Help me choose!!

T

tinabee

Joined
Jul 15, 2007
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7
Good morning! You guys know a whole lot more about knives than myself, so I decided to post here in order to make a decision about purchasing some quality kitchen knives for myself. Being a hairstylist for 20 years, my blade knowledge is pretty much limited to haircutting shears....and I am a tool junkie. (Favorite pair out of the 12 I own...... my Hikaris, by far!)

I made a mistake in purchasing my first set of knives. I got those awful Miracle Blades a few years ago, and swore after owning them I would never fall into the trap of buying a cheapie set of kitchen knives again. Recently, I was looking at Linen's and Things, and ended up purchasing a block set of Henckels Twin Signature knives. I got them on sale really cheap ($25.00)since they are a mismatched set, but I don't like them because they aren't weighty enough for me. So, I purchased a set of Calphalon Everyday knives, and they are definitely heavier and better, but I want a good chef's knife to replace the chef's knife in the set, since I use that one 90+% of the time.

Seeing as I have always preferred Japanese shears to German shears, I would really like to have a nice Japanese chef's knife. However, I can't decide what I want, between a Shun, MAC, or Tojiro chef's knife. Keeping the cost of this knife somewhere around $125.00 or less would be good. The Global knives are already crossed off my list, because I want a more traditional grip handle.

Any suggestions? Should I give my Calphalons away as a wedding present to a good friend of mine, and just start over with a nice set of knives, and be done with it? That's almost the direction I'm leaning......:confused:
 
For kitchen cutlery... most german chef knives use a steel that's a bit soft and ground to a very thick blade. Most knife enthusiasts would suggest a japanese knife (like the Shuns, Tojiros, and Macs you already brought up). They're made from far harder steels and ground to a thinner fine edge.

A couple websites that are well known for the good prices and japanese cutlery are:

www.japanesechefsknife.com (Amazingly great service, the BEST prices, and quick 3 day shipping to the US - no joke) unfortunately they stopped carrying the Tojiro line.

www.korin.com (NY city based, has a July chefs knife sale - and carries Tojiros: the best value in japanese chef knives)

www.japanwoodworker.com (San Fran)
www.epicureanedge.com (Seattle)

Good luck.
 
I've not used all of the three you posted, but I have a couple of the Shun Classic line and they are awesome. They come scary sharp from the factory, they're beautiful, and they cut like lightsabers. (Well, maybe not like lightsabers, but they do cut really well.) Highly recommended.
 
I keep hearing good things about the Shuns. :) I may very well end up with them......I'm just looking for more opinions before I make up my mind! :D

How would they compare to my Calphalons?
 
tinabee said:
I keep hearing good things about the Shuns. :) I may very well end up with them......I'm just looking for more opinions before I make up my mind! :D

How would they compare to my Calphalons?
Click to expand...

Shun uses a superior steel, and the grinds are out of this world, amazingly thin. I own 4, and they are my kitchen "go to" knives.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Calphalon is crap.

Tojiros DP's are the most basic of Japanese knives. But they are in a whole other league compared to most German knives. Excellent value.
 
For the price, Shuns have great "fit and finish" but not the best steel, although they do have the asthestically pleasing damascus layering.

I'd suggest taking a look at the:

Tojiro lines (from Korin) for value.

Ryusen Blazen (from Japanesechefsknife) the powdered steel for best performance.

The Hattori HD series (again from JCK) for best damascus pattern (better than Shun - it also has a more western handle rather than the D-shaped Shun) They also use the same steel as Shun's VG-10.
 
fleetparadox said:
For the price, Shuns have great "fit and finish" but not the best steel, although they do have the asthestically pleasing damascus layering.

I'd suggest taking a look at the:

Tojiro lines (from Korin) for value.

Ryusen Blazen (from Japanesechefsknife) the powdered steel for best performance.

The Hattori HD series (again from JCK) for best damascus pattern (better than Shun - it also has a more western handle rather than the D-shaped Shun) They also use the same steel as Shun's VG-10.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about the Shun knives that use the SG2(SuperGold) steel.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I've been looking at the knives on the Korin website, and I've already put a few items in my shopping cart.

Quick question......can the serrated MAC knife do double duty as a carving knife, or will I need to get a separate knife for carving meat.....or will the chef's knife be adequate for this purpose?
 
I have one, and the answer is yes. It also works great as a utility knife for anything that needs a longer blade, like pineapples or heads of cabbage.

A sujihiki will still produce thinner and more precise cuts of meat/fish, but the MAC SB105 will do just fine for most applications.
 
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AG Russell sells these.
Kershaw Shun are pretty good.
Al Mar makes some pretty good blades as well.
I do most of my cutting with a santoku and a cleaver, covers pretty much all the bases.
 
Those knives look beautiful!

Good to know that the MAC will pull double duty....it saves having to get another knife. :D
 
Here are my tools of the trade:

cheap_knife.jpg


I think the sharpening steel cost me $15 at Walmart and the knife probably the same. I steel the knife before chopping/cutting anything and it's razor sharp, all the time. I don't think I could steel a $100+ kitchen knife, those things belong in a display case ;)
 
Ha, that's how my dad feels... won't touch any kitchen knife over $10 bucks.

So what do we say to those guys using $400 Customized Chris Reeve Sebenzas as their everyday tool?
 
I went to the local cutlery shop, and got a chance to handle quite a few knives. As soon as I held one of the Shuns in my hand, that was it...the handle just "melted" into my palm. So I bought a set of those, and I also purchased a good, heavy Wusthoff cleaver. The guys behind the counter even gave me a couple of paring knives for free.

Went home and tried out the Shuns on an apple. :eek: Yeah....these things are SHARP, and I'm sure there will be a learning curve, particularly on the santuko knife that came with the set, because I'm more used to the rocking motion that can be done with a chef's knife. However, the Shun chef's knife was a little big for me. I may end up getting another chef's knife to round out the set that I have if I can't get used to the santoku.

Thank you again for the suggestions. :)
 
Good choice I'm sure you'll love them.
The santoku can take a little while getting used to. I can't describe the motion articulately, but it is more of a back and forth slide. Slide it back and up, then push forward and down. A different motion than the up down up down of a regular chefs knife.
 
I think you described it well......thank you! :)

There is something to be said for going into a cutlery shop, and taking time to try out knives. I'll go there again to make purchases in the future, even if they are a couple of bucks more than the "big box" stores.
 
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