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Salsa McManus posted:How do you guys measure/know the angle to sharpen at or do you just kind of learn it with time and practice like most things? At the local Japanese market they had some miniature grinding and finishing stones for which I assume would be setup for Japanese angles? I can't read the Japanese so I cannot say for sure. Breakdown just because I'm avoiding doing work atm, in ascending difficulty: -Tools that do it for you (too much). Those crappy pull-through knife sharpeners they sell in every store will at least vaguely shape an edge toward an angle. -Tools that do it for you (the right way). The Spyderco Sharpmaker from OP is basically a stand that holds ceramic rods, such that your only job is to hold the knife vertical while you sharpen it. Vertical is easy. This is a super awesome tool, especially if you also need to do pocket knives or whatever- you can get shaving-sharp edges with five minutes of practice. -Magnetic blade guides. Yes, these are a thing. Just snap it onto your knife and voila, using a whetstone is no longer reserved for samurai with decades of training. -Sheet of paper method. Take a sheet of paper, and fold the top-right corner down until it you get a diagonal, that's 45 degrees. Now fold the whole thing around the point, that's 22.5 degrees for a decent Euro edge. Again, 11.25 degrees which is close to a Japanese edge. See below. -The journeyman method, or imitate the paper method. Hold your knife perpendicular to the surface. That's 90 degrees. Halfway over going diagonal is 45, halfway is 22, halfway again is 11. Even very experienced people should do this once in a while to calibrate. -Enter into an apprenticeship with a samurai swordmaker for a decade in order to learn how to use a whetstone properly, you pleb. (Or just find a dad / crazy army uncle / gun and knife store where the people will shoot the poo poo with you while you learn.) -Bonus, how to learn to use whetstones: Use a marker on the edge, any place that has marker left didn't touch the stone. Start with those crappy loaner knives at the back of the drawer, work up to your pocket knives, then graduate to real knives. 
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Jan 8, 2015 18:38
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ME
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Re: steepness of angle vs edge durability. To some extent you can have the best of both worlds with a micro bevel
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Jan 8, 2015 18:59
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Should I ever use a knife sharpener like this? http://www.amazon.com/KitchenIQ-50009-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B001CQTLJM
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Jan 11, 2015 22:50
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Should I ever use a knife sharpener like this? For a $10 Wal-Mart special that you just want an edge, any edge, on? Sure. For any knife you actually care about? No.
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Jan 11, 2015 23:00
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Can someone recommend a good cutting board, preferably 18" bv 24" or larger? I was looking at this one but I don't trust third party shipping of a damageable item like that. Amazon shipping at least would be best http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040EDQRG/
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Jan 11, 2015 23:15
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Should I ever use a knife sharpener like this? If you want to ruin a good knife, sure. I mean, these don't really grind the edge so much as rip the metal right off of it. A ceramic rod is a much better option if you don't have the time or money to learn how to sharpen, or just don't want to.
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Jan 11, 2015 23:16
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Caddrel posted:Can someone recommend a good cutting board, preferably 18" bv 24" or larger? Can you give us a price range? Also, they will probably just be using UPS or FedEx like anyone else and they are a kitchen supply shop, so I would hope they know how to properly ship stuff. Hell, looking at their customer reviews there were complaints about too much packaging, like this: "A little too much packaging, but definitely arrived as expected."
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Jan 11, 2015 23:29
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If you're going to drop the dough on a nice board, I'd get end grain. Boardsmith boards are the most recommended in knifespergland but they are quite q bit more than that one you linked.
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Jan 11, 2015 23:47
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I'd be willing to go up to $150. The main problem with that seller is they don't have a free return policy. If they do mess up shipping I'd have to pay to return it. End grain sounds nice, but if durability is the same I'd be happy with edge grain.
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Jan 12, 2015 05:02
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Caddrel posted:End grain sounds nice, but if durability is the same I'd be happy with edge grain. Durability is a bit better actually, because end grain "heals" as you cut into it because of the grain structure.
