Comments on: Beautiful, Sharp, and Mine

By: Mark Denovich

Mark Denovich — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:29:50 +0000

I really like the two Tojiro knives. Both were 2nds, but not obviously so. In the UK everything is so damn expensive, the 2nds price resulted in a just under US price.

The Tojiro DP Santoku is now my goto knife. It’s combines most of what I liked from my Chinese cleaver with some of the functionality of a chef’s knife. The Damascus markings are fairly subtle, but the important bit is that it’s damn sharp and nicely balanced. I’m sure it will take a scary edge once I have a chance to properly sharpen it. It is going to take some time to get used to it’s handling characteristics… I was showing-off with it (an onion rapidly turned into a pile of paper thin slices) and at the “ta-da” moment I looked up then promptly took a paper thin slice off the tip of my thumb.

The Petty is now my wife’s favorite knife. For me it’s just a big paring knife, but it suits her lemur-like hands well. The single bevel is interesting, and it was wickedly sharp right out of the box.

Combined with my Henckles Pro-S set, I think I have all I need (for now.)

By: dug

dug — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:50:39 +0000

got a pet peeve. fancy kitchen ware. ever since i started picking up stuff from the restaurant supply house, i’ve been truly happy.

white-handled 10″ chef knife for $8, 18″ cast iron pan for $30 (weighing in at 2039482 lbs), 8″ teflon skillets for $12, all made to stand up to heavy use.

By: elise

elise — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 02:47:37 +0000

my dad, a fellow foodie, sent me 2 wusthof santoku knives for xmas. i was in the kitchen gleefully destroying a lemon, thin piece by thin piece for quite a while. while they arent the fanciest ever, they are damn fancy for the likes of me. sometimes i just like to go look admire them even if i am not cooking. im an insane person.

By: Greg L

Greg L — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:15:49 +0000

Three or four years ago I got a 7″ Henckels santoku and that rapidly became my main knife. I like my 8″ Wusthof chef knife, but there’s something about the way the santoku handles that makes me very happy.

By: peterb

peterb — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:25:05 +0000

Mark: My work here is done.

(The Tojiro is supposed to be awesome, and it’s beautiful. Let me know how it works out.)

By: Mark Denovich

Mark Denovich — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:11:26 +0000

Damn it. I lost 6 hours today reading about knives. Ending up ordering a Tojiro DP Damascus Santoku, and a Tojiro SD Petty… supposedly excellent performance for the money.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:30:24 +0000

My favorite knife was probably the old Opinel I lost after many years. Not the best for cooking but all around value and utility were high. My favorite in the kitchen is the cheap chef knife I bought, mainly for the thin blade.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:07:44 +0000

Knife forums?! Trying not to click…

But seriously, I was given a Global 8″ chef’s knife a couple years ago and I love it. Absolutely love it. Between that and my paring knife, I’m almost always covered. And a bread knife.

By: Christian

Christian — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:40:08 +0000

I’m using Wusthof – a 10″ chef and a 8″ santoku-style blade mainly. I’ve got a couple of old carbon steel French knives I found at a very upscale garage sale. They have a great edge if sharpened but I don’t like bothering with them too much. The Wusthof I have found over the years holds an edge better than any comparably priced Henkels (especially the not-so-good Spanish Henkels). Of course, like you all, I never, ever, put my knives in the dishwasher.

Ok, you don’t really care about that. BUT!

I wanted to tell anyone who didn’t know about the Kuhn Rikon (Swiss) paring knife. They sell them at Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma and probably other places, for about $10. They come in funky colors and the color extends to an enamel coating on the blade, and a cover matching the colored plastic handle. You may think them a bit silly looking. DON’T PASS THEM BY.

This is without a doubt the absolute sharpest paring knife I’ve ever seen. I would even say they are wicked sharp. They are so sharp you will be glad of the little cover that means you can take them on a picnic or leave them in a drawer without risking stitches when you reach your hand in to get the knife.

I consider paring knives disposable, but the oldest is at a year and shows no signs of not staying very sharp indeed. The trick is a carbon steel blade that is mostly coated in funky-colored non-stick enamel. This is a seriously small investment for a knife you will probably love.

By: Mark Denovich

Mark Denovich — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:23:58 +0000

For sharpening I’m going to spring for one of these:
http://bronksknifeworks.com/Edge_Pro_Knife_sharpeners.htm

I can get good results from my bench stones, but not quickly or predictably. It takes a lot of practice to get the feel… and I resharpen infrequently enough that I have to relearn it each time. With the Edge Pro setup, I can eliminate one of the bigger variables (me.)