I love how Taha effectively did the full anime resistance training by only using the worst knife for half of the tasks, but he's done it so much that he's low key expert at it
Why is this girl calling a boning knife a carving knife !? My mother and both grandmothers peeled potatoes with a knife, because they said potato peelers wasted too much flesh, and they peeled really, really thin.
Ok, Melissa. You got your knives. Now, please, please, PLEASE! Maintain the edges. I feel _so bad_ for Sabrina using “the right knife” for the job and getting punished because the chef knife was so dull.
It just leaves me with anxiety because a dull knife is the one that’s going to cut you. She didn’t show us, but I certainly hope she’s got something in that bag to at least hone the knife to keep it sharp.
@@ianism3 well at least I got to learn how bad Taha is at handling knives. Sometimes I wonder if he purposefully pretends to so bad at things just for entertainment value because seriously how can someone be so clueless at handling knives?
It's kind of the main style of this channel. They start out ignorant but with a question and then slowly build up to gain knowledge as they document their journey. Them being kinda bad at the start and the comparison of before and after is part of that, it's not fashioned around the classic style of information explained from a place of authority.
But that is how knifes play out in reality. The first important skill is to maintain a sharp edge by sharpening and honing. Once you mastered that and used cheap knife, the difference in edge retention is what makes a knife expensive
I'm just a home cook (with a slightly unhealthy knife obsession), but I had to avert my eyes and may go on to experience frightful dreams for the next few days...
I am surprised that you never mentioned, well, why Japan's knives are different. They use a different angle. The blades are typically harder steel, so a bit more brittle but you just have to be careful with them, and the angle used is different. You can't use an American knife sharpener on a Japanese knife without changing the angle of the knife edge. A friend of mine bought me a very nice Japanese chef's knife and it's really stunning. It's slightly terrifying, honestly. I had it lying on the edge of the sink one time and I accidentally bumped into it, with my hand just bumping the edge of the knife which was simply lying there, not against anything, so nothing but its own weight keeping it in place. It sliced into my hand without my even feeling it, just cutting me like a laser. And it cuts other meats just the same, falling through the meat with zero force required. It's spooky, but a delight to use.
This isn't specific to Japanese just more common. Most large scale western knife makes put out overly soft and overly thick blades but plenty of high end or custom makers can do fantastic western style knives, heat treated hard, using amazing steels.
The edge geometry isn't fundamental to the style of knife though, and they did mention the different blade shapes and handle shapes (the parts that are fundamental to the style of knife).
As a fellow "wierd knife person", welcome and remember that the perfect number of nice Japanese knives is N+1 where N, as you surely know, is the current number of knives you have.
Sorry for the question with probably obvious answer, but I want to know. Are you suggesting that Japanese knives are absolutely superior to Western knives in every way?, or are there cases where Western knives are better? I am Curious now hahaha 😅
@@camilolara2046I'm not a chef but I like to cook a lot. My preference is entirely based on shape of the knife and how I like to prep food, which is generally slicing, so I like the Japanese santoku knife the best. I can't imagine using a Western knife because I can't fathom rocking the knife for anything. I suggest looking at how you prepare food and making a decision based on that, because otherwise you'd end up spending a lot of money and be less than happy lol
@@camilolara2046 The shape of the knife is always personal preference. But when it comes to quality I do believe that Japanese knivere are generally the best. You can find great western style knives made in Japan. Kramer by Zwilling comes to mind, design by American knife maker, German company, made in Japan.
I am from Solingen, the center of german knife manufacturing, and I have inhereted all my knifes from my mother, and the "dull knife horror" is really hard to watch....
i love how *everything* has more to it than we’d initially assume or attempt to understand. pasta, knives, coffee, water, soap, all things i didn’t think could be very interesting but then you discover now much you don’t know and your world grows. i love people who’re investing in learning more about literally anything. you name it, there’s always more to it,
As a bladesmith I love this journey. It's about picking a knife that speaks to you, learning to use and maintain it, and then creating food, art and shared experiences. As you build a relationship with the knife it really does become part of the process of creation, it becomes part of yourself, an extension of your body and your expression, and it becomes part of a lifestyle. It's a journey of growth and culture that is relative for all people across the entire world and throughout all of time. All that, and knives are objectively awesome!
Yes! So important to 1. Own a good knife 2. Know the difference between honing and sharpening, and 3. Learn and practice basic knife skills to reduce risk of injury.
Knife safety is important. The part where the knife store owner hands Melissa a knife really bothers me. The owner give her the knife blade first and for someone who owns a knife shop especially when dealing with someone just getting into knives that seems rather egregious
This prompted me to actually go buy the knives I've been meaning to buy for my kitchen. I used Japanese style knives my whole life at my parent's house and am used to using that pushing motion with the index finger on the back of the knife. My wife has all Western style knives and my poor index finger started building up a nasty callous from using the wrong technique for the knife shape. It was so sore after all my Thanksgiving dinner prep. Hours of chopping onions, peeling squash, dicing garlic, gutting and chopping pumpkins... Thanks for the reminder!
I ordered my first whetstones a month ago. I can slice so thinly now. I didn't know honing and sharpening a knife where 2 different things. And my knives dulled slowly enough that I didn't remember what I was missing out on. Sharp knives making cooking so much more pleasant. Sharpen your knives!
I feel like this entire channel is the embodiment of my ADHD. Spend a month hyper-focusing on something. Research it extensively. Become an expert surprisingly quickly. Spend way too much money. Suddenly quit caring about it when the next thing to hyper-focus on comes along.
Well, except forget the "Become an expert" stage. You never become an expert, you just learn a lot fast and move on LONG before you become an expert. That's the entire problem, you just become a dabbler in everything but a master in nothing. I can hold a conversation on almost any topic, but I will never be the one with the insights. The only time you feel like you know anything is when you interact with people who know NOTHING about the topic...which is common mind you, since you get into topics few people do, but you should still never think you are an expert, that's just fooling yourself. This channel is super, super, SUPER not actual expertise for example.
@@Tinil0yup, a scenic tour along the expertise route after they research their stuff and interview actual experts. In all likelihood, they learn enough to realize how little they know and answer a couple nagging questions
This is their job, it has nothing to do with adhd You can correlate to it but this is not adhd videos Or else every science channel would be adhders, which is just impossible
@@hugofontes5708 Yeah, and just to be clear, I wasn't trying to insult them or anything, I love this channel haha. It's just exactly like you described, a scenic tour along the expertise route. To be fair, they are a channel for entertainment and basic edification so they are doing exactly what they should be! I just hope no one mistakes it for ACTUAL expertise. It's fun, and if nothing else it shows the viewers how you tackle these sort of nagging questions you don't know anything about and the experience of learning. Which is super awesome.
Just a small psa to people considering safety razors: most people replace blades every 1 day to 7 days. So 105 razors will not last 3-4 years. Mathematically, it’s still super cheap and well worth it, but I thought it best to mention the most you can expect from that many razors is 105 weeks. Math: if you get a double razor and use each edge for 7 days 15 CADx100 razors. 14 days/razor. 14x100=1400 days≈4 years This math assumes you shave very little every day, think touching up a beard. If you’re more of a groomer, assume to replace every 1-2 days. Personally I get rash and bad shaves after a day or two just touching up my face and when doing legs and down there often that’s a one or two blade job. My gauge is: does it hurt my skin the next few days, or not.
I assume 3-5 years worth is based on using the blade occasionally for body hair removal, like legs, rather than daily use for facial hair. Most people who shave their legs don't shave them every day. When I used to it was more like every 10 days. I think it's more accurate to say that 100 blades will last somebody between 0.5-20 years.
