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Post by Student of Sword on Feb 1, 2012 21:02:24 GMT
I am thinking about getting a few Tojiro Zen knives. I have never own good kitchen knives before, mostly because I don't cook. All my current kitchen knives are cheapos from Target. But my little sister is coming to live with me and she is a great cook. She is also planning to go to culinary school. She also loves Japanese cuisine. So I am buying them mostly for her. Are Tojiro good entry level knives?
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ghost
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Post by ghost on Feb 1, 2012 23:45:11 GMT
yea, but "ask" if she likes the traditional japanese-style handles. I hate the stuff - when your hands are even slightly wet it feels ...nasty. There's also a propensity for the "fuchi"-like metal guard to loosen up over time (years) as the wood swells and shrinks so you gotta clamp/bend it back. Also the larger ones with the small hidden tang(s) give em a much heavier blade-feel. (a bit awkward to get used to) Shun's gone towards balancing several lines with the buttcaps. I use wusthof classics with the integral style ~ all Japanese-style and it's amazing They got several higher classed sets. I'd also recommend Messermeister. (only have one of these - fillet knife that I never had to sharpen) It's weird that my german knives are Japanese style and all my japanese knives are euro-style If you go the whole shebang, I've heard great things out of global and shun.
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Post by Student of Sword on Feb 2, 2012 0:04:00 GMT
Ghost,
Thanks for the advice and recommendation. I guess I should speak to her first before buying the knives since she will be the one who use them the most. I have been looking at Shun Classic; they look great; but I am not sure how much more I am paying for look.
What do you think about MAC?
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ghost
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Post by ghost on Feb 2, 2012 18:02:45 GMT
They look really good. Almost like the wusthof classics except wood slabs behind the bolsters. (You definitely want knives with integral or welded bolsters to make it easier to clean) Otherwise I don't have much experience with them. A good avenue of research is to note down which cooking shows your sister favors (on the downlow :? ). You can look up which brand knives her favorite chefs prefer to use (which is what I did). The pros got so many years of experience I tend to consider their advice heavily. Plus she's more likely to love the knives also The knives are not usually advertised on the shows - the is no sponsorship for the knives ergo the logos are usually concealed. You're going to have to look them up one by one. Beware of the chefs who promote their own "name brand" of knives... :lol: Here's a list of some notables and their preferences: Gordon Ramsey - Wustof Rick Bayless - Wustof Jacque Pepin - MAC and Wustof Ming Tsai - Kyocera ceramics (absurdly pricey) John Besh - Shun? As for more forum reading: www.foodieforums.com/vbulletin/f ... lery-Forum The forum above is what I surfed through quite a bit to decide on brands, geometries, etc. Ultimately you'll likely come to a different conclusion than I did. As long as you don't buy Henckel I think your sis will be happy. (My aunt has around 40 made in Japan Henckels and they are a pain in the ass to sharpen and the handle ergonomics are terrible)
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Post by Opferous on Feb 2, 2012 18:14:54 GMT
Aye, I agree that you should ask your sister what kind of balance she prefers on her knives and also how she likes to cook. Japanese knives seem to be finished at a steeper edge so you might not want to smack that into the cutting board or cut into harder medium too often. Wustofs are definitely a great standard, and the Shuns I've played with are very nice.
I got to play with a Hattori at my friend's place though. Really gorgeous and just silly sharp. It's VG-10, I believe, so it is a bit of a pain to sharpen, but it's Seki quality stuff. Plus it had Western style full tang/slabs/bolsters.
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Post by Student of Sword on Feb 4, 2012 23:04:54 GMT
Thanks everyone,
I just noticed that Tojiro and Shun's knives (as well as the vast majority of Japanese knives) are very hard -- in the 60 Rockwell. Plus the blades are thin and the edge angle is very steep. On the other hand, Western knives (German in particular), the hardness is too low -- in the low 50 Rockwell, and the angle is much shallower. Such extreme difference in philosophy. I guess I should be concerned about chipping if I buy Japanese style knives -- even in VG-10 steel.
Also, one think I find surprising is that in the world of western kitchen knives, the manufacturer rarely disclose what steel they are using.
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Post by Theros on Feb 10, 2012 10:24:47 GMT
Shun are good knives, their handles are really great, particularly for professionals that are going to be using them all day. That being said, i worked as a sous chef for several years, and my recommendation was generally for the Tojiro DP series. They are the "entry grade" knives you never need to move up from. I dont have any experience with their zen series, but the DP series are fantestic knives and i prefer them over any of the Henckels or Wusthof i have used(and they are a lot cheaper). Their blades are as good as any of the high dollar knives i have seen, integral bolsters, and i have all ways liked the slab side style. I know some dont.
One thing to remeber about the Tojiros and japanese knives in general is that there is a fairly long list of things you should not cut with them, some you might guess, like bones, others you might not, like pineapple. Like anything else in life a little research goes a long way.
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Post by Student of Sword on Feb 13, 2012 5:47:19 GMT
Thank Theros,
Knew about not cutting bones. Did not know about pineapples. Thanks for the warning. The Zen series is the same as the DP series, only with Wa handle.
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Post by Aaron W on Feb 13, 2012 17:08:19 GMT
Just throwing my two cents into the pot here on this one.
I'm not a cook by any means. I have cooked and I know how, but I am not one professionally. That said, I do work in a professional restaurant with about 5-6 professional cooks. One of the cooks owns a whole set of Shun knives and every cook in the place always uses one of those knives if it isn't taken at that moment. They seem to love them for everything. My girlfriend's mother also owns the same set of Shun knives and I've used them myself in the past when we've gone over there for cooking dinner. They're great knives, good ergonomics, no slippy handles at all.
Hope any of this info helps.
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Post by taylorkarlo345 on Sept 28, 2021 15:56:11 GMT
You can go for Tojiro knife for your sister if she can cook well. But, many other knives are also good like Global, kyoku knife or Nakiri because these knives have very sharp edges and a professional can easily handle these knives. You can also get recommendation if she is going into a culinary school , may be culinary school can recommend some more good stuff
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Post by paulmuaddib on Sept 28, 2021 16:45:38 GMT
You can go for Tojiro knife for your sister if she can cook well. But, many other knives are also good like Global or Nakiri because these knives have very sharp edges and a professional can easily handle these knives. You can also get recommendation if she is going into a culinary school , may be culinary school can recommend some more good stuff Do you realize this thread is from 2012? I think they’ve probably bought the knives by now.
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Post by treeslicer on Sept 28, 2021 17:25:18 GMT
You can go for Tojiro knife for your sister if she can cook well. But, many other knives are also good like Global or Nakiri because these knives have very sharp edges and a professional can easily handle these knives. You can also get recommendation if she is going into a culinary school , may be culinary school can recommend some more good stuff Do you realize this thread is from 2012? I think they’ve probably bought the knives by now.
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