Knife Thread

Caporegime
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Are you a chef for a living or similar?

I mean, these knifes are cool, don't get me wrong, and hey, it's your money, spend it on what makes you happy.

But you are buying rather a lot of pretty expensive knifes for your "average Joe* otherwise.

No...but I am not a musician either, have you seen my guitars? lol (all the gear, no idea, that's me)

I just like to cook, good tools are cool!

p.s. a pro kitchen wouldn't use these, not in the UK anyway, you would want something that is stainless for a start, cheaper too.
 
Soldato
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No...but I am not a musician either, have you seen my guitars? lol (all the gear, no idea, that's me)

I just like to cook, good tools are cool!

p.s. a pro kitchen wouldn't use these, not in the UK anyway, you would want something that is stainless for a start, cheaper too.

No they are very nice, jealous if I am honest.

My Pro cook normally £50 - £12 bargain Nakiri is pretty crap if I'm honest. My £10 (and normally £10 lol) Wilko's unbranded cleaver is almost as good, and I damaged the blade pretty badly years ago because just out of interest I wanted to see if it would go through a baked bean can.

I think possibly it needs a proper sharpen, I'm guessing it will have been machine sharpened rather than hand, and possibly if the metal is very good and I do it properly myself it'll stay sharp for longer, but will see.....
 
Caporegime
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No they are very nice, jealous if I am honest.

My Pro cook normally £50 - £12 bargain Nakiri is pretty crap if I'm honest. My £10 (and normally £10 lol) Wilko's unbranded cleaver is almost as good, and I damaged the blade pretty badly years ago because just out of interest I wanted to see if it would go through a baked bean can.

I think possibly it needs a proper sharpen, I'm guessing it will have been machine sharpened rather than hand, and possibly if the metal is very good and I do it properly myself it'll stay sharp for longer, but will see.....
The most expensive knife there on paper (the TOG), which I paid the least for, in a closing down sale and then a misprice on top. Japanese yen is tanking at the moment and i took advantage so the Nakiri is like 1/3rd off compared to this time last year.

These are actually not the 'best' knives you can get, some would consider them entry-level stuff but they are certainly more than the average household would get, like 10x more, and cheap knifes are what I have been getting since forever. So I thought I try some nicer ones.

How much sharper than your ProCooks? a bit, not a lot when the ProCooks are sharpened. ProCooks are perfectly fine, they get the job done.
 
Soldato
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First go at a repair on my brother's chipped and rusty Eden Kanso. Not a super expensive knife so figured it was worth a go, cheap King 225 stone off Amazon to take back the chip, then a quick sand with 2000 grit sandpaper and sharpened on my no-name 1000 stone. Took about an hour all in, not perfect but I'm pretty happy with it.

hpeGwYA.jpeg
 
Soldato
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I'm getting an itch for another Nakiri.

Nothing crazy, max £50 from a UK based website/store please. Extra points if it has a more traditional rounded handle, but not a deal breaker either way.

My Pro cook one is meh.......
 
Caporegime
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I'm getting an itch for another Nakiri.

Nothing crazy, max £50 from a UK based website/store please. Extra points if it has a more traditional rounded handle, but not a deal breaker either way.

My Pro cook one is meh.......

I haven't looked too hard but there are not that many fitting that budget.


To get a round handle you have to double your budget.

 
Soldato
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I haven't looked too hard but there are not that many fitting that budget.


To get a round handle you have to double your budget.


Thanks, for the £45 I'm sure is a great knife practicality wise, just doesn't look anything special.

The more expensive ones, I've had a look through some others on that site, do look really nice, I just.... I dunno more than I want to spend.

Had a look through Amazon but seems to be a minefield of Chinese knock offs and I don't trust any of the reviews.

Am I just expecting too much for £50? Is £100/£130 the baseline for anything half decent?
 
Caporegime
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Thanks, for the £45 I'm sure is a great knife practicality wise, just doesn't look anything special.

The more expensive ones, I've had a look through some others on that site, do look really nice, I just.... I dunno more than I want to spend.

Had a look through Amazon but seems to be a minefield of Chinese knock offs and I don't trust any of the reviews.

Am I just expecting too much for £50? Is £100/£130 the baseline for anything half decent?