One thing to consider is how often you shave, as that's really when you should change your blade. Most safety razor blades will last 3-5 face shaves, and I'm not sure how thick leg hair is compared to facial hair, but I'm just gonna say about 7 leg shaves. If you keep your blade clean, you should not have to worry about replacing it every week, as that is probably not how long the razor truly lasts. If you are getting a bad shave with your razor, it might be the blade brand. not necessarily just the razor's fault. Try changing the blade more often, or go shopping for a bunch of different blades and buy a few five packs so you can gauge how well the blade performs. Of course, 5 shaves is not going to happen often, so 3-4 shaves with one blade is pretty realistic. That might be one week's worth of shaving, or two, depending on how you like your hair length. This is coming from a male's perspective, but I hope this info helps all, as I found the original comment left out some information. Also, check out the Style theory video for more information on facial shaving because that explains a whole heck of a lot more than I can.
Also, for anyone who only ever used "ladies razors" or the cheapest BIC razors - for the love of all the gods, at least get yourself something like a Gillette Mach5, or BIC Flex5. It's fraction of the cost of a professional safety razor and your skin will thank you.
I use 5x blade women's razer heads (Schick Hydro 5, + on a men's handle because metal > plastic imo) but also I run the razer backwards up and down some fabric before each use (usually a towel because I'm lazy but denim works better) and give it a quick pat dry after use before throwing it back on the shelf. ..and I go through 1-2 heads per year 🤷♀ If I shaved daily instead of 1-2 times a week then maybe I'd go through an entire 4-pack per year - but that's still nothing compared to what some people do. I don't understand how they can possibly wear out that fast
Personally prefer a single use razor above anything else to maintain factory/machine sharpness so the hair would be cut clean when viewed microscopically
I live in Japan and have some basic Japanese knives (nothin too fancy), but the part about the handle shapes and how you press a finger on Japanese knives to cut....I had to apologize to my husband for criticizing him doing that because I had seen on a Western cooking show that it's dangerous to do so. I also have been rocking my knives in the Western style this whole time...eye-opening. Thank you!!
The most impressive thing about the way Taha cut stuff is that he's left handed but he used what is most likely a right handed serrated knife to cut the bread. The side that the serrations are on matters because if you use it with the wrong hand you get wonky meandering slices.
I have never sharpened any of my household knives (default wedding gift set) in the past 26 years. I need an episode about how to hone and sharpen for everyday household knives.
I feel the video could have gone more in depth about Japanese knives and most was spent on cutting stuff with unsharp knives that didn't really prove what knife to use? I love in depth answer in progress goes and felt this video didn't push far enough. It was said we'll learn what makes Japanese knives so special and not much was aid about the metal, the construction of the metal with the layers etc from the bladesmith, the wood handles and how they can be replaced and more differences with the handles. More on chopping styles. You showed at the end the knives you got but not their properties and why you got those particular ones for shape, weight, blade length, etc.
To be fair it followed the scientific process. From the competition results, what mattered for typical home-cooks was familiarity and sharpness, which the experts did mention when talking about knives they've owned and maintained for a long time.
My boyfriend gifted me a brand new beautiful knive with a cutting board and a tool to hone it. I never knew I needed a proper knive THIS bad, but since I have the knive I love to cook again. I just never realized what a difference a good knive can make and of course I take proper care from now on.
When you cut things, especially unusually shaped things, hold it in such a way so that you won’t cut off your finger if you slip. Curl those digits in!
taha is using the lesser-known "old country grandma" (doesn't matter WHICH country so long as it is an ancestral homeland) cutting technique, where you use a tiny knife for everything. minus points for not doing it in a rocking chair
When using a knife and cutting board, you need to put down a silicone mat, or wet paper towel, or use another method to keep your cutting board from sliding around. My cutting boards each have a silicone edge that do the job well. This is just as, if not more so, important for safety and efficiency as keeping your knives sharp... Well, depends on exactly how dull your knives are.
Thanks for the tip I just got a new cutting board which has tiny bumps all over the back, pretty much makes it perfect for skidding around all over the place with minimal force
Got rid of all my knives that is mostly marketing and I have 3 knives. Serrated for bread, a Japanese vg10 stainless steel bunka as a chef knife, smaller for my small hands and nimble and a petty knife another stainless but better. I knew I couldn't be bothered by being careful with the other non stainless options that require immediate wash and dry after cutting acidic things. I learned to sharpen them with whet stones so I can do it myself whenever needed, and I Friggin love those knives. So satisfying to have the right tools for the right job 👌 cuts so well and a pleasure to use. Makes cooking infinitely more fun
alright let me address the elephant in the room watching you peel a potato is painful never the less, love your channel guys keep up doing those videos
Two more elephants: For peeling there are potato peelers. As there exist for other vegetable. For restaurants: There are pre-peeled potatoes done by a machine. You can buy them truckloads and they are even organic.
I just got a santoku knife a few weeks ago and WOW it makes a difference! I’m in an oral communications class and had to do a sales pitch. I pitched the knife! 😂 My husband used it and literally turned around to me and said, “Hey uh, is there anything else I can cut?” 😂 It’s satisfying as hell.
ever since i was a really little kid it has been ingrained into my mind that A.) when using a knife that you HAVE to use a sharp knife, B.) when cutting larger stuff, curl your fingers in when possible, and C.) never point the knife towards yourself or anyone else if you are skinning stuff. kinda surprising to realize that apparently that isn't stuff everyone knows
I am grateful to myself for ruthlessly using the "Don't recommend channel" option and thus making room for recommendations to the channels like this. 😁
Lots of notes in the comments about the dull knife issues, but if also like to toss in a wet paper towel or towel under your cutting board to prevent it from sliding around. And use a claw hand shape to keep those fingers away from the blade.
My favorite knife is a $5 vegetable cleaver I got from a local Asian grocery store. It’s not a fancy/sexy knife, but I genuinely enjoy meal prep with it and use it for almost everything.
I use a $3 knife that I got at Daiso, honed with a whetstone that costs 10x as much. It just feels so nice and in control that the only other blade I might use to prep food is scissors.
Applies to all tools: Precision first; if it's sloppy, you get sloppy results. After that, form dictates how you use it, and you develop technique from there to reduce effort and wear.
"shaving a kiwi for our sponsor" As a kiwi it's always weird hearing Americans call kiwifruit a kiwi, but it's extra weird when you chapter list makes it sound like you are either shaving our national bird, or just randomly shaving a person.
Someone bought me an expensive knife last year and it’s defiently one of those things I needed that I never knew I did. Cooking with a high quality knife makes so much difference.
There really is a sentimental value to knives, especially as a chef. My knife set was gifted to me when I started my apprenticeship, it's a constant reminder that someone believed in me. (Also they're Japanese shun, I love the light weight and for my tiny hands, the handles are the perfect size and shape to grip)
For some reason UA-cam has been recommending only the videos with Sabrina to me, so I was so surprise to realize today that there are more creators on this chanel 🤯
Your love of knives has been noted and I officially love you more for it, because you are my people that research things down the rabbit hole for the sake of it. It took me weeks of research before I knew which japanese chef knife I wanted, down to the steel and make of it. I did the same for safety razors and I own a Henson 😂😂
Japanese knives also have a steeper edge angle, 10-15 degrees as compared to a European angle of 20 degrees. The finer angle of the Japanese knife creates less drag, cutting easier. But since the edge is finer, it's also more delicate, so greater care in it's use is a must. I've use both and I've been happy with both. Big key is keeping them sharp with a good honing before use and sharpening when they start to drag. BTW, the bread knife is the knife that cuts through anything. I prefer a cranked handle since it keeps my knuckles from hitting the countertop.
