Ignore me, just seen decision made.

Only buy what you need, you shouldn’t need more than cooks knife, steel,pastry knife, paring knife, cranked lifter, non seated 11″ slicer, boning knife, tongs, speed peeler, micro plane, timer, salter 4 in one, fish pliers. If I’m doing relief work I would take more than that to a kitchen.

@Frankers you forgot Dick in that list. When I did some private work out in Germany the knives were so cheap, my mother bought my brother whos also a chef a full set of wustolf direct, pennies they were.

transapp – Member
I’d suggest that those who think they don’t hold an edge are probably shapening them as per a western knife on a steel as opposed to the correct technique in a whetstone.

Made sure I got a Global whetstone and used it as per instructions. I just don’t get on the the Global knives I guess as well as I do my others (oddly my father-in-law feels the same way about them too).

I love knives me!

Me too! Unfortunately that leads to buying more than I can reasonably use at any one time so I tend to run a rotation system! My current favourite selection is this one (maybe 1/4 of my total ‘collection’.

slainte 😳 rob

Fair enough! Want to sell the global whetstone?
No standard cooks knives in those, I still love a normal global G2 I bought from Mr Global who was doing demos in a kitchen shop.

My friend is a chef at a Michelin starred restaurant, and has worked for Heston Blumenthal – he recommended Mac Japanese knives (and got me some with a nice discount 😉 ).

http://www.mac-international.com/

This thing is incredible:

Got one of these too which is also very nice:

Oh and BTW he recommended using a steel all the time, then using a ceramic disc sharpener every now and then – said whetstones are only needed very occasionally when something needs properly re-sharpening.

transapp – Member
Fair enough! Want to sell the global whetstone?

I’ll hold on to it as I do still use a couple of Global knives for more occasional (lightweight boning and filleting) uses.

No standard cooks knives in those.

True. I tend to use the Porsche Santoku for most general purpose stuff and the Martinni (big heavy blade) for heavier/cleaver stuff.

Hmmmnnn. Maybe a decent ‘traditional’ cook’s knife is a gap in my collection. Do have a Robert Welch one similar to the middle one above but don’t use it much.

Could also do with a nice Chinese cleaver. Got a Sabatier cleaver and a cheapo Chinese one from the local Asian supermarket which does the job but is a bit rough round the edges.

[heads off to do some online shopping]

slainte 😳 rob

Right, I’ve got a bunch of global knives…and they’re a bit shagged. I’ve tried the global ceramic, I’ve tried a whetstone and they last for a few cooking sessions and are crap again. Can I take them to someone who will sort them out for me so that I can then start looking after them again? I think they’re beyond me, as an amateur getting them back to usable sharpness.

grum – Member

My friend is a chef at a Michelin starred restaurant, and has worked for Heston Blumenthal – he recommended Mac Japanese knives (and got me some with a nice discount ).

That top Mac Nakiri looks very nice with straight handle. It also looks like a workhorse to me with nothing fanciful. What metal is the specification? How much?

Put it this way most of the carbon steel Japanese knives will do the job nicely if the edge is maintained sharply.

I never buy a knife beyond £200 but I came close to spending more than that for a Takeda custom made AS Chinese cleaver.

Oh and BTW he recommended using a steel all the time, then using a ceramic disc sharpener every now and then – said whetstones are only needed very occasionally when something needs properly re-sharpening.

Yes, steel but only smooth steel and not the diamond steel. Whetstones yes and you do not need to use it too often if you use leather strop everyday before/after use.

If you have very expensive Japanese knives then I suggest you do not use steel in a hurry but try leather stropping. Well that depends on how sharp the knife is when I receive it.

deadlydarcy – Member

Right, I’ve got a bunch of global knives…and they’re a bit shagged. I’ve tried the global ceramic, I’ve tried a whetstone and they last for a few cooking sessions and are crap again. Can I take them to someone who will sort them out for me so that I can then start looking after them again? I think they’re beyond me, as an amateur getting them back to usable sharpness.

Check one of the link above with a shop selling Japanese knives in London and I think they do provide sharpening service.

I think your sharpening technique might need improvement. I started sharpening my cleaver using cheap ones.

What metal is the specification? How much?

Not sure of the specification and I can’t remember exactly how much but I think around £60.

Oops, this is actually the utility knife I’ve got. So sharp you can easily shave with it! 🙂

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/macprutkn6.html

These are the most expensive ones they do – http://www.kuechenmesser.de/shop/index.php/language/en/cat/c21_Ultimate-Pro-Serie.html

grum,

This is the one.

MAC Nakiri

That is also a good supplier and I nearly bought a Takeda from him but ended up getting some Chinese cleaver from JCK.

🙂

I’ve been more than happily using the same Sabatier cook’s knife, Wusthof braed knife and a few assorted others for many years now. Pride of place goes to my gorgeous 5 1/2 inch bladed butchers boning knife that came originally from my mother’s buthery shop. I’ve had it for over 30 years now and it has been reground once in that time but still has perfect balance and maintains a wondeful edge. I use a steel daily to dress the the it, and a stone very occasionally.
I will pass it on to one of my sons when I die.

