I'm surprised so many people in this forum are using normal stainless alloys. I've been really impressed with VG-10 so far, and now I want to try out some of the other offerings available.
Kitchen knife recommendations
- Thread starter rust collector
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I'm surprised so many people in this forum are using normal stainless alloys. I've been really impressed with VG-10 so far, and now I want to try out some of the other offerings available.
rabid wombat
Member
Do the knives feel good in your hand, are the knives sharp?…beyond that get what works for you. Like others said - buy a knife, not a set. You may have different brands for different uses. Look at Goodwill, seconds, sales, etc…you can get a lot for a lot less money. Either learn to sharpen, or spend the money to have it done professionally…the look on my sister-in-law’s face when she used a sharp knife was priceless….
RetiredUSNChief
Member
You can sharpen them with a round hone.
nettlle
Contributing Member
If I had my choice my kitchen knives would be D2. Finding D2 kitchen knives not so easy.
Not quite D2, but high carbon alloys:
High Carbon Steel
We classify as “High Carbon steel” with no chromium content such as SK-3, SK-4, SK-5 etc. They are available at a reasonable price, and recommended to an expert user who knows the characteristic of real carbon steel and how to protect rust. There are still many carbon knife lovers to enjoy its special performance.
SK-4 C 0.90-1.00 | SK-5 C 0.80-0.90 | No Cr
https://japanesechefsknife.com/collections/high-carbon-steel
It's the points on a serrated edge that do the real work. I run my Chicago Cutlery bread knife through the Chef's Choice 1500 and it WILL cut bread.
This is something a lot of folks outside of restaurants don't know. Most cities, even small ones, will have a sharpening service that serves restaurants. They can be found pretty easily once you find out these services exist. There are even services doing it remotely you can ship your knives to.
LiveLife
Member
Very good point. There's even knife sharpening service pitched on Shark Tank doing well - https://sharktankrecap.com/knife-aid-update-shark-tank-season-11/
When I went fishing with a coworker and returned to his house with a large table full of fish (ling/rock cod and vermilion snapper), I brought my fillet knife and whetstone.
When he saw how easily my knife went through the fish, he was curious and I told him because it was sharp. Then he asked me to sharpen his knife and I did with him being able to fillet effortlessly. Before I knew it, his wife brought out all their knives from the kitchen and I ended up sharpening like 15 knives, many brand name higher end knives.
Inspecting the knives, wife said they were getting ready to trash some of the knives because they were dull.
I have a Misuzu Bunka knife from Chef Knives To Go as a main prep knife. I have a Tojiro laminated carbon steel Petty knife for smaller work. Both are carbon steel on the edge, but the Misuzu is laminated with stainless on the outside, so only a strip about 1/8" on the edge turns dark. The Misuzu needs a longer companion blade for longer/larger work. I hate to go all the way to 9" or 10", but that seems the least compromising. Most all my knives are sharpened to 12 degrees per side and final edges are applied with a Spyderco Sharpmaker at 15 degrees per side. I have a 3x3-inch block I use cut at an angle to match the arrangement of the Sharpmaker. The knives get sharpened on a Norton Economy Fine/Coarse stone if I need a quick edge put back on them. They also see the Norton stone or a set of water stones before going to the Sharpmaker. Once the angle is reset from the factory, it only takes about 20 passes per side to resharpen on the Norton, followed by 10 per side on the Norton Fine side or the Sharpmaker.
RetiredUSNChief
Member
I love the bread knife. I hate websites that say to ONLY use a bread knife on bread.
My wife got on me about using a bread knife on things that weren't bread early on in our marriage until I put her to work slicing tomatoes for sandwiches one day and made her try the bread knife.
You can make paper thin tomato slices with even a moderately sharp bread knife.
Regardless...all knives require proper care and maintenance. People ought to learn the skill, especially for serrated blades.
HPJeep
Member
I've been considering Benchmade's 3 piece kitchen cutlery set. Anybody ever used them?