Unpopular opinions

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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esoo said:
While pretty, the copy I had of one of these was one of the worst performing j-knives I've ever had. Way too thick at the shinogi. Sold it after one prep.
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I could see that; but I like how thick they are ground. thin santokus are a dime a dozen and it's nice to have the power of something like a Tsourkan but in a small package. JMO though.
 
tcmx3 said:
I could see that; but I like how thick they are ground. thin santokus are a dime a dozen and it's nice to have the power of something like a Tsourkan but in a small package. JMO though.
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At the shinogi line, mine was the same thickness that it was at the spine. So 15mm from the edge mine was 2.1mm thick making it a wedge monster. And with the forged in hollow behind the shinogi, if you thin it, you mess up the geometry.

It was a pretty knife and well executed - just not a great cutter.
 
All the santoku hate is completely overblown. My santoku is what I use half the time for weeknight dinners. Its got enough height to be comfortable on the board, is small and nimble enough that I don't need to be too focused like I would using one of my larger knives, flat enough that it suits my tappy-tap cutting preference, and is just a touch more versatile than my beloved nakiris for when I am prepping proteins as well. They also tend to be dramatically cheaper than other knives for the same steel / maker.

Not a replacement for a good gyuto, but they are a good small versatile shape. I'd much rather have a santoku than an equivalent bunka.
 
ethompson said:
All the santoku hate is completely overblown. My santoku is what I use half the time for weeknight dinners. Its got enough height to be comfortable on the board, is small and nimble enough that I don't need to be too focused like I would using one of my larger knives, flat enough that it suits my tappy-tap cutting preference, and is just a touch more versatile than my beloved nakiris for when I am prepping proteins as well. They also tend to be dramatically cheaper than other knives for the same steel / maker.

Not a replacement for a good gyuto, but they are a good small versatile shape. I'd much rather have a santoku than an equivalent bunka.
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big same.
 
talcum said:
So you got this because they were out of the gyutos? - And Wat makes a very nice one too.
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honestly if I could get a gyuto Id get one too.

but I like santokus. theyre fun to polish because of the small size but unlike a petty you have plenty of height so you can actually use them on a board. also I mostly only cook for myself or one other so I rarely actually need a big knife to blast through tons of produce. and when I do, usually Im pulling out a real tank like a Shi.Han or Tsourkan.
 
talcum said:
I don't post often, but there are a few...

Starbucks coffee always tastes burnt. Darker isn't always better (except in beer)

Calamari is just a hoity toity test to see if you can get someone else to swallow something with way too many legs. Corollary is anything is edible if battered and fried.

A good heat treat on a modern steel will do better than any tamehagane without all the drama

A carbon steel santoku is an oxymoron. Anyone using carbon steel, wouldn't be caught dead using a santoku

Poly cutting boards are just as good (and are dishwasher safe)

A knife review without living with it for at least a month is just an opinion, not a review.

A real knife doesn't fit in an Scanning Electron Microscope (there are only 3 in the world large enough). All the images published are from knives cut up as samples. People who say they looked at how sharp their bevels are on a Shig (etc.) with an SEM, are ********.
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Agree with a lot of this… especially to have a legit opinion on a knife you need to have used it long enough to have sharpened it a few times.

Your carbon steel santoku point is def wrong. I’m a professional and I go through stints of using Santoku Knives (age 28-30)as my line knife and for some prep.

Also people talking about professionals and carbon steel- it’s only really practical for prep work. If you are cooking on line maybe a SS clad or monosteel will work (if they already have a patina), but iron cladding really can be a b if your trying to care for it during a dinner rush.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
Curious, why?
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Not a big fan of anything k-tip beyond traditional kiritsuke to be honest. They're just so darn fragile that even on a soft board, being careful, with good technique the tips often break off (not massively so necessarily, but at least somewhat). The shape of the tip on a santoku carries a little more mass and really makes that less likely. Given I want a knife in this size to be an all rounder I can use for a prepping an easy dinner without stress, a bunka and its needlessly fragile tip runs counter to that goal.
 
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Maybe this is actually a popular option, but anyone who "wouldn't be caught dead" with a santoku is insecure about their masculinity. Reminds me of my father-in-law who refuses to use an umbrella (because holding things with your wrist in the air is effeminate? I honestly don't know) or a straw. The more energy you spend worrying about this stuff, the more obvious it is what you're insecure about.. and everyone is probably laughing at you behind your back.

That said, I don't really like santokus, but that's because of how the handle is angled lower compared to a short gyuto, and the tip isn't as useful.
 
spaceconvoy said:
Maybe this is actually a popular option, but anyone who "wouldn't be caught dead" with a santoku is insecure about their masculinity. Reminds me of my father-in-law who refuses to use an umbrella (because holding things with your wrist in the air is effeminate? I honestly don't know) or a straw. The more energy you spend worrying about this stuff, the more obvious it is what you're insecure about.. and everyone is probably laughing at you behind your back.

That said, I don't really like santokus, but that's because of how the handle is angled lower compared to a short gyuto, and the tip isn't as useful.
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I refuse to use an umbrella too, as I stubbornly and vainly rail against the fact they're incredibly annoying when used on a sidewalk. I'm quite tall and whenever most anybody else uses an umbrella, all the pointy end bits tend to be right at face level for me. Of course, they don't notice they're about to poke my eyes out because they can't see anything underneath the damn thing except their own two feet.
 