I think Taha did better in the challenges because he watched Sabrina go first. This tells me that he was practicing in his brain, watching her with his mirror neurons, and then he got to go as though for the second time.
That petty knife looks DIVINE. My wife still doesn't like using Beatrice, our 250mm hybrid chefs knife, but when we got Betty, her 150mm counterpart, my wife fell in love. Can't keep Betty sharp now lol. You have successfully added an honesuki to my wishlist tho! Thanks for that, my wife's gonna love it /s
I have lots of knives in the kitchen, but to be honest the best one is a well maintained sharp one it does not have to be expensive, I am over 50 so get the one or two knives you like and keep it and look after it :) Orange, cut in half and use fingers to peal :) Onion cut ends and cut in half and use fingers to remove the skin, then chop with the same knife from the end cuts, Potato use a peeler but the best I have used was 50p from ex Woolworths! :)
To peel the onion you just chop off the stem and cut like one layer from where the stem was to the base then it peels off pretty easily. Then put the onion on the flat side where you cut off the stem, cut into the onion in a pattern like you would for cutting a pizza but go around 3/4 of the way through the onion. Then flip it on its side and cut perpendicular to the pizza cuts.
I'd say for home cooks, the main thing is definitely having a sharp knife. It's crazy to me how almost every home seems to just have a collection of past knives and the "current one" that's still barely sharp on its way to join its brothers in the drawer. Even people who like to cook do that. I like cool knives, but I've been using the same cleaver for almost everything for years, just a very rustic plank of steel that I keep sharp. Rarely feel like I need anything else. Just KEEP IT SHARP.
Browsing through the commercial, for a second there I thought Henson had a developed a specific razor for shaving a kiwi, and this channel was promoting it. What a ride.
I was cutting an orange one day when I diced to use the new knife that we got from Japan, my finger simply touched the blade and al off the sudden I had a cut.
I have never been so upset at watching people cut things. Sabrina clearly won the orange cut. She lost because YOUR KNIVES ARE DULL MELISSA 😡. The paring knife is the one knife you use by cutting towards yourself. That potato peeling made me so angry.
Not so much cutting towards yourself (which to me implies pulling the knife with your arm towards yourself, which is the no-no), rather pinching the knife towards your thumb so it is only hand/grip strength moving the knife.
Tell me youve never peeled … anything …. with a knife before without telling me youve never peeled anything with a knife. And a timely video to remind me to sharpen my knives…
As a knife maker I loved seeing someone explore what it means to appreciate a knife! Your end point is key. A knife is a tool. The difference between a shit knife and a good knife is that you enjoy using a good knife and you labour with a bad knife.
I have 7 Chicago Cutlery knives my Mom left me. I keep them extremely sharp (though not as sharp as my bench plane iron) & hone them before each use. I am now in my 60s, so I imagine they are about as old as I am. I wouldn't trade them for anything (except maybe a Hans Christian 43' ketch).
I’ve built up a collection of wüsthof knives over the last 5-6 years and like she said even those come out the box ready to cut hair but they still need to be maintained and all you need at minimum is like a 10 dollar knife sharpener from the grocery store
A whetstone is a much better option, drag through sharpeners mangle your knives. Sharpening with a stone is also not very difficult, it takes a few times to get used to it but it's quite easy to get a very workable edge.
14:56 having a tool you're excited to use. 👍 My current favorite all-purpose knife is a huge rounded Japanese tuna fish cleaver from the ethnic market.
Wow! I remember the day I met my favorite knife, but never knew what she was called. Apparently it's a santoku! I can use it for almost anything, with the exception of a fillet knife for butchering.
I got a set of Wustoff knives about 35 years ago, still using them, they look a bit worn, but I do run them through the dishwasher all the time. I've never tried a Japanese style knife and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Use a potato peeler to peel a potato.
I have tried to write the same comment multiple times but every time it’s developed into me ranting about how much I love knives, I’ve now forgotten what I was originally going to say. But knives are very cool
If you're looking to get a sharp knife, get a honing steel and a wood/leather polishing handle with some fine paste and use those regularly to maintain your edge, keep it clean and dry and if you really need sharpenin (~2x a year for heavy use) one of ceramic sharpening aids will be good for most softer steels.
Last time I got a knife like that big one I sharpened it with the back of another knife; it was the only way to make it usable. 5 min work, it could slice tomatoes without crushing.
I have several expensive knives, but my go to knife is a 10$ knife from IKEA. The blade will not hold a sharp edge as long as my other knives, but it is much easter to keep sharp and easy to clean. Also it has the right size for most things I need it for. You do not need an expensive knife and you do not need a super fancy sharpening stone. I use a 640 stone and between 18-20 deg edge. That will make all knives sharp enough. I have a 1000 grid stone but it does not make a difference, if I feel fancy I use a leather strap with polesing compound, it makes the edge look nice but not meaningfully sharper. In my experience what makes a sharp knife is having a constant angle all the way and no dents. For the knife I do suggest avoiding knives with a thick blade (for the kitchen) and I like some markings on the side to reduce the stickiness when cutting vegetables. If you are hard on your knives you can shapen them to 25 deg.
The three of you need to take The Chinese Cleaver Challenge. One knife for all food prep for a month. It may not be the best knife for every situation but it will get the job done. If you learn how to handle the thin yet sharp Chinese cleaver, you'll turn to it with surprising frequency. This knife is a reliable way to break down everything from a butternut squash to smashing garlic's papery layer right off. A life skill you should learn is the use a stone to keep your knives properly sharp. For $20 the Kai 240/1000 stone will get you a respectable edge. When you have a cleaver sharp enough to cut a sheet of paper, you fear no foodstuff. Sharpening on the stone isn't hard and it allows the edge to perform the cut with minimal force. Consider how precise you are at the low end of your exertion scale vs how precise you are at your maximum exertion. You can start out with a stone and a $50 Zhen VG-10 steel cleaver or vegetable knife. After you experiment with those pick up a Nakiri for lower density lower mass objects like veggies. Finally for fish a yanagiba and deba. These two are single bevel knives so they are basically large straight edge razors for use in one hand only. For Japan's take on a french chef knife, a santoku. The santoku was my go-to until I tried other Japanese shapes, now it sees little use. Some of my least expensive knives are the ones I use most, yet they are all very specialized. Have fun, learn some, then when you feel confident in how you keep and treat your knives... buy the pretty ones which speak to you as forever tools or heirlooms.
I bought the cheapest Japanese sushi knife I could find at H-Mart and it is a better knife than any other knife I have owned. Sturdy, sharp, stays sharp but sharpens well.
I have questions about using a knife to peel a potato. Specifically: if you care about your knives, why would you even use a knife instead of a really nice peeler that can do the job in 1/10th the time with much thinner shavings? It's a bit like testing pens and one thing you test is whether or not four of them can hold up a book. It makes no sense =)
So I grew up with a peeler, but I rarely used it. Partly because cooking prep was a family activity and as the oldest, the safer peeler went to the youngest. We kept our knives sharp and learned good technique, so the shavings were similarly thin and quick. The biggest thing though, is if you're going to be cutting chunks out of a potato (or apple) after: the same motion with the paring knife at a slightly different angle means you don't have to stop working, and you use fewer tools.
