Over the years I have collect many early vintage chef knives. I have decided to start reviewing them for anyone that maybe wants to dip their toes in the vintage world.
When I got my hands on this beauty, I knew it was going to be one of my favorites. Carbon steel, ebony handle, very thin and quite flexible for it's size, nimble is the word that comes to mind when describing this knife.
Measurements
This type of knife was made between 1846-1920. These decades were the golden age of French knife making. The steel is made from Swedish ore and the ebony is from African French colonies. The nogent style handle was common at the time, the knife continues in a thin tang (called rat tail), which goes across the wood handle. The handle is kept in place by a small amount of lead which “glues” the tang and the wood together mechanically.
The trademark was owned by Jean Auguste Sabatier, who was working in Thiers as a knife maker at the same time Phillippe Sabatier was making knives. The two competing cutlery makers were selling the Thiers type knife, which we know as Sabatier today. The two were not related at all, apart from their family name and trade. This is the beginning of the foggy history of the Sabatier trademark. Philippe Sabatier later started using the famous K-Sabatier brand, which is still owned by his family.
Jean Sabatier’s Le Trompette won a gold medal on the 1878 Paris Worlds Fair, so they started stamping “Medaille d'Or 1878“ after 1878, along with the trumpet logo. In 1891 “Made in France” was added to the logo, which was necessary to export it to the US. Until the first World War Le Trompette was the market leader French kitchen knife in the US. Jean Sabatier’s family sold the Le Trumpette brand to the Pouzet family in 1920, they continued producing knives with the Pouzet name added to the logo. The brand discontinued in 1941.
This is a knife that is a part of culinary history, and it helped make Sabatier knives world-known. What is amazing is that it still holds exceptional value in use apart from the sentimental value.
Review is on a scale of 1 to 10. I run a high volume Mexican restaurant. Todays tests were on onions and tomatoes and cilantro.
Cutting Performance: 10/10
When I first received the knife, I had to take it to the belt grinder to fix the straightness of the edge. This is actually 5th knife I've done personally on a belt grinder. I'm no pro but I am really starting to understand edge geometry. I thinned it and gave it a convex edge. This is the first test with the knife straight off the belt and sharpened to a 8000/1000 grit split side to achieve a saw like edge. I have never done a split grit side before. To my surprise it was a laser to anything I cut. The flexibility of the tip took a little while to get used too. The onions were the first I cut into, no wedging the blade didn't fall through due to the weight, but it didn't take much effort to slide through. because the length of the knife I could easily cut 2 onions at a time for the julienne onions. The tomatoes are by far the worst tomatoes I've received all year. Super soft and skins like leather. after 10 tomatoes I would have to hone the blade. The cilantro chiffonade was the best, no bruising, paper thin slices.
Edge Retention: 4/10
Edge retention was not that good, but better than my modern Sabatier's. The steel felt really nice on the stones. Sharpened really fast. Our cutting boards are on the harder side. I had to switch cutting boards out mid way through due to deep cleaning day. Our blue fish board was relatively soft, making the tomato cutting much more enjoyable. The negative stigma of low HRC is not understood by me. I highly prefer knives in the 58-61 range. The steel in this blade although soft, felt strong. They knew how to work the steel back in the day. After a few tomatoes a quick hone and it was back to almost fresh off the stones.
Comfortability: 9/10
All knives I use make my hand go numb, it doesn't matter that handle. The years of prepping my way to chef position has defiantly taken it's toll on my hands. after todays prep it took 30 pounds of tomatoes for my hand to start feeling tingly. The handle is very comfortable, the full length bolster was great to rest my thumb on while cutting. Due to the thick spine my index finger felt really relaxed.
Maintenance: 10/10
This was the best part of the test for me. My day to day knives are a set of 1970 4 star elephants. I love the durability of them and the ease of maintenance. I am a person that loves the honing rod. Any hard steel knives that I bring into the kitchen never really get back to it's sharpness with a rod I have to take them back to the stones. Which I can't just jump off prep to stone my knives. If the prep loads weren't so big I would prefer a harder steel. Once this trompette started to feel like it was slowing down a quick hone and it was right back to an amazing sharpness. I was so surprised after the first hone, it almost felt better. I used 2 different rods on this test. The tomatoes were so soft I had to bring out the F. Dick Sapphire, I usually use a Micro for edge maintenance.
