I've been slowly upgrading, a few at a time over years.
Replaced these
With these
I've been slowly upgrading, a few at a time over years.
Replaced these
With these
Nice pick! Henckels knives were one of our splurges when we were first married. 28 years later and we’re still using most of them. We started with a small selection and we’ve added a few as need arose.
Is that a BudK item?
Dr. Hess said:Is that a BudK item?
I don't know what that means.
Another fan of Henckels knives here. I have the one on the bottom of your last photo, used it tonight to slice up some squash.
If you haven't tried it, the Istor knife sharpener is amazing. Easy to use and puts a hell of an edge on in seconds flat.
In reply to Floating Doc :
https://www.budk.com/default.aspx
It's the Harbor Freight of knives.
To really love those knives you need to put an edge on them. I'm a fan of Japanese water stones and Japanese steel. German steel doesn't keep the edge quite as long, but is less brittle so you don't have to be as careful with it. You know you've got them sharp when they cut a tomato without squishing it. The sharpening process is almost like meditation, I love doing it.
This is my workhorse stone. You can spend a lot of cash on this stuff, but that stone, a strop and a ceramic hone are all I need for a knife that hasn't been abused.
Just had a look at BudK.com. Kinda reminds me of that knife store in the mall that sells swords with an extra dose of survivalist thrown in.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
They do appear to advertise the most important survivalist item - the 'shine still...
It's the best way to purify water.
Yeah, BudK and the sister (brother?) site chkadels.com, same guy, is a fun catalog to look through. Lots of really cheap crap, but not expensive and fun, and a few good items scattered around. For example, "Damastec" is not Damascus. They have both.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I don’t know why I would ever need a soviet army helmet or Italian sewing kit but in a few days if I do I’ll be prepared. Stupid internet.
Keith Tanner said:Just had a look at BudK.com. Kinda reminds me of that knife store in the mall that sells swords with an extra dose of survivalist thrown in.
They're OK w/ me
One of my favorite tools... ever
https://www.budk.com/Kukri-Machetes-2951
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I don't have any Japanese knives, I've been priced out of those so far.
Our first good knives were acquired when my wife scored a set of Brazilian made forged JA Henckels International branded knives with a block at a yard sale. We don't use the chef knife or the steel anymore, both are too large and unweildy.
The first decent quality knife kitchen knife I bought new was a French brand called Sabatier. There's an outlet store on I95 in South Carolina that carries them; I now have a mix of them in stamped and forged. I think the forged ones might be a step below the ice forged henckels that I just bought but they're very nice knives.
My current stock of german-made forged J A Henckels. The 6in chef was a dollar fifty from a thrift store (charity shop in Britain).
One of the first celebrity chefs was Deon Lucas. She sold a lot of these Cleaver Style knives through advertisements in magazines. This has been in my block for at least a year and almost never used, so it's getting moved into storage, maybe on to eBay. It's an interesting knife.
Finally, here's a couple of Forschner knives with aftermarket sheaths. Obviously, they don't get much use.
That cleaver style is an odd one for sure.
The Japanese blades are definitely a splurge. They’re a real sensuous pleasure to use, though, and over the next 20-30 years the extra cost won’t seem like much. At least, that’s my justification :) We still keep some German steel around for less delicate tasks, and sometimes I prefer them for things like cutting mangos where you want to cut the flesh but not the skin. It’s a bit easier to modulate the Germans in that case.
No matter what, keeping them sharp is the key. Drives me nuts when I go visit my parents and I have to use their knives!
The new JA henckels that I bought are following some of the Japanese knife trends with a finer angle on the edge and a thinner blade for less drag. The two that I posted originally haven't been used yet, but the drop tip Ice Forged blade that I bought last year will glide through a tomato with almost no pull on the blade at all.
I agree, they have to be kept sharp.
I have one knife that I use for almost everything - a Chicago Cutlery chef's knife that I keep nice and razor sharp. It works really well for me, and I really wonder what a $200+ knife would ever gain me. I think this was about $35, close to 20 years ago. It's a quality knife, at least seems so to me, with a heavy full tang and looks about like this:
only a little different and with 20 years of aging and sharpening. What am I missing by being frugal here?
In reply to dculberson :
That's a good knife, and at the time you bought it, $35 would definitely get you some quality. It's obviously forged, has a full tang, and likely to be made with pretty good quality steel. The fact that you keep it sharp means that it is going to continue to work great for you. I wouldn't replace it!
Most of the knives in my regular usage are of similar quality and age. Your knife probably is quite comprable to my wood handled Brazilian made Henckles in my first photo. The composite handle is definitely superior to the wood, as far as maintenance goes. I have however broken a composite handle, but I was likely abusing the knife. What I've been doing is phasing out my cheaper, lower quality knives.
To put it in terms we both understand, your knife is like my GMT 400. It does everything I needed to do, the air conditioning works great, etc.. Technology has moved on, so buying a new knife is just like buying a new truck. Even a 2018 work truck is going to have a bunch of better features and likely quality than my 1988 Silverado.
Harder steel keeps an edge longer and you can usually get a better edge on it because it'll take a smaller angle. I use about 10 degrees per side on my Japanese blades. German knives are usually closer to 20-22 degrees but as Eric noted they're starting to make thinner ones. The longevity of the edge isn't all that important if you're not using it for a living and you're willing to sharpen more often. That Chicago knife is probably made of a relatively soft steel so it'll take more abuse than a harder one would - I have to take care with the Japanese ones. They'll take and keep an incredible edge (most of mine are made of tool steel) but they're more brittle. That's one of the reasons I also have some German knives. Steel isn't a "one right answer" choice, it's about choosing the right one for the use.
Car analogy: the Japanese blades are like F1 cars. The Germans are BMW M-series cars. The Chicago is a SUV. This metaphor applies to fragility, cost and utility 
I have been buying Buck hunting knives for years. During their Thanksgiving sale a couple of years ago I bought a chef's knife. Best kitchen knife I've ever had. Holds its edge forever, easy to touch up, and the buck factory is only a few blocks from me. They will resharpen your knife to original condition for $5.
I'm a cutco guy. Buy them at estate sales, send them in. I've used a high quality Japanese knife once. Made a difference, sure, but not enough to make me jump until I see one at an estate sale. I don't cook enough (meaning volume) to make it make a difference.
A sharp knife is like an accurate rifle. Just a joy to have.
I bought a Ken Onion electric sharpener. It comes with several progressively finer gained belts. Razer sharp in 10 minutes. I have lost the patience to hone knives by hand. Or maybe I was spoiled by my Ken Onion knife sharpener?
One pro tip: hide your really sharp kitchen knives from your kids or they will ruin the edge. My 11 year old picked up one of my super sharp kitchen knives and started beating it on the cutting board like a drum stick, edge first, just the other day. I was not happy about this.
few things more dangerous in the kitchen than a dull knife in the hands of someone who doesn't realize it
stylngle2003 said:few things more dangerous in the kitchen than a dull knife in the hands of someone who doesn't realize it
So true
"They Say" that dull knives are more dangerous than sharp knives, but in my personal experience, every time I've cut myself, it's been with something razor sharp. Now, maybe that's because I try to keep a good edge on my knives, but still, I don't see "dull" as more inherently dangerous than "sharp."
I bought one of these at Sturgis a couple years ago:
I liked it so much that I bought 3 more to leave scattered around.
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