Data driven survey of US kitchen tool ownership

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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SwampDonkey said:
Do you use a petty/paring knife to cut on the plate or just carve up everything on the cutting board before serving?
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I typically carve stuff up before serving, otherwise we don't do too badly with the flatwear knives. Like the great soul artist, Otis Redding, once said, "try a little tenderness!" :D
first world problems.jpg
 
i dont own any steakknives either. or a spork.

i slice up steaks and serve them up family style.
 
I just buy cowboy ribeyes and use my teeth. At business dinners, I claim it’s cuz I’m paleo. When I want to serve a bluefin steak I just toss a bead of mercury on the plate instead.
 
Very cool read.

Looks like I'm behind on the spork trend.

With how blunt traditional butter knives are, owning a steak knife is a must. I wouldn't mind getting rid of my butter knives altogether.

Younger people having a higher rate of knife sharpeners is not surprising. I've been to many older dull knife kitchens.

Cooking ability and ownership of a mandolin and zester is interesting. Makes sense for those uncommon cooking tools. I'm sure carbon steel vs stainless steel would skew it similarly if it was surveyed.
 
Dan- said:
I just buy cowboy ribeyes and use my teeth. At business dinners, I claim it’s cuz I’m paleo. When I want to serve a bluefin steak I just toss a bead of mercury on the plate instead.
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That brings back memories. I did this once in California cattle country on business. 64 oz grass fed ribeye. No regrets on destroying that steak, and I cleared it by the coworkers first. I think they were more surprised by me clearing it rather than me raw dogging it with my hands and teeth. Something’s you have to experience with your hands, they’ve been eating with their hands in the Indian subcontinent, south east Asia and swathes of Africa for hundreds of years and for some things.

Being young was great. That and the half gallon ice cream sundae they had in town later that night. Pretty sure my appetite was more interesting than the trip to the folks.
 
You can cut butter with a steak knife. Why exactly do butter knives exist?

This survey failed to study salad forks which I find deeply disturbing. They are both completely useless and forced upon us (like butter knives). I get differing spoon sizes but does anyone ask for differing fork sizes?

I somehow suspect a survey would find more people own salad forks than chef knives. How exactly do you make a salad? Butter knife?!
 
Justinv said:
You can cut butter with a steak knife. Why exactly do butter knives exist?

This survey failed to study salad forks which I find deeply disturbing. They are both completely useless and forced upon us (like butter knives). I get differing spoon sizes but does anyone ask for differing fork sizes?

I somehow suspect a survey would find more people own salad forks than chef knives. How exactly do you make a salad? Butter knife?!
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I used to spend a fair bit of time with a Lebanese woman, she was a fabulous cook. Used to
teach cooking classes and do catering for the Sephardic community. She had five kids, made dinner for the family every night.

When I introduced her to a 150 petty knife it was a revelation to her, she had never used such a large knife before.

Let me repeat, fabulous cook. It just ain’t all about the tools
 
rickbern said:
Let me repeat, fabulous cook. It just ain’t all about the tools
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I’ve cooked really (really) good meals in camp kitchens and down-market rentals with only the most basic and cheap tools.

If in doubt, put the money into ingredients. A bad steak tastes bad even if I cut it with a thousand-dollar hand-forged knife, and a good steak doesn’t taste any worse because I cut it with a ten-dollar knife from K-Mart.
 
Yeah that was really the main argument for me to somewhat restrain my knife investments. At some point it stops making sense when you're investing more in the tools than in the ingredients. It helps to have a certain level of quality in your tools just to make the whole affair efficient and pleasurable, and to make sure it's not actively ruining your food (bad pans can really be a pain to deal with), but you eventually hit diminishing returns territory where any extra money is better spent on ingredients rather than toys.
 
My butter knives cut a steak fine. I rarely spread butter, if at all. Most of my butter cutting is with a big chef knife.
 
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