Go to any beginner cooking class and one of the first things they will teach you is knife skills. The secret to all good cooks and chefs is to have good knife skills complemented by a set of quality knives. You don’t need to go and buy out something that is $100, a basic one will do, but make sure you have a variety for the type of cooking you will do. This article from Gizmodo goes over basic skills that anyone can learn and goes over the basic knife types.
I think that many beginners can get away with forgoing the chef knife and instead picking up a Japan-inspired Santoku (pictured below). The flat-edged blade is easier for everyday use and that style has been picked up by most knife manufacturers.
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I have a chef’s knife I paid $80 for, and a paring knife I paid $40 for (both Global). I also have a 14 knife set which cost $35. I use the two Globals for food prep, the set has a bread knife and other knives for every day stuff (cutting up an apple, etc…) as well as stek knives for dining. The set is crap, but totally sufficient for run of the mill stuff.
Global knives, like the one pictured are quite nice, and can be purchased for comparatively cheap at Dinetz, on King near Jarvis. I personally like the chef and pairing knife combo, because I like the rocking chop you can get with the chef’s which is harder with the model pictured above, and the pairing for smaller work, when the bigger blade is too cumbersome (try deboning a chicken with a chef’s knife or santoku).
The only trick with japanese knives is that sharpening them can require some different tools, a regular steel won’t sharpen it. The trick is that the steel used in japan has a finer grain, and therefore requires a higher grit. Global sells a steel that will do it but it’s not cheap.
Lee Valley to the rescue!! They offer this handy tool which is of high enough grit for sharpening the japanese blades http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=32995&cat=1,43072,43079&ap=1
i also use globals, but i’m thinking about switching. i have a chef knife (12″) and paring knife. i’ve been thinking about getting a 10″ chef knife and santoku instead, and adding a paring knife, bread knife and flexible bone knife. i’ve been thinking about getting shun knives because i like the damascus effect they have.
i was told never to use a steel on my globals, and only use a sharpening stone. can you repost the link to lee valley? i only see a category page.
they must be storing something in the session. It’s under woodworking > sharpening > knife sharpening tools > knife sharpening system
It’s this weird looking black plastic thing with little red and white wheels.
The shun’s are nice (my sister managed to break the tip off of hers, so I spent a good 3 hours reshaping the tip). They seem to hold a nice edge, and I like the shape of their handles too.
IMO, the thing that puts Global over the top is with other knives, especially if you work a lot of raw meat, the microscopic cracks between the blade/tang and the handle get raw meat schmutz in them, and that can breed nasty crap, or just look unappealing.
I love the wootz/damascus look. One smith I know made a lovely effect in a knife called a “Jacob’s ladder” because the etching pattern was cellular and gave the effect of a ladder. In fact, the first smith I studied under made english-style broadswords from wootz steel, those things were awesome.
Yeah the only steel you should use on global (or any japanese knife) is one provided by the manufacturer.
[...] wanted to update the Knife Skills post from a few days back with this video. Here my friend Roger shows some basics, check it [...]