Comments on: Pointed accounts

By: Moose

Moose — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:53:36 +0000

I am also a fan of Global knives. I have 4, including a paring knife. I use the Sentoku the most. I keep them scary sharp with the Global ceramic sharpening stick. German knives are too heavy!

By: mamster

mamster — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:55:12 +0000

Thanks, produce. I’ve now tried sharpening freehand with waterstones and using the Edge Pro, and I’m leaning toward the Edge Pro. It’s compact and foolproof; the results are great; and the price is not much more than a set of stones. On the downside, it’s pretty slow.

By: producestories

producestories — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:21:06 +0000

A bit late to this thread but I wanted to proselytize about learning to sharpen knifes yourself using a Japanese water-stone. It is so easy, and once you realize you aren't going to ruin your knife (anything you could do to it on a stone a professional could fix), it's easy to keep your knives blazing-sharp.

I had to learn because I'm a culinary-school student, but I recommend everybody do it - you'll keep your knives sharper because it's much more convenient. Steel every time you use it, and sharpen anytime you need to.

I have an 8" Global that I love and keep extremely sharp at all times.

By: mh330

mh330 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:08:28 +0000

Uhm, i have 4 knives, only one of which i use regularly. That is a Japanese Santoku that i picked up in Japan at a department store. It was like $30, so i'm going to go ahead and assume it wasn't one of these fancy "Japanese knives". It is dull. I abuse it by "sharpening" it in one of those plastic handheld sharpeners that i bought at IKEA. My roommate left the knife in the sink and then dropped dishes on it, forever bending the tip... when the knife was still about a week old. Still, i love my knife. Sometimes i think about getting it sharpened, and then i think about how i took off a chunk of my ring finger on a mandoline recently, and that i really don't WANT a super sharp knife.

I also have an IKEA bread knife (recently started making bread, and the santoku wasn't cutting it), an IKEA utility knife that i never use, and a Henckels utility knife that i use when the santoku is impractical (cutting the seeds out of an apple, for example).

Can't say that i like my brand new Henkels better than my $30 used and abused Santoku tho...

By: mamster

mamster — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:47:27 +0000

That’s awesome, Rosemary. May I suggest that you absolutely need a ceramic or smooth steel honing rod to keep that knife in shape? A standard medium-grooved honing rod would not be kind to it.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:39:04 +0000

Well, based on initial trials my Shun's elite chef's knife is just terrific. It feels good, cuts amazingly, etc. The handle is a good fit for me, and there's no denying it's awfully pretty. So as of now I'm really happy with my birthday presents.

Whatever your price range, if you enjoy cooking, get a good knife. I love to cook, but I'm in the category of "family cook," not "chef." If I have to figure out meals for 4 pretty much every night, it's nice to have a little fun in the preparation.

By: mamster

mamster — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:21:06 +0000

Hey, josh. The funny thing is, some of the expensive knives don't come with a great edge because it's assumed that you'll sharpen it yourself.

You definitely need to round the spine of your Henckels. You can do it yourself if you or a friend has a vise; just put the knife in the vise and sand the spine with sandpaper. I had my sharpener do it.

By: josh g.

josh g. — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:59:16 +0000

I think there's probably some general rule of thumb one can invent here about the usefulness of quality tools in general. Better tools make work easier, but I think there's some kind of law of diminishing return as the tools go from kind-of-expensive to my-spouse-will-kill-me-later expensive.

I'm still using a Henkels, so I guess I can't confirm that from experience. (But on the plus side, my wife hasn't had to kill me.)

Also, sharp is good, and sharpening isn't that hard. (Although I guess sharpening to recreate the perfection found in a $300 Japanese blade would be worth going to a professional for.)

Since your earlier article, I decided to start being picky about how I hold my knives as well. I've found the finger-pinch type grip to work pretty well - I think I'm doing it right - but one annoyance I had was that after extended use, my palm would get sore right at the knuckle of my pointer finger from pushing against the back of the blade (which has a flat edge, not rounded). Later on I seemed to have some cutting sessions where it wasn't an issue; I may have been using the rest of my hand to hold firmer and provide more support? Either way, I was wondering if I was likely doing something wrong, or if this is just how things are and if more expensive professional knives tended to round off the back of the blade near the handle to make it more ergonomic.

(Oh, and for what it's worth, the original "extended use" day was when I was cutting up a huge chunk o' beef into steak-sized pieces, so there was likely to be some aches and pains eventually. Good old catering prep; I brought my own knife that day.)

By: mamster

mamster — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:13:56 +0000

Werner, no knife is physically capable of staying sharp that long with regular use. Before buying a new knife, try getting your Henckels professionally sharpened (ask your local chef or hairstylist who sharpens their blades).

If you do decide on a new one, and sharper and lighter is what you have in mind, there's no question: go Japanese. Those are the main features offered by Japanese knives, and they're available with a wide variety of handles.

By: Werner

Werner — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:58:27 +0000

I've been using a Henckels four-star 8" chef's knife and 6" utility knife for about seven years. In all that time, I've had them sharpened only once, and not very well at that (it was a rush job). So, by now, they're pretty dull, and I turn to the sharpening steel fairly often. In the beginning, they were a real pleasure to use. But lately, I find myself wishing the blades were thinner and lighter and the handles more ergonomic. Granted, these drawbacks are probably exacerbated by the dullness, but still, I'm not sure I'd recommend these knives wholeheartedly. It's time for either a good sharpening or an upgrade. [Is staminawood available without a prescription?]

On the other hand, I got my parents a set of five-star Henckels knives a few years back, and there really is a noticeable difference. The handles are more comfortable and balanced, so even though the blades are much sharper, they also feel less dangerous than the four-star. Getting to use these knives is one thing I look forward to whenever I visit them.

Finally, new expensive knives may enhance our quality of life (and I'm certainly all for that), but I think there's something to be said for the cheap reliable old standby for routine tasks. Some days, I'd rather go to the greasy diner down the street than the fancy fusion restaurant across town, you know?