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Jan 12, 2015 06:10
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I've said this a million times before, but I prefer my $9 ikea wooden cutting boards to my $100 expensive rear end "nice" end grain cutting boards. spending money isn't always the way to go, use what makes you happy and works well for you.
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Jan 12, 2015 06:42
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I have that same cheap $10 IKEA cutting board. Its great. It was also 10bux, so I give no fucks about how well it holds up to abuse. I have a San Jamar poly boars for meat.
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Jan 12, 2015 06:57
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mindphlux posted:I've said this a million times before, but I prefer my $9 ikea wooden cutting boards to my $100 expensive rear end "nice" end grain cutting boards. spending money isn't always the way to go, use what makes you happy and works well for you.
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Jan 13, 2015 00:42
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Thanks everyone. I think I'll go for the IKEA one and put the money towards a better knife. One more question, about the Dojo paring knife that GrAviTy84 and others have recommended. It looks great, but I'm wondering how worried I have to be about it rusting while cutting fruit and that kind of thing. I wouldn't be cutting lemons, but when slicing up apples, pairs, and other things for 5 to 10 minutes do I need to worry about it rusting? Obviously I would clean and dry it completely immediately after using.
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Jan 13, 2015 03:39
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Caddrel posted:Thanks everyone. I think I'll go for the IKEA one and put the money towards a better knife. It's not gonna react that fast, it's the soft iron cladding on some knives that you have to look out for, the Dojos are stainless clad so that's not an issue here.
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Jan 13, 2015 04:27
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Oh wow, the Victorinox is on sale for $30 now. Report: Knife came last week and I love this knife. I have been using a block of J.A. Henckels (the kind you get for $300 at Macys), and this knife just blows it away in terms of comfortable grip and sharpness. I highly recommend anyone looking for a chief's knife to get this one, and it is only $30 on amazon. The only problem is that the knife is bigger than my current chefs knife, so it doesn't fit in any of the holes of my wooden block.
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Jan 13, 2015 04:49
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Fozzy The Bear posted:The only problem is that the knife is bigger than my current chefs knife, so it doesn't fit in any of the holes of my wooden block. Lots of folks end up going with a magnetic knife block, I just toss it in the plastic sleeve it comes with and dedicate a drawer to the knife and kitchen towels.
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Jan 13, 2015 05:20
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Benchcrafted mag bloks own if you are looking for a pretty solution. Otherwise, edgeguards and the drawer works fine. Edit for links http://benchcrafted.com/Magblok.html Messermeister 10" Chef's Edge-Guard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q9CJOU/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_gJkTub0S5R216 GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Jan 13, 2015 |
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Jan 13, 2015 06:06
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GrAviTy84 posted:Messermeister 10" Chef's Edge-Guard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q9CJOU/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_gJkTub0S5R216 Aren't those pretty much the same as the ones CKTG offers for $3 except with the corners rounded? I bought a few of the CKTG ones and dremeled them into fitting the handles on some of my knives for transportation. The Tojiro bread knife has a dedicated one because it stays on the bread box.
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Jan 13, 2015 13:03
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So, thanks to the advice of this thread I just bought this: 24cm Tojiro Kurouchi gyuto. Sure there's probably better knives for the price I paid, but I've been really pleased with the DP series I had already, so decided to stick with Tojiro. Plus I liked their kurouchi finish better than some of the others I've seen. Now to work on my cutting technique. X13Fen fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Jan 13, 2015 |
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Jan 13, 2015 13:44
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^^^I think you mean 24cm, otherwise, you bought a sword. I use a wooden drawer knife "block" myself. It's awesome and fits basically any size knife. I believe this one the one I have. http://www.amazon.com/Shenzhen-Kniv...asin=B00GJ44VW4
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Jan 13, 2015 14:24
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rockcity posted:^^^I think you mean 24cm, otherwise, you bought a sword. I almost pissed my pants when I read that. A sword by this compaby would also get the job done. Be a little awkward welding it in the kitchen.
