Ok, we are going to get into a more serious tool discussion: Knives.
Let me say that a fine knife is a beautiful thing. Even if you have a number of crappy ones, treat yourself to one good, reliable, sharp, quality knife.
So I just threw out four qualifiers there, so let me take them one at a time.
What makes a good knife? That is sort of a combination of things, and it is personal. Are you a big guy with meaty fingers than can grab a basketball single handed? Are you "fun sized" with a watchmakers fine fingers? Are you average?
Each of those is going to determine what you are looking for in a handle. The best way is to try a few out, and Williams Sonoma is a place where you can do that. They even have classes on knife skills. Take one! It will save you a lot of hassles.
Whole Foods sometimes offers these as well, try it out. Don't be pressured to buy, but if you find one you like, go for it.
That means it is fully tanged and made of good steel. Not stainless, and not high carbon. Stainless will not hold a good edge in most cases, and carbon steel is difficult to maintain, although it is the best steel out there in my opinon.
Riveted handles, plastic not wood... wood requires care.
It should hold a good edge. How good? Shave your arm hairs with it good. Get a sharpening steel and use it, and then take it to a professional if you can't keep it sharp with the steel. Alternatively, learn to use a real sharping stone, not some As Seen on TV wonder that sharpens by drawing the blade through a wheel. Even reputable makeers like Wusthof offer such devices... I think they suck.
Wusthof, Shun... any number of good knives are available. Heck, even some of the ones you can get from a proper restaurant supply are quality knives, if not very pretty. They were designed to be workhorses, and the money went in the blade.
J.A. Henkle was a very good brand, and still makes some good knives, but also makes crap. Crap like serrated "ever sharp" knives. Don't be fooled, serrated knives are an excuse for poor blade quality and they cannot be sharpened at home. Avoid them.
Knives come in 4 basic shapes:
Cleaver
Chef's knife
Boning knife
Paring knife
Everything else is just noise, and really, the one you need for your one quality knife is:
A butcher can do the work of the cleaver for you until you acquire one, and the Chef's knife can be pressed into service for light cleaver work.
Same with the Boning work: buy it boned or use the Chef's knife. It will be harder, but it can be done.
The broad blade of the chef knife means you can choke up on it a little and pare things with it... but a decent paring knife is only $10 for a ceramic one.
You have two options for the Chef's knife: the classic 10 inch French Chef's knife we all know and love. Staple of cooking shows and horror movies alike.
Or you have a relative newcomer in the US: the Japanese Santoku.
This Japanese variation is in my opinion a more flexible blade and good for the wide variety of tasks facing the average home cook. It has a lighter, thinner blade that is great for cutting 5 lbs of onions for French onion soup, Mirepoix for a stock, or cleaning string beans.
It is shorter too, coming in 6 to 8 inches, instead of the larger 10 to 12 inches of a french chef knife. For me that translates to a faster blade speed and more maneuverability. The blade is narrower and more flexible, so there is less effort cutting through foods.
The trade off is dealing with big foods, like an acorn squash or a large melon become nearly impossible to cut cleanly. Cracking through a whole chicken's breast bone and back is no joke either. A big 10 inch blade will give you more weight and blade strength for a tough job.
But guess what? I cut a lot more onions, tomatoes, and small fruits and veggies than butternut squashes and chicken, so my go to blade is the Santoku. It is not the size, boyo, it is what you do with it. Or so I have heard....
I have two on my magnetic knife bar. One is a real Japanese Santoku, hand forged by a master craftsman. It is a work of art, constructed like a Samurai Sword and even has the unique Hamon created at the junction of the super sharp cutting steel and the wrought iron backing.
It is also a workhorse. I can chop all day and the single edge will stay razor sharp and glide through tough fibrous foods like celery as if it was warm butter. The light blade and shock absorbing iron spine means I won't fatigue my hand either.
The Watanabe is stunningly sharp, and glides through food with amazing effortlessness... it is also a pain in the ass to maintain. Failure to clean and dry the knife immediately means flash rusting, and cutting onions will require a little buffing with Barkeeper's afterwards. The sulfuric compounds give a surface discoloring no matter what you do.
It will also likely outlast me if I take care of it. Might even outlast my son if he inherits it.