As someone who uses safety razors, you don't want to just get any random junkie blade from the grocery store. Do some comparison. My preferred brand is Feather, a Japanese brand that I can get off Amazon or whatever. I bought a giant pack of blades for like 30 bucks a couple years ago and I'm still working through them. I also don't shave everyday, because I work from home, but still it's pretty economical.
ohhh the knives you got at the end are sooooooo beautiful, especially the one with the dark brown handle. as an artist i already KNow how important it is to keep your sharp tools sharp, i love making lino prints but for that its really important that my tools are sharp so i dont need as much pressure, if you need to use more pressure its easier to overshoot and get hurt, same with knives in the kitchen.
4:39 I'm very confused on that that's the bread knife, I was told the bread knife was the one with a buncha spikes (or as I call it the "scary murder knife")
I just bought a pure carbon steel CCK chinese chef's knife, and I have to say, I'm never going back to stainless steel. Yes, I have to wash and oil it after I'm done, but I've put this through the gauntlet, and it has not disappointed. Regardless of whatever knife someone buys, make sure it's carbon steel.... But really, a chef only really needs 5 knives, tops. A butchers clever or butchers knife, something smaller for slicing, dicing, and mincing, a long slicer for thin, delicate cuts, like sashimi or hotpot, and a really sharp paring knife.
I like more chill answer in progress videos where everyone is in one room just doing an experiment, having fun. I love watching the friendship there! (mainly cause i dont have any 😢 im the weird kid lol)
While I do appreciate all these comments calling out the bad edges, I think we should also mention how bad their technique was. Even with a dull knife you can cut, if you know what you are doing. It always frustrates me when I cook together with others and they blame it on the knives, when they cant cut an onion or peel a potato. Maybe this is just because when I was a kid I raced with my grandma who could peel potatos faster, but that was the most painfull part of the video. Seeing them put the potato on the board and then basically carving the skin of is so frustrating to watch :x
Im like Taha. I use one knife for almost everything. It's Victorinox Tomato and Table knife with weavy edge. I don't use it only for raw meat or when something is to big for it.
Not a professional cook, but cook at a carehome, plus living with roommates, I ended up buying my own sets. Theirs were so big and long and dull. Worst of all, they washed them in the dish washer. I don’t use a knife block but always got them with sheaths so they could lay in a drawer but not bang into each other or risk cutting myself digging around. I’d let my roommates use mine but they always left them laying around and I’d have to hunt for the sheath. Fortunately, these weren’t expensive ones. I have a couple small sets from Thyme & Table for under $20 from Walmart. Yes, they’re “pretty” but they’re also light with a thin blade that cuts like a razor. Even a cheap Cuisinart knives can be good if you treat them properly.
My favorite kitchen knife was made by a talented amateur. Probably in a garage. I have no idea what the steel is or how old it is. I bought it at an estate sale for a song. But it was made with pride. I *feel* the maker every time I use it. When the light hits that edge and I see that mirror gleam I feel connected to the maker.
My go-to knife used to be a short as-seen-on-tv ceramic santoku. It was about 6 inches and worked with about 80% of the foods I needed to cut. It held its edge though I’d shudder when I cut too deep and would hit bone, a big no-no for ceramic blades which can chip or shatter. It’s also good with lettuce because there’s no reaction with metal causing the lettuce edge to brown faster. Unfortunately, it was lost in a move, but I found another one, more chef knife shaped but same 6 inches. The extra length of a standard chef’s knife just worries me and feels like I have more to maneuver and cut myself with.
That first paper cutout is more a German profile. A French profile knife is far more shallow in curve and closer to a Japanese knife. German knives are about a rocking technique, but French knives are more for push an pull cuts. Also, that carving knife at the start is a boning knife. The carver is more like a very shallow french chef's knife, but it's only about 4cm tall and the blade is much narrower.
You wouldnt believe how often Ive seen chefs use a chef knife to cut bread instead of a bread knife. I never asked why, but my best guess is because its possible to sharpen a chefs knife, and its not possible to sharpen a bread knife, so unless the restaurant had recently gotten a new bread knife, the chefs knife is probably a fair bit sharper
Yeah you get a really crisp edge on the slices. You have to have good skill though, or else you might create a larger shatter spot on a hard crust than sawing would give you. Conversely for soft-crusted bread a bread knife will basically always squish it, while a chef knife won’t. As a casual enjoyer (who hones after every season and sometimes in the middle, but hasn’t felt the need for proper sharpening yet) I’m actually 50/50 as to which knife I use based on how crusty things are, I never use a bread knife on a soft soup roll for example.
Great video! I collected non-culinary knives and swords for several years and I found the difference between Japanese and European culinary knives really interesting. Especially, in how analogous it is to their respective sword designs. Japanese swords rely much more sharpness whereas European swords rely much more on weight.
Both grow out of their intended use and the circumstances of their creation. Japan's metallurgy developed in a very metal-poor area so smiths had to learn to use what they had efficiently (and the metal they had often wasn't very good). Meanwhile Europeans had lots of metal (some of which became armor); it was effective to bang a big metal bar flat and put an edge on it.
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I love how Taha effectively did the full anime resistance training by only using the worst knife for half of the tasks, but he's done it so much that he's low key expert at it
His knife is probably also a bit sharper than the others, I'm guessing.
@@darksaiyan2006 True, but even in isolation no one should be that good at fixing vegetables with a paring knife
Why is this girl calling a boning knife a carving knife !?
My mother and both grandmothers peeled potatoes with a knife, because they said potato peelers wasted too much flesh, and they peeled really, really thin.
Ok, Melissa. You got your knives. Now, please, please, PLEASE! Maintain the edges. I feel _so bad_ for Sabrina using “the right knife” for the job and getting punished because the chef knife was so dull.
this. that whole segment was fun, but the fact that the knives weren't even sharp meant it contributed _nothing_ to the rest of the video.
Truly! As a former butcher, seeing dull knives pains me a bit 😅 those Japanese knives look amazing though
It just leaves me with anxiety because a dull knife is the one that’s going to cut you. She didn’t show us, but I certainly hope she’s got something in that bag to at least hone the knife to keep it sharp.
@@ianism3 well at least I got to learn how bad Taha is at handling knives. Sometimes I wonder if he purposefully pretends to so bad at things just for entertainment value because seriously how can someone be so clueless at handling knives?
I'm glad Melissa bought some cool knives, but I wish the big reveal at the end was of a sharpener.
I didn't expect to see dull knife cutting horror as the majority of a video informing me about good knives.
The comments did a better job educating me about knives and knife safety than the video
It's kind of the main style of this channel. They start out ignorant but with a question and then slowly build up to gain knowledge as they document their journey. Them being kinda bad at the start and the comparison of before and after is part of that, it's not fashioned around the classic style of information explained from a place of authority.
But that is how knifes play out in reality. The first important skill is to maintain a sharp edge by sharpening and honing. Once you mastered that and used cheap knife, the difference in edge retention is what makes a knife expensive
As someone who has worked as a cook for 20+ years... this episode was PAAAIIINFFULLL... dang
I was sooo concerned for taha's fingers the entire time.
I'm just a home cook (with a slightly unhealthy knife obsession), but I had to avert my eyes and may go on to experience frightful dreams for the next few days...
I thought it was pretty sharp KappaRoss
I feel the same @aramosdm
I just cook at home and the first orange peel already made me want to close the video
I am surprised that you never mentioned, well, why Japan's knives are different. They use a different angle. The blades are typically harder steel, so a bit more brittle but you just have to be careful with them, and the angle used is different. You can't use an American knife sharpener on a Japanese knife without changing the angle of the knife edge. A friend of mine bought me a very nice Japanese chef's knife and it's really stunning. It's slightly terrifying, honestly. I had it lying on the edge of the sink one time and I accidentally bumped into it, with my hand just bumping the edge of the knife which was simply lying there, not against anything, so nothing but its own weight keeping it in place. It sliced into my hand without my even feeling it, just cutting me like a laser. And it cuts other meats just the same, falling through the meat with zero force required. It's spooky, but a delight to use.