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Jan 13, 2015 16:17
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shankerz posted:I almost pissed my pants when I read that. A sword by this compaby would also get the job done. Be a little awkward welding it in the kitchen.  Right tool for the job and whatnot, Tsukiji.
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Jan 13, 2015 17:43
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GrAviTy84 posted:Benchcrafted mag bloks own if you are looking for a pretty solution. Otherwise, edgeguards and the drawer works fine. Cheaper option than the benchcrafted one: http://www.amazon.com/Better-Housew...oo+knife+magnet
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Jan 13, 2015 17:46
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Do you have that one and what's been your experience with it? Reading the Amazon reviews the magnets are a bit weak and there are only five of them, limiting how many knives you can store on it. I agree that the Magblok isn't cheap, but its magnets are strong and you can stick stuff all along the length.
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Jan 13, 2015 18:55
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I do like it, mostly because I don't have too many knives--I use it to put up 4 of my most used knives and one pair of shears. I think the magnets are small Neodymium magnets and that is why they do not hold objects in between. I just couldnt stomach the price of the benchcrafted. edit: prices seem a bit closer than when I was looking, i think i only paid 20 for it and that seemed good at the time.
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Jan 13, 2015 19:12
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yeah. fwiw the benchcrafted also comes in a longer version which is cool if you need it. I might grab one of these though for holding shears and pinbone tweezers and stuff, thanks for linking!
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Jan 13, 2015 19:15
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:If you want to ruin a good knife, sure. I mean, these don't really grind the edge so much as rip the metal right off of it. A ceramic rod is a much better option if you don't have the time or money to learn how to sharpen, or just don't want to. I'm just breaking in to the world of not-lovely knives, starting with the Victorinox 8" chef's knife. I have a honing steel (this one), which I understand is for general maintenance to keep the edge as close to current sharpness as possible, but I should separately buy a ceramic rod for restoring a sharp edge once that time comes? Does this one seem fine enough? How often are the two used? Honing seems to be more frequent, but I'm not a good judge yet for how often sharpening should be done. e: I figure the answer to that last question is "whenever it's dull, dummy" but I'm wondering about general guidelines because I don't have experience yet. With heavy use does a decent knife need sharpening every week? Month? 3 months? Teeter fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Jan 13, 2015 |
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Jan 13, 2015 20:40
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Hone the knife before each use. Sharpening depends more on how much you use it and what you use it for, others can correct me but as a home chef I think it's very unlikely you need to sharpen more often than once a month, if that.
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Jan 13, 2015 20:52
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guppy posted:Hone the knife before each use. Sharpening depends more on how much you use it and what you use it for, others can correct me but as a home chef I think it's very unlikely you need to sharpen more often than once a month, if that. I think it depends more on what you're cutting and what your cutting board is. If you're using bamboo or scraping bones and stuff youll probably need to sharpen more often.
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Jan 13, 2015 20:54
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GrAviTy84 posted:I think it depends more on what you're cutting and what your cutting board is. If you're using bamboo or scraping bones and stuff youll probably need to sharpen more often. This. If you are just cutting soft vegetables like onions and such you won't need to sharpen often, if you go through harder produce like squashes regularly you will need to sharpen more often. Meats depends on what kind of meats, stuff with little connective tissue like chicken won't dull your knife as much, but beef or lamb will dull the hell out of your knife, cooked proteins are worse for the edge than raw ones. Teeter posted:I'm just breaking in to the world of not-lovely knives, starting with the Victorinox 8" chef's knife. I have a honing steel (this one), which I understand is for general maintenance to keep the edge as close to current sharpness as possible, but I should separately buy a ceramic rod for restoring a sharp edge once that time comes? Does this one seem fine enough? That Wineco rod is a sharpener, it is textured so it will remove metal. You can get that ceramic rod and it will do the same thing but probably do a better job of it, but I've never used it so I can't really comment on how good or bad it is. It will remove metal faster than the metal one though. As for when to sharpen you just have to go by personal judgment, basically whenever it starts feeling dull. You can check by trying to slice some printer paper and see how smoothly it goes through that. And yeah, for german steel knives hone before each use, the edge will last longer that way.
