EVERY FEW YEARS I’ll get a text from
a buddy that’s some variation of this: “Hey man, I’m looking for a good kitchen knife. Any recs?”
And then I do the annoying thing of answering their very simple question with a series of somewhat complicated questions.
“What kind of knife do you feel most comfortable with? Do you prefer a larger, heavier knife? Or something more nimble and lightweight? What are you primarily using it for? Is cost a factor? Why haven’t we hung out in a while?”
They’ll take a few hours or a few days to ponder/ignore all this and then text: “Um, just a good, sturdy knife that isn’t too expensive.”
Eight-and-a-half times out of 10, I’ll recommend an 8-inch chef’s knife, either a Kramer Knives Carbon 8″ Chef’s Knife by Zwilling J.A. Henckels if they’re comfortable taking care of things and have some money to spend on a knife that lasts OR an 8-inch Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef’s Knife if they don’t identify with either.
But for the other 1.5 instances, I may lead them to a Japanese knife. Japanese knives, while broad as a category, tend to be just as sturdy as a well-made chef’s knife made by an American bladesmith or renown Swiss company. (The Japanese, after all, have been making high-quality blades for centuries.)
Just notice those words “tend to be.” Some manufacturers are cranking out subpar Japanese knives to make a quick buck. Not these companies, though, each of which have built some incredibly sharp blades with staying power.
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