This isn't specific to Japanese just more common. Most large scale western knife makes put out overly soft and overly thick blades but plenty of high end or custom makers can do fantastic western style knives, heat treated hard, using amazing steels.
The edge geometry isn't fundamental to the style of knife though, and they did mention the different blade shapes and handle shapes (the parts that are fundamental to the style of knife).
What is an American knife sharpener? Just use stones either rock or diamond.
As a fellow "wierd knife person", welcome and remember that the perfect number of nice Japanese knives is N+1 where N, as you surely know, is the current number of knives you have.
Sorry for the question with probably obvious answer, but I want to know. Are you suggesting that Japanese knives are absolutely superior to Western knives in every way?, or are there cases where Western knives are better?
I am Curious now hahaha 😅
@@camilolara2046I'm not a chef but I like to cook a lot. My preference is entirely based on shape of the knife and how I like to prep food, which is generally slicing, so I like the Japanese santoku knife the best. I can't imagine using a Western knife because I can't fathom rocking the knife for anything.
I suggest looking at how you prepare food and making a decision based on that, because otherwise you'd end up spending a lot of money and be less than happy lol
Ah, 'tis a familiar tale to any hobbyist.
@@camilolara2046My favorite paring knife is made by Victorinox in Switzerland.
@@camilolara2046 The shape of the knife is always personal preference. But when it comes to quality I do believe that Japanese knivere are generally the best. You can find great western style knives made in Japan. Kramer by Zwilling comes to mind, design by American knife maker, German company, made in Japan.
Sabrina: - stares at Melissa menacingly -
Melissa: 😥 On further inspection Sabrina is the winner.
I am from Solingen, the center of german knife manufacturing, and I have inhereted all my knifes from my mother, and the "dull knife horror" is really hard to watch....
😂 Same bro, same
you mean French style knives made in germany?
i love how *everything* has more to it than we’d initially assume or attempt to understand. pasta, knives, coffee, water, soap, all things i didn’t think could be very interesting but then you discover now much you don’t know and your world grows. i love people who’re investing in learning more about literally anything. you name it, there’s always more to it,
Honestly, I think Sabrina got the better technique. Between the dull knife and the poor technique I was worried for Taha's fingers
I think it's likely that Taha did well because the paring knife is used less often than a chef's nice and was less dull.
I'm getting big "it's a tax deduction if I make a video about it" vibes and I'm 100% cool with that.
Get that bag
Hell yeah. Ready for them to work up to a tropical vacation and we don't bat an eye
As a bladesmith I love this journey. It's about picking a knife that speaks to you, learning to use and maintain it, and then creating food, art and shared experiences. As you build a relationship with the knife it really does become part of the process of creation, it becomes part of yourself, an extension of your body and your expression, and it becomes part of a lifestyle. It's a journey of growth and culture that is relative for all people across the entire world and throughout all of time. All that, and knives are objectively awesome!
I want to find a knife I will love like I love my specific paint brushes that aren't expensive but have done so much for me
Yes! So important to 1. Own a good knife 2. Know the difference between honing and sharpening, and 3. Learn and practice basic knife skills to reduce risk of injury.
Knife safety is important. The part where the knife store owner hands Melissa a knife really bothers me. The owner give her the knife blade first and for someone who owns a knife shop especially when dealing with someone just getting into knives that seems rather egregious
This prompted me to actually go buy the knives I've been meaning to buy for my kitchen. I used Japanese style knives my whole life at my parent's house and am used to using that pushing motion with the index finger on the back of the knife. My wife has all Western style knives and my poor index finger started building up a nasty callous from using the wrong technique for the knife shape. It was so sore after all my Thanksgiving dinner prep. Hours of chopping onions, peeling squash, dicing garlic, gutting and chopping pumpkins...
Thanks for the reminder!
One thing I love about Japanese knives are the hexagonal/rounded handles; way more comfortable than the standard western knife handle
And replaceable
@@GadgetsGearCoffee that’s cool, how?
It's a matter of taste - some people really like being able to feel the knife's orientation without having to see the blade.
as a chef watching Taha cut the herbs ... that took a toll on me
I ordered my first whetstones a month ago.
I can slice so thinly now. I didn't know honing and sharpening a knife where 2 different things.
And my knives dulled slowly enough that I didn't remember what I was missing out on.
Sharp knives making cooking so much more pleasant. Sharpen your knives!
suggestions, on how to learn technique?
@@ozok17 just practice. its pretty much just holding an angle
@@ozok17 burrfection on yt has multiple videos on how to start sharpening your knives. worth checking him out
I feel like this entire channel is the embodiment of my ADHD. Spend a month hyper-focusing on something. Research it extensively. Become an expert surprisingly quickly. Spend way too much money. Suddenly quit caring about it when the next thing to hyper-focus on comes along.
Well, except forget the "Become an expert" stage. You never become an expert, you just learn a lot fast and move on LONG before you become an expert. That's the entire problem, you just become a dabbler in everything but a master in nothing. I can hold a conversation on almost any topic, but I will never be the one with the insights. The only time you feel like you know anything is when you interact with people who know NOTHING about the topic...which is common mind you, since you get into topics few people do, but you should still never think you are an expert, that's just fooling yourself. This channel is super, super, SUPER not actual expertise for example.
@@Tinil0yup, a scenic tour along the expertise route after they research their stuff and interview actual experts. In all likelihood, they learn enough to realize how little they know and answer a couple nagging questions
This is their job, it has nothing to do with adhd
You can correlate to it but this is not adhd videos
Or else every science channel would be adhders, which is just impossible
@@skydivenext the channel is, not them themselves. Small big difference, also they don't do only science stuff
@@hugofontes5708 Yeah, and just to be clear, I wasn't trying to insult them or anything, I love this channel haha. It's just exactly like you described, a scenic tour along the expertise route. To be fair, they are a channel for entertainment and basic edification so they are doing exactly what they should be! I just hope no one mistakes it for ACTUAL expertise. It's fun, and if nothing else it shows the viewers how you tackle these sort of nagging questions you don't know anything about and the experience of learning. Which is super awesome.
Just a small psa to people considering safety razors: most people replace blades every 1 day to 7 days. So 105 razors will not last 3-4 years. Mathematically, it’s still super cheap and well worth it, but I thought it best to mention the most you can expect from that many razors is 105 weeks.
Math: if you get a double razor and use each edge for 7 days
15 CADx100 razors.
14 days/razor.
14x100=1400 days≈4 years
This math assumes you shave very little every day, think touching up a beard.
If you’re more of a groomer, assume to replace every 1-2 days. Personally I get rash and bad shaves after a day or two just touching up my face and when doing legs and down there often that’s a one or two blade job. My gauge is: does it hurt my skin the next few days, or not.
I assume 3-5 years worth is based on using the blade occasionally for body hair removal, like legs, rather than daily use for facial hair. Most people who shave their legs don't shave them every day. When I used to it was more like every 10 days.
I think it's more accurate to say that 100 blades will last somebody between 0.5-20 years.
One thing to consider is how often you shave, as that's really when you should change your blade. Most safety razor blades will last 3-5 face shaves, and I'm not sure how thick leg hair is compared to facial hair, but I'm just gonna say about 7 leg shaves. If you keep your blade clean, you should not have to worry about replacing it every week, as that is probably not how long the razor truly lasts. If you are getting a bad shave with your razor, it might be the blade brand. not necessarily just the razor's fault. Try changing the blade more often, or go shopping for a bunch of different blades and buy a few five packs so you can gauge how well the blade performs. Of course, 5 shaves is not going to happen often, so 3-4 shaves with one blade is pretty realistic. That might be one week's worth of shaving, or two, depending on how you like your hair length. This is coming from a male's perspective, but I hope this info helps all, as I found the original comment left out some information. Also, check out the Style theory video for more information on facial shaving because that explains a whole heck of a lot more than I can.
