High-performing steel - purpose made kitchen knives

[Dawn12willow]

Hello!

I would like to buy my husband a kitchen knife for Christmas and I would appreciate any advice or recommendations you can give.

My husband has a passion for knives and a keen interest in steel. In particular, I know he likes VG10 steel and equivalent grades of steel. I am looking at buying the Spyderco utility knife K11P, 14.9 cm. Does anyone know if this is any good or have any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Dawn

 

[Toddy]

Sorry, don't know that knife, but Stuart Mitchell makes some superb cooking and eating knives

https://www.stuartmitchellknives.com

for instance, the Skalpel
https://www.stuartmitchellknives.com/skalpel

or how about these ?

 

[Stew]

There's also Will Catcheside:

http://www.catchesidecutlery.com/

or Owen Bush

https://owenbush.co.uk/

 

[Janne]

If your husband likes 'high tech steel' then I would suggest you look into Miyabi knives
I have a set of the Birchwood SG2, and am superhappy!

if you only buy one knife, then I recommend the 7 inch Santoku, or the 6 inch Chefs knife.


(If he is more of a 'back to basics' guy, then I would recommend a knife from Moritaka Hamono in Japan. Handcrafted, fantastic Carbon steel. Nice people to deal with, but their English is not the best)

 

[demographic]

Another vote for a Santoko Ryusen style of Japanese knife, I have one my wife bought me.
Can't remember the maker but its layered laminated with SGPS inner.

Its utterly beautiful and holds a hell of an edge, plus that blade style is a good all round slicer, dicer and mincer. It is not a chopper for frozen stuff or bones though.
If anyone in the house cuts against a glass board or plates, now is the time to take em outside and give em a right good slap across the back of the lug for it, don't let them anywhere near any decent kitchen knife.

 

[Broch]

Hello!

I would like to buy my husband a kitchen knife for Christmas and I would appreciate any advice or recommendations you can give.

My husband has a passion for knives and a keen interest in steel. In particular, I know he likes VG10 steel and equivalent grades of steel. I am looking at buying the Spyderco utility knife K11P, 14.9 cm. Does anyone know if this is any good or have any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Dawn

Dawn, I presume your budget is £100 to £150 and the K11P is a nice knife in that price range; I would be more than pleased to have one in my knife block.

 

[Dawn12willow]

Hi all

wow, some beautiful looking knives, I had no idea what was out there, looks like I've got a few options to research there!! Yeah I'd say £150 is my maximum budget, but if there was an extra special higher priced one I might buy it as a Christmas and birthday gift in one!

 

[Janne]

God luck in your hunt!

I bought my Miyabi knives from a US company called Cutlery and More.
They have good sales, now the Black Friday sales started ( got an e-mail today)
They send internationally, never had a problem!

 

[C_Claycomb]

Problem in this case with all those makers is cost and time.

The Spyderco K11P has been discontinued in 2019, so if you find one and want that, then don't hang around too long. Some places in the US had them knocked down to under $100. Personally, I would not get the Spyderco. I think that a super kitchen knife should be something that gets used a lot, and I think that something with a bit more finger clearance would be more widely useful in the kitchen.

With that in mind, I might suggest this company:
https://www.japaneseknifecompany.com/knives/western-knives.html

They have a shop on Baker Street, London, which is packed with knives and could be worth a visit if you want to handle things and get advice before buying. The filter on the left side lets you pick what steel you want, but it is a little klunky since it doesn't show the pared down options on the right with all the knife thumbnail pictures...it pares down the list of knife styles/ranges in the "Category" box on the left. One has to pick from that Category list to see what knives match your filter criteria.

I know you say that your husband likes VG10, stainless, and stainless does seem to be more convenient for a kitchen knife, but I would like to suggest the Blue Paper steels, which are available with stainless steel cladding. If left wet, the edges will oxidise, but a knife like this should be looked after, and drying straight after washing isn't that much of a chore! I have an IceBear santoku and my dad has a Murray Carter Santoku both in Blue Paper steel with stainless cladding. Both can be sharpened to split a human hair (hold hair, draw knife across hair 5mm from where held, cuts half way through hair, then splits hair for 3mm).

While VG10 is used in quite a few Japanese made knives (Fallkniven range, lots of Spydercos..etc..etc even in knives that sometimes appear in UK kitchen stores), the Blue Paper steels appear in far fewer. It is a much rarer steel in the UK. The cutting edge is ground a LOT thinner than normal western kitchen knives. The thin, hard edge respond to fine honing on flat stones. They can chip if worked carelessly on rod type sharpeners.

Blue Paper Collection. There is a lot of info about the steel here.
https://www.japaneseknifecompany.co...9,316&material=121,183&price=82-198&style=128

Super Blue Paper collection
https://www.japaneseknifecompany.co...9,316&material=121,183&price=82-198&style=128

The bigger knives are a little higher than your stated max £150 budget, but there are smaller ones within budget that I still think would be more fun for your husband than the Spyderco. Also...laminated blades are just cool.

ATB

Chris

 

[C_Claycomb]

Another brad that is good is KAI Shun. They do VG10 and laminates.


This is a great video that both gives some ideas about what goes in to making a chef's knife by hand ,in stainless steel, and about some things to look for.