I am just here to say santoku gang till I die (especially carbon)

santoku.jpg
 
ethompson said:
Not a big fan of anything k-tip beyond traditional kiritsuke to be honest. They're just so darn fragile that even on a soft board, being careful, with good technique the tips often break off (not massively so necessarily, but at least somewhat). The shape of the tip on a santoku carries a little more mass and really makes that less likely. Given I want a knife in this size to be an all rounder I can use for a prepping an easy dinner without stress, a bunka and its needlessly fragile tip runs counter to that goal.
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Cool, thanks. I use two different bunkas a fair bit and have never worried about the tips. Neither is super thin but thin enough. Now that I think about it, I'll have to look and see if either of them are actually thinner than my Akifusa gyuto.
 
tgfencer said:
I refuse to use an umbrella too, as I stubbornly and vainly rail against the fact they're incredibly annoying when used on a sidewalk. I'm quite tall and whenever most anybody else uses an umbrella, all the pointy end bits tend to be right at face level for me. Of course, they don't notice they're about to poke my eyes out because they can't see anything underneath the damn thing except their own two feet.
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If you were using an umbrella too, it would protect you from the other umbrellas :)

I understand not liking something, but that's very different from the whole "I refuse for any reason" mentality that only certain men seem to have. He visited my wife and I in Japan when we were studying there over a decade ago, and forgot to bring a raincoat during the rainy season. Still, he stubbornly refused to use an umbrella the whole time, caught a cold on the second day, and was sick the entire trip. But at least he had his dignity? I still don't get it.
 
spaceconvoy said:
If you were using an umbrella too, it would protect you from the other umbrellas :)

I understand not liking something, but that's very different from the whole "I refuse for any reason" mentality that only certain men seem to have. He visited my wife and I in Japan when we were studying there over a decade ago, and forgot to bring a raincoat during the rainy season. Still, he stubbornly refused to use an umbrella the whole time, caught a cold on the second day, and was sick the entire trip. But at least he had his dignity? I still don't get it.
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Yeah, fair enough. There's a point where being reasonable comes into play, especially when it comes to common sense things like not getting sick.

I'll still stick to holding my personal grudge against these items of public endangerment though. ;)
 
tgfencer said:
Yeah, fair enough. There's a point where being reasonable comes into play, especially when it comes to common sense things like not getting sick.

I'll still stick to holding my personal grudge against these items of public endangerment though. ;)
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You aren't the only one. I, too, harbor an umbrella embargo for the same reason. I think using an umbrella on a crowded city sidewalk should be illegal unless you are really tall. And then the tall people can hold the umbrellas for shorter people. But since this unlikely to become the law of the land, I keep raincoats in my vehicles and my backpack.
 
torbaci said:
im older than 30 and have to sharpen my knives daily or bi daily.
its not me but my wrists, elbows and fingers that need the carbon knife, something that i can sharpen daily without spending too much time and effort.

Ok lemme try to blurp out another unpopular thought

Knife sharpening is easy AF and people are over thinking it. There are too many videos, products, lectures, faqs and such about it. its one of the oldest technologies there is, and everyone used to do it at home with their razors and such without watching 9 hours of YouTube guides.

ofcourse if you are %100 new to it, you should watch a few videos, but afterwards u should just grab a knife and go at it, stop watching videos of nerds talking about this stuff, just find the angle and scrape away
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While I agree with 90% of what's written here, I can't understand why the hell are you sharpening knives daily. Are you cutting 8 hours a day? Can't you justify 3-5 knives so you can just swap them when one became dull?
 
icanhaschzbrgr said:
Nope. Do they cut electricity

While I agree with 90% of what's written here, I can't understand why the hell are you sharpening knives daily. Are you cutting 8 hours a day? Can't you justify 3-5 knives so you can just swap them when one became dull?
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I don’t even sharpen my Teppanyaki knife more than once or twice a week! That’s cutting on straight metal. There is no reason to sharpen daily!
 
icanhaschzbrgr said:
While I agree with 90% of what's written here, I can't understand why the hell are you sharpening knives daily. Are you cutting 8 hours a day? Can't you justify 3-5 knives so you can just swap them when one became dull?
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thats what i usually do actually, got 3 knives i rotate thru, and sharpen them all on my offday

but sometimes i just want to use my favorite day after day, and in that case i would need to sharpen it after each shift

i like/want my work knives to be hair popping sharp, or i get very frustrated

for example, we got duck breast with crispy skin on our menu, and anything less then a screaming sharp edge will murder that bird, no matter what steel type i got, i would need to sharpen daily to tackle that piece of ****, urgh, i hate duck
 
Southpaw said:
Agree with a lot of this… especially to have a legit opinion on a knife you need to have used it long enough to have sharpened it a few times.

Your carbon steel santoku point is def wrong. I’m a professional and I go through stints of using Santoku Knives (age 28-30)as my line knife and for some prep.

Also people talking about professionals and carbon steel- it’s only really practical for prep work. If you are cooking on line maybe a SS clad or monosteel will work (if they already have a patina), but iron cladding really can be a b if your trying to care for it during a dinner rush.
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I disagree. But I'm crazy. Now if you said don't let coworkers use reactive knives on the line, yes. Agreed!
 
spaceconvoy said:
Where is the western Sukenari?
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Well, what do you mean by "western Sukenari"? Sukenari makes various knives at various price levels, both western and trad-j.

If you mean western-handle high-alloy gyuto's, I'm currently aware of things like the Yoshihiro HAP40 and the Kanjo ZDP-189, but have no experience with them so I have no idea if they rival Sukenari.
 
Qapla' said:
Well, what do you mean by "western Sukenari"? Sukenari makes various knives at various price levels, both western and trad-j.

If you mean western-handle high-alloy gyuto's, I'm currently aware of things like the Yoshihiro HAP40 and the Kanjo ZDP-189, but have no experience with them so I have no idea if they rival Sukenari.
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I meant western makers who sell similar quality knives for similar prices. There don't seem to be any 'high-end factories' in the west, just expensive small batch makers and mediocre factories.
 
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