Your favorite kitchen Knife brand

ricardojoa · « **on:** 2 Dec 2011, 07:00 am »

Just curious as to what most people preferences are.

S Clark · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 07:16 am »

Tosagata Hocho. Super hard steel for not much $

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 08:44 am »

There are quite a few I really like.

1) Kagayaki CarboNext: These are JCK exclusives but are basically rebadged Ichimonji TKCs. They perform almost exactly like HC steel but they're relatively stain resistant, although not fully stainless. The prices are very good and JCK is great to deal with.

2) Richmond (CKtG): Mark Richmond has designed a large and growing line for his web-based cutlery store, ChefKnivesToGo. There are various blades but they're made for him by Lamson-Goodnow in Vermont. Very good stuff! The Addict 2 is particularly superb for the price.

3) Tanaka: Superbly made blades of Super Aogami! They take an incredible edge and are pretty reasonably priced. Fit and finish is a bit below average at the price but the performance is stellar.

4) Moritaka: Another Japanese maker that hand makes these forged knives in Super Aogami. Their kurouichi finished blades are very attractive and their HT is superb. They're maybe smidge thicker than the Tanakas but F'n'F is better. You'd have to spend a ton of money to get a blade that significantly outperforms it, IMO.

5) Akifusa: This is one branding of the knife; it's also sold as Artisan and Ikeda. The profiles are very flat (French as opposed to German). F'n'F is pretty good. The steel is the real star here, SRS-15 hardened to 64-65 RC. This is one of the all-time champs in regards to edge retention that I've ever seen. It can also hold very acute edge angles without deformation. I reach for my 240mm Akifusa probably more than any of my other knives (the CN is probably 2nd).

6) Hattori: Can't knock the Hattori knives, especially the FH/KF line. No one does HT of VG-10 better than Hattori IMO. Very high levels of F'n'F, too.

7) Nubatama: This one is pretty new to me but already shooting up the charts. I bought a 240mm "Black Steel" Ryu-Ba a couple weeks ago and it's incredible. The maker calls it a Ryu-Ba which basically means "double bevel" but you'd call it a gyuto. The knife is completely hand sharpened and polished by a sword polisher in Japan. When they officially go on sale in the US my 240mm will be a bit over $800 but so far I think it's worth that price.

8. Tojiro: Last but not least, I like Tojiro. Their "main" line, the DP, is very good. They switched to VG-10 a year ago and seem to have improved F'n'F too. And I'd say as of right now, a DP is about as sharp OOtB as any mass-market knife you'll find. But to me the sleeper of the catalog is their new Shirogami line. These are kuruichi knives with Wa-handles; they look a little rough as little effort is spent to make them pretty. The money is put into the Shirogami White Paper steel. The 210mm gyuto is just over $50 but takes and edge that would flat out embarrass many $300 gyutos!

Coming off my Hideriyama Renge Suita this little gem would push cut a plastic shopping bag 2" out!

ricardojoa · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 09:33 am »

wow mostly japanese. Ever heard of wmf? it seems it doesnt get much talked on the net.

Nick77 · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 01:21 pm »

Henckels, but thats because thats all i have. I sure am intruiged by all this talk about Japanese knifes.

DeadFish · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 02:03 pm »

For reasonably priced knives, I've not been disappointed with my Victorinox/Forschner knives.
Stumbled into them when ex-wife decided she needed what we had and I've been happy. Nice variety you can buy shapes you want, good price, and takes a good edge.
I'd rather spend my big money on music or a new car.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 02:17 pm »

I've got several Henckels (both "Single Brothers and Double Brothers") that I like very much, but my new favorite is the ceramic bladed knives from Harbor Freight. The price is stupidly amazingly low. I've used the same one for six months maybe, it gets used daily, has never been sharpened, and....knock on wood....has never been dropped on the floor.

Bob

These are not mine, it's a picture I Googled:

Marbles · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 03:44 pm »

Thanks Bob, I just ordered all 3 for less than $42 delivered!!!

Rob, that's some great info in your thread!

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 04:19 pm »

Quote from: Marbles on 2 Dec 2011, 03:44 pm

Thanks Bob, I just ordered all 3 for less than $42 delivered!!!