More stuff than you want to know about kitchen knives....
Burrfection channel on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOluHMoKJ6CrS0kcybhaThg/featured

 

[Robson Valley]

I've been gifted two expensive Porsche kitchen knives which see very little use.
The steel is very good, the edges are easily maintained. They look nice, one piece stainless steel of some sort.
But
They don't fit my hands. Clever space-age handle shapes and I am not built like that. Disappointing. Uncomfortable.
There's a lot more to a good knife than just some off the shelf steel composition.
I'm convinced that a picture and a data sheet can't sell a kitchen blade.

My oldest wok and cleaver are nearly 50. I have other woks and cleavers.
I buy the little 6" veg cleavers from away in the backs of Asian grocery stores.
Wicked edges, simple handles. Possibly, it's what you get used to.

 

[Broch]

This just shows how subjective this whole topic is; as someone who loves to cook I believe I would use the K11P every day - in fact I have several food prepping knives with very similar profiles. It looks beautifully balanced for use in the kitchen - but, to each their own.

Blades with less depth than the standard 'kitchen knife' are a pleasure to use for prepping food. Having said that the layered Santoku knives are all beautiful, very sensibly priced and many are VG10. However, my next cooks knife will probably be a Tojiro DP VG10 Boning / Filleting Knife.

You can see a vast range of beautiful knives dedicated to cooking at https://www.chefslocker.co.uk/

 

[Robson Valley]

For your amusement, make the aquaintence of a flint knapper. Have them strike off some finger-length "first strike" flakes.
Flint breaks along a molecular boundary such that you get a keen edge which no steel can possibly match.
Now, get to preparing foods. I hope that you enjoy the surprise. Not slippery when wet.
One picture shows some flakes and some bison meat that I'm breaking down for a stirfry.
The other picture shows the flake and some green onions and sliced garlic.

They are next to impossible to sharpen as the brittle stone breaks off.
I've bought a big DMT 320/1200 diamond plate to do some sharpening experiments.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Broch,
Nice site! I hadn't seen that one before. Just seen a Shun Gokujo boning knife that looks rather good.

Regarding the Spyderco, I am sure that I would find it useful, particularly for meat work, where my home made paring knife and santoku are not really the right shape. My comment was made with the assumption that this would be the first high performance kitchen knife in the Willow household. As an addition to my existing knives, great...but instead of either, particularly the santoku...no way. As you say, these things tend to be distinctly personal preference!

Hey RV,
Looked up the Porsche knives. Reminds me of the Global knives we see here. Apparently very similar steel. Might be a little better than Global, but that is faint praise. I bought a Global for a friend once, back in the late 90s before I knew anything.

 

[Robson Valley]

I don't use the Porche knives. True, they are very nice to work with.
I appreciate the gifts and sentiment but I have better edges.
Even the flint is a dream to cut with. Everybody ought to try that kind of an edge.

I pay $15.00 each for the crude little 6" cleavers. They need a total bevel of 20 degrees.
They are right-hand slicing cleavers with 2 different bevels so you have to fix all that.

I put a dangerous edge on each (3) of them. Then I bevel the ends but not too sharp to scoop fine dice.
Fairly stupid to do a good edge then scrape with it. Waste of time and effort.

 

[Janne]

If you buy from the manufacturer you save a bundle.

Choose the Aogami Super (Blue) steel but be aware it is slightly more ‘brittle’ than more standard carbon steels. Hardness around 64.

This company has a patent where the tang is made from stainless steel,which means the tang does not rust inside the handle.
Handles are made from rosewood or similar, not the more usual tulip wood (?) so should last much longer.


https://moritakahamonoen.ocnk.net/

 

[C_Claycomb]

Except that...

 

[Janne]

2 weeks, no big deal?

I think they only take orders when they have worked up a stock.
When I ordered mine, it was the same, I had to wait a couple of weeks to place my order, and when I did it arrived in about one week.

I know the OP wanted a high tech knife. Those are, in a handmade kind of way.

They arrive scarily sharp. First use, I cut myself deeply with the sharp edge close to the handle. I modified all of them.

 

[Billy-o]

Can't say I know a ton about this field, but I do have some knives that I would entirely recommend just from the experience of using them

First is the Fallkniven Blue Whale .. great big bit of thin VG10, 8" with an excellent belly. Handle is rubber/plastic and well-shaped. For it's size it is deft and versatile

Second is a Hattori Santoku. Thin VG10 again, 6 1/2" G10 handle. Lovely, accurate and confidence-inspiring knife.

Third is a Sabatier we were given for a wedding present. Getting on for thirty years old and in great, razorish shape though in everyday use and steeled every couple of days. It is easily our preferred one. I have no idea of the steel in the blade .. but it is soft enough to respond quickly to a swipe on the sharpener, whilst hard enough to hold onto the edge for a decent while. Also, I don't know who owns the Sabatier brand now.

Fallkniven make an interesting boning/fish knife the F2 ... thin, but nevertheless relatively stout compared to the Blue Whale.

If you are looking for a little parer/utility knife, try and find a Great Eastern Cutlery H20 ... tiny little thing but impossibly able. In 1095 steel, so needs looking after ... even though mine has survived being left in water and condiments many times

And, yes, while I remember, an ageing relative has promised me his carbon steel small Sabatier bought in France on a trip in the mid-1970s. Lovely thing it is.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I feel a bit foolish now. The Fallkniven K1 Blue Whale was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread, but the places I looked made me think it might have been discontinued, which isn't the case.
https://www.heinnie.com/fallkniven-k1-blue-whale

A friend has this knife and it really is rather nice. Nothing special to look at, and not as thin as the Japanese knives, but very easy maintenance and takes a great edge.