This chefs knife looks interesting. The kick starter is going on now.
At $65, The Misen Chef's Knife is the Holy Grail of Knives | Serious Eats

Yeap. It is interesting. They are at almost $300k with at a goal of $25k.
It's well beyond my expectations.
I guess kickstarter is a massive platform.
The fact that Kenji wrote a piece about it doesn't hurt.


However, that kickstarter has a bit of marketing fluff.
It's also a kickstarter which means no guarantee.
The makers have no knife pedigree.



It looks like a good knife. And an ok value compared to the stuff you might find at your local store.

But there is better out there.
Fujiwara FKM Stainless Gyuto 210mm

http://www.amazon.com/Tojiro-DP-Gyut...dp/B000UAPQGS/




There's more I can say about it, but if you really want to know more, just read it from the knife nerds
Misen Kickstarter Knife

I've been looking into that knife instead of the Shun and would you say that's a better knife for the price?

Also is chefknivestogo a good place to order from? is shipping reasonable?

edit: also found this site: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/Fu....html#Fujiwara

I have ordered from both of those stores, CKTG and JCK.

CKTG, I've always gotten my order shipped to Point Roberts since there's a chance you don't have to pay tax and duty.

JCK, I had ship directly to my house.
I don't know how they did it, but it arrived within 1 week from Japan.
I'm going to assume that was a fluke.


Both shops are legit and professional with their customer service.
Though do keep in mind that JCK is a bit ESL.
There are many many more stores out there, and many more knives to choose from.
Both of these are Canadian.
In case you don't want to get hammered by the currently abysmal exchange rate.
PaulsFinest.com - Wusthof, Japanese and Victorinox Knives, Maha PowerEX Batteries and Chargers
Japanese Chef Knives : Knifewear



If you're buying a Japanese knife, budget in a ceramic hone.
This is mandatory for maintenance.

This is the best price I've found. And get the 12", nobody ever regrets having an extra 2 inches. ;)
Messermeister Ceramic Sharpening Rod, 10-inch | cutleryandmore.com



p.s.
Another good option to look at is the Sakai Takayuki knives.
The 33 layer damascus line is like an OEM blade that gets rebranded and resold under many names.
Sakai Takayuki 33-Layer Damascus Chef's Knife, 210mm / 8.3" :: Sakai Takayuki Knives



The rabbit hole goes deep my friends.
Be warned.

I ended up ordering from JCK last night :) I luckily don't have to worry about the exchange too much.

Got the: Fujiwara Kanehusa FKM Gyotu 210mm and the Fujiwara Kanehusa FKM Petty 150mm.

Will take a look at getting the ceramic hone, should I also look at getting a stone?

There is a japanese knife shop that hand sharpens for 5 bucks near Cambie. If you get a stone, you will need at least 3 of them and learn some skills to sharpen yourself. Its not easy and requires patience. After 12 years in a kitchen and lots of practice I'm still garbage at it. I suggest taking it in unless your interest in it outweighs your interest in being efficient.

Congrats. I've only heard great things about the FKM knives. :)


Knives get dull. Sharpening is inevitable.
You can send them out to get done (I think Westopher posted a link on the previous page), or buy a set of stones and learn to do it yourself.
But be warned, stones and sharpening technique is a whole different rabbit hole.

I like to learn, and the control.
And also keeping my knives in my own hands.

$5 for a sharpen is super cheap. Is this only for industry guys or big bulk of knives?

Also all I got was knife shop near Cambie and Whole foods, do you happen to have the name?

Thanks!

I'll ask today at work. The other sous chef always just bundles up our knives and takes them in.

The knife shop you guys are talking about on Cambie is called Sharpening house. The address on google isn't up to date for some reason. The dude who sharpens my knives runs it through some paper just to show you how sharp it is.

$5 is stupidly, stupidly cheap.
If the shop does it with care and precision, and doesn't take off a minimal amount of material, I would have a hard time recommending anything else.