Also, for anyone who only ever used "ladies razors" or the cheapest BIC razors - for the love of all the gods, at least get yourself something like a Gillette Mach5, or BIC Flex5. It's fraction of the cost of a professional safety razor and your skin will thank you.
I use 5x blade women's razer heads (Schick Hydro 5, + on a men's handle because metal > plastic imo) but also I run the razer backwards up and down some fabric before each use (usually a towel because I'm lazy but denim works better) and give it a quick pat dry after use before throwing it back on the shelf.
..and I go through 1-2 heads per year 🤷♀
If I shaved daily instead of 1-2 times a week then maybe I'd go through an entire 4-pack per year - but that's still nothing compared to what some people do. I don't understand how they can possibly wear out that fast
Personally prefer a single use razor above anything else to maintain factory/machine sharpness so the hair would be cut clean when viewed microscopically
I live in Japan and have some basic Japanese knives (nothin too fancy), but the part about the handle shapes and how you press a finger on Japanese knives to cut....I had to apologize to my husband for criticizing him doing that because I had seen on a Western cooking show that it's dangerous to do so. I also have been rocking my knives in the Western style this whole time...eye-opening. Thank you!!
The most impressive thing about the way Taha cut stuff is that he's left handed but he used what is most likely a right handed serrated knife to cut the bread. The side that the serrations are on matters because if you use it with the wrong hand you get wonky meandering slices.
i wonder how to find a blade with left-handed serrations
Melissa: "this kiwi isn't furry anymore"
Also Melissa: shows us a kiwi with decent sized green spots visible
😂😂
That matches the reviews on their site last I looked.
I have never sharpened any of my household knives (default wedding gift set) in the past 26 years. I need an episode about how to hone and sharpen for everyday household knives.
I feel the video could have gone more in depth about Japanese knives and most was spent on cutting stuff with unsharp knives that didn't really prove what knife to use? I love in depth answer in progress goes and felt this video didn't push far enough. It was said we'll learn what makes Japanese knives so special and not much was aid about the metal, the construction of the metal with the layers etc from the bladesmith, the wood handles and how they can be replaced and more differences with the handles. More on chopping styles. You showed at the end the knives you got but not their properties and why you got those particular ones for shape, weight, blade length, etc.
To be fair it followed the scientific process. From the competition results, what mattered for typical home-cooks was familiarity and sharpness, which the experts did mention when talking about knives they've owned and maintained for a long time.
My boyfriend gifted me a brand new beautiful knive with a cutting board and a tool to hone it. I never knew I needed a proper knive THIS bad, but since I have the knive I love to cook again. I just never realized what a difference a good knive can make and of course I take proper care from now on.
When you cut things, especially unusually shaped things, hold it in such a way so that you won’t cut off your finger if you slip. Curl those digits in!
taha is using the lesser-known "old country grandma" (doesn't matter WHICH country so long as it is an ancestral homeland) cutting technique, where you use a tiny knife for everything. minus points for not doing it in a rocking chair
When using a knife and cutting board, you need to put down a silicone mat, or wet paper towel, or use another method to keep your cutting board from sliding around. My cutting boards each have a silicone edge that do the job well. This is just as, if not more so, important for safety and efficiency as keeping your knives sharp... Well, depends on exactly how dull your knives are.
Thanks for the tip
I just got a new cutting board which has tiny bumps all over the back, pretty much makes it perfect for skidding around all over the place with minimal force
Got rid of all my knives that is mostly marketing and I have 3 knives. Serrated for bread, a Japanese vg10 stainless steel bunka as a chef knife, smaller for my small hands and nimble and a petty knife another stainless but better. I knew I couldn't be bothered by being careful with the other non stainless options that require immediate wash and dry after cutting acidic things. I learned to sharpen them with whet stones so I can do it myself whenever needed, and I Friggin love those knives. So satisfying to have the right tools for the right job 👌 cuts so well and a pleasure to use. Makes cooking infinitely more fun
alright
let me address the elephant in the room
watching you peel a potato is painful
never the less, love your channel guys
keep up doing those videos
I commented the same lmao, I have worked in restaurants peeling thousands of potatoes and the way they peeled them gave me anxiety
@@karlitatv let's hope no fingers were harmed by making this video
I didn’t even know you can peel a potato by moving the knife from yourself instead of towards you
Two more elephants: For peeling there are potato peelers. As there exist for other vegetable. For restaurants: There are pre-peeled potatoes done by a machine. You can buy them truckloads and they are even organic.
I was literally waiting for blood when watching you peel a potato. Glad it didn't happen.
the first cut after buying a sharpener from Home Depot and spending a few minute sharpening my garden tools was so satisfying and worth the time.
I really appreciate how light and concise this video is. Half "vlog" style exploration of the topic and half expert interviews.
I just got a santoku knife a few weeks ago and WOW it makes a difference! I’m in an oral communications class and had to do a sales pitch. I pitched the knife! 😂
My husband used it and literally turned around to me and said, “Hey uh, is there anything else I can cut?” 😂 It’s satisfying as hell.
Here I am at 2 am on a Saturday Morning (Mauritius) watching a video about knives :D Love your work guys.
ever since i was a really little kid it has been ingrained into my mind that A.) when using a knife that you HAVE to use a sharp knife, B.) when cutting larger stuff, curl your fingers in when possible, and C.) never point the knife towards yourself or anyone else if you are skinning stuff.
kinda surprising to realize that apparently that isn't stuff everyone knows
I am grateful to myself for ruthlessly using the "Don't recommend channel" option and thus making room for recommendations to the channels like this. 😁
Lots of notes in the comments about the dull knife issues, but if also like to toss in a wet paper towel or towel under your cutting board to prevent it from sliding around. And use a claw hand shape to keep those fingers away from the blade.
My favorite knife is a $5 vegetable cleaver I got from a local Asian grocery store. It’s not a fancy/sexy knife, but I genuinely enjoy meal prep with it and use it for almost everything.
I use a $3 knife that I got at Daiso, honed with a whetstone that costs 10x as much. It just feels so nice and in control that the only other blade I might use to prep food is scissors.
0:15 POV: Your friend has started playing Counter-Strike
Applies to all tools: Precision first; if it's sloppy, you get sloppy results. After that, form dictates how you use it, and you develop technique from there to reduce effort and wear.
"shaving a kiwi for our sponsor"
As a kiwi it's always weird hearing Americans call kiwifruit a kiwi, but it's extra weird when you chapter list makes it sound like you are either shaving our national bird, or just randomly shaving a person.
Such a versatile thing, the kiwi
Fruit, bird, country, people and a company developing hands-on stem projects for kids
@@hugofontes5708I think the last one is "Kiwico"
@@shre6619 yes, I am aware, that was a silly joke intentionally mistaking Kiwico as Kiwi Co.
You're a flightless bird? Well done for watching a UA-cam video and typing your comment. Perhaps NZ has bred a GM/AI version of the kiwi.
Someone bought me an expensive knife last year and it’s defiently one of those things I needed that I never knew I did. Cooking with a high quality knife makes so much difference.
There really is a sentimental value to knives, especially as a chef. My knife set was gifted to me when I started my apprenticeship, it's a constant reminder that someone believed in me.
