have less durability... then again I never used a metal grip one... is it harder to keep control/precision?
if grip would be the position of my hand then it's a closed fist with the thumb on the side.

What kind of cutting motion do you use?
Mostly top-down really :p but with a swing so that my hand moves away from me as the knife goes down.

Where do you store them?
Where you, the ones answering, will tell me to. Fridge? Basement? Fireplace? Balcony? Under the pillow?

Have you ever oiled a handle?
No... wouldn't that make it kind of slipperish and endanger the good health of nearby fingers?

What kind of cutting board(s) do you use?
Well currently wood but I am not too sure I am washing it properly and I get paranoid wondering how many armies of bateria live in there (I always cut meat on a plastic one though...). Guidance welcome!
I would probably need to by a cutting board as well actually so any tips welcome!

For edge maintenance, do you use a strop, honing rod, pull through/other, or nothing?
Currently nothing... I would however use whatever needed to keep it sharp and perfect.

Have they ever been sharpened?
No. These don't deserve it. Bad knives... bad baaaad knives.

What is your budget?
Well I would say up to 200€ or so for the knife. But if there is something that is a must have that costs 250€ I wouldn't say no.
For a cutting board have no clue how far they can go.

What do you cook and how often?
Pretty much every vegetable... cause my girlfriend's vegan, so I don't prepare many meat dishes.
No fish (though I love it :p I'm actually Portuguese so ^^ but here in Denmark is hard to get fresh fish like the Portuguese as far as I know... Danish are more into smoked herring and salmon).
I cook decent full meals around once every three days :( ... but that's not as often as I would like, which would be at least once a day (for lunch I just eat rye bread open sandwich aka smørrebrød).
Getting a decent knife(s) and cutting board should be a motivation to cook more! But when I cook... it's a king size dish with multiple parts xD not neuvelle cuisine though, more things like "wok mixes",
grilled vegetables and eventual meat, boiled vegetables, vegetables filled with some preparation and then going to the oven, etc.


Special requests(Country of origin/type of wood/etc)?
No special requests no... custom carvings again would be a cool cherry on the top :)


Look much forward for your replies! And thanks in advance :)
 
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That was a fast reply :) well those have wood handles... do you know similar knives with metal handles?

And is there any kind of cutting board I should be using (I have a approx. 1.5 cm thick big old wood board) and tiny plastic one.
 
That handle is Pakkawood, which is a "resin impregnated hardwood" that is basically stable, sanitary, durable, and moisture resistant. Strictly buying "metal handles" will greatly reduce your options... and metal handles aren't very comfy either.
 
I think it's pakkawood...which is not really wood...but is really more of a composite material
 
That was a fast reply :) well those have wood handles... do you know similar knives with metal handles?

And is there any kind of cutting board I should be using (I have a approx. 1.5 cm thick big old wood board) and tiny plastic one.

Metal handles get very slippery when they get oily. The only knives I can think of with metal handles are the tojiro pro, wusthof culinar and globals. Pakkawood and other resin treated handles are extremely durable and act pretty much like plastic.

+1 to the akifusa and I would also suggest the JCK carbonext.
 
I forgot to mention that I also prefer a blade width of around 4cm and I can see both akifusa and JCK Carbonext have some offers of those that look really nice :)

So thank you all and if there is more info it is also most welcome.

I understand the handle issue and I think I will be fine with this type of handles.

I will take my time now to compile the info and when I make a decision I will let you know!

Thanks again :)
 
Welcome Morunas. Sounds like you have a few good choices already.
 
A friend of mine mentioned http://www.santoku.dk

Any impressions? How do these compare to the Akifusa?

Tojiro is a decent knife. The Akifusa will hold an edge longer and the in general, cut a bit better. I find it is not as chippy. However, if I were you, I would buy a thinner knife than the Akifusa. I would consider Gesshin Ginga or Sakai Yusuke, etc. The CarboNEXT is another nice knife. It is better than Tojiro but not as nice as the Aki or the thinner knives.
 
How does how thin the knife is affect the slicing/chopping?

I could imagine a not too thin knife could provide more control since it would also likely weight more right?
It's for home usage and I'm not a super experienced slicer just know some basics so could that be a reason for a thicker blade knife? Or is it nonsense what I am saying :p?
 
Morunas,

Welcome! I can only add that I just got my first Carter, and how thin the knife is seems to make a huge difference...glides through anything with ease. Weight seems to make no difference for control. I too am a home cook btw and thicker knives seem to get stuck in the food more than the thinner variety--wedging if I have my terms right.

Cheers
 
How does how thin the knife is affect the slicing/chopping?

I could imagine a not too thin knife could provide more control since it would also likely weight more right?
It's for home usage and I'm not a super experienced slicer just know some basics so could that be a reason for a thicker blade knife? Or is it nonsense what I am saying :p?
Thinner is going to be better, in general. All else being equal, it will pass through objects with less pressure and thus be much easier to control. Think scalpel. Just don't bang on a coconut with it.
 
chinacats said:
Welcome! I can only add that I just got my first Carter, and how thin the knife is seems to make a huge difference...glides through anything with ease. Weight seems to make no difference for control. I too am a home cook btw and thicker knives seem to get stuck in the food more than the thinner variety--wedging if I have my terms right.

Thinner is going to be better, in general. All else being equal, it will pass through objects with less pressure and thus be much easier to control. Think scalpel. Just don't bang on a coconut with it.

Ok :) thanks!
 
I think there might be a winner knife already :)

KAGAYAKI CarboNext Santoku
Cutting edge length: 180mm
Total Length: 300mm
Blade Thickness: 2.2mm
Blade Width: 46mm
Handle Length:113mm
Total Weight: 166g

Is the 2.2mm too much? I can see the petty type has 1.8mm but the blade width is also halved which I don't like so much.

Any other "better direct" options?

Cheers!
 
I'm sure that's a fine choice. However, I would opt for the 210 gyuto instead, if I were you. It is closer to your specs (43 mm tall) and it is thinner and more pointed at the tip.
 
Hmm what are the differences in terms of usage between a Santoku and Gyuto?

Also what are these Aogami Super? And VG-10? How do they compare to the CarboNext?

Aogami Super costs more in general but has much more thickness...

And you might be right with the Gyuto yes I actually didn't reach to pay attention to it as my eyes were already
fixed on the Santoku but also the fact that it is longer for the same price could simply justify it.

I mention 4cm I meant more 4cm+. Reason is I don't feel much control with "small width knives".

By the way I am checking the knives here: http://japanesechefsknife.com/
If you know a better place do say!

Again... thanks!
 
Aogami Super is not stain resistant steel and will rust easily, if you're not careful. I would recommend stainless. VG10 is fine and JCK is a good place to look. I don't like the Kagayaki VG10 line but the Gekko line is nice. I like the Inazuma line in 19c27 quite a bit, personally. If you're willing to put up with learning how to use your knife and put out more money, Glestain is excellent in many regards. I have tried many, many knives and I still enjoy using my Glestain. A very nice cutter is Hattori HD (VG10) but it will chip more than a lot of other knives.
 
Ok :) I think for now I will then stick with the CarboNext Gyuto 210mm. As I understand Gyuto (cow blade? xD) is known to be the/one of the all purposes type of knives. Now I will just be looking for a board to make it justice :p
 

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