The other Santoku is a Wusthof Classic. It is reasonably priced, versatile and sharp enough for most jobs: Chop, rinse and wipe dry, back on the magnet bar. The hollows ground in the blade means food will not stick to the blade (as much) as you cut and the thinly sliced tomato will fall away cleanly. It sees as much usage by the lady of the household as myself because it is easy to clean and not quite as sharp.
Never put a blade in the dishwasher, but it won't hurt the Wusthof. The Wantanabe's wrought iron blade backing will look like it was salvaged from the Titanic if you pulled that stunt, not to mention warping and cracking the bamboo wood handle.
The Wusthof and a sharpening steel is the way to go, for a hundred bucks you have knife that you will be reaching for for a long time. A life time blade? Possibly, if you do not abuse it.
Think outside the block and get a magnetic bar that can be mounted on a wall, inside a cabinet door, or even horizontally under a cabinet. It will show off that sexy Shun water blade you splurged on with that too-small-to-stick-in-savings bonus you earned at work or birthday money from your rich Auntie Mame.
The second function is: it should also not screw up your knife if you use it.
So glass, marble, and hard acrylic or plastic are right out. They are easy to clean, but they also bend and break the knife edge, dulling it prematurely. Really tough call, because there are some stunning hand painted glass ones... but avoid them.
End grain wood boards are excellent, they are showy but will take some care. Regular oiling will keep it from cracking, splintering or adsorbing food odors. I really like these for a presentation and carving more than onion chopping. Definitely not dishwasher safe, however.
Bamboo boards are good, I own several. They are cheap, look pretty nice and are easy to maintain. Just like an end grain board, no dishwasher!
Finally, NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) polyethylene boards are a good choice for utility and the can go in the dishwasher for the sanitation cycle. Get several sizes, they are cheap, and they easily go from counter to pot when dumping in ingredients.
They do chew up fast though, which is why they don't damage your blade. When you can notice the cuts, and they start to develop grunge in them that survives the dishwasher, throw them out. Bacteria now has a bastion set up in your board and it will sally forth, contaminating your food. Don't be cheap! buy new ones.
Hold the knife at the blade/handle area using a relaxed pinch grip. The thumb should press on the blade right about the place where the first knuckle is on the index finger, or maybe a little twords the second knuckle. The rest of the handle is in line with your straight or slightly bent wrist.
This is where hand size and fit come into play. Small hands might end up with the handle digging in the wrist area. A larger hand might get it in the heel of the palm or the pinch grip might come too close to the cutting blade. Try the Wusthof first, then try a Shun if it is too big. If it is too small.. look around at the options, big handled knives are not that common I am afraid. Mr. Wantanabe will make a longer or larger handle for you, if you can tell him what you want, but that is a last resort.
A single smooth down and forward push should cut through anything. Sawing means the blade is dull, pushing straight down and expecting it to cut means you are dull.
The sharpest blade is a blade in motion.
A little zen moment for you all right there. You are welcome.
Down in the microscopic level the blade is not so smooth looking, there are millions of tiny teeth. You push straight down and try and power through the food and they bend and break, if you are in motion they cut the food cleanly. That, and if it hits something hard while you are forcing to down into the food it is going to twist with all that force behind it, risking a bad cut.
That is the purpose of the sharpening steel: it re-aligns and unbends all those little teeth. Eventually too many teeth break and you have to sharpen it. The abrasive sharpening stones make new teeth and the knife cuts like new. Take it to a professional have it sharpened if you have never used a sharpener before, it will save you time and money to have it done right once a year. Those knives are an investment, and over grinding or rounding the bevel can ruin the knife or the temper on the edge. Don't be cheap and ruin your knives.
An overview of the correct cutting technique can be found here.:
Sometimes a video is worth a few thousand words.
Even better, go to one of William Sonoma's or Whole Foods free knife skills classes. Not only will you learn something, you might find someone to invite to dinner, right?
Never know, it might be "she's the one" next to you in that dorky apron.
Let me say that a fine knife is a beautiful thing. Even if you have a number of crappy ones, treat yourself to one good, reliable, sharp, quality knife.
So I just threw out four qualifiers there, so let me take them one at a time.
