Santoku vs Chef's knife

[buzzard767]

Does anyone know how long Santokus have been around? Years? Decades? Centuries? Are they just a fad? Why bother having an "in between" knife?

Buzz

 

[Hawkeye16]

Some would say a higher quality "in between" knife is better than having the two regular quality knifes that it replaces.

Personally I say there is a tool for every job. Give me my knife sets

 

[buzzard767]

Some would say a higher quality "in between" knife is better than having the two regular quality knifes that it replaces.

Personally I say there is a tool for every job. Give me my knife sets

In between could be interpreted as "average" and for that I have no interest. As to knife sets, I feel there is way too much duplication. An 18 piece set yields about 5 knives that you'll ever use.

My kitchen has no set, rather individual knives from names of which most would not recognize, ie. Ray Rantanen, Moritaka, Murray Carter, etc.

Buzz

 

[bowlingshirt]

In between could be interpreted as "average" and for that I have no interest. My kitchen has no set, rather individual knives from names of which most would not recognize, ie. Ray Rantanen, Moritaka, Murray Carter, etc.

 

[justplainbill]

Perhaps Big Bro should outlaw the possession of knives not configured like Santokus since pointy knives present a greater stabbing hazard?

 

[CharlieD]

I really believe that in the end it all comes down to personal preferences. The person who got me my wustof set (from the supplier, at thr rock bottom price) talked me into getting 'tomato knife" I am yet to use it. I have 2 santoku knives but I prefer the chefs knife, especially the last one I got 12" one. Love that one.

 

[oneoffour]

I like the greater curve of the chefs knife. It is thicker so the strength of the blade is from the thickness allowing it to drop to a point and not have a tip that bends under normal use. The Santokus is thinner so to keep the blade strength for the full length it ends in a sheeps footed tip. When I want to take the meat off a whole turkey I enjoy using the tip of the chefs knife to feel along the bones. The santokus tip just plows.

I find most veggie work I'll do with a very sharp 4" paring knife. Rutabgas turnips and celeriac and its back to the 8" chefs knife.

My son-in-law just got a set of the hybrid damascus knives that were mentioned earlier. Having more money than cooking skills he has cut himself ever time he has used the knives. They look really good have an excellent edge and have some curve to the blade edge. They still are more sheep footed to the end than a good chef knife.

I have a variety of knives but the one factor I prefer in all of them ( natch not fillet) is to have a blade with a useable heel not a heavy shoulder of steel joining into the handle.

 

[buzzard767]

The home cook only really needs three knives, a chef's, a paring, and a bread. Come to think of it you can replace the paring knife with a Messermeister serrated peeler and buy bread presliced so maybe only one knive is needed.

Of course a family only needs one car. A hunter only needs one gun. A fisherman only needs one pole. If the world worked that way a lot of manufacturers would go out of business.

Then there are aficionados who collect hoards of cars, stamps, guns, cigars, single malts, and even kitchen knives. It just so happens that collectibles aren't found in Macy's.

As to this thread, I choose chef's knife.

bowling shirt - Im not buying into your jealousy post.

Buzz

 

[Billdolfski]

I used to use a santoku all the time, then I started practicing with a chef's knife at school. After a while, the chefs knife grew on me.

Santoku has a thinner blade and is a litter better at a few things, but the chefs knife does it all and it rocks oh-so better.

 

[GB]

In between could be interpreted as "average"

Hmm I am not sure how you came up with that. I do not see what "in between" has to do with quality. To me is just means fusion or a cross between two existing things, but that is just how I take it.

There are some very high quality santokus that are far from average.

Sure you can get with 3 knives in the kitchen. Actually you could get away with just one knife. My father carved the Thanksgiving turkey this year with a paring knife and he did a beautiful job. But what chef would seriously only have one knife or 3 for that matter. You can get away with one, but you can do a lot with all the others too. If I am cutting a cherry tomato I reach for my paring knife. If I am cutting a plumb tomato I reach for my 7 inch santoku. If I am cutting some large beefsteak tomatoes I will either reach for my santoku or my chefs knife.

It really comes down to personal preference.

 

[CharlieD]

The home cook only really needs three knives...

Gee, I'm seriosly over loaded then, I have some 40 or so knives, ok so I use regularly only 20 or so. Common you must be kidding.

