Knives Out

[ex1580]

Do you only have one or two of a particular type of knife on your knife board at any time or do you keep as many out as possible? I think I prefer only having one nice gyuto out until I'm sick of it then swap it for something else. Or maybe a weekly schedule. Knife of the week! Actually, I think I just need a bigger kitchen, haha.

[aporigine]

Bigger kitchen; word.

I lack storage space, so my cutlery resides in homemade, fitted blocks on the counter island. It’s using up valuable real estate there. I’m toying with the idea of making something wall-mounted to hold the blocks.

Not sure how to select a poll response since all I’m displaying are lotsa handles.

[ex1580]

Bigger kitchen; word.

I lack storage space, so my cutlery resides in homemade, fitted blocks on the counter island. It’s using up valuable real estate there. I’m toying with the idea of making something wall-mounted to hold the blocks.

Not sure how to select a poll response since all I’m displaying are lotsa handles.

I would count that as being displayed. At least they are out, right? I think I need another knife board, or maybe a block. I've been considering one of the Jones Walnut knife blocks but they take up counter space. The goal I think would be to have the workhorses, pettys, and the gyuto of the week up on the board with the rest nearby but just not on display. That's the idea I am playing with right now anyway. I really like the petty knives I have so they never get changed up. I am toying with getting a funayuki just for fun but the board is full and this may come as a surprise to everyone here but I will probably buy more knives at some point.

[salemj]

Didn't answer poll because mine are all in a drawer(s), but I certainly don't "store" any in boxes or anything. I use them on any given day. This was one advantage of designing my own (still modest) kitchen: I have four 30" wide drawers under my countertops/island instead of side-by-side 15" ones or whatever, so I devote one to knives (this holds about 20 in slots of my own design) and then have bleed over to another for "beaters" that is shared with other kitchen tools (actually more like special purpose such as our victorinox knives, bread knifes, and some extra petty knives). I try hard to have this help me avoid expanding my knives beyond what I can store this way, although I've been known over the years to have an "extra" knife from time to time...oops!

[ex1580]

Didn't answer poll because mine are all in a drawer(s), but I certainly don't "store" any in boxes or anything. I use them on any given day. This was one advantage of designing my own (still modest) kitchen: I have four 30" wide drawers under my countertops/island instead of side-by-side 15" ones or whatever, so I devote one to knives (this holds about 20 in slots of my own design) and then have bleed over to another for "beaters" that is shared with other kitchen tools (actually more like special purpose such as our victorinox knives, bread knifes, and some extra petty knives). I try hard to have this help me avoid expanding my knives beyond what I can store this way, although I've been known over the years to have an "extra" knife from time to time...oops!

Your use of the term "bleed over" is concerning.

I would count that as being out. I guess I see people on the internet that "collect" knives but leave them in the box they came in and out of sight.

[aporigine]

The current state of things, with tea station in foreground

No more cluttery cutlery!

[ex1580]

The current state of things, with tea station in foreground

I think I am going to do something like that next to my knife board. Thanks for sharing!

[cliff]

I find the Jones racks Mark has quite efficient space-wise, and they fit most of my knives. Some really thick Sanjo knives and anything over 270 is a problem, but otherwise they're great. For the big ones, I use a bamboo box with cork liners I threw together.

[Radar53]

Just with the way our kitchen is arranged & used I have my knives in a 5-slot drawer rack on a "rotation" basis. So generally a utility knife, a bunka and 3 gyutos. I swap them around every 4 or 5 weeks, mixing types, brands, steels etc differently and have a couple of outliers that I include just for the hell of it.

Not ideal, but very workable as well ..................

[ex1580]

This is some great information! I see a Jones block in my future.

[Kekoa]

I would definitely display my knives if I had the space. I only have a a small handful anyway, so it wouldn't be an issue to have them all out and available if there was a spot to put them. I suppose I wouldn't be displaying any plastic handled beaters, but the rest I'd like to be able to see. Right now they all reside in a small drawer, which I like only for the reason that everybody knows not to touch anything in that drawer without my express permission, that part is good. I suppose I could maybe find a spot to display my knives, but the kitchen I spend all my time cooking in is actually my parents kitchen, so my knives can't go anywhere I want them to.

[aporigine]

I would definitely display my knives if I had the space. I only have a a small handful anyway, so it wouldn't be an issue to have them all out and available if there was a spot to put them. I suppose I wouldn't be displaying any plastic handled beaters, but the rest I'd like to be able to see. Right now they all reside in a small drawer, which I like only for the reason that everybody knows not to touch anything in that drawer without my express permission, that part is good. I suppose I could maybe find a spot to display my knives, but the kitchen I spend all my time cooking in is actually my parents kitchen, so my knives can't go anywhere I want them to.

Plastic-handled beaters need love also.

[Radar53]

A couple of posts here about sharpening Shibata-sans knives. I have a couple of his knives I got back in 2017 ie a 240 Kashima and a 180 Koutetsu bunka. When I first sharpened them I realised that they were a bit quirky so I started a post and got some great input and advice. See below;

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6893

[Ambitious_Goo]

I more or less lack object permanence. If I can't see it, for all practical intents and purposes, it doesn't exist. So my six most used knives (Kurosaki AS gyuto, Yahiko ginsan bunka, Kono HD petty, Masakage Yuki petty, mini beater, paring knife) plus kitchen shears are on a freestanding magnetic block right next to my board, and the rest are on wood covered magnetic strips on the wall.

