Are kitchen knives getting more attention lately?

[CrisAnderson27]

And there are a smaller percentage of knife makers who will do whatever it takes to do things just right regardless of how long it takes. They are usually the ones who are a bit more humble and are constantly trying to improve their skills.
They are the ones who have the potential to make great kitchen knives if they decide to go in that direction.

Absolutely. You don't just fall into making even passable kitchen knives.

But the interest and desire have to be there. Most of them have never used a good kitchen knife, but when they do some will get the bug.

Again...dead on Mark.

My opinion is that knife makers will make whatever feeds their passion and puts food on their table, in that order.

Sometimes I've seen that the food thing is even optional lol.

Are you a bladesmith behind the wood business thing?

 

[quantumcloud509]

As a single guy who's dating...you'd be shocked to the core at how true this statement really is! With the majority of the women I've dated in the last few years...if I'd have married them without knowing how to cook, I'd have starved to death lol.

My wife knows how to cook top ramen and kraft mac n cheese.

 

[franzb69]

My wife knows how to cook top ramen and kraft mac n cheese.

it's sad that even in my country women are losing interest in cooking. just sad.

 

[Seb]

In Australia, there have been huge marketing/sponsorship campaigns on TV via cooking/reality shows: GLOBAL, Shun, Mcusta, Furi, Scanpan, Messermeister, Tojiro and MAC are the ones I have seen TV chefs/contestants using.

 

[DevinT]

The main reason for knives getting more attention is that there are more people educated about knives than ever before. It used to be that there were only a small amount of people who knew anything about high end knives, custom or production.

Custom knife shows, knife magazines, internet forums about knives are some of the contributor's to the increase in educated knife buyers.

Of course, food shows are a big reason that more people are interested in cooking and entertaining guests. I've also noticed that because of specialized internet businesses, more and better ingredients are available to people who want to venture out and cook things they did not grow up eating.

One reason that has not been mentioned is that there are more knife makers than ever, and there are new ones every year. All of these makers, along with many more quality vendors selling the knives being made, have a circle of influence and are educating people like crazy. Most serious knife makers will be asked to make some kitchen knives some where along the way.

There was a time in Japan where there were fewer young apprentices wanting to get into knife making. This may be one of the reasons that Murray Carter was able to study under the master that he did. There is probably a resurgence in knife making in Japan right now.

I'm loving the extra attention that kitchen knives and cooking/healthy eating are getting right now and am glad to be a part of it all.

Hoss

 

[CrisAnderson27]

One reason that has not been mentioned is that there are more knife makers than ever, and there are new ones every year. All of these makers, along with many more quality vendors selling the knives being made, have a circle of influence and are educating people like crazy. Most serious knife makers will be asked to make some kitchen knives some where along the way.

Absolutely this. I credit the internet for this mostly. Many people in the world have at one point in their lives have had the passing thought 'Wow...it would be so cool to be able to make THAT knife (or sword, etc).' Thanks to the internet...a few google/youtube searches and they realize how simple it can be to start...and they're on their way. Add to that, the more people that learn on the internet, the more resources on the internet there it to learn from. Its an interesting thing to watch develop.

I did the same thing when I learned to make bows lol. I thought...'wow, that's cool...!'. Two days later I had made my first bow...a 50lb red oak recurve which is still my favorite (though...I'm loving my 60lb PVC bow almost as might right now lol). The internet is an incredible tool.

 

[icanhaschzbrgr]

Nice thread you got here!

May I blame internet for the growing popularity of kitchen knives? May I?

For many of us there's simply no way of getting any knowledges about kitchen knives from anywhere other then sites such as this/cheftalk/cktg/jki/etc. Without reading all those forums, I would probably just ended up with some Shun or smth similar. And it would became dull in one month and I would lost any interest in it.

In my area it's nearly impossible to find any offline shop with a good selection of kitchen knives. Even worse thing: the staff in those shops usually had no idea what the hell they are selling. And the prices... oh the prices are ridiculous. Often 2-3 times more then same knives cost online.

So for me it was definitely internet

…and we have way more woman then a man here who are at least any good in cooking. I would say 80% of all woman are good cooks, and only 10% of mens knows how to cook anything other then ramen

 

[Lefty]

I blame and thank Peyton Manning.



Go Broncos!

 

[mkriggen]

"Foodies" don't care about Knives, they care about cronuts

Dude, I would SOOO trade my Shun for a dozen cronuts!:drool:

 

[apicius9]

I'm sooo out of the loop, I had to look up 'cronuts'.

Stefan

 

[mkriggen]

I'm sooo out of the loop, I had to look up 'cronuts'.

Stefan

Wish you had one, don't ya?:hungry:

 

[NO ChoP!]

I think today's people crave high end everything. Remember Formica? Now everyone has to have granite. Vinyl tile? Now exotic hardwoods and stones. Crank windows in all cars? Now we have 16 way, heated and cooled massage seats. Rabbit ears? How about $200+ a month cable bills....it goes on and on.

 

[Lefty]

I think today's people crave high end everything. Remember Formica? Now everyone has to have granite. Vinyl tile? Now exotic hardwoods and stones. Crank windows in all cars? Now we have 16 way, heated and cooled massage seats. Rabbit ears? How about $200+ a month cable bills....it goes on and on.

Agreed. This sums it all up in a nutshell. Also, people want to be en vogue, or ahead of the trend, thus they are constantly looking for the next big thing.

 

[CrisAnderson27]

I'm sooo out of the loop, I had to look up 'cronuts'.

Stefan

I'm so out of the loop I didn't bother, lol.

 

[brainsausage]

Dude, I would SOOO trade my Shun for a dozen cronuts!:drool:

Better re-sale value.