my humble knife collection

[Choppini]

Most of my knives are veeeeery old. I don't say HOW old, that would tell you guys MY age. We don't want that :p

I could take a look at all of you other guy's stunning Japanese knife collections, it took my breath away. But I know now what to save my money for *lol*

My collection of Fissler and Wusthof shows prob. that I am originally from Europe. The three Fissler Profis I purchased when I moved into my first apartment. The 6" chef knife was the most used knife until I got the Wusthof Santoku and the Han San Nga #4-Cleaver. The 8" chef knife was kind of too big, it never felt really nice in my hand, even the veggie cleaver felt more comfortable.

A few years ago I discovered the KIWI-BRAND nakiri in my favourite asian food store (ahem...we have only two in town :D ), it looked so delicate and thin, I had my doubts about it. But after working with it a few times it became my favourite everyday-veggie-knife. For the bigger tasks I still use the large cleaver, it is nice scooping the veggies up with it.
The KitchenAid Santoku with the granton edge I bought only because it was on sale and I was curious what it is about these "dimples". In my opinion they don't do anything.... Just because the handle feels so nice in my hand I am using it now more often than the Wusthof Santoku. For boning chicken I take the Fissler 6"-utility knife or the paring knife, but I think about getting a "real" boning knife like the HATTORI 4DHD.

I think I am completely addictet since I finally got the 7" wide Shun-Santoku. I purchased it online in the US, it was on sale and still with the S/H + customs it was way cheaper than in our one and only knife store in town. Living on an island sometimes sucks :mad:

So, cutting food got now absoultely new dimensions with the Shun. I could not believe it how different it is compared to my other (always very sharp) knives. It is now the most used knife in my kitchen.

Question: I am pretty ok with boning my chicken with the 6" utility or the extra sharp paring knife.
DO I REALLY "NEED" the Hattori boning knife, or should I save my money for something else..
Please, help. But maybe I should post the question in the cutlery forum?

Choppini

[chefjohn]

we all started somewhere right ? Matter of fact I have the same chinese cleaver...man do I beat the crap out of it too!

[ChrisLehrer]

Not bad at all. No need to feel shy about this collection.

Your question: no, you don't need anything other than a stiff petty, paring, or utility knife to bone a chicken. If you really love to cut chicken apart through the bones, you may want something else, though I find even then that a combination of a stiff petty and a nice big cleaver like you've got does the job admirably.

Since you have now learned the pleasures of a very sharp knife, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to turn into...

a sharpening crazy! Yay! A whole new thing to collect!

And you see, once you get into sharpening, you'll at some point get a knife that will take and hold a better edge than the Shun, and you'll go "wow! how did I ever live with a rotten edge like that!" And then you'll get a finer stone and polish that edge, and think, "wow! how did I ever live with a rotten coarse edge like that!" And eventually you'll be irritated with yourself about how the bevel on your $350 gyuto isn't quite perfectly even all the way along, and feeling ashamed of yourself about it, and you'll realize...

I am an addict

And at that point, there is only one thing to do. You have to mail all your knives and stones to some Good Samaritan, like me for example, and start using Cutco instead.

[apicius9]

I was always wondering if I should bring my training as a psychologist in here to counsel knife addicts. My usual hourly rate would be around one Hiromoto AS gyuto 240 :)

Stefan

[chefjohn]

man you should have a lot more knives by now then lol there are addicts all over these boards !

[Choppini]

well...it took me a while to get back here. Having more than one addiction can be very time consuming, one has to set priorities.

Thanks for all your nice response, I am still giggling about some of your comments, you guys are really bad - in a good sense - I like that very much :D and I feel very much at home here, just don't have enough time for hanging out here a lot.

@ Chris Lehrer: I AM a sharpening crazy already! That's the only reason I waited so long with the purchase of my SHUN. If I would have known....a few days ago I cut literally "a ton" of red cabbage, I startet out as usually with the HAN SAN NGA cleaver and then I switched over to the SHUN, just to have a comparance. WOW!
The SHUN arrived in pretty good shape when I purchased it, it came with the bamboo stand. But I did sharpen it and now it is the way I like it. My stones are 1000 + 8000, and an old very coarse one, I almost never use it, maybe it's a 400 or so

New rule in my house: DO NOT USE THE SHUN IN THE MORNING before you've had breakfast!!!!!!! Had 2 nice cuts on my left hand :o without being careless (no, no fingertips. Just the outside of my left index finger when I tried cutting faster :rolleyes: . And a piece of my middle finger nail, not lenght, off the thickness.... I can see you guys now laughing, don't wanna know about your cuts.

Sorry, apicius9, still don't feel ready for the psychologist, still not crazy enough.

Do I need a SHUN honing steel? I own two regular ones (WMF), a coarser and an extra fine. But are they too soft for the SHUN steel? Until now I just went once a bit over the 8000 instead of honing.

Purchasing another honing steel is not a matter of money, just don't want to buy one if it is not necessary.

[boar_d_laze]

Do I need a SHUN honing steel? Your set can use a good, fine steel.


I own two regular ones (WMF), a coarser and an extra fine. Put the coarse steel away. Far away. It is no friend to you or your knives.

As to what has become the underlying question, "Is my WMF good enough for my set?" It's not a very good steel, but it's probably good enough.


But are they too soft for the SHUN steel? It's a complicated subject, but since mass is many times more important than relative hardness, they're probably hard enough. There's a simple test. If you notice that the knife is scratching shiny stripes up and down the steel, then it's not hard enough and you need a harder one. Use gentle strokes. It won't hurt the knife, but you don't want to screw up the steel.


Until now I just went once a bit over the 8000 instead of honing. A lot of people don't understand the subject very well, and believe that Japanese knives should never be rod-honed. However, your Shun is sufficiently symmetrical and made of a sufficiently tough alloy that appropriate honing will not only be a time saver, but save wear and tear on your knife.


Purchasing another honing steel is not a matter of money, just don't want to buy one if it is not necessary. Try steeling the Shun on your WMF. If you need a better hone, don't waste your money on a Shun. Get an Idahone fine (ceramic).

It seems like you've given up the idea of a Hattori garasuki for the time being. Good. There are more important priorities for your block -- like a slicer.

Hope this helps,
BDL

[kcma]

the only thing you'd accomplish steeling after 8k grit stone is destroy the edge you've just created...

[Choppini]

Thanks, I appreciate your response.

So, I took a deep breath and did slide the knife gently down my extrafine honing steel. Only twice per side. No scratches on the honing steel. And then I tried to make a slice off half an apple, just with the knife's own weight, held the handle at the end and pulled once and pushed back.

Look, what happened, I think it is pretty good, no reason to complain about the sharpness

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8081/applesliceafterhoning.jpg

I did not give up on the Hattori. As I mentioned, at the moment I need to focus on something else in my life, still want more of these wonderful knives and I am glad I found this forum with its wise and helpful members. I have my wishlist, pinned above my desk ;) For the moment I enjoy my Shun, it is pure joy for me using it daily.

There is a saying: enjoy what you have and other good things will find you. Tried it out, I will sign that one.
Cheers
Coppini