Bought some new Knives a couple of weeks back as I have been long overdue for a replacement set, I got the Richardson Sheffield Sabatier V set of basic knives and they are absolutley great, slicing Chicken and Beef chopping onions absolutley magic! However I am getting worried about the number of fingers I have left
Didn't count your fingers oss when I shook your hand back at the meetup How many have you lost already??
Too many At least too many bits, I have two large towels covered in blood that are going into the washing machine a a couple of minutes. Great Knives though can't fault them, I have this last few months gone from buying preprepared food to cooking everything from scratch so I really needed these as my old ones were over twenty years old (I've sliced the same thumb up three times now I'll get the hang of them eventually )
Some knives are quite difficult to manage. We had a set of Japanese knives that were only tapered one one side (15degs I think) anyway, my wife could manage fine, but me, big no no, always cutting my fingers. They just would not cut precisely where I wanted and wandered all over (usually my fingers).
I had thought about Japanese knives but don't really know much about them, just needed something nice to manage the basics in the kitchen, still need a good Cleaver but maybe I will get that next month. I have just been spoiled with my old bluntish knives, I had used Richardson Laser knives in the past but mine were bought in the early 1980's and they were better made back then, nice balance, good wood handles and they still cut quite well but it was finally getting to be hard work, they were not really sharp enough to cut your fingers any more but they still did a good job on veg and meat. These new ones though are just stunning but horribly dangerous as well
Well it's only the second set I've ever bought Kuya Buy quality and make them last, if I could afford better I would have done, sadly when I had money my knives were still pretty good and I never bothered to replace them. So I hope this set might see me out PS just made a wonderful chicken curry in the space of about 15 minutes, it was a joy sclicing and chopping the ginger, fresh chilli and onions
agree about the quality Oss I also collect the old "dinner" knives with yellow handles my gran used to have they hold an edge and will sharpen easy
I attended a 'Kitchen Skills' evening course some time ago. It was really good, not just about cooking but also how to use all the tools and pans etc what sizes and all sorts of good stuff really. Very interesting. One of the things they told us was to 'hone' your knives before each use. That's not to sharpen or create a new edge by remove amounts of material, but just to modify the surface to keep it at opimum sharpness. That's what they said anyway, ever since then I just use a special 'honing stone'. You can get a honing steel, just like the butcher uses but that needs a little skill I was never able to master. I do like my knives though.
I was going to get a steel, the steel does not sharpen I believe but simply realigns the cutting edge whereas I thought the stones did sharpen?
Could I slice up a poor little duck foetus Elley? No I am a soft hearted guy I would not do that, it's not in my nature although I have tasted the liquor of Balut once and only once and I never will again. (it was really nice though, I did actually like the liquid but I could not bite into the poor animal, gag reflex )
Sabatier knives.................. say no more.............. Once upon a time, Sabatier knives were the brand to have in any professional kitchen, for their balance, and durability in staying sharp..... Now they are basically famous among the Chef's circles for their slippery handles, poor balance, cheapness and avalaibility, so much so, that they are actually the recomemmended knife set by catering colleges. I have had a set of knives for donkey's years, knives bought in different places, of different brands for different uses, but not a single Sabatier knife amongst them. In the past few years I bought also a two knife set of japanese Bocho, and a couple of months ago I supplemented them with a Fantastic 7" Suntoku.... Now... That's sharp.... I love cooking too, when her indoors letsme have the run of the kitchen, but as finger cutting goes... zilch... oh, I forgot to mention... I was Cheffin' and blindin' for a few years.....
I'm not in the market for paying a couple of hundred quid Dom, although I would like to be able to, these ones are pretty good a lot better than what I had before, it was my carelessness to be honest
