Kitchen samurai.... Please fall-in.

[cheeseme]

Love this thread!!!

However, I had been trained and worked as a Cutter in Chinese Kitchen many years ago. But what I know it's only the one and only design type - Chinese made "Vege-knife" with different weight/thickness. Sharpened on a stone and cleaned them everyday. Locked them up whenever a fight broke up. I practised all kind of cut/chop/etc. etc. with just the one and only knife, in terms of constant sizes, speed, and "cleaniness". So seriously, do we really need so many type of kitchen knife? I only know western/japanese kitchen used them.... But for me, it's still just one and only one. What happened if all this knife making techniques and material are used on it?

BTW, I dun quite use to riveted handle knife. Seems slow, and hard to turn around to deploy every parts of the knife. Prefer those with round tap in handle, but of course it can drop out easily and accumulate dirt.

 

[FireHouse]

Thx Photobum for the insight into the "kitchen knife". Never knew there was so much to know abt them.
Thx Clubsnap for being so varied.....(I mean not just photography).
Camping here for more "tips" from the Kitchen Samurai.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Xing]

yeah... thanks photobum too... I love!!! cooking too, have been using cleavers and Henckels knives.

anyone collects knives from the likes of Buck, Nieto etc....

this is a buck folding hunter 501

 

[lennyl]

anyone collects knives from the likes of Buck, Nieto etc....

Perhaps it'll be better to start another thread in kopitiam for this? I know this thread is about knives, but it's been very focused on kitchen knives.

 

[lennyl]

Photobum, is this video any good?

http://video.about.com/culinaryarts/Sharpen-Knives-With-a-Whetston.htm

 

[photobum]

Love this thread!!!

BTW, I dun quite use to riveted handle knife. Seems slow, and hard to turn around to deploy every parts of the knife. Prefer those with round tap in handle, but of course it can drop out easily and accumulate dirt.

Thanks for your comment.

If you love knives with round handle, you should try a Japanese usuba bocho knife. It cuts like a Japanese knives but operates and feels like a Chinese cleaver.

 

[photobum]

Thx Photobum for the insight into the "kitchen knife". Never knew there was so much to know abt them.
Thx Clubsnap for being so varied.....(I mean not just photography).
Camping here for more "tips" from the Kitchen Samurai.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I am glad you love it. This idea came to me two days ago when I visited Razorsharp. Ms. Tina Tee, the sales director, told me that more and more male white-collar professionals (bankers, lawyers, doctors, engineers and teachers) are buy high-end knives from them.

This prompted me to think high-end knives will appeal to the photography crowd as well since they are a kind of lifestyle products too.

 

[photobum]

yeah... thanks photobum too... I love!!! cooking too, have been using cleavers and Henckels knives.

anyone collects knives from the likes of Buck, Nieto etc....

this is a buck folding hunter 501

Yes, I own a Hattori HA6-2 hunting knife which I bought while living the US many years ago. Cost me about US$300 after tax. My very first Hattori knife.

Anyway, let's come back to kitchen knives.

 

[photobum]

Photobum, is this video any good?

http://video.about.com/culinaryarts/Sharpen-Knives-With-a-Whetston.htm

Here is a better one. Not a video though.

 

[photobum]

Perhaps it'll be better to start another thread in kopitiam for this? I know this thread is about knives, but it's been very focused on kitchen knives.

Kitchen knives are more common and readily available to most Singaporeans.

Hunting knives are interesting, but some of us may require a license to own them locally.

 

[FireHouse]

Photobum, what is your opinion on the Miyabi range of knives. I understand Henckel has taken over this range and they are having a sale at Isetan.
Cheers

 

[terryansimon]

As I had mention above, Global knives are great for beginners who want to stay away from German knives. However, the handle of most Global knives can get quite slippery with wet or oily hands, so be very careful when you use them.

Be very careful when you attempt to sharpen Global knives. There are miniature air bubbles embedded inside the steel blade (part of their forging process to use air) which requires special attention. These air bubbles will leave behind tiny pits on your blade. This is based on my own experience sharpening several Global knives which belong to a friend.

Yes, I agree with you. That's why my personal motto as a kitchen samurai is 'A sharp knife is a safe knife'.

I'll admit that I got the Global based on the recommendations of two professional chef friends of mine, both who use Global as well. along with Anthony Bourdain mentioning that it's a decent knife. heh.

and I get mine sharpened professionally every other month. no issues so far, though.

 

[OasisG]

Personally, i consider those knives like Global, WMF, Kycoera those expensive knives a luxury and is for those who can afford to splurge their moeny on knives collection which i don't find it necessary, for me, a standard chef knive, a office knive and a aged deboning knive is my everyday kit for me. Those selling in the 90s Victorinoix wooden handle knives which have faithfully serve me well for the past 10 years, If one who know how to handle a knive well in your hands, one will know that wooden handle knives especially Victorinoix old model which still carrys by Lau Choy Seng has the best grip if your hand is slightly oil or wet unlike those modern knives like Gisser, Wusthof, Henkels which has metal or plastic mount. Cause these handle tends to slip if your hand is wet or slightly oily. For Global knive, i would advice you not to even try to cut a chicken wing bone or cut a fish with small bones on cause once you cut, you can see that your $100 odd knive getting a chip on the blade. Global blade is the weakest among all, though it may be sharp but hardness of the steel is inferior.