(Also they're Japanese shun, I love the light weight and for my tiny hands, the handles are the perfect size and shape to grip)
For some reason UA-cam has been recommending only the videos with Sabrina to me, so I was so surprise to realize today that there are more creators on this chanel 🤯
i like that in the knive store, they had a tanto or maybe wakizashi (shorter versions of katana) on display in the background
Your love of knives has been noted and I officially love you more for it, because you are my people that research things down the rabbit hole for the sake of it. It took me weeks of research before I knew which japanese chef knife I wanted, down to the steel and make of it. I did the same for safety razors and I own a Henson 😂😂
Taha using the same knife for everything 🥰 I felt represented
Japanese knives also have a steeper edge angle, 10-15 degrees as compared to a European angle of 20 degrees. The finer angle of the Japanese knife creates less drag, cutting easier. But since the edge is finer, it's also more delicate, so greater care in it's use is a must. I've use both and I've been happy with both. Big key is keeping them sharp with a good honing before use and sharpening when they start to drag.
BTW, the bread knife is the knife that cuts through anything. I prefer a cranked handle since it keeps my knuckles from hitting the countertop.
I think Taha did better in the challenges because he watched Sabrina go first. This tells me that he was practicing in his brain, watching her with his mirror neurons, and then he got to go as though for the second time.
How in the world are you answering exactly every question I’ve had this past week with this channel?
That petty knife looks DIVINE. My wife still doesn't like using Beatrice, our 250mm hybrid chefs knife, but when we got Betty, her 150mm counterpart, my wife fell in love. Can't keep Betty sharp now lol.
You have successfully added an honesuki to my wishlist tho! Thanks for that, my wife's gonna love it /s
I have lots of knives in the kitchen, but to be honest the best one is a well maintained sharp one it does not have to be expensive, I am over 50 so get the one or two knives you like and keep it and look after it :) Orange, cut in half and use fingers to peal :) Onion cut ends and cut in half and use fingers to remove the skin, then chop with the same knife from the end cuts, Potato use a peeler but the best I have used was 50p from ex Woolworths! :)
To peel the onion you just chop off the stem and cut like one layer from where the stem was to the base then it peels off pretty easily. Then put the onion on the flat side where you cut off the stem, cut into the onion in a pattern like you would for cutting a pizza but go around 3/4 of the way through the onion. Then flip it on its side and cut perpendicular to the pizza cuts.
Sabrina in closed caption: Shut up!
Sabrina's actual audio: SONOVA-
I'd say for home cooks, the main thing is definitely having a sharp knife. It's crazy to me how almost every home seems to just have a collection of past knives and the "current one" that's still barely sharp on its way to join its brothers in the drawer. Even people who like to cook do that. I like cool knives, but I've been using the same cleaver for almost everything for years, just a very rustic plank of steel that I keep sharp. Rarely feel like I need anything else. Just KEEP IT SHARP.
Browsing through the commercial, for a second there I thought Henson had a developed a specific razor for shaving a kiwi, and this channel was promoting it. What a ride.
I was cutting an orange one day when I diced to use the new knife that we got from Japan, my finger simply touched the blade and al off the sudden I had a cut.
It's the technique, like the lady said in the video, the sharpest knives are the safest.
i've heard that cuts from sharper knives tend to hear more cleanly, but in my experience they still hurt.
@@ozok17 I mean, yeah, a clean cut is better than a serrated cut for healing and all that, but a cut is still a cut, they'll always hurt
I clicked as a tomato fanatic. Knifes are secondary.
I have never been so upset at watching people cut things. Sabrina clearly won the orange cut. She lost because YOUR KNIVES ARE DULL MELISSA 😡. The paring knife is the one knife you use by cutting towards yourself. That potato peeling made me so angry.
Not so much cutting towards yourself (which to me implies pulling the knife with your arm towards yourself, which is the no-no), rather pinching the knife towards your thumb so it is only hand/grip strength moving the knife.
Comment needs more attention! Looked for it and found it way too far down. Watching that gave me anxiety.
Fastest I ever clicked on a video the topic of which I never thought I was interested in.
I'm so happy seeing you all in the same video and not videoconferencing. It's grand.
loved seeing the contest between Sabrina and Taha, then getting a look at Tosho Knife Arts
Tell me youve never peeled … anything …. with a knife before without telling me youve never peeled anything with a knife.
And a timely video to remind me to sharpen my knives…
As a knife maker I loved seeing someone explore what it means to appreciate a knife!
Your end point is key. A knife is a tool. The difference between a shit knife and a good knife is that you enjoy using a good knife and you labour with a bad knife.
I have 7 Chicago Cutlery knives my Mom left me. I keep them extremely sharp (though not as sharp as my bench plane iron) & hone them before each use. I am now in my 60s, so I imagine they are about as old as I am. I wouldn't trade them for anything (except maybe a Hans Christian 43' ketch).
I’ve built up a collection of wüsthof knives over the last 5-6 years and like she said even those come out the box ready to cut hair but they still need to be maintained and all you need at minimum is like a 10 dollar knife sharpener from the grocery store
A whetstone is a much better option, drag through sharpeners mangle your knives.
Sharpening with a stone is also not very difficult, it takes a few times to get used to it but it's quite easy to get a very workable edge.
14:56 having a tool you're excited to use. 👍 My current favorite all-purpose knife is a huge rounded Japanese tuna fish cleaver from the ethnic market.
Wow! I remember the day I met my favorite knife, but never knew what she was called. Apparently it's a santoku! I can use it for almost anything, with the exception of a fillet knife for butchering.
I got a set of Wustoff knives about 35 years ago, still using them, they look a bit worn, but I do run them through the dishwasher all the time. I've never tried a Japanese style knife and I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
Use a potato peeler to peel a potato.
Thank you, Taha, I feel so seen!
That's the only knife I own as well...
I have tried to write the same comment multiple times but every time it’s developed into me ranting about how much I love knives, I’ve now forgotten what I was originally going to say. But knives are very cool
If you're looking to get a sharp knife, get a honing steel and a wood/leather polishing handle with some fine paste and use those regularly to maintain your edge, keep it clean and dry and if you really need sharpenin (~2x a year for heavy use) one of ceramic sharpening aids will be good for most softer steels.
Last time I got a knife like that big one I sharpened it with the back of another knife; it was the only way to make it usable. 5 min work, it could slice tomatoes without crushing.
I have several expensive knives, but my go to knife is a 10$ knife from IKEA. The blade will not hold a sharp edge as long as my other knives, but it is much easter to keep sharp and easy to clean. Also it has the right size for most things I need it for. You do not need an expensive knife and you do not need a super fancy sharpening stone. I use a 640 stone and between 18-20 deg edge. That will make all knives sharp enough. I have a 1000 grid stone but it does not make a difference, if I feel fancy I use a leather strap with polesing compound, it makes the edge look nice but not meaningfully sharper. In my experience what makes a sharp knife is having a constant angle all the way and no dents. For the knife I do suggest avoiding knives with a thick blade (for the kitchen) and I like some markings on the side to reduce the stickiness when cutting vegetables. If you are hard on your knives you can shapen them to 25 deg.
The three of you need to take The Chinese Cleaver Challenge. One knife for all food prep for a month. It may not be the best knife for every situation but it will get the job done. If you learn how to handle the thin yet sharp Chinese cleaver, you'll turn to it with surprising frequency. This knife is a reliable way to break down everything from a butternut squash to smashing garlic's papery layer right off.