[atang]

I strive for minimalism. Creating and maintaining space to work, is often more affordable than building a bigger work space. For example, work knives remain in the bag. I pull out what I think I will need for the day, the rest stays packed away. If I need it, they are still with me. Too much equipment creates clutter and almost 99% of the time, I’d rather have the full use of the bench. My home kitchen is a constant compromise; which is void of anything pricier than Victorinox. All hidden away in drawers.

[mauichef]

We are about to start building our new house so I am designing our kitchen to include a display case for (some of) my knives. Not sure of the layout yet so that I can get as many as possible in the allotted space. But I want to get the blocks out of my life as they take up so much counter space. Our last home had blocks in the kitchen, living room and spare bedroom!!!! We had very little time between deciding to move and actually leaving Maui so I was unable to sell off some of my collection. Hopefully when we are settled I can then seriously cull the heard. Hoping that shipping them from Panama to the USA etc will not be a deterrent.

[ex1580]

We are about to start building our new house so I am designing our kitchen to include a display case for (some of) my knives. Not sure of the layout yet so that I can get as many as possible in the allotted space. But I want to get the blocks out of my life as they take up so much counter space. Our last home had blocks in the kitchen, living room and spare bedroom!!!! We had very little time between deciding to move and actually leaving Maui so I was unable to sell off some of my collection. Hopefully when we are settled I can then seriously cull the heard. Hoping that shipping them from Panama to the USA etc will not be a deterrent.

Accent wall? It's a real balance between storage (cabinets) and being able to have things out like magnetic knife boards or hanging pots. I think if there is a utility room near the kitchen then a lot of stuff that would be in cabinets can be stored there and you can have some wall space back from the cabinet maker. I guess I don't NEED so many skillets, haha.

[mauichef]

We are about to start building our new house so I am designing our kitchen to include a display case for (some of) my knives. Not sure of the layout yet so that I can get as many as possible in the allotted space. But I want to get the blocks out of my life as they take up so much counter space. Our last home had blocks in the kitchen, living room and spare bedroom!!!! We had very little time between deciding to move and actually leaving Maui so I was unable to sell off some of my collection. Hopefully when we are settled I can then seriously cull the heard. Hoping that shipping them from Panama to the USA etc will not be a deterrent.

Accent wall? It's a real balance between storage (cabinets) and being able to have things out like magnetic knife boards or hanging pots. I think if there is a utility room near the kitchen then a lot of stuff that would be in cabinets can be stored there and you can have some wall space back from the cabinet maker. I guess I don't NEED so many skillets, haha.

We are building a large "pantry" for all our small appliances and some lesser used pots etc. So hopefully this will allow space for a glass doored cupboard that will be the display/storage.

[Ocicat]

Wow - definitely a little jealous of some of your situations here. While I've graduated from former tiny apartment kitchens, I'm still a bit limited. I have an 18" and a 12" Benchcrafted magnetic wall-mounted boards that hold ~10-12 knives total depending on what's up there. But my main prep space is below some wall-mounted cabinets so there's not really a good place for countertop blocks like the Jones ones. I also have a cork in-drawer one from Amazon that hold 6 more. So I just went and counted, and I have a total of 19 knives within reach where I prep (one tucked safely in the drawer in its saya). And yes, they all get occasional use.

But I have... more than 19 knives. So the others sit in a box in another room until called upon. Which makes this poll a bit hard for me to answer. I went with display, since the OP wrote "or do you keep as many out as possible?" And at the moment that's exactly what I'm doing.

But at the same time, I don't know if I'd want to have all on display. It's just too much! I already have too many options available -- if I put them all out I'd never actually get around to making dinner! Not to mention what the neighbors would think if they came over for dinner and my kitchen looked like this:


(ProTooling in Sydney, Aus)

[ex1580]

Wow - definitely a little jealous of some of your situations here. While I've graduated from former tiny apartment kitchens, I'm still a bit limited. I have an 18" and a 12" Benchcrafted magnetic wall-mounted boards that hold ~10-12 knives total depending on what's up there. But my main prep space is below some wall-mounted cabinets so there's not really a good place for countertop blocks like the Jones ones. I also have a cork in-drawer one from Amazon that hold 6 more. So I just went and counted, and I have a total of 19 knives within reach where I prep (one tucked safely in the drawer in its saya). And yes, they all get occasional use.

But I have... more than 19 knives. So the others sit in a box in another room until called upon. Which makes this poll a bit hard for me to answer. I went with display, since the OP wrote "or do you keep as many out as possible?" And at the moment that's exactly what I'm doing.

But at the same time, I don't know if I'd want to have all on display. It's just too much! I already have too many options available -- if I put them all out I'd never actually get around to making dinner! Not to mention what the neighbors would think if they came over for dinner and my kitchen looked like this:


(ProTooling in Sydney, Aus)

I think there are a few users here with kitchens that look like that. You are in good company here.