Buying knives

http://japanesechefsknife.com/

They have my custom...

Deise Musashi wrote: »

http://japanesechefsknife.com/

They have my custom...

The 1980's called and want their website designer back

Bought the leg for €60 and they'll give a text message when it arrives in store. A friend of mine bought one back in March and its still got some meat on it, and is still delicious.
Can someone recommend a knife? I thought one of my sharp knives would do it, but he recommends a skinny long knife, anywhere in Dublin I can get one?
I don't mind paying for quality.

Cheers

I have a very similar knife that I use for carving roasts. The brother in law (who's a chef) brought one up to the folks house one Christmas and I was blown away at how well it carved the turkey and ham so I ended up getting one. It slices the meat very thinly but I'm not sure it'd be able to slice Jamon thin.

Any good ideas of where to buy Global knives online? I'm unfortunately abroad so can't use many of the good recommendations on this thread (and the sites listed so far haven't proved to have much on them). Thanks!

Sorry, we can't deliver this item to Ireland
you might be able to use parcel motel.

I was looking at various penknives and many would not deliver.

Parcel motel had loads of trouble last year as so many people were using them.

Ah, sorry didn't spot that. I didn't actually buy them because I got a set of Wusthof Ikons as a present, I know lucky me, this year so can't really justify it. Parcel Wizard from DPD might be worth a shot this year as you get 3 free deliveries between now and xmas and they can deliver to your door if you want

Any shops selling Damascus type knives in Dublin? Looking to get an xmas present for someone.

Looking at getting a set of kitchen knives. Was leaning toward a Sabatier set I saw. A bit of digging has revealed that "Sabatier" is not a brand as such as the original developer never trademarked the name. I set I was looking at is made by a brand called creative tops based in the UK creative-tops.com

Any other brand worths considering Zyliss, Taylor eye witness, James Martin Stellar?
What should I look for in finish. Previous knives have been the cheapest I could find but have been gifted a voucher for Christmas and looking at either a good knive set or a proper saucepan set.


Might ask seperately about saucepans.

Greenmachine wrote:

Any other brand worths considering Zyliss, Taylor eye witness, James Martin Stellar?
What should I look for in finish. Previous knives have been the cheapest I could find but have been gifted a voucher for Christmas and looking at either a good knive set or a proper saucepan set

A lot depends on how careful Greenmachine is willing to be with his (her?) knives.

Carbon steel is traditional, takes a keen edge easily and is handy to touch up, but will stain in normal use and can rust if not minded.

Stainless steels are less prone to marks and rust (not immune!) unless you want to go with something like H1 steel which can't rust, but is mostly used for knives you see on the crew in "Deadliest Catch", great dive knives mind.

Spyderco Agua Salt, also available in folding form, great dive and rescue knives.



Stainless can be a good enough steel (440C and AUS8) or a very good steel (VG10, 12c27) or the current trendy "super" steel (ELMAX, Super Gold Powder Steel, S110V) and there are also "super" almost stainless and carbon steels like M390, D2, M4, 3V yadda yadda.

More important than the steel in my opinion, is the geometry, mostly determined by the grind, and also by the steel stock thickness.
A knife full flat ground from 5mm thick stock won't cut as well as a scandi ground from 2mm stock (heat treat etc. comes into play here also so the super thin "laser" doesn't chip out or fold in use).

My preference is for decent steel (VG10 a lot) in a full flat grind and thin stock. With a decent heat treat these cut well, require little touch ups to stay cutting well and are easy to maintain.

Hand wash only!

That goes for all decent cutlery, the salts and heat in a dishwasher are no place for your tools!

As for brands, the Traditional Germans (Wusthoff, Henckels) are solidly built and will last for years.
They do some Japanese style knives now too, which I like, as they don't have the heavy bolsters that make knives hard to sharpen and can result in a hollowed out edge.
Most modern steel is good, any decent set will do what's needed, and most have too many knives.

What I use most in my kitchen is...

an F. Dick Utility knife, great bread knife but can also be a carver (I got mine from McDonnells.ie).

https://www.247cateringsupplies.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/295x295/c96a280f94e22e3ee3823dd0a1a87606/D/L/DL377_1_3.jpg

https://www.mcdonnells.ie/products/superior-utility-knife

a selection of utility knives, Kitchen Devil etc. are grand, thin and sharp.
I also use F. Dick tourne paring knives as I like the hooked shape when peeling.



and my main knife is a Japanese Santoku, the HD-5 Santoku in damasteel cause I like a nice knife when I'm dicing onions :rolleyes:



http://japanesechefsknife.com/HDSeries.html#HDSeries

I'm a knife guy, I have feckin' loads of them, I spend too much money on them but I like trying new makers and styles looking for "The One".

