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Demetrius

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Update: on a whim, I stopped by TJ Maxx with a friend two weekends ago in Potomac Yards, and ended up buying two things:

1. A Le Crueset stockpot for $40 and

2. A Joie Paring knife (in red) for $3 (I think).

I went with the Joie because it has a little safety hook area to put your finger. I really also like the lightness of it. Little man has used it once comfortably, cutting apples. It's a nice little find.

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Bumping the topic to enter the debate about stamped vs. forged knives. A very nice man from Craigslist recently sold me a fishing knife that will make my father very happy. He also had a cardboard box full of kitchen knives of varying quality, and he wanted just a few bucks for each of them. One was a Zwilling Henckels Twin chef's knife that is stamped, not forged, and I bought it to compare it with my forged Four Star chef's knife. The best I can tell from various websites, the stamped knife came in a block set of their "Gourmet" line.

I have an Edge-Pro sharpener with a set of Japanese water stones that are not original to the EP. I figured I'd sharpen both knives and see what happened.

Please forgive the photography skills - these things are shiny, and I had to get in pretty close. Here are a couple of views of the knives side by side. You can see the stamped knife has no bolster, has a smaller handle, and a smaller blade that does not curve as much. Both knives are well balanced, although the Four Star feels much more comfortable in my hand. The Gourmet weighs 30 grams less than the Four Star. My Four Star gets a lot of use and sharpening, hence the wear, and the relatively new and shiny Gourmet has scarring that indicates the use of an electric sharpener.

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From the top, the stamped knife is more evenly thick throughout the blade, while the forged knife (top) tapers more from handle to tip.

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Here is the edge of the stamped knife up close and personal. You can see that an electric sharpener grinds the bevel, but does nothing to recondition your edge. It's no wonder the person who had this one got rid of it - it's in terrible shape.

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Here is the same edge about half way through regrinding the bevel.

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Here is the finished edge of the stamped knife. And a cat hair on my forged knife. <_<

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Here is the finished edge of the forged knife. It's at a bit of an angle - sorry.

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I didn't have a tomato to do the testing, so I did the newspaper shred test, and both knives sliced the WaPo into fine ribbons. If your knives don't do this after they have been sharpened, go back and ask your sharpening service for a redo.

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I'll do more with them when I get back in the kitchen to cook, but I have to say, the stamped knife takes a really nice edge, it's easier to sharpen without the bolster, and I can't tell the diffference between the sharpness of the two knives. The literature indicates the stamped knife will not hold the edge as long, so that will be something I can comment on down the road.

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I'd forgotten about this thread. For anybody who has not been to Union Market lately, the DC Mobile Sharpening stand has added a pretty staggering array of knives for sale. It's easily the most impressive selection I've seen in the city. A lot of high-end custom work (think Murray Carter, etc., $$$$), but also some entry level traditional Japanese blades around the $100 mark; I forgot to note the brands,but they all appeared forged. If you shell out for one of the real beauties they will throw in lifetime sharpening for free :)

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I have a lot of knives (& try to use them all), my latest is a Thai machete cleaver from import foods.com, along w/ a tamarind cutting board-that was my incentive for the recent picnic- it's just a shame that my Roman pork puller didn't arrive before I pulled 30 lbs. of pork by hand....

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Hey All,

I dropped my beloved, Kmart-purchased (I think? It was back in college), no-name, 8-in chef knife and it is finally dead after almost two decades of service :( so I need something to cook with ASAP. My knife was quite heavy but could do anything (hence the only backup I have is a gifted Wusthof santoku that is nice but too light for heavy-duty work), and I think I liked having a non-metal handle, so Global is probably out. I know I won't care for it too attentively, so I want something that will hold a keen edge as long as possible. Reading about the major finer knife brands, it seems that I'm looking for a Wusthof Classic or something similar. I'm going to go to a store to try things out personally, but are there any other brands/particular knives folks think I should consider? I'm not picky or wedded to any brand ideal at the moment, but I want something I love so I don't have to buy another knife for at least a decade. Thanks!!!

 

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My Shun chefs knife and Nakiri (I think it's written in Japanese) vegetable cleaver hold their edge better than any of my other knives.  But they are quite pricey- I hate Wusthof because I think they are too big and heavy for my hands and arms- so that might work well for you? I also have a couple Henckels that have been good for the money- and they have some with bigger grips than the type I have.

