Do You Use Your "Expensive" Knives?

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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ian said:
It’s very nice to have a thread where we can all comment and feel superior about the fact that we use things that we buy. Maybe I’ll write a similar response, and then show this thread to my wife and say “see, I use the knives I buy, so you really can’t complain about another $1500 purchase”. #winning
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What do you mean by “feel superior”feels like a slight. Anyways, I need to get back to my wine and cut this wheel of cheese with my Western Ashi Honyaki.
rstcso said:
You raised those girls right!
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Took the words right out of my mouth.
 
ian said:
It’s very nice to have a thread where we can all comment and feel superior about the fact that we use things that we buy. Maybe I’ll write a similar response, and then show this thread to my wife and say “see, I use the knives I buy, so you really can’t complain about another $1500 purchase”. #winning
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Just in case there was a serious point under your sarcasm: there is nothing at all wrong with being a collector. I just don't happen to be one. I suspect collectors are born, not made. The reason I suspect that is that a coin-collecting relative gave me some Liberty nickels, and a holder for them, when I was an urchin, and I took them out of the holder, straight to the 7-11, where I convinced the clerk they were legal tender (they are), and bought candy.

I even understand stamp collectors now, thanks to Lawrence Block and his Hit Man series.
 
There is a limit to the madness though. Haven’t seen people cook with their Kikuryus or Okishibas. Polishing sure, but they’ve not seen food once.
 
By KKF standards, I don't have expensive knives. My most extravagant is my TF Maboroshi gyuto - and yes, I use it often. I also wear expensive, automatic watches with unnecessary complications and I often went afield bird hunting with irreplaceable shotguns. They are all useful tools and I'm happy to use them.

If you had a Bugatti Veyron, would you let it languish in the garage or take out for a spin? I can only dream of such a thing, but I know what I'd do.
 
I don't even use knives very much anymore. I just don't cook like I used to cook. And yes, I have a bunch that have seen little to no board time. I believe you have to use a knife for a while before you judge it. So some of my knives have multiple prep sessions on them.

I always have felt the guys who try all the knives but for only a short period/ limited experience have failed to begin to understand a knives virtues. Knife design encompasses many tradeoffs.

I guess if you are absolutely set in your way and you are only looking for specific characteristics; then maybe only a short time on the board with a knife is necessary. But if you are that set, you should order a custom. If you are stuck on a specific style or set of functional characteristics; then you probably should not be trying out a bunch of different knives.
 
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Yep, only semi-expensive knives here though.
 
I use them and in professional setting. I have one or two that are basically retired from use/thinning/sharpening. I use those at home now and again.

I however get the pleasure of being a naive idiot. Just playing with my toys in the yard. I also somehow got into this before a lot of the hype so a lot of flavors of the month weren’t nearly as pricey.

I still think once you bought the ticket you might as well ride the ride. However if you bought that ticket to scalp it or covet it or really whatever you want to do with it.... well more power to ya.
 
I use all the knife in professional kitchen I brought, no matter expensive or not, To me. the bladesmith make the knife is for us to use, not for watching. 😉😉
 
DitmasPork said:
I do remember cringing in horror when I scratched up my beloved Wustof Classic—my first expensive knife. There’re pro cooks I know that feel spending over $100 on a chef’s knife is a useless waste of money—while other pro cooks I know regularly take Katos and Shigs into a pro kitchen environment. I’m much more relaxed with knives these days—don’t care what they had cost or are worth, they are all just knives in the kitchen. I’d be a rich man if ten years ago I’d invested money spent on gyutos, in Bitcoin instead. However, I do enjoy the luxury of bringing out a denka to prep. #priorities
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Oh yeah I deliberately didn't add a price tag.... because that's all relative, and tends to be slowly shifting. :)
Some knives that I used to treat with great respect because they were my most expensive knive, have now basically become a beater knife.
 
Jovidah said:
Oh yeah I deliberately didn't add a price tag.... because that's all relative, and tends to be slowly shifting. :)
Some knives that I used to treat with great respect because they were my most expensive knive, have now basically become a beater knife.
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My true, fearless beaters are Wustof and Sabs—which for years my most expensive knives. As I’ve climbed the price strata a bit, good, common, bang-for-buck makers—Watanabe, Mazaki—have become beaters. I’m not reckless with Wat and Maz, but just not as precious—will loan them, etc.
 