You don't need a massive collection, a few paring knives, a good bread/utility and a main chef knife. Add specialist stuff as needed like a carver, fillet knife, larger or smaller chef's knife (I like 7-10 inch knives mostly, with some fun exceptions!) as experience points the way. Go for Victorinox, SWIBO and Dick with the Hygiplas handles, ask your local butcher, abattoir or try McDonnells and Nisbets for same.

[IMG][/img]

If you want to treat yourself, and have a better idea what's wanted, go for exotic steels, beautiful burr wood handles, damascus (pattern welded rather than wootz) steels, lighter thinner harder knives that make prep work more fun.
If you want to work hard in the kitchen go for good solid working knives as above, they won't let you down and are great for students/young people in their first gaff, small money and easily enough replaced.
For a treat or an upgrade, go for Wusties, Zwilling/Henckels (check the Kramer line!), Global, Misono, Shun (check Ken Onion series), Hattori etc.

You can have solid work horse for little money and heirloom pieces for crazy money.
My kids will get Victorinox and F. Dick knives I've used and maintained, as well as the fancy lads my wife is afraid of, all good stuff if cared for and maintained.

Also, if your kit came with a coarse metal file masquerading as a steel, keep it for edging the shovels and trowels.
Ikea do a nice ceramic steel for small money, and a diamond steel to be used sparingly if more sharpening is needed.


The unglazed ring on the arse of a glazed coffee mug is good enough to steel your edges on, little and often... and maybe a proper sharpen every 6-12 months depending on how you cut (Slicer vs. Chopper) and cutting surface (end grain wood or slate/glass/plates....devil's work) and how much work your knives get.

Invest in lots of plasters from Aldi/Lidl, very good to stick to sliced finger tips...maybe some steri strips until the claw hand makes sense.

I like Eden Web Shop, Japanese Chef Knives Direct, chef knives to go and Heinnie Haynes for buying from, there are loads of suppliers like Amazon, Brown Thomas and Sweeney O'Rourke too.

MissFlitworth wrote:

Mine are Henckels Zwilling, a block I got for €99 in the Arnotts sale last year (after spending quite a long time with my partner testing weight, balance and sharpness [which, knife freak that he is, he does by shaving his arm. Much to the raised eyebrows of the Arnotts lady). Included cleaver, chefs knife, paring knife & steel. Highly recommend.

Also a big fan of Global knives and a single chefs knife was my 'knife collection' for years till I snapped the nose off it.

Having a baldy left arm is fine

One good knife beats most "collections" hands down

...and if you like I could regrind the tip of your Global.

It may end up more Santoku shape than traditional French Chefs, but it would be useable and sharp again.

You can see an Ikea Slitbar I repaired on my Youtube videos, depending on how much you snapped off we could get her back in service.
Message me if you want to look at that option, I do like to restore a good knife to a useful state. (Not shilling or advertising, I do these little jobs for members sometimes as a goodwill thing. These are some tip repairs I've done for Boardsies Steak knives, see how some are a little shorter and the tip drop to meet the edge instead of being a little upswept...)




A handy test if you don't want to use arm hair, or a fingernail, is the body of a BIC pen or similar, see what angle the edge catches at.
Slicing free hanging phone book paper or a rolled piece of glossy magazine paper also works.
I tend not to worry too much about factory edges since I will change the edge angle and level of polish to suit myself anyway, once the steel "can" take and hold an edge, that will do.

(There is a brass rod test but people don't like if you deform or chip their show knives)



Some really nice knives...

Shun Ken Onion (have some Shun, not one of these though, I see the chef on StellaCulinary uses one)



Henckels Kramer fancy production knife#



Bob Kramer Original




A lad in the UK, Will Catcheside, who I watched on BritishBlades as he learnt to forge his own steel, build a grinder and start making some fantastic knives, should have bought early!



http://www.catchesidecutlery.com/

Memnoch wrote: »

I brought a Kuhn rikon paring knife. It's brilliant and sharp, well balanced, light weight, comes with a protective cover. Very affordable but you have to pay for delivery as for some reason Kuhn rikon themselves don't ship to Ireland from Amazon.co.uk. Had to use one of the alternative sellers.

I'm thinking of buying a few more as they are dishwasher safe.

Delivered through parcel motel. I picked up 4 for 3 over Christmas from Amazon. The utility knife, Chef, Santoku and carving knives.
Now have a nice set.