Aint nothing like a sharp knife

Ain't nothing like a sharp Chef's  knife in your hand. Don't call me a a psycho killer call me a psycho griller. They say a perfect knife should be an extension of the cooks body. It's not only a slicer, dicer, chopper, bone crusher, and de-boner (yep I said DE-BONER) its can also be a wonderful piece of art and something you can brag about.

The main countries that produce some of the most esteemed knifes have traditionally been German and Japanese. German knives such as Wustof and Henckels tend to be bold, heavy, traditional High Carbon Steel knives that can do everything from skin a peach to cutting through the spine of a chicken. Japanese knives tend to be lighter in feel and are made with a Damascus steel created by layering metal after metal and hammering it to create waves in your blade. This creates less drag when slicing allowing food such as potatoes to slide off of the knife as you cut it.The Japanese also have a knife culture deep in tradition. The city of Seki, Japan first made it's way on the map as the nations premiere samurai sword producer. That's right Samurais swords, how sick is that? Today's modern day cousin of the samerai sword is the knives of Seki, Japan.

I like both but my very first knife was a German Wüsthof Classic 5-Inch Hollow Ground Santoku Knife. It is still one of my favorites but my day to day as of late is my Ken Onion by Shun 8-Inch Chef's Knife. I find that the German knife is a great overall knife and great for crushing bones if needed but the Japanese knives are so much lighter that you can cut for quite a while before tiring out.

Knives are traditionally made from Stainless steel which is a mixture of iron and carbon with the premium lines containing Higher amount of carbon. What that does it create a harder knife that can hold its edge for longer without being brittle.

Another material knives are made of later are Ceramic. Kyocera makes one and I ended up with the Kyocera 5-1/2-Inch Santoku Knife and Y Peeler Set, Pink. It's a great knife, super light and one of the sharpest by far. It maintains its edge for much longer than any of the traditional steel knifes and is substantially lighter. It's drawbacks are its prone to chipping and shattering when contacting a hard surface, you will need a ceramic honer instead of your nornal steel, it has a plastic hand feel more toy like than tool like. I recommend ceramics for paring knives and vegetable preparation but not for meat chops.

Another intresting thing you'll find about knifes are that each culture has its own unique shape.

Western/European knives tend to be the traditional Dagger shape which makes it versatile with a narrow point for peeling and a thick heel for crushing.














Asian Chef's knives tend to be the Sanktoku which means "three virtues." The idea is that it has the ability to be used on Fish, Vegetables and Meats. They have the traditional Sheep's foot shape and tend to have a straighter edge allowing you chop in more of an up / down motions with minimum slice forward/back rocking.














A traditional Chinese "Chef's" knive is a cleaver. Now unlike the German cleaver used almost exlusively to cut through bones and butchering. Chinese cleaver are much lighter and sharper used for cutting, scooping ingrediants, smashing with flat side of blade, tenderizing with spine of blade, and mortar and pestling with the handle of the blade. Personally this is on my xmas gift list for 2010. =)

Either weapon you choose, you have to go into a kitchen store and hold the knife in your hand. The one that feels the best as you slice and dice is the one with your name on it. Happy cutting.

My Chef Knife recommendations:
Japanese















German Style