"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/24/2016 at 11:48 • Filed to: None
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"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/24/2016 at 11:48 • Filed to: None | 3
| 17 |
You know how sometimes you get one of something, and it makes you want to get more of them? I
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
a couple months ago thanks to my brother who works at a fancy knife store, and, well, now I want a couple more.
This is my MCUSTA Zanmai damascus-clad 210mm gyutou with a white corian handle, that I chose with my brother’s help:
I cook all the time, and I
love
this knife. It’s my precious.
The other acceptably sharp knives I have are cheap/decent plastic-handled Victorinoxes: 8" and 10" chef knives and 9" serrated. Well, the chef knives need to be sharpened. They look like this:
My gf is intimidated by my MCUSTA and Victorinox knives. She thinks they’re too big. That’s why I have 5 assorted sharp/cheap paring knives, because she uses paring knives for everything and puts them in the dishwasher silverware basket. It’s really easy to find cheap and sharp paring knives, so I don’t care that she puts them in the dishwasher since I spent maybe 20 bucks on all 5 of them.
The only other knives she uses are these old crappy santoku and petty knives we grabbed from Target or somewhere back before I knew any better. She chucks these in the dishwasher too. I want to get rid of them and get a properly nice petty and santoku.
For the petty, I want this Tojiro DP 150mm, which is 38 bucks on Amazon. It’ll be a great little knife, and no crazy fancy details on it where she’ll worry about messing it up.
For the santoku, I’m going fancy, with the knife at the top of this post, a Takamura Nishiji 165mm santoku. Little bro’s hooking me up with that one. The hammered finish on the blade is so cool.
I’m hoping that even though it’s fancy, I’ll get my gf comfortable with this one, because at 165mm it’s not super big. I’ll get her using the petty first and she can work up to the santoku.
So, my collection will be, from longest to shortest:
Victorinox 10" chef knife
Victorinox 9" serrated
MCUSTA Zanmai 210mm gyutou
Victorinox 8" chef knife
Takamura Nishiji 165mm santoku
Tojiro DP 150mm petty
5 cheap-but-good paring knives
I have a feeling the Victorinoxes will be mostly for breaking down bigger/heavier stuff like squashes or pineapples or heads of cabbage, and maaaaybe after I get the gf comfortable with the santoku, she’ll try the 8" Victorinox, but hey whatever she’s comfortable with.
As long as the paring knives are the only ones that see the inside of a dishwasher, all will be right with the world.
Party-vi
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 11:52 |
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What do you use to sharpen these after use? Do you use a steel on them before use each time?
spanfucker retire bitch
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 11:53 |
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I think the single best gift I’ve ever given my mother was this set of knives from Zwilling J.A. Henckels . She could live to be 110 and I don’t think I’ll ever find a gift that she’ll have used more or been more impressed with.
She can basically cut a cantaloupe in two as easy as cutting a loaf of french bread. They are incredible knives.
Ash78, voting early and often
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 11:54 |
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Wow, nice collection. I got a couple of Henckels santokus and then bought a $10 Tramontina as a “backup” in case the others were dirty or being used. The Tramontina is heavy and not well balanced, but it holds an edge 10x better than the fancy German ones. YMMV...
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Textured Soy Protein
> Party-vi
03/24/2016 at 11:59 |
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I’m really not a sharpening expert. I’ll use a steel every few times I use them, but if they start feeling dull I plan to have them professionally sharpened.
There’s a place near me that charges like 5 bucks a knife for sharpening. I’ve heard good things from friends who work in restaurants, I’ve had the Victorinoxes for about 3 years so they need sharpening, so depending on how that turns out with the place near me, I’ll decide about whether I’ll use that place on the fancier ones, or if I’ll ship those to my brother when they need sharpening.
He’s the guy with the shaved head in this video .
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Party-vi
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:01 |
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I hate sharpening my knives. Also, neato - I‘ve got that same paring knife shown at 1:01!
