Kiwi knife vs more expensive knives

My home kitchen has a "Batterie" of grabable knives I can choose from that can be used to perform most any task. One of the knives I enjoy using a great deal is my Miyabi birchwood 8" gyuto. I love the feel of the handle that allows me to slide up to pinch for control, or slide down to chop--with a gripable ridge on one side of the oval. I appreciate the beauty of the damascus blade, as well as the long lived sharp edge--but that creates a peculiar problem. In order to maintain my enjoyment, I do everything possible to reduce any risk of damage--and that means I often will use a different knife to carry out certain tasks. So far, after 7 years, that strategy has worked to perfection.

One consequence is to rely on knives I could replace for very little that do the task at least as well. That includes my Sir Lawrence carbon steel 7" butcher knife that I've used and enjoyed for over 30 years, and several imitation victorinox serrated paring knives that always get the job done. It's quite easy to find harder steel knives that outperform KIWI at most tasks--like my Sir Lawrence, and require less maintenance, but even KIWIs can do much of what a home cook needs on a daily basis.

My damascus knives still look great in my risk sensitive environment, but my less vulnerable Wusthof Classic Ikon does have a few scratches to show for taking on some of the harder vegetables--knowing the blade would roll over rather than chip--and my carbon steel Sir Lawrence has a patina.
 
I love all your beautiful handmade forged artisan Japanese knives - they`re works of art - My girlfriend loves the specialist knife shapes doing her sushi and seafood.

I have about 5-6 decent knives out of about fifty but I just use a cheapie carbon Chinese chef`s knife most of the time.

I have a bespoke English caidao I take to restaurants, Church and Hare Kryshna temple where I cook for the homeless and they can`t believe I`m using a custom made to my exact specs chopper but I say what`s the point of having it if you don`t use it? ; plus it`s very tough so I know it wont get damaged.
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I bought a few Kiwi knives, 3 sets of three, a few years ago, from eBay.
They are used daily, some have been gifted too, and are excellent slicers, due to their very thin blade stock.
For harder tasks, requiring more force and more rigidity I tend to use other kitchen knives with thicker stock.
The wooden handles are a bit fragile and one had a crack on it from new.
Easy to sharpen and seem to stay sharp for a long time.
I have applied lacquer to the handles after a few years of use, but that is all.

Definitely recommended.
 
calm said:
I bought a few Kiwi knives, 3 sets of three, a few years ago, from eBay.
They are used daily, some have been gifted too, and are excellent slicers, due to their very thin blade stock.
For harder tasks, requiring more force and more rigidity I tend to use other kitchen knives with thicker stock.
The wooden handles are a bit fragile and one had a crack on it from new.
Easy to sharpen and seem to stay sharp for a long time.
I have applied lacquer to the handles after a few years of use, but that is all.

Definitely recommended.
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Compared to what? The OP was looking for a comparison to your more expensive knives--and how often you use them. Why buy expensive knives if all you use are KIWI?

For harder tasks? What are those other kitchen knives?
 
Dr. Rayeye said:
Compared to what? The OP was looking for a comparison to your more expensive knives--and how often you use them. Why buy expensive knives if all you use are KIWI?

For harder tasks? What are those other kitchen knives?
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My dear, I could not care less about answering to your questions. If you need clarification then that is your personal issue. All the best.
 
So, if you're not here to participate in "The Leading Edge of Knife DISCUSSION".....why ARE you here?
 
calm said:
My dear, I could not care less about answering to your questions. If you need clarification then that is your personal issue. All the best.
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It appears we're at opposite poles. You rely on your KIWIs, and use "the expensive stuff" only when your KIWIs might rollover--or worse. I rely on relatively expensive knives, like my birchwood, except when it might chip. Then I pull out an inexpensive, easy to replace knife, that might rollover, but not chip.
 
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Haha I love inexpensive knives like my KIWI chopper ; just got three cheapy knives delivered yesterday - on Sunday because I was low on serrated ones.
For less than £100 I got these 13 plus another five more in a set for a neighbour.
Personally I don`t buy knife sets.
I use my bespoke chopper though because otherwise it`s like having a vintage Bugatti and keeping it in the garage.

Got another Kuhn serrated one coming next week cos my Chinesey one got lost in the post.I`m sure I`ve got a knife fetish LOL

I just buy `em `cos they`ll go blunt and then I`ll have to sharpen `em.

I love sharpening anything - it`s dead relaxing - it`s like meditation - I`ve been messing on stones since 1972 but I don`t really need `em `cos tonight I got an edge on my friend`s dollar knife just by scraping it on a concrete floor LOL.


Here`s my latest Chinese junk - they can double as steak knives too because I got 3 for a tenner.

Got two Chinese mini keyring knives as well just in case plus a few others.
 
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