Some blades from the factory are hollow ground and over time as we sharpen them the hollow is lost, they then seem blunter. Some sharpeners have discs rather than straight edges and these discs do somewhat restore the hollow grind shape. If a knife comes hollow ground my personal preference is to use the ceramic disc sharpeners and on other blades I use good stones and a smooth steel.
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I prefer the top 2 over the chef’s knife also,they are more comfortable to work with than the chef’s knife which for me is a bit cumbersome .
Cheers, Jonny.
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My Grand-father had one of these in the kitchen, which was typically used for cutting up red meat of course. I recollect it was also very effective for splitting and beaking down qld blue pumpkins. There were no ‘chefs’ knives and certainly nothing of Japanese origin to be found in that kitchen, (history lesson required to explain).
https://www.everten.com.au/dr-012-12bu-green-river-12-butchers-knife.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIor3_uJ686gIVTA4rCh3UHAwGEAQYAyABEgKg5PD_BwE
Have we got this all wrong when it comes to cutting steaks from a fillet or dicing meat for a casserole? Neither a Chef’s knife or Santoku, they are just another fad or trend if it is steak on the plate?
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Talk about luck.
I walked past Robin’s Kitchen yesterday and the sign in the window stated "Sale. Up To 80% Off.and their website is showing that they have knives on sale for half price but only for the next 24 hours so if you missed out, you better get in quick.
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The Old Hickory Series of Knives from the Ontario Knife Company are a good knife . Similar to the Dexter Russel . I like their filleting knives .
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We had dinner at The Cattlemen’s Rest Motel in Charters Towers in 2014 and I was provided with a fantastic steak knife to eat my steak with. It was inscribed with the name of the establishment but was a Tramontina Churrasco knife and the motel actually had sets of 6 of them for sale so we bought one.
Fantastic. I use one for every steak and every roast and it has not required sharpening or any other attention. Best knife I have ever eaten with.
Tramontina Australia now list them as sets of 4 for $99.95 but Robin’s Kitchen and others still list sets of 6 for $99.99 and some eBay sellers still list sets of 6 for much less.
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I prefer steak that does not require a fantastic knife.
I recall some visiting chef (French I think, name forgotten) on the search for the perfect steak producing a spoon from his pocket at his TV interview declaring it was part of his test equipment. A little extreme maybe.
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There is a special tactile satisfaction cutting a perfectly cooked eye fillet with a fine steak knife. One gentle smooth slice and it is done. Those never experiencing a veritable perfection of precision and motion may not appreciate it.
I doubt the spoon would have the same tactile satisfaction and you did not post what the spoon was used for, possibly not ‘cutting’ but testing or in the extreme a sadistic way to demean his target by tenderising with 10,000 beats, or just his shtick?
I have a set of circa 1980s Wilkinson Sword Professional steak knives with straight blades that keep a near razor blade sharpness for an inordinately long time. We also have other sets but always go back to the Wilkinson Swords.
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Sorry to expose my "heathen ignorance but I use knives I bought at Aldi and they are the best knives I have ever come across. They are by Crofton and are marked “German Steel”. At around $20 they are (pardon me) a steal. Highly recommended.l
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Being a frustrated home baker, I often make artisan style bread. The 30 year old Mundial knife block serrated knife no longer cuts the mustard. Experimented with the included Mundial sharpening steel to improve it’s bread cutting ability and was quite surprised with the improvement. However, started looking for a replacement and found “Best Serrated Bread knives of 2020” where prices ranged up to $170 (USD) and the Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-Inch Wide Bread Knife recommended as best value which I bought from Amazon US for $35.65 AUD including OZ gst and expedited Amazon Prime delivery.
(Was staggered when it arrived 4 days later, coming from New York to Newcastle.)
The knife is amazing, no pressure required, as it saws through the bread far more easily than the Mundial.
cheers
Dennis
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My wife and I use Furi knives. We find the handle very comfortable and easy to use independent of hand size. I prefer the chef knife but typically am happy to use whichever knife is available if we are both working together.
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I had a set of Mundails forever. My son became a chef and used Victirinox, furi, global and whatever was the rage at the time. Then he went to work in Darwin and found the local (Asian and Aussie)chefs using the Kiwi knives for everything $20 for a set of three! I even came back from a Japan with a hugely expensive sushi knife for him which he no longer uses. I was converted to the Kiwis and everyone of my friends who have cooked with me and used those knives have exclaimed where did you get this knife it’s the best I’ve ever used! I still have the
Mundails but rarely use them because the Kiwis hold their edge for so long and sharpen easily.
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Maybe heresy but I’ll add a vote for Savannah ceramic. We have 2 and they leave metal blades in their wake for many things, such as slicing tomatoes.
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Hold edge = hard
Sharpen easily = soft
?
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Spend the $20 and check them out. They are thin flexible yet I can cut a pumpkin easily. What more can I say!. I’m not a scientist I can’t tell you why they hold their edge and sharpen easily. A quick steel sharpen is all they need. Had them now for 11 years, washed in the dishwasher every day and the wooden handles are still good! Magic?
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Many bread knives are blunted by incorrect use of the honing steel . The picture above shows that only the flat side of blade is steeled not the fluted side . The top knife is a Mundial bread knife 15 years old and glides through bread and tomatoes still. The lower knife is a Mundial also . Had it about 9 years and use it for mainly thinly slicing tomatoes .
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Serrated blades are popular for slicing tomatoes. A straight blade will slice them just as thinly and neater too IMO - if it is sharp.
Serrated blades are also a problem for honing as you cannot sharpen into the scallops with a stone, after a while only the tips are sharp unless you remove much material from the flat side. Sure you can buy a little rats-tail hone that fits the scallops but to me it’s simpler to stick to straight blades.
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As the picture shows you only need to steel the flat side not the scalloped side . Steel the scalloped side and the knife will go blunt . I think that is quite obvious from the the photo what I was trying to explain . Where do I mention honing in my post ? The post was about " steeling " a bread knife . Did I not make myself clear about that ???
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It was clear and what you describe will help for a while. However steeling only grooms the edge by realigning turned metal, it cannot restore an edge lost through abrasion that removes metal.
If you want to keep knives sharp you will need to hone them eventually, which is why I diverged into honing.
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