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Textured Soy Protein
> Ash78, voting early and often
03/24/2016 at 12:02 |
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I really have never been a huge fan of the big German brands like Henckels and Wustof. My mom has a ton of Wustof knives. I was visiting her some point after I had gotten my Victorinoxes, and used some of the Wustofs, and found myself missing the cheap Victorinoxes.
For fancy fancy, I like Japanese.
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Textured Soy Protein
> spanfucker retire bitch
03/24/2016 at 12:04 |
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I know a lot of people like the Henckels and Wustof knives but for me, I’m not a huge fan of the expensive German stuff. I prefer the fancy Japanese stuff and then I’ll have my cheap Victorinoxes for stuff like if I feel like breaking down a pumpkin or something.
Jcarr
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:07 |
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Madison Man Slays 6
CalzoneGolem
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:09 |
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Santokus are my favorite shape.
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spanfucker retire bitch
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:11 |
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I don’t know about Wustof but the Henckels are particularly annoying to buy for. That was the first time I ever went shopping for some high-end knives and the amount of differences between “models” despite carrying the same name is insane.
Some of them are made in China, others in Spain or in Easter Europe with some of the higher-end models being made in Germany. But just some. Others still get made in Spain.
They were a bitch to learn about on which ones were the “right one to buy” but so far her only complaint is that they’re “too sharp” compared to her old knives, lol.
I can’t say I have one opinion on high-end brands vs. other high-end brands either way.
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Textured Soy Protein
> spanfucker retire bitch
03/24/2016 at 12:19 |
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I’m also far from an expert. I haven’t used or researched enough different knives to be one. But my general preference is the Japanese knives usually are lighter and thinner and I just like the way they feel and handle better. Unless you’re doing super fibrous stuff or breaking down bones, I find the thinner lighter Japanese blades more enjoyable to use.
So for me, since I’ve got those cheap Victorinoxes for stuff that German knives would generally be better at than Japanese, I went Japanese for my fancy ones.
But knives are very much something that comes down to personal preference. It’s really hard to say one is objectively the best.
If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:32 |
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If you can afford them, Cutco makes simply the best serrated knives I have ever used. At the very least you need the 9 3/4" slicer/bread knife and the 6 3/4" carver. They’re around $100/ea new. Their table knives are top notch as well.
cazzyodo
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:32 |
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I got myself a Miyabi 8" a few years ago...my God it’s sharp. I love the Japanese style knives over their German counterparts. Thin blade, nice balance, great control. I use that for select cooking and a cheap set for hacking at stuff.
I ended up getting a santoku knife for Christmas because she tends to do a rocking motion and was complaining about her knife set. That thing was used immediately that day.
jariten1781
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 12:36 |
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I do fancy carry knives occasionally, but haven't really got into fancy knives for the kitchen. I picked up a used constant angle sharpener (Edge Pro) and with occasional touch-ups it keeps even the crappiest of crap ludicrously sharp (seriously it's insane how sharp I can make and keep things) so I just purchase whatever feels nice in the hand and am brand/price/quality/steel type/build location/etc. agnostic.
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Textured Soy Protein
> jariten1781
03/24/2016 at 12:43 |
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Knives aren’t something that excite me in and of themselves. I’m a huge food nerd so kitchen knives are something I get a ton of value from. But the only things I carry with me are my wallet, keys and phone.
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jariten1781
> Textured Soy Protein
03/24/2016 at 13:00 |
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Yeah, carry knives are one of those polar opposite things...either you can’t imagine living without them or you see no reason for them. I’m in the first camp...I get use out of mine every single day usually more than once; feel naked without one. I tend to carry midline stuff (Spyderco Delica is my go to) 90% of the time, but occasionally I’ll pick up a fancy limited run custom if I need something to match business attire. Bonus, when I’m bored of the custom they’ve almost always appreciated (sometimes significantly) so there's really only a one time outlay.
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Textured Soy Protein
> jariten1781
03/24/2016 at 13:01 |
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I have a Leatherman multi tool that I use around the house somewhat frequently, but it stays at home.