Sharpening your knives yourself gives you a bit more control.
You can get them sharp like a laser, but then your edge is more prone to chipping.
With the edge so sharp, it will dull quicker.
I usually keep my knives sharp-sharp, but not insanely sharp (except for my new toy, more on that another time).
I usually just do a few strops on my 5000 stone every few weeks to keep it in good condition, rarely have to do a proper sharpen.



Also, I totally forgot to mention this,
A former coworker of mine used to work in a sushi restaurant,
Apparently, his chef had a knife guy, an older Japanese dude that would come to you, collect your knives, then drop them off in a few days.
He did a phenomenal job on my Globals and Wusthof.
Don't remember the pricing.
This blog article mentions him and gives his contact number.
Unsure if he's still active.
Need A New Edge? | Foodists
Probably not worth using Mr. Kitano unless you have some nicer blades.

There's some pix on google from May 2014. Sharpening House charges $8/knife for anything over 5", but also have a 5 knives for $30 value package.

I'm looking to drop a decent amount on a good knife set in the near future. I made the huge mistake of buying a piece of shit set "on sale" at Canadian Tire. Even after sharpening, they're not sharp, water gets in the handles, and one of the handles just broke off from rusting within. So much for "stainless steel"; funny, the first thing these knives did when I used them, was get stained. :rukidding:

Anyone recommend a good mid-range set? Should I hold off for some sales?

TIA

Fujiwara's came in the mail today! Surprisingly fast shipping to go form Japan->TO

http://i.imgur.com/mYxVI9s.jpg

Can't wait to use them tonight :D

can anyone recommend a fillet knife for salmon or halibut?

I use this guy
Masakage Mizu Sujihiki 270mm : Knifewear
And this guy for basically any fish butchery.
Masakage Kumo Petty 130mm : Knifewear

Apologies for the very delayed response.
I've been pondering on your question for a while.


A person's definition of "decent" varies.
Likewise, when most people talk about a "set" of knives, they are thinking of those traditional 10+ piece knife blocks.
And yes, I'm very not surprised at your cheap knives don't "get sharp" aka they can't "take an edge".
They are probably a crappy metal combined with a poor heat treatment.



I would NOT buy a pre-packaged set.
You don't need those extra knives. The hones are always metal and not long enough.
You should focus your money on getting a better chef knife.

In my mind,

Mandatory (aka You should have):
1x Paring for like fruits and very fine work.
1x Bread knife
1x Chef

Optional:
1x boning knife
1x petty knife (baby chef knife)


I think a Victorinox Fibrox knife is good enough for everything on that list.
Search Results for "fibrox" | cutleryandmore.com
I just picked up a couple and was pleasantly surprised.
If you are reaaaally poor, just get the first 3 knives, and a fibrox chef knife.
But I would make the small jump to getting a Tojiro DP chef knife ($50 USD).
That to me is your baseline. It's a wonderfully functional knife.
And one I still happily grab for after making a $400+ upgrade.



You should also get a 12" ceramic hone. Also mandatory.
Ceramic is needed because a good Japanese blade is really hard metal.
A metal hone doesn't work so great with it.
Messermeister Ceramic Sharpening Rod, 12-inch | cutleryandmore.com
A couple strokes before each session to keep the edge in proper alignment.



Then think about if you want to learn to sharpen or not.




Everything after those basic 3 knives + hone = gravy.
The rabbit hole past this goes DEEEEP.
I prefer stainless lasers with a western handle.
Westopher seems to be glued to his Japanese style high carbon blades.

Suggest you start slow, then figure out what you like.

Hmm, thanks for your detailed input Culverin.

The handle on one of my knives literally rusted out from within and fell apart in my hand as I was using it. Most of the other steak knives all have water sloshing around in the handle. Disgraceful.

I just picked up a forged steel Henckels set from Canadian Tire last week, so before I saw this post. Was on sale, normally $380 for $150. It's a huge improvement over the shit I was using before. I just realized in my previous post that my last set was also from Canadian Tire, but I figured I made a pretty big jump over my last set.