I personally have purchased a variety of knives in different price range over the years.
I have always been the saving the best for last type of guy.
At this point of my journey, I do use my expensive knives.
However, I didn't start that way and it's perfectly fine if whoever reading this is the same way.
It takes time to grow in and out of a hobby.
I am a home cook, I don't consider knives as tools but more so toys that make my day a little brighter.
If you don't want to use your expensive toys because you are worried about wear and tear, so be it.
 
Every knife I own has been to work - I have more opportunity to use them there than at home.

But common sense has it's place. The day job is not an environment for the carbon, the dammy, the yanagiba, and other "high end" knives. Any stainless or clad stainless is fair game but kept close. (Had a dishie run a Gengetsu thru the dish machine for me - once). At catering gigs I'll bring the Haburn, the Markos, the Devins, the Tillmans and any others suited for the type event.

I don't understand a desire to collect pretty blue boxes in the closet but I don't need to, I only need to recognize that it exists.
 
I use my good knives for many tasks, yet when it comes to chopping herbs and garlic, getting near chicken bones, splitting an acorn squash, I tend to always grab my beater wusthof....guess I am just fearful of ruining an edge on expensive knives
 
My lament as a a home cook is that I just don't get to use my nicer knives as much as I'd like. Most of my knives probably wouldn't qualify as pricy compared to many on KKF, but they are still the best blades I've used and I look for excuses to use them. I don't need a Denka 240 mm gyuto, but I'd sure like to have one to see what the fuss is about. If I had one, I'd damn sure use it.
 
JASinIL2006 said:
My lament as a a home cook is that I just don't get to use my nicer knives as much as I'd like. Most of my knives probably wouldn't qualify as pricy compared to many on KKF, but they are still the best blades I've used and I look for excuses to use them. I don't need a Denka 240 mm gyuto, but I'd sure like to have one to see what the fuss is about. If I had one, I'd damn sure use it.
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Rest assured that any knife over $150 is viewed many pro and amateur cooks as “expensive”—there’s good reason why Victorinox, Mercer, and Wustof are popular with a good number of pros.

It’s evident from your last sentence that a 240 denka is an object of desire. IMO, Denkas are exceptionally good knives—comparatively pricey, not to everyone’s tastes, ain’t magic, ain’t gonna make you a better cook, bling.

Love my denka, one of my go-to gyutos. Don’t need it, though delighted to have it in my kitchen.

Yes, you should buy a denka, since you’d “…like to have one” and would “…damn sure use it.”
 
I do use all my knives except a random usuba. I don’t use any of them enough, but will usually spend a month or so with a new one to get a feel for it. Lately I’ve been using whatever I’m working on purely to experience what processes cause what kind of changes in performance. As such, the more expensive or harder to sharpen ones see less use due to them needing less work. None of my knives break the $1k mark, but the denka was close. I don’t have a huge collection, but definitely more than I need.

If I cooked more, damn sure everything would happily see more use.
 
A Denmark would be a good "expensive" knife to use on the daily. No worries about knocking the pretty off.....

:cool:
 
The only time I would be concerned about a scratch or anything cosmetic is with a mirror polish. That's one reason mirror polished knives are unnecessary in that it doesn't help performance and is a pain to maintain. Don't get me wrong a mirror polish can be beautiful. Knives are tools for cutting and will inevitably get scratches and that's fine. In the end it's up to you to decide how important aesthetics are and how much time you're willing to put in to maintaining your knives.
 
KJDedge said:
I use my good knives for many tasks, yet when it comes to chopping herbs and garlic, getting near chicken bones, splitting an acorn squash, I tend to always grab my beater wusthof....guess I am just fearful of ruining an edge on expensive knives
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Sames, my Wustofs still see a lot of garlic and herb action, and the 10" comes out for the butternuts.
 
Do you guys use your expensive knives for chopping of herbs and garlic? And do you find it is hard on the edge?
 
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