 

[buzzard767]

Not denying any of your post GB. By "average" I meant "in between" for lack of better terminology. Anyway, I choose Chef's knife for greater versatility in this particular thread in "knives".

It is my opinion that the threads under "knives" have been too limited to department store and television celebrity blades, almost none of which have any cutting ability whatsoever relative to high quality (and often not overpriced) Japanese/and/or custom knives, and I will start a separate thread relative to same.

My knives slide through a tomato rather than mush through them. I believe everyone should experience that same pleasure. It greatly increases the pleasure of cooking.

Buzz

 

[buzzard767]

Gee, I'm seriosly over loaded then, I have some 40 or so knives, ok so I use regularly only 20 or so. Common you must be kidding.

More to come Charlie. I have more knives than you do.......

Buzz

 

[CharlieD]

How many do you have? And how can you say then that 3 knives is all you need. I couldn't deal with 3 knives.

 

[buzzard767]

How many do you have? And how can you say then that 3 knives is all you need. I couldn't deal with 3 knives.

Charlie, I have in the neighborhood of 300, some untouchable collectors, many seldom touched collectibles like Frank J. Richtigs, and about 30 kitchen knives, 90% of which are Japanese - I'm a convinced convert.

I never said that 3 knives is all *I* need. I said "The home cook only really needs three knives". Totally different. I personally *need* lots and lots of knives, but that's just me. I prefer to use the right knife for a particular purpose in the kitchen. Fussy no, just having fun with cooking. If I had to, a 9 or 10 inch Chef's knife would do 99% of everything I need, except to satisfy my love of knives.

Hope that helps.

Buzz

 

[CharlieD]

Wow, man, you must put picks of your colection up here, for everybody to see. It is something. I used to make knives my self and can appreciate what you are saying and what you colecting. You reallly, really must show us what you've got.

 

[Hawkeye16]

In between could be interpreted as "average" and for that I have no interest.
Buzz

Not denying any of your post GB. By "average" I meant "in between" for lack of better terminology. Buzz

And I thought women were supposed to be the indecisive ones!

Please do post pics of the collection, sounds like a real treat

 

[buzzard767]

And I thought women were supposed to be the indecisive ones!

Please do post pics of the collection, sounds like a real treat

Ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaa haaaaaaa. You got me on that one. I said the same thing twice, just backwards. At least I didn't contradict myself.

Is there a special place to post pictures on the Discuss Cooking Forum? I didn't see one and I don't want to hijack this thread any more than I already have. Anyway, most of my stuff is packed up. I used to live in a large house in Wisconsin and my office was fairly big so the walls were full of knives. I now live in Florida, much smaller home, no basement, and not much room for any kind of display because the walls are covered with golfing related pictures and memorabilia. Consequently my knives are greased, packed, and live in cases in the attic space above the garage. My guns keep them company. Almost all those knives are of the hunting, pocket, or neck varieties.

I'm leaving tomorrow to spend Christmas with relatives but I'll post a little teaser before I go. This is a Hiromoto 240mm (9.4") Tenmi-Jyuraku series Gyuto. A Gyuto is a basically a Japanese Chef's knife except they are quite a bit thinner and are made of totally different steels than their German/French/English/American counterparts. The cladding on the sides of the blade and on the spine are 405 stainless. The cutting edge itself is Hitachi Aogami Blue super steel, the best carbon steel Japan has come up with yet. Its hardness is around 62-63 on the Rockwell scale as opposed to 54-58 on your basic German department store knives.

I had it rehandled by one of my favorite bladesmiths and this mycarta handled hippie on acid Hiro is the result. I haven't seen the knife yet as I had him send it to my sister's in Wisconsin so it could be there by Christmas. I'll take pix up there and post them later.

I bought it as a Christmas present for my daughter and son-in-law. He does 75% of the cooking and he's an electrical engineer house totally wired rec room dedicated to Brett Favre loves to cook on his smoker outside in Minnesota winters kind of guy. This knife should fit right into his (and my daughter's) lifestyle.

Buzz

 

[Fisher's Mom]

OMG, Buzz, those are gorgeous! Even I can see that the blades are magnificent. And I volunteer to help if you ever want to clean out your attic!

 

[Hawkeye16]

Wow, I would LOVE a knife like that! I am sure he will be very pleased!