This knife is made by a master blacksmith. Takeo Murata is like 74 years old now.


This knife is handmade in the old way still and punches above it's weight for what it is. The only downside is that it takes more care as it's a Kurouchi finish. The steel use is Aogami Blue so it's very hard, the edge last longer than stainless but it's also more brittle as a result. If you take care of it though for £95, it's very good value. A good stone and some basic knife caring is all you need.

You can get extra 5% off if you sign up to the newsletter.

p.s. btw, the Yen is really weak right now, so you could get a bargain if you are willing to import one. Anything under £135 will be under the threshold.
 
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Soldato
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This knife is made by a master blacksmith. Takeo Murata is like 74 years old now.


This knife is handmade in the old way still and punches above it's weight for what it is. The only downside is that it takes more care as it's a Kurouchi finish. The steel use is Aogami Blue so it's very hard, the edge last longer than stainless but it's also more brittle as a result. If you take care of it though for £95, it's very good value. A good stone and some basic knife caring is all you need.

You can get extra 5% off if you sign up to the newsletter.

p.s. btw, the Yen is really weak right now, so you could get a bargain if you are willing to import one. Anything under £135 will be under the threshold.

Thanks I did look at some of those, but wasn't sure if you'd get stung with some customs charges or other similar hassle.

So basically if the knife is under £125 (guess I'd need to calculate that as most are listed in USD) it should just turn up?

If I was to go up to say £130 any suggestions, I like a traditional handle, I don't mind if it's higher care, I know how to look after carbon steel stuff
 
Soldato
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I'm getting an itch for another Nakiri.

Nothing crazy, max £50 from a UK based website/store please. Extra points if it has a more traditional rounded handle, but not a deal breaker either way.

My Pro cook one is meh.......

Which procook knife do you have?

Reason I ask is I have Nihon ones, and whilst crazy good value when I bought them in the sale for a tenner a piece, they don't set the world on fire. I did however buy my friend one of thier elite knives for christmas (Jap AUS8 steel) and he says it's absolutey superb. (it was a ultility knife rather than a Nakiri, but they are all the same steel and construction.

I'm no knife expert by any means, but having used both, I can say with confidence the feel and finish of thier elite range is deffinatley a level above the nihon range, no question. Might be worth a look as it's still right in your budget? They do have more of a western style to them, especially the handles, but the steel is Jap.
If you want something more authentic/hand made though, I think you are going to struggle at finding something for much less than a hundred quid.


£53 for an 6 inch chefs, £59 for an 8 inch chefs, or £49 for a 5 inch Santoku, £59 for the 7 inch.. They don't seem to do a Nakiri in this range for some reason.

Just a thought.
 
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Caporegime
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Thanks I did look at some of those, but wasn't sure if you'd get stung with some customs charges or other similar hassle.

So basically if the knife is under £125 (guess I'd need to calculate that as most are listed in USD) it should just turn up?

If I was to go up to say £130 any suggestions, I like a traditional handle, I don't mind if it's higher care, I know how to look after carbon steel stuff

The limit is £135 including shipping to avoid VAT and duty. Since the yen is like 160 to £1, vs like 130 from a year ago, you are getting basically a 25% discount. I bought a 17,000 yen knife (a few posts above) and got it duty and VAT free.

This should open up a lot more options for you. The store I bought from I really like.
 
Soldato
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@Raymond Lin
@mattyfez


This knife works out at £42.15 GBP, the only thing is the shipping is about the same, so overall about £80.

I am not sure wether the shipping charge is worth it over the saving you get from importing, vs just getting one from a uk based site. I do like the look of that knife though, and £80 is better than £130.


EDIT: I also do really like the look of this one: https://cuttingedgeknives.co.uk/collections/all-knives/products/tsunehisa-as-morado-nakiri

Or this one: https://cuttingedgeknives.co.uk/collections/all-knives/products/muneishi-aogami-nakiri-165mm
 
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Caporegime
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Those 2 are quite different, from the steel to the handle.

Do you prefer a hidden tang - traditional Japanese, or Full tang - Western style?

The £130 would require more care and more traditional in more aspects from the steel to the finish to the handle. The £45 is a western take on a Japanese knife.
 
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