The Food Thread

bbiggs

That thing looks awesome. I need a good, sharp knife badly. 

eddiec

Cliffy6745 said:

Speaking of knives, Nothing too crazy but the wife bought this for me recently. Feels awesome and is sharp as shit 

Very nice. 

Cliffy6745

Thanks, guys. Pumped to put it into action 

hedonist

Question on the knife - do you all use it primarily for slicing or chopping?  Is it meant to be used one way or the other (or another)?

eddiec

Thanks, guys. Pumped to put it into action 

How do you normally cut? I tend to use a rocking cut, but apparently Japanese knives are thinner than western blades and that type of cut puts stress on the blade and can cause chipping. I've got one on the way so I've been looking into it lately. I think Miyabi's are on the thicker side but you might want to check it out. I definitely wouldn't cut through bones or lobsters with it though. Save that tough work for the thicker western blades.

hedonist said:

Question on the knife - do you all use it primarily for slicing or chopping?  Is it meant to be used one way or the other (or another)?

Cliffy's knife would be categorized as a Chef's knife. (right, Cliffy?)
A Chef's knife is your all purpose knife which can handle just about any task. If you're going with one knife in your arsenal, defo get a Chef's knife. If you're doing a lot of butchering or making a lot of sashimi, you'd probably want to look into more task oriented knives.

bbiggs

^ good info! 

hedonist

Thanks, eddie!

rgambs

It's not amazeballs, and it may be part of a pyramid scheme 😂 but I love my Cutco chef's knife.
Knives that hold an edge also take a ton of effort to put that edge on.  The surgical stainless steel is a nice medium ground, it takes an edge fast and keeps it a while.  I have some old 1970's knives that are very full, but I can't get them to take an edge.  They are some kind of vanadium steel alloy and it's too tough for it's own good.

dankind

We got a Wüsthof set for a wedding gift about 13 years ago. They've held up OK, even though my wife treats them poorly. Seeing how she has absolutely no regard for the "hand or block" rule, I don't think we'll be getting any nicer ones.

jeffbr

I use Global knives. I have a few different Global knives and have used them for 15 years now. I found the European knives (Wusthof, Henkel, etc...) to be heavier and the handle to be bigger. I don't have big hands, and the Japanese knives typically have narrower handles and are lighter. Less fatigue for me when cooking all day or doing a lot of chopping.

And I'll second Gamb's comment about Cutco. It is strange, because I bought one from a college kid who was a neighbor, basically to help him out with his sales. Cutco seems to sell through college kids and at those home shows, farmers markets, etc... I did it because I knew the kid, but it turns out that the bread knife I bought is a solid cutter, and has remained perfect since I got it. And I use it all of the time.

Cliffy6745

eddiec said:

Thanks, guys. Pumped to put it into action 

How do you normally cut? I tend to use a rocking cut, but apparently Japanese knives are thinner than western blades and that type of cut puts stress on the blade and can cause chipping. I've got one on the way so I've been looking into it lately. I think Miyabi's are on the thicker side but you might want to check it out. I definitely wouldn't cut through bones or lobsters with it though. Save that tough work for the thicker western blades.

hedonist said:

Question on the knife - do you all use it primarily for slicing or chopping?  Is it meant to be used one way or the other (or another)?

Cliffy's knife would be categorized as a Chef's knife. (right, Cliffy?)
A Chef's knife is your all purpose knife which can handle just about any task. If you're going with one knife in your arsenal, defo get a Chef's knife. If you're doing a lot of butchering or making a lot of sashimi, you'd probably want to look into more task oriented knives.

Looking forward to seeing what you have on the way.  If your food is any indication, it will be pretty impressive! That's good to know. Yes, it's a chef's knife (8 inches).  It is definitely not tooo thin, but thinner than my everyday guy, a Henckels that I love and is much thicker.  Will definitely continue to use that for everyday use and only break out the new one for certain things.

I am a rocking cut guy too, so that's good to know

GlowGirl

Since we are talking knives, here is my favorite. It is a Henckel 8 inch chef knife. I love it. I had only had cheap knives in the past. This has definitely made a difference. I think it will be need to be sharpened soon. Do you all sharpen your own, or take it somewhere?

eddiec

MF117973 said:

Since we are talking knives, here is my favorite. It is a Henckel 8 inch chef knife. I love it. I had only had cheap knives in the past. This has definitely made a difference. I think it will be need to be sharpened soon. Do you all sharpen your own, or take it somewhere?

Henckel's are great knives. I've had one for years. I'm no expert, and I'm only beginning to sharpen at home. I usually take my Henckel's to my local butcher who sharpens it for me. Here's the thing- most stainless steel types are difficult to sharpen on a whetstone, especially VG-10 steel which I think most Henckel's are. There are a lot of knife forums online that will give you better answers. If you look closely at the writing on the blade it will probably say what type of steel it is.

