Knife porn thread

Ah ok, maybe I'm mistaken but I find it hard to sharpen and have to work it on a stone for quite a while before there is any appreciable effect.

Discovered Procook has a shop in the Trafford Centre

Is it possible to put someone's posts on ignore retrospectively for financial security reasons? #askingforafriend

Edit: Double pain, I've just remembered I'm going to Archies Atomic there on Monday. Please tell me they're closed on Mondays?

They help to an extent at the start but have issues.

They don't account for non straight edges where you need to lift the blade (anything other than a nakiri or very flat cleavers etc)

They don't account for a difference in blade thickness. Look at a blades with a strong distal taper like blacksmiths from the Sanjo region or most western handmade blades.

They don't account for blade height. If I'm happy with the angle on my 110mm tall Moritaka cleaver, my 150mm petty would fail even sharpening to achieve the same results on all of the above points.

I'm generally Ok with doing it by feel but I definitely mess it up some times and can feel the edge bite more. No longer!

To be fair it's easy to miss, downstairs by the John Lewis, you know, to avoid it.

John Lewis that is the natural entry point for anyone who cycles over as the bike shelter is by their click 'n collect? I'll definitely avoid that. Thanks for the intel.

In other news, buying from Procook online triggered a search from them on my Experian file.

Nice. Let us know what you think. The weighted handles look like a nice touch. I have been thinking of getting the bread knife from their range.

Yeah, magnetic strip is deffo best way to store knives IMO. I got a cheap bamboo one off amazon to match our worktop.

(Pls don’t tell me my knives are upside down. This is how we have them in our house!)

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Why do you have so many knives? I have two. Santoku and petty. I don't eat bread, so that knocks that one off the perch. Just curious.

How many bikes do you have?

Four. Only one of which is ridden.
The others are covered in dust.

Something to work towards…

I meant the rack of knives.

I've only got three knives. When I put the guide on my nakiri, i get a long thin angle. When I put the guide on my 10" "normal" knife, I get a wider angle, suitable for the things I use it for. And my 3" small knife has whatever angle I want it to - I'm happy doing that by hand.

You do understand how the angle can't be consistent with a guide like that though? Same as any geek hobby (although I am a chef for 20 years) things can do but aren't correct.

Yes. I say the exact same words to my partner about decorating.

I enjoy spending time in the kitchen & cooking. l like nice tools made well for a specific task.

The santoku & bunka are very similar for sure (bunka has a very thin blade compared to santoku though), but apart from those two, they are all good at separate specific tasks. The petty was easily the one used most often (as can be seen by the wear) but the recently aquired honesuki has now taken that spot.

You could 100% get by with just two of them (three if you eat bread), but nicely made kitchen utensils and knives are things that I get a lot of satisfaction from using daily, and they are nice things made by humans that last a long time if you treat them well, so are things I choose to spend money on.

Also: why not?

I haven’t spent any money on bikes for a very long time if that makes any difference.

Why would you need a santoku, bunka and petty all pretty much the same size, and add a similarly-sized honesuki into the mix..? I guess you've got differences in heel height but I can't think of many times I'd reach for the two things which sit between the gyuto's height and length or the petty.. Is your honesuki single bevelled? Interesting that that can be come the daily driver.

Also, how's the strength of that bamboo magnet strip? I have a zyliss wood one which is temperamental because the magnets are spaced out at intervals, and it really doesn't play nice with my heavier knives..

I mean the petty is very different to a Santoku or a bunka. Like I said, the bunka and Santoku are very similar. Only reason I got the bunka is I prefer the k-tip, but since I got it I’ve come to prefer the thinner blade also. My partner pretty much solely uses the petty, mostly due to size, but also cos she knows it won’t rust if she doesn’t dry it properly.

The gyuto was one of my first ‘decent’ knives, and I don’t use it that often these days as I find it too big for 90% of stuff, but I’m not just gonna throw it in the bin cos I’ve found other knives that suit my use better. I prefer smaller knives. The honesuki is the perfect mid ground between a petty and bunka for me - I’m really fond of smaller knives as I have small hands - a 150mm length blade is what I’ve found to be ideal for me for most things, and the k-tip is my ideal shape. The honesuki has an SLD steel blade which is a lot easier to care for than the high carbon steel santoku & bunka, so I don’t need to keep drying it when in use. I also really like the forge scale finish of the honesuki, as nothing sticks to it when in use, and it looks really nice. Honesuki is double bevelled.

But like I said - no one would ever need all of them. But there are lot of things in life people don’t need but have because they like them.

Magnet is great. Can’t fault it. Attached with two screws. Was like £15ish on Amazon. I sanded the finish back and oiled it to match the worktop.

Oh any one fancy meeting up on Tottenham court road pro cook shop?

I'll be wearing a rose in my left lapel under the clock.

Isn't a Honesuki a butchering knife?

Bro this is a safe space. You don't need to justify purchases here.

Ignore the Stalinists who would prefer a society where everyone is assigned a fibrox handled chefs knife on their 18th.

Don't get me wrong - I wasn't picking holes in your choices - For instance, I have tools coming out of my ears here and I never miss an opportunity to acquire more. I also have more knives, but it is only the two I mentioned that ever get used.

I wouldn’t call it butchering knife as such, traditionally a honesuki would have been used for boning poultry as afar as i'm aware.

Completely get you - my words to my partner were 'use that one because the other ones have to be washed and dried immediately'. But 'that one' happens to be a Shibata 210 so it doesn't get as much use because of size (and I have a low-level fear of it getting chipped).. I've always been meaning to get a SS petty but feels hard to justify when we already have something that does the job! Also got given a fat carbon steel small petty/large paring which feels nigh-on indestructible and has taken on a patina real quick and that one has ended up seeing the most use because it doesn't have to be babied so hey ho.

@user155490 honesukis are usually poultry knives but they're also usually SB so I imagine what he's got there could probably be thought of more like a workhorse petty..