Knife Thread

delta0 said:
I'm in the market for a knife set and a wooden knife block. Looking for a set of three knives. Any recommendations on Japanese style or Damascus knife? Budget is about £500
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I'd be looking at spending some thing like £30-50 on a Chinese style cleaver, £100-150 on a 80-120mm petty, £150-250 on a gyuto or bunka and the rest on a cheap wooden magnetic holder , ceramic honing rod and some entry level sharpening stuff.
 
delta0 said:
Great suggestions!
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Cutting edge knives is a good place in the UK to start looking although they're oos of a fair amount at the moment.

Steve Gamache on YouTube has a really useful channel to get a better feel for how particular knives might feel in the hand once you've narrowed it down to a few you're interested in.
 
Trying to decide on a new knife at the moment. Been using Globals but just don’t get on with them. Their handles are too thin and I find them a nightmare to keep sharp. Also, as a leftie the 70/30 (or whatever it is) bevel is no good.
I’ve got around a £100 ish or if bought from Amazon £200 ish (due to a voucher) to spend. So far my thoughts are:
https://www.hocho-knife.com/sakai-takayuki-33-layer-vg10-damascus-hammered-japanese-chefs-gyuto-knife-210mm/
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003TT6LLQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OzmOEbNQZP0N6

Any thoughts?
 
I can't recommend Kai Shun enough. We have a chefs knife and nikiri and they are by far and away the sharpest, best weighted and most comfortable knives I've ever used.
 
wallofsound said:
Any thoughts?
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I think £100 is a slightly tricky budget for a main knife. When I was first looking into Japanese knives I started with a similar budget but ended up pushing it to £140 for a Masakage Yuki bunka, which I've used most days since and I've actually really enjoyed. Totally changed meal prep from a chore to something enjoyable. I do occasionally find myself wishing for something slightly bigger and would really like a small stainless petty to complement it - I'll probably add the petty next and then upgrade the bunka at some point (probably going to look at Kotetsu or Kurosaki for both I think) but it's been a great intro.

I've never used Globals but I'm sure they're a damn sight better than what I upgraded from so again you might want to spend a bit more so as not to feel like you've just gone sideways.
 
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Trying to go back through the thread but hard to find exact recommendations for a Steel, found a few Wusthof recommendations, was looking at the Ceramic 10" this morning, any others in this sort of range or go to recommendations?
 
SoliD said:
Trying to go back through the thread but hard to find exact recommendations for a Steel, found a few Wusthof recommendations, was looking at the Ceramic 10" this morning, any others in this sort of range or go to recommendations?
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Ceramic blades are a bit too fragile for my liking, I still have one out of a set of three that is still in one piece, of the others one snapped when it was dropped and the other has a big chip taken out of it. They're also very difficult to sharpen.
 
I'm the market for some knives. We love cooking and we've had the same cheap set for the last ~8 years.

I've got a £100 voucher to use at John Lewis when they re-open, but looks like we may need to spend more than that in total from some of the posts above. Looks like JL only have the "big brands" too (Global, Sabatier etc). They do have Kai Shun, though.

We don't really do any butchering or filetting so I'm sure we'd get by with two decent knives, but happy to be advised.
 
Having a look on their site, the only really good options are Kai Shun and Global (who I wouldn't recommend as I don't like their handles). But they're also very expensive.

The Fiskars actually look pretty decent at the discounted prices, they're well known for their axes and cookware but I've never used one of their kitchen knives.

Personally, I'd sell the voucher for £90 and use that to buy some lesser-known, but better knives:

https://www.hocho-knife.com/fujitora-dp-3layered-vg10-chef-knife-gyuto-210mm/
+
https://www.hocho-knife.com/fujitora-dp-3layered-vg10-petty-knife-utility-120mm/

For example, it comes to £102 + shipping and probably some import fees.

https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/...products/seki-magoroku-benifuji-gyuto-4-sizes

This looks solid too, I haven't used this particular knife, but I do have one of their lower end petty knives and it's good.
 
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Yeah I saw the Fiskars reduced to clear. Will keep an eye out if our local has them in stock but happy to consider others in any case. And yeah, not tied to the voucher, just useful. It'll go towards a PS5 or something if not :p.

I would like to be able to hold them in real life to feel the ergonomics, too. My OH has particularly small hands so some may not sit right.
 
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