Cut Brooklyn is a company (more of a one-man show) that makes kitchen knives the old fashioned way. In this video by Made by Hand he talks about his craft:

Made by Hand / No 2 The Knife Maker from Made by Hand on Vimeo.

I must have missed this post on BlogTO this summer, it’s a list of the best places in Toronto to buy kitchen knives.

• Knife
• Fonseca Sharpening
• Nella Cucina
• The Cook’s Place
• The Internet Kitchen Store
• Healthy Butcher
• Nikolaou Restaurant Equipment
• Tap Phong
• High Tech
• Dinetz

The Globe and Mail has been showing videos of some basic cooking skills. This week is a video on basic knife skills.

Ceramic knives are known to be extremely sharp and hold their edge up to ten times longer than steel blades. Since ceramic is so tough, it takes diamond coated wheels to sharpen them during manufacturing.

Use ceramic knives only for vegetables and meats that do not have bone in them. While remarkably sharp they are very brittle. Side-to-side pressure can break the blade, and hitting a hard material like a meat bone can chip it.

Although normally made of a single basic color like white, this Kyocera Damascus Ceramic Knife shows a much more complicated design.

J.A. Henckels, a long chef standard for knives, has introduced a new line of Japanese-construction knives. These are designed and made by J.A. Henckels Japan. There’s four lines of knives available ranging from the lower 5000 S series to the high end damascus 7000 D (pictured). It should be a nice knife to try and may compare favorably to Henckel’s “Professional S”, MAC or Globals.

Alton Brown has teamed up with Shun knives to create a special line of knives with an angled handle. They are made with a Damascus steel look that is made of layered steel, similar to a japanese sword. The angled handle makes chopping a bit easier for beginners as it makes sure the knuckes on the handle-hand don’t hit the cutting board.

In the kitchen, I’ve used Global knives for many years. They are light, sharp and hold their edge really well. It all starts with the G-2 Cook Knife, a classic chef’s knife that can be used to cut anything. However, I like a straight bladed knife for vegetables so I also have a G-5 Vegetable Knife.

Lately, Santoku knives have been really gaining in popularity as “all-in-one” knives for everyday cooking. They have a much straighter edge like the vegetable knife but curves up a the tip like a chek knife. Many new santoku knives are “fluted” so that it’s harder for things to stick to the knife after you cut them.

Global knives are available at national stores like Williams Sonoma as well as local stores like Nella Cucina and Pepper Mill.

Images from Yoshikin Japan.