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It is all personal preference.  I lean towards an 8" knife over a 10".  Recently bought several Misen knives on Kickstarter and am just starting to use them.  I tend to have many knives as I have a large kitchen and have room for several folks to be working at once.  And I would not hand a guest a 10" knife.

When I was assisting at L'Academie de Cuisine, students were given 8" knives for the non-professional classes.

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I have a set of Shun knives that I picked up on woot.com a few years ago.  The 10" chef's knife is quite heavy but balanced, and when I have to power thru a lot of chopping, that's the one I go for.  The 7" chef's knife is what I usually pick up for weeknight cooking.   They hold an edge well ..... if you aren't chopping directly on a granite counter -- I need to speak to my sister about not doing this anymore.

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I have used one set of Chicago Cutlery's Walnut Tradition knives for 30 years.  I take good care of them.  I bought the set because Consumers Reports had recommended them and they were within my budget.  They're still pretty cheap.  The seemingly thicker wood handle feels better in my hand than my limited experience with the German knives but that could be because I've gotten used to a certain feel.  They hold an edge pretty well.  I bought a Chef's Choice 3-slot electric sharpener around the same time (also recommended by CR) and it does a good job keeping them sharp.

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Ooooh, thanks for you suggestions, all! We'll see what fits best and go from there.

23 hours ago, MarkS said:

It is all personal preference.  I lean towards an 8" knife over a 10".  Recently bought several Misen knives on Kickstarter and am just starting to use them.  I tend to have many knives as I have a large kitchen and have room for several folks to be working at once.  And I would not hand a guest a 10" knife.

When I was assisting at L'Academie de Cuisine, students were given 8" knives for the non-professional classes.

I've been really curious about the Misen knife ever since Kenji's glowing review. What do you think? How would you say it compares  with the big deal German knives?

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Thanks everyone for your input! It's gonna be a Wusthof Classic. Almost everything else I tried felt too light! I knew my old knife was a bit of a beast but wasn't aware how heavy it was compared other knives. Everything but the Calphalon felt like a toy. The Shun knives are gorgeous but too light and I don't like the long handles.The Globals are also too light and the metal handles are bound to get slippery. The other Wusthof knives didn't feel substantial enough and/or I didn't like the handle materials. Same with the the Henckels I tried. Plus, it turns out I like a raised bolster that goes all the was to the cutting edge. Just personal preference developed from my old knife, and this was the final detail that prevented me from just going with the Misen, which, even sight and touch unseen, presented a mighty temptation and bargain. I went to Williams Sonoma to try out the knives and received SUCH attitude from the (older, male) associate about proper grip (yes, I know about and use the pinch grip but also use a handle grip a lot so want to know how it feels, thankyouverymuch) and how they don't have any Henckels in the store, who then rolled his eyes and audibly sighed when I said I wanted to try more brands before buying on the spot. Ugh. Even if the same knife weren't $40 less online, he would have totally lost the sale!!! Note to folks looking to try/hold a Henckels knife  and also lack access to a good kitchen store - Macy's carries them, though they might not have a great selection to hold in the store since most products are packaged. 

Now, price - I mentioned the price discrimination in the store, but was honestly astonished, since I'd already done my homework online before I went in. I realize that most are not people of the internet like us, but still found it rather shocking that the markup was so large. And I'm not even talking about a comparison with Amazon or the like - the $40 differential is between the W-S brick and mortar store and its own online store! Way to make people feel like schmucks for buying in person…

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I believe in having and using several knives, similar to having many tools in my toolbox.  Also depends what I am cutting and how much of it.  For flattening garlic my 8" wide Wusthof is better suited them the Misen.  I also have several knives which I tend to let guests use when they are helping, unsure yet of whether the Misen will fall into that category.

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They're gorgeous, wonderful, hold an edge and resharpen very well.  But, do you use them often enough to make them worth the price?  I've got a fairly inexpensive set of Wusthof steak knives -- made cheaper by buying from woot.com -- and I've made them my daily dinnerware knives.  I saw a set of the fancy schmancy ones on a discount site several months back and debated getting them and decided against because I didn't think they would be significantly better than what I have now.  If you need to replace or upgrade, though, and you can find a good deal, I'd say go for it.

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