A Few Good Knives
What makes a good knife? That is sort of a combination of things, and it is personal. Are you a big guy with meaty fingers than can grab a basketball single handed? Are you "fun sized" with a watchmakers fine fingers? Are you average?
Each of those is going to determine what you are looking for in a handle. The best way is to try a few out, and Williams Sonoma is a place where you can do that. They even have classes on knife skills. Take one! It will save you a lot of hassles.
Whole Foods sometimes offers these as well, try it out. Don't be pressured to buy, but if you find one you like, go for it.
Reliable
That means it is fully tanged and made of good steel. Not stainless, and not high carbon. Stainless will not hold a good edge in most cases, and carbon steel is difficult to maintain, although it is the best steel out there in my opinon.
Riveted handles, plastic not wood... wood requires care.
Sharp
It should hold a good edge. How good? Shave your arm hairs with it good. Get a sharpening steel and use it, and then take it to a professional if you can't keep it sharp with the steel. Alternatively, learn to use a real sharping stone, not some As Seen on TV wonder that sharpens by drawing the blade through a wheel. Even reputable makeers like Wusthof offer such devices... I think they suck.
Quality
Wusthof, Shun... any number of good knives are available. Heck, even some of the ones you can get from a proper restaurant supply are quality knives, if not very pretty. They were designed to be workhorses, and the money went in the blade.
J.A. Henkle was a very good brand, and still makes some good knives, but also makes crap. Crap like serrated "ever sharp" knives. Don't be fooled, serrated knives are an excuse for poor blade quality and they cannot be sharpened at home. Avoid them.
Type of Knives
Knives come in 4 basic shapes:
Cleaver
Chef's knife
Boning knife
Paring knife
Everything else is just noise, and really, the one you need for your one quality knife is:
The Chef's knife
A butcher can do the work of the cleaver for you until you acquire one, and the Chef's knife can be pressed into service for light cleaver work.
Same with the Boning work: buy it boned or use the Chef's knife. It will be harder, but it can be done.
The broad blade of the chef knife means you can choke up on it a little and pare things with it... but a decent paring knife is only $10 for a ceramic one.
You have two options for the Chef's knife: the classic 10 inch French Chef's knife we all know and love. Staple of cooking shows and horror movies alike.
Or you have a relative newcomer in the US: the Japanese Santoku.
This Japanese variation is in my opinion a more flexible blade and good for the wide variety of tasks facing the average home cook. It has a lighter, thinner blade that is great for cutting 5 lbs of onions for French onion soup, Mirepoix for a stock, or cleaning string beans.
It is shorter too, coming in 6 to 8 inches, instead of the larger 10 to 12 inches of a french chef knife. For me that translates to a faster blade speed and more maneuverability. The blade is narrower and more flexible, so there is less effort cutting through foods.
The trade off is dealing with big foods, like an acorn squash or a large melon become nearly impossible to cut cleanly. Cracking through a whole chicken's breast bone and back is no joke either. A big 10 inch blade will give you more weight and blade strength for a tough job.
But guess what? I cut a lot more onions, tomatoes, and small fruits and veggies than butternut squashes and chicken, so my go to blade is the Santoku. It is not the size, boyo, it is what you do with it. Or so I have heard....
I have two on my magnetic knife bar. One is a real Japanese Santoku, hand forged by a master craftsman. It is a work of art, constructed like a Samurai Sword and even has the unique Hamon created at the junction of the super sharp cutting steel and the wrought iron backing.
It is also a workhorse. I can chop all day and the single edge will stay razor sharp and glide through tough fibrous foods like celery as if it was warm butter. The light blade and shock absorbing iron spine means I won't fatigue my hand either.
The Watanabe is stunningly sharp, and glides through food with amazing effortlessness... it is also a pain in the ass to maintain. Failure to clean and dry the knife immediately means flash rusting, and cutting onions will require a little buffing with Barkeeper's afterwards. The sulfuric compounds give a surface discoloring no matter what you do.
It will also likely outlast me if I take care of it. Might even outlast my son if he inherits it.