Get_Right

Knives. Tricky thing. Where I live there are no commercial sharpeners or they are just a pain to get to. I have been gifted serious Japanese knives that require constant care and honestly I am not sure its worth the effort unless you cook multiple meals every day.  Plus my wife has a tendency to drop them, resulting in bent tips. We have a Henkels set that is 20 plus years old and they are great.  For every day use, its a wooden handled Victorinox that I probably replace every five years or whenever my wife drops it.  Works great and holds an edge with just a basic manual sharpener.  If you want to see how crazy people get with their knives check out this site https://www.korin.com/
A lot of other cool stuff in there as well such as the Japanese grills and the binchotan charcoal. Do not gasp when you see the prices for Japanese charcoal.

GlowGirl

eddiec said:

MF117973 said:

Since we are talking knives, here is my favorite. It is a Henckel 8 inch chef knife. I love it. I had only had cheap knives in the past. This has definitely made a difference. I think it will be need to be sharpened soon. Do you all sharpen your own, or take it somewhere?

Henckel's are great knives. I've had one for years. I'm no expert, and I'm only beginning to sharpen at home. I usually take my Henckel's to my local butcher who sharpens it for me. Here's the thing- most stainless steel types are difficult to sharpen on a whetstone, especially VG-10 steel which I think most Henckel's are. There are a lot of knife forums online that will give you better answers. If you look closely at the writing on the blade it will probably say what type of steel it is.

Thanks for the advice. There is a place in my neighborhood that offers knife sharpening services. Maybe when things open up again, I will check it out. I know there are those sharpeners you can buy where you slide the knife through. But I don’t know how good they are and I don’t want to ruin my knife. 

rgambs

I have one of those cheap sharpeners with the V notches, where you just slide the knife toward you a few times. 
I love it! I use it at least once a week.
It won't ruin your good knives, it's sort of the equivalent to buying a purebred dog for a few thousand dollars and then feeding it Old Dad dog food... but guess what, your fancy schmancy whatever dog will live just fine on Old Dad lol
You will not get a razor sharp edge, you will only get a good edge.
I've found that I would rather have a constantly good edge on my knives than a great edge that fades to dull before I get the pain in the ass, but very capable Lansky sharpening kit out to spend an hour sharpening.

As I mentioned though, it doesn't sharpen the Vanadium knives at all.  It does the Cutco surgical stainless steel very well, and my cheap-o knives just fine. 
Honestly, a cheap-ass plastic handled Pampered Chef knife kept sharp at all times is better than a Henckel that's dull most of the time, IMO.  
Around here, most people use expensive, but very, very dull Weather's knives. They offer sharpening, and they are local, but most people can't be bothered to take their knives to the next town over to get them sharpened.  Weather's started with the World's Master Carver, Earnest "Mooney" Warther. They talk about themselves as a world famous and contender for world's best knife, but I doubt either is all that true lol

https://warthercutlery.com

F Me In The Brain

My monster is a Wusthof Santoku and the every day Chefs is a Global.  Paring I have a superb Henkel - and a Global.  Think my baby Chef is a Henkel

Sharpen myself with a few different stones.  A pain but you just have to keep a knife sharp.  

Would love to build on the collection of pots/pans/knives but the utility stuff I have works great.

deadendp

Lemon herb chicken with vegetables in the crock-pot. It is supposed to be a stormy afternoon, so I wanted to get something cooking now. 

GlowGirl

rgambs said:

I have one of those cheap sharpeners with the V notches, where you just slide the knife toward you a few times. 
I love it! I use it at least once a week.
It won't ruin your good knives, it's sort of the equivalent to buying a purebred dog for a few thousand dollars and then feeding it Old Dad dog food... but guess what, your fancy schmancy whatever dog will live just fine on Old Dad lol
You will not get a razor sharp edge, you will only get a good edge.
I've found that I would rather have a constantly good edge on my knives than a great edge that fades to dull before I get the pain in the ass, but very capable Lansky sharpening kit out to spend an hour sharpening.

As I mentioned though, it doesn't sharpen the Vanadium knives at all.  It does the Cutco surgical stainless steel very well, and my cheap-o knives just fine. 
Honestly, a cheap-ass plastic handled Pampered Chef knife kept sharp at all times is better than a Henckel that's dull most of the time, IMO.  
Around here, most people use expensive, but very, very dull Weather's knives. They offer sharpening, and they are local, but most people can't be bothered to take their knives to the next town over to get them sharpened.  Weather's started with the World's Master Carver, Earnest "Mooney" Warther. They talk about themselves as a world famous and contender for world's best knife, but I doubt either is all that true lol

https://warthercutlery.com

Thanks for the input. I have seen the V notch sharpeners and had considered getting one. I will look more into that. The place that sharpens knives is walking distance to my apartment, so when that opens back up I may check them out as well. Who know when that will be though. In NYC we are only supposed to hit phase one of reopening this Monday. Maybe I will get the V notch as sharpening maintenance, and then get it done professionally here and there.

GlowGirl

deadendp said:

Lemon herb chicken with vegetables in the crock-pot. It is supposed to be a stormy afternoon, so I wanted to get something cooking now. 

That looks delicious. You are a whiz with the crock-pot. I have only used mine a few times with less than stellar results. I have a Cuisinart one so I know it is a good brand. Must be me