Konosuke Fujiyama Kiritsuke Gyuto ...ramblings and pics.

[Salty dog]

Most of my working knives look just like that.

Eventually they get shined back up.

 

[Justin0505]

I like patina.. If it gets to orange red or brown, its gone too far imo. I will also periodically clean it back to mirror polish just so that i can watch the process start over again.

However, that said if i was using my knives in a pro setting where customers would see them, Id definitely keep them shinny. Most ignorant people see patina and think "dirty" and most people are ignorant.

Ironically a good stable patina is actually "cleaner" in that the steel will leave less oxide in the food...

 

[labor of love]

Patina is patina. Some like it, so dont. Ive seen plenty of orange and brown patina, and it is just that....patina. Ive owned carbon in the past that would only produce brownish and orange patina, which was unattractive but still not even close to rust. I see no right or wrong answere here, seeing as patina doesnt effect performance and I really dont worry about it until i have the free time to clean it off.

 

[Sambal]

this is one thing that always weirds me out... i dont leave my carbon knives with patina, nor do any of the chefs i trained under in Japan... i understand some people like it here, but it will never appeal to me

As a newcomer to carbon knives this is an issue that has been ding-donging in my brain: Patina or clean and polished. I can imagine that if you work professionally in a kitchen it'd be such a chore to maintain clean and polished carbon blades.

Jon, can you give a 101 on your maintenance routine? Or point me to some previous threads that have covered this? Thanks.

 

[JBroida]

in addition to being on top of constantly wiping it down, i do something similar to what i used to do while working in japan... in japan, we would take a round slice of daikon and put some cleanser (non-bleach powdered cleanser) on one side... then we would rub the knife clean with that at the end of each day. You can also use rust erasers if you want, but just make sure to follow the steel grain.

 

[G-rat]

in addition to being on top of constantly wiping it down, i do something similar to what i used to do while working in japan... in japan, we would take a round slice of daikon and put some cleanser (non-bleach powdered cleanser) on one side... then we would rub the knife clean with that at the end of each day. You can also use rust erasers if you want, but just make sure to follow the steel grain.

Does this keep the knife reactive to things like onions and cabbage or does it actually help keep the knife 'inert'?

 

[stevenStefano]

I know I've probably mentioned it before, but does anyone else put baking soda on their carbon blades? I always remember boar_d_laze saying that's what he always did and it eventually neutralised the reactivity of the blade and gave it a really cool glow. Perhaps that is similar to Jon's method?

 

[JBroida]

my knives are more reactive than those with patinas, but i also tend to work really clean, wiping down the knives consistently, so reactivity has not been a problem for me

 

[Mike9]

I have the Kono HD kiritsuke gyuto in 270 and it's an amazing knife.

 

[stereo.pete]

I like my misono bc its dark grey but has a polished edge. Doesn't look any better than right after its sharpened.

What this guy said...I love the look of a crazy patina and then that super polished edge.