This is a gift for a recently married couple. I've quizzed them a little bit and made some personal judgements to come up with these answers.
1) Pro or home cook?
Home.
2)What kind of knife do you want?
Gyuto 210, or maybe a santoku since they associate santokus with Japanese knives (and have somewhat limited counter and board space).
Wa handle for similar reasons.
4) How much do you want to spend?
$200 soft limit, $300 hard limit.
5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction?
"Non fussy". Either stainless clad with blue 2, or all stainless. See sharpening, below.
7) What are their main knife/knives now?
Modest Western style 6" or 8" chef knife.
8) Are their knife skills excellent, good, fair?
Fair.
9) What cutting techniques do they prefer? Are they a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?
I haven't seen any chopping. Seems like mostly push and rocking.
10) Do you know how to sharpen?
I am fair at sharpening, and will sharpen it for them on request. They also have some kind of stone but don't use it because they are not sure how. I think they're interested, though. This is why I'm leaning towards blue vs say vg10 or r2 despite the added fussiness.
Please also add any additional pertinent information that can help everyone with suggestions.
They're used to indestructible soft steels so I'd like the geometry to be robust. I may be over cautious, but I have bad memories of my partner causing a giant chip in my first knife (vg10). That was years ago and they're still not very comfortable using my knives. I'd like the couple not to have to go through that learning experience .
It's a gift, so looks and style are considerations. I mean, when are they not? But for this I'm not going to pretend they're not . Thus the santoku possibility (but also I think a santoku would suit them just fine). Hammer / tsuchime / nashiji / pattern-weld are all plusses.
I'd like a grind or finish with good release. This should be a daily workhorse for proteins, soft and hard veggies and roots, herbs and other small things, etc.
Willing to compromise on absolute cutting ability. It'll be better than their current knives, that's sure. So it doesn't need to be super thin behind the edge, etc.
So far, my candidates are Anryu blue 2 hammered, or Kurosaki R2; although from Isboogy's comments, it sounds like the Kurosaki might be laserish?
Thanks!
Gift for a home cook
- Drewski
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Re: Gift for a home cook
Might want to have a look at this thread:
https://www.chefknivestogoforums.com/vi ... =2&t=10113
https://www.chefknivestogoforums.com/vi ... =2&t=10113
Re: Gift for a home cook
Take a look at the Takamura offerings...
Takamura Chromax Gyuto 210mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tachgy21.html
or the Takamura Chromax Santoku 170mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tachsa17wtbo.html
Takamura Chromax Gyuto 210mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tachgy21.html
or the Takamura Chromax Santoku 170mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tachsa17wtbo.html
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Re: Gift for a home cook
if they are rocking, I would get them something in full stainless rather than carbon steel just to avoid any possible problems with chipping
Re: Gift for a home cook
Thanks all for the suggestions.
After rereading some of the other recent threads too, I think I'm decided on the Chromax santoku. I'm a bit wary of buying them a steel I haven't used—but it seems to be in a sweet spot of the qualities I'm looking for. Wish it came in a wa handle, though; and in my mind the only proper color for Western handles is black.
I'll have to find some other way of trying out an Anryu or Kurosaki. If they like the Takamura well enough then I'll have some gyuto suggestions for them ;-).
Next question; there is definitely budget left over. I'd like to get them something to refresh their edge so they won't be tempted to use the grooved steel that I know they own.
The Rockwell on this knife is pretty high so I'm guessing a smooth ceramic rod is out. I use a bare roo strop and have no experience with compounds, but I often need to fall back to stropping on a 3K. So maybe a strop plus some spray?
After rereading some of the other recent threads too, I think I'm decided on the Chromax santoku. I'm a bit wary of buying them a steel I haven't used—but it seems to be in a sweet spot of the qualities I'm looking for. Wish it came in a wa handle, though; and in my mind the only proper color for Western handles is black.
I'll have to find some other way of trying out an Anryu or Kurosaki. If they like the Takamura well enough then I'll have some gyuto suggestions for them ;-).
Next question; there is definitely budget left over. I'd like to get them something to refresh their edge so they won't be tempted to use the grooved steel that I know they own.
The Rockwell on this knife is pretty high so I'm guessing a smooth ceramic rod is out. I use a bare roo strop and have no experience with compounds, but I often need to fall back to stropping on a 3K. So maybe a strop plus some spray?
- lsboogy
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Re: Gift for a home cook
If you already have a selection of stones, you should be fine. The Chromax is a very nice knife and can get and stay screaming sharp for a long time Stopping is something I do befor I go prep. And I'm current playing around with 0.5 micron paste on balsa.
Re: Gift for a home cook
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Consider a $65 Naniwa Aotoshi 2K Green Brick (alias GBOJ: Green Brick of Joy).
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/naao2kgrbr.html
It is a great stone for the Chromax (and their modest Western knives) and produces an excellent edge very quickly. Teach them to strop on the GBOJ and it will be enough for a long time.
Re: Gift for a home cook
Interesting! The GBOJ is a pretty intimidating object to keep lying around in a tiny kitchen but they do have a stone already. I'm not sure what it is. I should figure out if it'll suit their stropping needs, esp if it's a combo stone. Thanks for the idea.
One thing I've come to love about Mark's magnet-backed strops is how tiny and convenient (and cheap!) they are. I keep mine stuck on the side of the fridge, and pop it onto the bottom of whatever pan happens to be nearest. Sometimes... I get lazy and just use it on the side of the fridge.
The main issue I have is that a bare strop isn't abrasive enough to keep my knives going for a long time, so I need to either (learn and then) teach them about applying pastes/sprays, or teach them to use a stone.