The other Santoku is a Wusthof Classic. It is reasonably priced, versatile and sharp enough for most jobs: Chop, rinse and wipe dry, back on the magnet bar. The hollows ground in the blade means food will not stick to the blade (as much) as you cut and the thinly sliced tomato will fall away cleanly. It sees as much usage by the lady of the household as myself because it is easy to clean and not quite as sharp.
Never put a blade in the dishwasher, but it won't hurt the Wusthof. The Wantanabe's wrought iron blade backing will look like it was salvaged from the Titanic if you pulled that stunt, not to mention warping and cracking the bamboo wood handle.
The Wusthof and a sharpening steel is the way to go, for a hundred bucks you have knife that you will be reaching for for a long time. A life time blade? Possibly, if you do not abuse it.
Care and feeding of a Knife
Storage
If you buy a set, it will come with a knife block. Nothing wrong with a knife block, it is a safe and sane way to store your knives. It hides the blade too, and does nothing to show case one of the bigger investments you have in your kitchen. Finally, it takes up precious counter space.Think outside the block and get a magnetic bar that can be mounted on a wall, inside a cabinet door, or even horizontally under a cabinet. It will show off that sexy Shun water blade you splurged on with that too-small-to-stick-in-savings bonus you earned at work or birthday money from your rich Auntie Mame.
Cutting Boards
The cutting board has two main functions: The primary is providing a sterile, portable, and cleanable cutting surface.The second function is: it should also not screw up your knife if you use it.
So glass, marble, and hard acrylic or plastic are right out. They are easy to clean, but they also bend and break the knife edge, dulling it prematurely. Really tough call, because there are some stunning hand painted glass ones... but avoid them.
End grain wood boards are excellent, they are showy but will take some care. Regular oiling will keep it from cracking, splintering or adsorbing food odors. I really like these for a presentation and carving more than onion chopping. Definitely not dishwasher safe, however.
Bamboo boards are good, I own several. They are cheap, look pretty nice and are easy to maintain. Just like an end grain board, no dishwasher!
Finally, NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) polyethylene boards are a good choice for utility and the can go in the dishwasher for the sanitation cycle. Get several sizes, they are cheap, and they easily go from counter to pot when dumping in ingredients.
They do chew up fast though, which is why they don't damage your blade. When you can notice the cuts, and they start to develop grunge in them that survives the dishwasher, throw them out. Bacteria now has a bastion set up in your board and it will sally forth, contaminating your food. Don't be cheap! buy new ones.
Holding a Knife and Testing for Fit
Hold the knife at the blade/handle area using a relaxed pinch grip. The thumb should press on the blade right about the place where the first knuckle is on the index finger, or maybe a little twords the second knuckle. The rest of the handle is in line with your straight or slightly bent wrist.
This is where hand size and fit come into play. Small hands might end up with the handle digging in the wrist area. A larger hand might get it in the heel of the palm or the pinch grip might come too close to the cutting blade. Try the Wusthof first, then try a Shun if it is too big. If it is too small.. look around at the options, big handled knives are not that common I am afraid. Mr. Wantanabe will make a longer or larger handle for you, if you can tell him what you want, but that is a last resort.
A single smooth down and forward push should cut through anything. Sawing means the blade is dull, pushing straight down and expecting it to cut means you are dull.
The sharpest blade is a blade in motion.
A little zen moment for you all right there. You are welcome.
Down in the microscopic level the blade is not so smooth looking, there are millions of tiny teeth. You push straight down and try and power through the food and they bend and break, if you are in motion they cut the food cleanly. That, and if it hits something hard while you are forcing to down into the food it is going to twist with all that force behind it, risking a bad cut.
That is the purpose of the sharpening steel: it re-aligns and unbends all those little teeth. Eventually too many teeth break and you have to sharpen it. The abrasive sharpening stones make new teeth and the knife cuts like new. Take it to a professional have it sharpened if you have never used a sharpener before, it will save you time and money to have it done right once a year. Those knives are an investment, and over grinding or rounding the bevel can ruin the knife or the temper on the edge. Don't be cheap and ruin your knives.
An overview of the correct cutting technique can be found here.:
Sometimes a video is worth a few thousand words.
Even better, go to one of William Sonoma's or Whole Foods free knife skills classes. Not only will you learn something, you might find someone to invite to dinner, right?
Never know, it might be "she's the one" next to you in that dorky apron.
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