This post is inspired by @stringer and his continued stan of the Kanehide Bessaku line.
Like many of us, I have some pricey knives. But if you were to tell me to jump in to a busy restaurant service tonight, I wouldn't be bringing many of them. It's not because they're too expensive or whatever (I'm in the camp that knives are meant to be used), but mostly because the expensive knives have maxed out the stats in other categories like thinness behind the edge, or hardening the steel as much as it possibly can. Sometimes you just need a knife that can see you through a service without having to worry about it. One that can do basically everything you need it to, stay sharp enough to do the job well, take a decent amount of abuse, and that still feels like a relative joy to use.
For me this was those nihonkou knives that were ubiquitous like 20-ish years ago. I grew up using them in my dad's kitchen. I still love them. I also get the appreciation people have for $700 super thin, super hard knives with beautiful attention to detail, but for me those aren't commercial tools.
So tell me folks: what's your favorite beater?
Like many of us, I have some pricey knives. But if you were to tell me to jump in to a busy restaurant service tonight, I wouldn't be bringing many of them. It's not because they're too expensive or whatever (I'm in the camp that knives are meant to be used), but mostly because the expensive knives have maxed out the stats in other categories like thinness behind the edge, or hardening the steel as much as it possibly can. Sometimes you just need a knife that can see you through a service without having to worry about it. One that can do basically everything you need it to, stay sharp enough to do the job well, take a decent amount of abuse, and that still feels like a relative joy to use.
For me this was those nihonkou knives that were ubiquitous like 20-ish years ago. I grew up using them in my dad's kitchen. I still love them. I also get the appreciation people have for $700 super thin, super hard knives with beautiful attention to detail, but for me those aren't commercial tools.
So tell me folks: what's your favorite beater?