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Jan 13, 2015 21:09
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:
Well poo poo, I wasn't even paying attention to the title when I got it since it was the top result for "honing steel" and all of the reviews mention honing rather than sharpening. Thanks for the answers, everyone. It's only a $30 knife I'm working with right now so I'll figure this out by the time I'm ready to upgrade anyway.
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Jan 13, 2015 21:35
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Teeter posted:Well poo poo, I wasn't even paying attention to the title when I got it since it was the top result for "honing steel" and all of the reviews mention honing rather than sharpening. Thanks for the answers, everyone. It's only a $30 knife I'm working with right now so I'll figure this out by the time I'm ready to upgrade anyway. Don't worry about it, almost all "honing rods" actually sharpen to some extent too, true honing rods tend to be very expensive. That rod will also hone the knife because all honing does is straighten out the edge, which on soft steel becomes crooked over time, any sufficiently hard surface will straighten the edge.
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Jan 13, 2015 22:45
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I'm looking for a 12-14 inch slicing knife to cut smoked briskets with. Anyone have a preference on them? I'm looking for something that can get me top to bottom in as few motions as possible (i.e. long), as I'm looking to avoid damaging the bark on a flat by having to saw back and forth on it.
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Jan 14, 2015 01:47
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Woof! Woof! posted:I'm looking for a 12-14 inch slicing knife to cut smoked briskets with. Anyone have a preference on them? I'm looking for something that can get me top to bottom in as few motions as possible (i.e. long), as I'm looking to avoid damaging the bark on a flat by having to saw back and forth on it. For a german steel option there is the Victorinox 14" Slicer. For harder japanese style steel there are Sujihikis, these have a tip and will be sharper but are shorter than the slicer above: A somewhat flexible Suji: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/riar27su.html A stiff one, a bit more expensive too: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpslkn27.html
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Jan 14, 2015 02:28
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Depending on how rough your bark is, and if you feel like giving a poo poo about upkeep, a yanagi might work. You will probably have to baby it apart from that though, and you will have to take it to a place that can handle uraoshi sharpening (or learn yourself). and it will probably be out of your price range, too. you can get a moritaka custom yanagi. These are a misnomer, moritaka yanagis are actually double beveled so theyre technically sujihikis. Ask for a 360mm if you want 14" though that is a pretty hilarious length. This guy is probably SK5 but for beef it's probably fine. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sakai-Takay...=item1c4827aa17
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Jan 14, 2015 03:18
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Is there a recommendation for a not-so-expensive chinese cleaver for vegetable prep? I thought I'd give it a try and see how I like it. I would be tempted to get the CCK one, but it's $70 so not really an impulse try it out type of buy for me. While I'm at it, what's a good brand for a first sharpening stone? Would something like this work? http://www.amazon.com/Kotobuki-King-1000-K-80-Combo/dp/B00200L90I/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1421204199&sr=1-4
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Jan 14, 2015 04:28
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you probably don't need 250 grit unless you really hosed something up. 1k grit is a good general purpose sharpening grit. I'd get a single grit 1k stone or maybe a double 1k/4k stone for finishing. wokshop.com has some good cheap cleavers.
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Jan 14, 2015 04:33
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Eeyo posted:Is there a recommendation for a not-so-expensive chinese cleaver for vegetable prep? I thought I'd give it a try and see how I like it. I would be tempted to get the CCK one, but it's $70 so not really an impulse try it out type of buy for me. If the place you live has a sizable Chinatown they'll sell them there in their kitchenwear-type stores. Got my Chinese stainless cleaver there for like $15. There were a bunch to choose from too.
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Jan 14, 2015 05:01
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Just noticed that the Tanaka Kurouchi Blue#2 240mm and 210mm are on overstock sale at CKTG. The Tanaka knives are really well liked and I would recommend these to anyone looking to try out a fully carbon knife. I'd get one myself if I had the money to spare right now. 
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Jan 14, 2015 21:25
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