Get your Knives out.

[Steve]

I may be a bit late here but...

In the house I use Globals. I've found that the drop forged ones don't break (GF series) however I have broken a G series before. Bastards to sharpen mind, but if ground every so often and kept in tune on a ceramic steel they're fantastic. Most of mine are over ten years old.

My BBQ knives are mainly Friedr Dicks. They're nylon handled butchery knives, not expensive but when properly maintained they are outstanding. They're not pretty, you wouldn't have them on the wall in your kitchen or anything but they're all go and no show.

[BBQFanatic]

+1 for the Wusthof, but you pay for it. I have the classic and the grand prix range (I prefer the plastic handle). However, based on a butchery course myself and Ben did a few years back at the Ginger Pig (and Steves recommendation) we have also picked up some of the nylon handled butcher knives. They are ridiculously sharp, easy to maintain and cheap as chips. If you are 5 year old and like neon coloured devices you will love these puppies!

[Minesamojito]

I have an I.O Shen chefs knife that I use for 90% of my work have had for 4 or 5 years and love to bits, I have some good but cheap knives from Pro Cook for bits and pieces, boning, filleting, slicing smoked salmon.
And a wonderful set of these
http://www.vavavoodooknifeblock.co.uk/blackvoodooknifeholderblack/
Cheers
Marcus

[crphillips]

I have a full set of 'G' series Global knives. They're awesome. I'm not sure why people don't like them. You just need to know what you can and can't use them for. I've used many knives and nothing chops an onion like a good Japanese knife.

You can't cut through any bone. You don't want to slice through something and flex the knife whilst it is on the chopping board as it can chip the blade. You do have to be careful with them but once you've buggered one you soon find out what you can and can't do with them. They are a little delicate but that's the price you pay for a super sharp knife sharpened to 10-15°. European knives aren't sharpened to this degree which makes them more robust but not as sharp.

I have a reasonable quality knife for hacking through bones and such and I use my global knives for veg and boneless meat/fish.

As for sharpening they're easy. I give them a go on the Global wet stone every 4-5 months and they get sharpened with a ceramic steel before every use but this is something that should be done with any knife.

I'd highly recommend the Global knives and they're not that expensive to try. CostCo have a 6 piece set in every now and then which costs around £180.

[joker smoker]

during my 25 years as a working chef I've owned Wusthoff, Henckells, F dick, Global, Sabatier and countless others along the way spending thousands of pounds doing so. Now I look in TK Maxx regularly and once or twice a year I find a bargain. The last I found were Henckells butchers knives at £7.99 each.

I also look on car boot sales where I find vintage high carbon steel knives for next to nothing.These blades are not shiny stainless types and often look black or rusty but with a little tlc they do a much better job than their modern counterparts.

These are what I look for.With knives like most things, you get what you pay for but if you know what you're looking for you don't have to spend a fortune.


http://stores.ebay.com/ralph1396/Vintag ... l?_fsub=13

[Toby]

I have to admit to being a TK Maxx scavenger, always stock up on silicon brushes if they have them in as well as a load of other pointless gizmos and gadgets.

[keith157]

crphillips has hit the nail on the head. Japanese knives usually come razor sharp with a 15 deg cutting edge and western made knifes 20 deg, so most manufacturers sharpening devices are set for 20 deg. I have an I.O. veg chopper, a couple of knife blocks of assorted makes including 3 Furi's (Australian made like Japanese from German steel - multi cultural ).
However my pride and joy is a Victorian carving set in carbon steel with antler handles.

[bencops]

This is going to be a bit controversial, but here goes:

I've got a drawer full of knives. I've had a load of global knives. They're built to be soft, and so are easy to sharpen on a whetstone, which you must use regularly. They can be very sharp but they're a bit flash and light IMO. After a decade or so of ownership my opinion is that they're not worth the hassle.

However, on most knives, you should be using a honing steel, not a diamond steel that takes off any metal and "sharpens" the blade. Just a normal steel (with the vertical ridges) that realigns the bent edge of the blade. A couple of wipes before every use and you will never need to use an abrasive sharpener again (unless you break the knife edge somehow - try and cut through a metal skewer or something).

I have a very, very expensive chefs knife which I love (wusthof) but just isn't worth the cost compared to the nylon handled nisbets jobs. I have a set of sabatier knives that were pretty cheap from about 15 years ago which have served very well, but which are degraded due to going through the dishwasher and need chucking. I can't dishwash the globals or wusthof which annoys me. I'm going to replace the lot of them (ok not the wusthof) with yellow nylon handled 18 quid knives from nisbets. There - I said it!

[Steve]

I see where you're coming from Ben. But I have a global gf-33 which is heavy for a jap knife but the balance and the edge that can be got on the b*stard makes it my favourite knife hands down. I'd feel like I'd lost a part of me if I got rid of it.

[Toby]

All of my knives go through the dishwasher, havent seen any ill effects as yet and have had some of my Wustofs for 10 odd years..... I must be a typical bloke and not read the instructions