Furthermore, Henkels, Wusthof, WMF blade takes a long time for one to sharpen in order to have the bite on your knive so as to subsequently further sharpening takes a shorter time to sharpen, wherelse Victorinoix knive blade is hard but not as hard as those German made. Anyway, i'm not pinpointing on any particular brand. Just a personal note.

But still, it is up to individual preferences.

Cheers!

 

[OasisG]

By the way, guys, since there is so many food enthusiast in here, just a idea, why don't we find one good day if all of our times permits, meet up at some who has a place to house the group and each cook a dish for all. Haha.. well, just wondering..:think::think: Anyway, i'm French train. So how about the thread starter and the rest of the guys here?

 

[Godzilla Invades]

For hygiene purpose, I do not suggest you to use a fruit knife to cut meat.

By the way, you may find yourself exerting more force when cutting meat with a small knife, and I am quite sure your cuts are inconsistent. Furthermore, you may injury yourself by doing so.



Yes, I agree. As I had mentioned above, Chinese cleavers are the most versatile kitchen cutting tool ever invented by man. I know some people (my wife is one of them) complain that Chinese cleavers are heavy, not knowing that even Chinese cleavers are categorised into various sizes and weights. For those who love the versatility of a Chinese cleaver but hate its weight, I recommend a No. 5 cleaver. This size is harder to find in Singapore but very common in Hong Kong and Taiwan.



Again, I agree with this statement. That's why I use 3 cutting boards at home. All made by Snow River (an American products):

• A serving board for fruits and breads
• An end grain cutting board for vegetables
• An end grain butcher block for meats.

Not just cutting boards, both fruit and meat knives have to be separated too.



Most high-quality Japanese knives are custom forged and initialed by the master cutler. That is what makes them so special. You cannot find two knives which look, feel and cut exactly the same. For Japanese knives, it generally takes 1 to 2 months to fill and deliver an order.

No lar I cannot use my fruit knife to slice my meats. The small knife is for fruits only. I am using the Chef's Knife for slicing my meat......but I think I will need to label my knives now seeing what you have mentioned to me. Each knives for a different purpose.

Yeah it's true if you use a small knife to cut your meats will injured and use more strength.

I love my Wusthof knives. I was using the Le Cordon Bleu range but I found them to be a little light for my liking. Now I am using the Culinar range.

As you mentioned and so did some of my chef friends to sharpen the blades with ceramic whetstones too.

 

[lennyl]

As you mentioned and so did some of my chef friends to sharpen the blades with ceramic whetstones too.

I searched around a bit online to get a feel of the price of ceramic whetstones - around S$100 each?

 

[photobum]

Photobum, what is your opinion on the Miyabi range of knives. I understand Henckel has taken over this range and they are having a sale at Isetan.
Cheers

Miyabi knives are manufactured under license for JA Henckels by Kai Corporation in Japan.

Kai also makes a very high quality range of knives known as Shun. Shun knives are extremely popular in American (good marketing, impressive commercials and chef endorsements) I believe Miyabi knives are actually relabeled Shun knives because if you put them side-by-side, they look exactly the same (except the brand).

You can find out more about Kai Shun knives here.

 

[photobum]

I'll admit that I got the Global based on the recommendations of two professional chef friends of mine, both who use Global as well. along with Anthony Bourdain mentioning that it's a decent knife. heh.

and I get mine sharpened professionally every other month. no issues so far, though.

Many professional chefs loves Global knives as they are quite reliable; resist stain and chip, which are great for daily use in a commercial kitchen.

In photography term, Global knives are like Nikon D700 or Canon 5D. They are consider semi-pro range.

 

[photobum]

I searched around a bit online to get a feel of the price of ceramic whetstones - around S$100 each?

Most better quality Japanese ceramic whetstones are above S$100.

There are cheaper ones around but the finishing these whetstones give is very different (I have two pieces of grit 5,000 Japanese ceramic whetstones; one costs S$40 and the other costs S$159. Both perform very differently). A good quality whetstone scraps and polishes your knives at the same time.

 

[photobum]

I love my Wusthof knives. I was using the Le Cordon Bleu range but I found them to be a little light for my liking. Now I am using the Culinar range.

I agree.

I ever tried a Wusthof Le Cordon Bleu chef knife but I did not like its balance. My guess is they feel lighter than conventional knives because Le Cordon Bleu series of knives do not have a finger guard.

By the way, I prefer traditional handles over ergonomic ones. That's why I choose their Classic series instead.