A life skill you should learn is the use a stone to keep your knives properly sharp. For $20 the Kai 240/1000 stone will get you a respectable edge. When you have a cleaver sharp enough to cut a sheet of paper, you fear no foodstuff. Sharpening on the stone isn't hard and it allows the edge to perform the cut with minimal force. Consider how precise you are at the low end of your exertion scale vs how precise you are at your maximum exertion.
You can start out with a stone and a $50 Zhen VG-10 steel cleaver or vegetable knife. After you experiment with those pick up a Nakiri for lower density lower mass objects like veggies. Finally for fish a yanagiba and deba. These two are single bevel knives so they are basically large straight edge razors for use in one hand only. For Japan's take on a french chef knife, a santoku. The santoku was my go-to until I tried other Japanese shapes, now it sees little use. Some of my least expensive knives are the ones I use most, yet they are all very specialized.
Have fun, learn some, then when you feel confident in how you keep and treat your knives... buy the pretty ones which speak to you as forever tools or heirlooms.
I bought the cheapest Japanese sushi knife I could find at H-Mart and it is a better knife than any other knife I have owned. Sturdy, sharp, stays sharp but sharpens well.
I have questions about using a knife to peel a potato. Specifically: if you care about your knives, why would you even use a knife instead of a really nice peeler that can do the job in 1/10th the time with much thinner shavings? It's a bit like testing pens and one thing you test is whether or not four of them can hold up a book. It makes no sense =)
So I grew up with a peeler, but I rarely used it. Partly because cooking prep was a family activity and as the oldest, the safer peeler went to the youngest. We kept our knives sharp and learned good technique, so the shavings were similarly thin and quick. The biggest thing though, is if you're going to be cutting chunks out of a potato (or apple) after: the same motion with the paring knife at a slightly different angle means you don't have to stop working, and you use fewer tools.
As someone who uses safety razors, you don't want to just get any random junkie blade from the grocery store. Do some comparison. My preferred brand is Feather, a Japanese brand that I can get off Amazon or whatever. I bought a giant pack of blades for like 30 bucks a couple years ago and I'm still working through them. I also don't shave everyday, because I work from home, but still it's pretty economical.
Petition to add Melissa Voice into Google assistants voice catalogue. Its so Calming.
ohhh the knives you got at the end are sooooooo beautiful, especially the one with the dark brown handle. as an artist i already KNow how important it is to keep your sharp tools sharp, i love making lino prints but for that its really important that my tools are sharp so i dont need as much pressure, if you need to use more pressure its easier to overshoot and get hurt, same with knives in the kitchen.
I barely even use metal knives anymore, ceramic all the way
cuts so well and doesnt dull, just gotta be a bit more careful not to break it
4:39 I'm very confused on that that's the bread knife, I was told the bread knife was the one with a buncha spikes (or as I call it the "scary murder knife")
I just bought a pure carbon steel CCK chinese chef's knife, and I have to say, I'm never going back to stainless steel. Yes, I have to wash and oil it after I'm done, but I've put this through the gauntlet, and it has not disappointed. Regardless of whatever knife someone buys, make sure it's carbon steel.... But really, a chef only really needs 5 knives, tops. A butchers clever or butchers knife, something smaller for slicing, dicing, and mincing, a long slicer for thin, delicate cuts, like sashimi or hotpot, and a really sharp paring knife.
Loved the video as always. It's great to see all three of you on the same continent, not to mention in the same room.
I like more chill answer in progress videos where everyone is in one room just doing an experiment, having fun. I love watching the friendship there! (mainly cause i dont have any 😢 im the weird kid lol)
i love that you just made this video to write the knife off
I really enjoyed your video.
The contest was a hoot.
Thanks
You chose some lovely knives! Best of luck in your knife journey, may your blades be sharp and your wit sharper
While I do appreciate all these comments calling out the bad edges, I think we should also mention how bad their technique was. Even with a dull knife you can cut, if you know what you are doing. It always frustrates me when I cook together with others and they blame it on the knives, when they cant cut an onion or peel a potato. Maybe this is just because when I was a kid I raced with my grandma who could peel potatos faster, but that was the most painfull part of the video. Seeing them put the potato on the board and then basically carving the skin of is so frustrating to watch :x
I only use ceramic knives, because they hold a much sharper edge, you don’t have to sharpen them, and they don’t rust.
Im like Taha. I use one knife for almost everything. It's Victorinox Tomato and Table knife with weavy edge. I don't use it only for raw meat or when something is to big for it.
Not a professional cook, but cook at a carehome, plus living with roommates, I ended up buying my own sets. Theirs were so big and long and dull. Worst of all, they washed them in the dish washer. I don’t use a knife block but always got them with sheaths so they could lay in a drawer but not bang into each other or risk cutting myself digging around. I’d let my roommates use mine but they always left them laying around and I’d have to hunt for the sheath. Fortunately, these weren’t expensive ones. I have a couple small sets from Thyme & Table for under $20 from Walmart. Yes, they’re “pretty” but they’re also light with a thin blade that cuts like a razor. Even a cheap Cuisinart knives can be good if you treat them properly.
I love my Koi Knives. The Aussie themed ones. They’re so pretty.
My favorite kitchen knife was made by a talented amateur. Probably in a garage. I have no idea what the steel is or how old it is. I bought it at an estate sale for a song. But it was made with pride. I *feel* the maker every time I use it. When the light hits that edge and I see that mirror gleam I feel connected to the maker.
i love this
My go-to knife used to be a short as-seen-on-tv ceramic santoku. It was about 6 inches and worked with about 80% of the foods I needed to cut. It held its edge though I’d shudder when I cut too deep and would hit bone, a big no-no for ceramic blades which can chip or shatter. It’s also good with lettuce because there’s no reaction with metal causing the lettuce edge to brown faster. Unfortunately, it was lost in a move, but I found another one, more chef knife shaped but same 6 inches. The extra length of a standard chef’s knife just worries me and feels like I have more to maneuver and cut myself with.
That first paper cutout is more a German profile. A French profile knife is far more shallow in curve and closer to a Japanese knife. German knives are about a rocking technique, but French knives are more for push an pull cuts. Also, that carving knife at the start is a boning knife. The carver is more like a very shallow french chef's knife, but it's only about 4cm tall and the blade is much narrower.
You wouldnt believe how often Ive seen chefs use a chef knife to cut bread instead of a bread knife.
I never asked why, but my best guess is because its possible to sharpen a chefs knife, and its not possible to sharpen a bread knife, so unless the restaurant had recently gotten a new bread knife, the chefs knife is probably a fair bit sharper
Yeah you get a really crisp edge on the slices. You have to have good skill though, or else you might create a larger shatter spot on a hard crust than sawing would give you. Conversely for soft-crusted bread a bread knife will basically always squish it, while a chef knife won’t.
As a casual enjoyer (who hones after every season and sometimes in the middle, but hasn’t felt the need for proper sharpening yet) I’m actually 50/50 as to which knife I use based on how crusty things are, I never use a bread knife on a soft soup roll for example.
I have a Japanese santoku in super blue and a Petty in SG2 (stainless steel) ^-^
Love the Tsuchime on the one you got too!
Great video! I collected non-culinary knives and swords for several years and I found the difference between Japanese and European culinary knives really interesting. Especially, in how analogous it is to their respective sword designs. Japanese swords rely much more sharpness whereas European swords rely much more on weight.
Both grow out of their intended use and the circumstances of their creation. Japan's metallurgy developed in a very metal-poor area so smiths had to learn to use what they had efficiently (and the metal they had often wasn't very good). Meanwhile Europeans had lots of metal (some of which became armor); it was effective to bang a big metal bar flat and put an edge on it.
Great video, I love nice knives. My favs are my Santoku and my wustoff classic icon.