Cool!

Please let me know your thoughts.

By the way..... since they're ceramic, if you drop one, you'll have two.

But seriously, I have dropped mine on a hardwood floor and it didn't break. They seem pretty tough, but they are ceramic after all.
Bob

rpf · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 04:35 pm »

I still like my Henckel's Four Star knives, along with a couple of Shun Edos, and a Victorinox Forschner that I use most often. I only cook occasionally and don't have the patience for delicate and non-stainless blades.

rklein · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 05:19 pm »

This is what I am probably going to buy:

Victorinox 8-Piece Knife Block Set

along with a Victorinox Fibrox 7-Inch Granton Edge Santoku Knife

Everything combined will run about $170.

Regards,

Randy

Daedalus Audio · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 05:51 pm »

Kramer knives hands down the best.

http://kramerknives.com/

very expensive though.

Shun Classic are good but a bit fragile. I hear that Wustof are the best of the German and Bob Kramer is working on a signature line with them.

Mike Nomad · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 07:58 pm »

kimchee411 · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 08:18 pm »

I'm definitely no knife aficionado but I like the Misono UX10 210 mm Gyuto a lot. The Global G2 works very well, but the thin steel handle is definitely not for everyone. For heavy German knives I prefer Wusthof over Zwilling Henckels. CCK Chinese cleavers are also great.

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #14 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 08:36 pm »

Henckels 4-Star II for Western style knives, Hiromoto for Japanese style. Both provide excellent quality and value, IMO.

Tyson · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 08:44 pm »

A lot of people don't like Globals because they are so light, but that's precisely the reason I like them. Plus they are very, very easy to clean up since the handle and blade are all a single piece of steel.

S Clark · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Dec 2011, 10:40 pm »

Quote from: Tyson on 2 Dec 2011, 08:44 pm

A lot of people don't like Globals because they are so light, but that's precisely the reason I like them. Plus they are very, very easy to clean up since the handle and blade are all a single piece of steel.

I have a Global veggie knife that gets quite a lot of use. Good knives, price/quality ratio is also pretty good.

SET Man · « **Reply #17 on:** 3 Dec 2011, 05:07 am »

Hey!

Right now my main knife is a carbon 240mm Misono Swedish Gyuto.

Before this my first Japanese knife was Korin 8" Molybdenum that was given to me by the chef who trained me, I still have it but now I use it at home. I also recently bought a $40 165mm Tojiro Shirogami Santoku carbon steel to be use as a back up knife or in smaller setting. It is OK , it is thin and can get very sharp but it won't hold sharpness very long.... well for that price it is OK as back up for me.

I don't have lots of knives or experience like Rob

But I'm fortunate that I had have some encounters with some other knives belong to the people I work with, like Shun 8" Classic, 240mm Togiharu Molybdenum, Wusthof... forgot which one but I remembered he told me that it was about $90 and heavy as hell. I had a chance to play with Carter once it was very good. I have handled and even sharpen some of those knives.

At the end I always run back to my carbon Misono.

It is just feel right in my hand. It is light and well balanced. I really do feel like it is an extension of my hand. Everyone who've handled (with my permission of course) my Misono were impressed, the first thing they noticed is the lightness and than the sharpness. And it is pretty with dragon engraving on it

Actually I like it so much that I bought another one late last year during sale at Korin here in NYC of which I keep on the shelf right now. The reason was that I know that the price of thing would goes up so I like it, it is better for me to buy another one right now. And guess what? The price went up early this year... a lot more and sooner than I thought it would be.

So, look like I'm set for couple of years.

But I'm open for another gyuto to be use along with my carbon Misono.

Take care,
Buddy

audiogoober · « **Reply #18 on:** 3 Dec 2011, 05:34 pm »

German made Wusthof Classic with X50 Cr Mo V15 blades.

taoggniklat · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 Dec 2011, 12:26 am »

I love my Tojiro DP's...The bread knife is fantastic. I have the 10" Chef, 3.5" paring, 6" boning and 12" bread

The Forschner knives are a nice value knife.