RyanStl
New Member
Hi all, this is my first post. I have recently been getting more and more interested in kitchen knives and it's starting to get to a boiling point. I'm a civil engineer in St. Louis, and I'm the one that cooks all of the meals for my family of 7. About 15 yrs ago I got what I thought was a nice Calphalon knife set for what I thought at the time as fairly expensive at $100 for the block set. I babied these, no dishwasher and hand wash right away. Ha, thinking back now, that's funny.
About 2 months ago I decided its time for an upgrade. Not knowing better, the shopping places I went to were Crate and Barrel and W&S. I thought they had the nicest knives and something sold there would be great. I really liked the look of the Shun Premier line and stalked Ebay for good deals of used or open box. I got a 8" Kiritsuke, which I now know is a K-shaped Gyuto. It had a bent tip and slight roll towards the tip. I was super happy that the tip wasn't that bad and I was able to mostly bend back using two pennies and some pressure. All three I got were 1/3 of the current reatial prices.
Then I got an open box Shun Premier 4" parer and 9" bread knife. All three I got were 1/3 of the current retail prices.
Using the Shun K-Gyuto and researching I realized my technique is horrible, so I'm working on that. I almost torqued the blade too much and now know to be careful. I've also cut mysef a few times where I never did with my Calphalons.
Within a few weeks of purchasing my Shuns, I am now obsessing over custom or traditional J-knives. Do I get a Wat or TF something from a small maker or hobbyist, is what I'm asking myself. I'm trying to keep myselft in check, but man there are a lot of nice knives.
Sorry for the essay and cheers!
Ryan
About 2 months ago I decided its time for an upgrade. Not knowing better, the shopping places I went to were Crate and Barrel and W&S. I thought they had the nicest knives and something sold there would be great. I really liked the look of the Shun Premier line and stalked Ebay for good deals of used or open box. I got a 8" Kiritsuke, which I now know is a K-shaped Gyuto. It had a bent tip and slight roll towards the tip. I was super happy that the tip wasn't that bad and I was able to mostly bend back using two pennies and some pressure. All three I got were 1/3 of the current reatial prices.
Then I got an open box Shun Premier 4" parer and 9" bread knife. All three I got were 1/3 of the current retail prices.
Using the Shun K-Gyuto and researching I realized my technique is horrible, so I'm working on that. I almost torqued the blade too much and now know to be careful. I've also cut mysef a few times where I never did with my Calphalons.
Within a few weeks of purchasing my Shuns, I am now obsessing over custom or traditional J-knives. Do I get a Wat or TF something from a small maker or hobbyist, is what I'm asking myself. I'm trying to keep myselft in check, but man there are a lot of nice knives.
Sorry for the essay and cheers!
Ryan
