chef knife on a cheapskate budget

[video=youtube_share;e9I_OOPpqqc]https://youtu.be/e9I_OOPpqqc[/video]
Not the video I was looking for, but worth watching
 
Staying off topic:
Here's another video on why the Victorinox is rated so highly.
Again... still not the video I saw which sold me (that video had the knife sent to MIT or Harvard or the like and they put it under a crazy microscope to show how it had the qualities of the highest end knives)
But anyway, this one is still very informative...
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1433-chefs-knives
 
Inevitability said:
There's no point in having a nice knife if I can't accurately sharpen to the correct angle. So I'm gonna DIY a jig that will allow me to accurately sharpen at 15 degrees. Knowing my own procrastination tendencies, it will probably only get done just in time for when the knife I buy desperately needs to get sharpened
Click to expand...

15 deg is quite shallow and the cutting edge wont last long on a budget steel blade. Cooking knives normally done on 20deg AFAIK...

P924 said:
Aside from that, counterintuitively, wood is generally more sanitary as a cutting board.

https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/
Click to expand...

always wondered about that. Why is that? When I cut raw meats then I use plastic and then pop them in the dishwasher afterwards and it cleans really well. cant do that with wood...
 
This weekend's shopping...
20160822_204533-resized-320.jpg
Total = R236 + R150
The board is about 3cm thick, non-specified wood species (it looks like a softer wood and 3 days of use have already left some scars).

paddy_za said:
This is actually the best value for money knife I have ever bought. The colour is a bit ridiculous but it is still insanely sharp and I love the shape and handle: http://www.sharpedge.co.za/kai-pure-komachi-2-chefs-knife-20-3cm?___SID=U
Sharp Edge are based in Sandton City.
Edit: Check the ratings: https://www.amazon.com/Kai-Pure-Komachi-8-Piece-Knife/dp/B0053ORE70
Click to expand...

I sliced some carrots with the new knife to pickle and compared it to my old knife ... I can definitely feel a big difference.
A friend asked me to buy one for him as well and his daughter is a chef... She tried it and says it's unbelievable value for money.
Guy from Sharp Edge said the same.
 
Doesn't matter what brand you use; expensive or otherwise, you should be sharpening it every time before use if you want I to last.

Scan pan or possibly even Jamie Oliver should work for that price.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Doesn't matter what brand you use; expensive or otherwise, you should be sharpening it every time before use if you want I to last.

Scan pan or possibly even Jamie Oliver should work for that price.
Click to expand...
Sharpening removes metal. You mean hone?

The wood looks like pine, but it is end grain.
 
P924 said:
Sharpening removes metal. You mean hone?

The wood looks like pine, but it is end grain.
Click to expand...

Yeah sorry I mean using a sharpening steel.

Not like actually sending it through a grinder.

Even so my Robert Welsh knives all gave off a bit of metal in the first few months.

And what about wood?
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yeah sorry I mean using a sharpening steel.

Not like actually sending it through a grinder.

Even so my Robert Welsh knives all gave off a bit of metal in the first few months.

And what about wood?
Click to expand...
Strange. A hone should only align the edge, unless the burr was never removed, or your angle is incorrect.

The wood comment was aimed at the chopping block picture in the preceding post.
 
So is this honing or sharpening?
 

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I know several cooks/chefs, they all say that expensive knives are for noobs.

Most use a very run of the mill knife along with a steel, use the steel each time you use the knife.

There is a catering/hospitality company that sells a no-name cooks knife, it's either Banks or the other one, Core I think.
 
SlinkyMike said:
I know several cooks/chefs, they all say that expensive knives are for noobs.

Most use a very run of the mill knife along with a steel, use the steel each time you use the knife.

There is a catering/hospitality company that sells a no-name cooks knife, it's either Banks or the other one, Core I think.
Click to expand...

Yup even Anthony Bourdain says go to a catering company.

Not that he says brand name knives are bad, just that you can get 90% there for much less money.
 
P924 said:
More like butchering. Unless there are rotating grinding wheels in there.
Click to expand...

It's got rotating wheels, so honing or sharpening?

EDIT: Nevermind, I watched TheGrove's video. Tks Grove
 
Last edited:
The problem I have with all the stuff on YouTube that describes sharpening and/or honing is that there's never any precision/accuracy.
They'll say things like "imagine a matchbook between the steel and the blade edge"
These guys are all "master bladesmiths" or pro chefs who have had years of training with this stuff.
I'm lazy. I don't wanna train for years. And I want a sharp knife. And I want it done cheap (or free?)
There has to be someone out there who's got a quick, easy accurate and precise way to sharpen and/or hone to the angle one desires ... cheaply, or for free.
In my mind I'm imagining some kind of jig I make once (1 hour of work or less), put onto a drill and use forever to give me an accurate/precise way to sharpen or hone (by just swapping out the jig to different grits).
Don't get me wrong... There's a place in the world for master blade-smiths and their Japanese wet stones.
But the rest of mankind just wants cheap, sharp, edge-retaining knives so we can add to our list of things we take for granted

Speaking of which:
[video=youtube;DFfHGGhCxCM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFfHGGhCxCM[/video]
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yup even Anthony Bourdain says go to a catering company.

Not that he says brand name knives are bad, just that you can get 90% there for much less money.
Click to expand...

I think it also has a lot to do with the beating that a cooks knife will take in a restaurant kitchen. Maybe home cooks want to enjoy some kind of Japanese, Damascus steel object of incredible beauty whilst cooking a home and that's totally cool but for OP the job can be done with a half decent knife and a steel, and that solution will last for years.
 
Inevitability said:
In my mind I'm imagining some kind of jig I make once (1 hour of work or less), put onto a drill and use forever to give me an accurate/precise way to sharpen or hone (by just swapping out the jig to different grits).
Click to expand...
Are you imagining a way to cool these spinning wheels of grinding doom?
 
Inevitability said:
This weekend's shopping...
View attachment 383799
Total = R236 + R150
The board is about 3cm thick, non-specified wood species (it looks like a softer wood and 3 days of use have already left some scars).



I sliced some carrots with the new knife to pickle and compared it to my old knife ... I can definitely feel a big difference.
A friend asked me to buy one for him as well and his daughter is a chef... She tried it and says it's unbelievable value for money.
Guy from Sharp Edge said the same.
Click to expand...

Glad you like it. I have had mine for about 4 years and have never felt it needed to be sharpened.
 
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