I find I use the chef, paring and steak knives the most. Don't cut a lot of bread. The other ones I might not use much.

I still have the box and receipt and could probably return it. Do you buy from cutleryandmore.com? Prices are in USD even though they say they're on sale. Can you get them cheaper locally without the exchange and shipping rate hurting you?

The Victorinox Fibrox I picked up weren't just their "sale" items, but was a bit cheaper still at clearance prices.
Some knives are definitely cheaper from the states despite our bad exchange rate.

I always ship to Point Roberts to pick up there.
So it's free shipping within the US, and I just have to pay the $5 package fee and tax at the border.

Regular retail price in Canada is generally poor.
But if you keep watching places like Ming Wo, Cookworks and sometimes even House of Knives, you might be able to scoop a deal.
But for me, I'd rather just order online, get the exact knife I want without waiting.


Bread knife I don't use often, but it's use is unique, so I'm very glad I have one when needed.



I would return a Henckels set. But $150 isn't going to get you a lot of knife (quantity),
But long term, it'll be a lot of knife (quality).
I would budget a bit more?
Consider the paring for like $15 and bread for like $20-30
You could get the Tojiro DP knife I suggested ($50) and still stay under budget.
But you should get a honing rod.

And then everything else you can budget, dump into upgrading the chef knife.
Make sure you'll still have some cheap beater to go through lobster.

p.s.

When I say "Upgrade" the chef knife, is because the fit/finish of the Tojiro is meh.
Better knives will have:
- tighter tolerances at handle
- better grind
- higher hardness from heat treat
- handle asethetics
- handle material

But the biggest jump will be blade metal.
Since I presume you don't want rust, stay away from Carbon Steels unless you're hella meticulous about wiping it down and keeping it dry.

From from a VG-10 steel (59 rockwell)
to a powdered R2/SG-2 steel (62+ rockwell),
You'll see a jump in edge taking and edge holding ability.


I don't think I should get anymore technical.
Just ask if you have anymore questions :)

Any suggestions on a great pair of kitchen shears? (scissors)

I've got a $100 coupon to use on Ebay or $50 to use on Shop.ca, and I can't think of anything I want, so I thought I'd look for a pair of scissors for the kitchen...or a knife whatever

costing more than the coupon is completely fine


thanks :D

as a guy who cuts a lot of bread with a victorianox bread knife, it works good for certain types but fails on loafs with hard crusts. i find myself going back to serrated knives more often for crusty bread. it just doesnt bite down to get the cut started. once it does though, i appreciate that when you're at the bottom of the cut, you can just press down since its a flat blade instead of sawing through the bottom crust. with a sharp enough serrated bread knife though its not much harder.

recently went to japan and finally started to replace my kit that got stolen =(

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f6&oe=56C37C0D

Hmm, well I think for someone like me who doesn't know much or have much experience with knives, I gotta start somewhere. I'm glad this thread exists so I can refer back to it. I tried out my chef knife last night and it was pretty good, mind you coming from the piece of shit knife set I had before it didn't take much to impress me.

It also depends on how much time one spends in the kitchen. I try to keep my meals simple or else it takes up too much of my time. But I'm gonna make good use of my Crockpot this winter and make big batches, for health and budget reasons. So I'll get good practice with my knife set; see how the chef and paring knives work, and maybe upgrade :thumbsup:

Just like anything I can see how specific and technical it can get. I've learned over the years to pay a bit more for quality and reaped the benefits. Tools, clothes, electronics...definitely makes a difference.

Here's the bread knife I have - got it from Cutlery and More @ $15USD: Victorinox Forschner Fibrox Serrated Bread/Slicing Knife with White Handle, 10-inch | cutleryandmore.com

It's an amazing knife. You don't need to spend a lot to get a good quality bread knife, just keep an eye out for bargains!