When I got my hands on this beauty, I knew it was going to be one of my favorites. Carbon steel, ebony handle, very thin and quite flexible for it's size, nimble is the word that comes to mind when describing this knife.
Measurements
- Length: 300mm
- Height: 49mm
- Spine: 4mm/2mm/0.3mm
- Weight: 195g
- Swedish Ore
- HRC low 50's
- Easy to maintain due to it's low HRC
- Durable
- The Original KS
- Flat with a low tip
- Extremely thin tip
- Great Distal Taper
This type of knife was made between 1846-1920. These decades were the golden age of French knife making. The steel is made from Swedish ore and the ebony is from African French colonies. The nogent style handle was common at the time, the knife continues in a thin tang (called rat tail), which goes across the wood handle. The handle is kept in place by a small amount of lead which “glues” the tang and the wood together mechanically.
The trademark was owned by Jean Auguste Sabatier, who was working in Thiers as a knife maker at the same time Phillippe Sabatier was making knives. The two competing cutlery makers were selling the Thiers type knife, which we know as Sabatier today. The two were not related at all, apart from their family name and trade. This is the beginning of the foggy history of the Sabatier trademark. Philippe Sabatier later started using the famous K-Sabatier brand, which is still owned by his family.
Jean Sabatier’s Le Trompette won a gold medal on the 1878 Paris Worlds Fair, so they started stamping “Medaille d'Or 1878“ after 1878, along with the trumpet logo. In 1891 “Made in France” was added to the logo, which was necessary to export it to the US. Until the first World War Le Trompette was the market leader French kitchen knife in the US. Jean Sabatier’s family sold the Le Trumpette brand to the Pouzet family in 1920, they continued producing knives with the Pouzet name added to the logo. The brand discontinued in 1941.
This is a knife that is a part of culinary history, and it helped make Sabatier knives world-known. What is amazing is that it still holds exceptional value in use apart from the sentimental value.
Review is on a scale of 1 to 10. I run a high volume Mexican restaurant. Todays tests were on onions and tomatoes and cilantro.
Cutting Performance: 10/10
When I first received the knife, I had to take it to the belt grinder to fix the straightness of the edge. This is actually 5th knife I've done personally on a belt grinder. I'm no pro but I am really starting to understand edge geometry. I thinned it and gave it a convex edge. This is the first test with the knife straight off the belt and sharpened to a 8000/1000 grit split side to achieve a saw like edge. I have never done a split grit side before. To my surprise it was a laser to anything I cut. The flexibility of the tip took a little while to get used too. The onions were the first I cut into, no wedging the blade didn't fall through due to the weight, but it didn't take much effort to slide through. because the length of the knife I could easily cut 2 onions at a time for the julienne onions. The tomatoes are by far the worst tomatoes I've received all year. Super soft and skins like leather. after 10 tomatoes I would have to hone the blade. The cilantro chiffonade was the best, no bruising, paper thin slices.
Edge Retention: 4/10
Edge retention was not that good, but better than my modern Sabatier's. The steel felt really nice on the stones. Sharpened really fast. Our cutting boards are on the harder side. I had to switch cutting boards out mid way through due to deep cleaning day. Our blue fish board was relatively soft, making the tomato cutting much more enjoyable. The negative stigma of low HRC is not understood by me. I highly prefer knives in the 58-61 range. The steel in this blade although soft, felt strong. They knew how to work the steel back in the day. After a few tomatoes a quick hone and it was back to almost fresh off the stones.
Comfortability: 9/10
All knives I use make my hand go numb, it doesn't matter that handle. The years of prepping my way to chef position has defiantly taken it's toll on my hands. after todays prep it took 30 pounds of tomatoes for my hand to start feeling tingly. The handle is very comfortable, the full length bolster was great to rest my thumb on while cutting. Due to the thick spine my index finger felt really relaxed.
Maintenance: 10/10
This was the best part of the test for me. My day to day knives are a set of 1970 4 star elephants. I love the durability of them and the ease of maintenance. I am a person that loves the honing rod. Any hard steel knives that I bring into the kitchen never really get back to it's sharpness with a rod I have to take them back to the stones. Which I can't just jump off prep to stone my knives. If the prep loads weren't so big I would prefer a harder steel. Once this trompette started to feel like it was slowing down a quick hone and it was right back to an amazing sharpness. I was so surprised after the first hone, it almost felt better. I used 2 different rods on this test. The tomatoes were so soft I had to bring out the F. Dick Sapphire, I usually use a Micro for edge maintenance.