Yeah that’s the one chewkw

Aldi have their ceramic knives back in on Sunday – not pretending they’re suitable for a pro kitchen but they’re the sharpest knives I’ve ever used (and stay sharp), can chip if you use them on hard surfaces etc. (you’re not supposed to) but cheap enough they’re disposable (although mine have last over a year). The design looks a bit different in the pictures though so hoping they’re as good as the last ones…

Had an email this morning saying that my knife has been dispatched from Japan and will arrive in 4-6 days.

Top service there, can’t wait to see what its like!

As as stalker I have been using Mora knives for years. Top Swedish steel. Google is your friend.

They also produce the ikea +365 range. If you include the ceramic steel, <£30 you will pick up all you need in the domestic kitchen and some.

I appologise for mie atroshus spellin . V soz, me bad.

Isn’t Sabatier just an area in France like Sheffield is in the UK. We have a few Sabatier knives from different manufacturers. The best ones carry through into the handle ie all one piece, the cheaper ones have a separate handle. Our best one is a Lion Sabatier. Great knives.

Well….

After only 4 days (!) the Hiromoto Gingami No.3 Petty 150mm arrived from Japan!

Hows that for top service?!?

Very very impressed with the knife, I’ll certainly be ordering the rest from the same place, can’t beat the quality at the price.

Made some soup last night so lots of veg chopping. Back to back with the sabatier, the Hiromoto was miles ahead. The one thing it stumbled on was a sweet potato, I think because the blade is so polished, there’s no imperfections to let air between the blade and the potato so it kind of vaccums onto it. Think i’ll include one of the knives with ‘filets’ when I order the rest to avoid this.

Thanks for the tip chewkw!

mrjmt,

The service provided by JCK is very good IMO.

Most of the Hiromoto series, especially the Hiromoto Tenmi-Jyuraku Aogami Super Series, are well known for their value and ability to hold extremely sharp edge. Hiromoto is top on my shopping list before I switched to Chinese cleavers and Nakiri.

This is also high on my next shopping list but from Taiwan … made of Chinese bomb shell … hope it’s not toxic …

Maestro Wu’s bombsheel steel Chinese Vegetable Cleaver

Hmm, interesting, are you buying direct from Taiwan? If so, where from?

I now have a nice slit in the side of the tip of my index finger on my left hand and around 1mm missing from the end of my thumb on my left hand. Need to get used to a right hand sharpened knife, think my sabatier is ambidextrous, so i’m currently catching the tips of my left hand due to the cutting edge being slightly further over in relation to the handle (i think). That and its so sharp that you dont notice you’ve caught yourself until its too late! 😆

The more I use it though the more impressed I am, really happy I posted on here first and followed your recommendation.

Ceramic Knives?

Then you need YangJiang KingDouble Precision Ceramic Knives Manrfacturer Ltd!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FntD3KgIaY[/video]

Marco Pierre White uses a MAC knife. Gert big one. Cost about £700 squid.

learning to sharpen your knives properly will be more enjoyable then spending money.

sabatier are perfectly decent and learning the skills of getting a razor edge from using whetstones is really rewarding and will impress your friends more then some new knives.

also the pleasure will be extended over the long period it takes you to master this craft instead of the 2 sec it takes to click ‘pay with paypal’

just my opinion of course

edit; sorry just noticed you have already forked out 😉 on new steel, ignore me, im probably wrong

mrjmt – Member

Hmm, interesting, are you buying direct from Taiwan? If so, where from?

From here in Taiwan … Bombshell cleaver

Well some of the cleaver and Deba can go through your bone like butter.

brant – Member

Ceramic Knives?

No way! Those are for nancy boy …

😆

oh ya Brant since you go to Taiwan often you should get the Bombshell knife … Chinese cleaver.

Please watch the ceramic knife vid. It’s quite awesome in so many ways.

brant – Member
Please watch the ceramic knife vid. It’s quite awesome in so many ways.

I have. I still prefer the tried and tested traditional carbon or carbon steel related knives.

All that can be done by ceramic knife the same can be done by those proper Japanese knives. As for the demo of cutting a piece of paper or a bundle of papers all my Chinese cleavers can do that easily. No surprise there really.

Yes, I guess for those who are following the fashion trend then the ceramic knife might be a good idea after all they come in various colours. 🙂

I struggle with long sentences.

just get your hands on a big Dick. You won’t be disappointed!*

the ladies will be impressed!

*says me, counting Top Retail Butchering among skillset.

plus you can crush a clove of garlic with a real knife. try that with a ceramic knife and you’ll be left with bits of broken china

I use global, they stay razor sharp and are comfortable/well balanced, if you want something really special have a look on Rutlands website, theyre a high end tool shop but they also sell some really high quality knives, all the way upto £450 a pop! Although they are hand made!

If you intend to hand sharpen your knife with whetstone then you might want to invest in this very handy tool. I will ask JCK if they can find one for me.

The Naniwa sink bridge is the cheapest so far while other brand will cost you.

Work something like this …

in your sink.

Sink bridge works like this and very handy.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/v/VZtgsbVVoCk&hl=en_US&fs=1&[/video]

This is also good but expensive (Tojiro sink bridge).

adrian8100 – Member

Now kitchen is most important part of every home.There should be useful things for the work.
This is really helpful to taking nice ideas from here.

Most of the kitchens in that site are very poorly designed targeting at people who do not cook often. They are so cluttered that they will be a nightmare for cleaning. Very poorly design kitchens IMO.

If they want to design good kitchens then they should copy professional kitchens from all over the world.