Where my fellow cooks at???

[columbia]

[youtube][/youtube]

[shmenguin]

A good general tso is my favorite Chinese food.

[blackjack68]

9.5 pound prime rib on standby for tomorrow.

Mmmm.

[count2infinity]

Made a feast last night. Standing rib roast, 2 ducks, scalloped potatoes, a roasted vegetable tart, corn casserole, oyster stuffing, sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and some horseradish sauce for the roast.

[count2infinity]

I should also mention that I was at my brother-in-law's house doing the cooking. He had just got a set of wusthof knives. Oh. my. god... so much better than my $100 set of knives from target. I've always known that I had some crap knives, but it took for me to do some work with a nice one to really see what I was missing. Might have to pick up a chef's knife to use, and leave my current set for my wife to use.

[ville5]

Get the Santoku. You won't be sorry.
Better balance, more comfortable handle, cleaner cut, and more blade surface for transferring cut food imho.

[count2infinity]

I use a santoku and chef's knife pretty frequently, and I agree as far as when prepping food (chopping veg and whatnot) I prefer the santoku, but as far as utility is concerned, I prefer the chef's knife. I'll likely get a knife after I get our tax returns, and I'll just get the chef's knife and then for christmas ask for the santoku.

[tifosi77]

We have a santoku and the only thing I use it for is cutting limes.

This is a matter of personal preference, but I hate santoku blades. In order to get the real benefit from wide blade, you have to alter the way you move your arm and hand. I use Western style movements, which makes the radius of a santoku almost entirely useless for efficient knife work. All my other knives have Western blades (even the two Japanese knives), so I'm not going to bother learning a new way to hold a knife.

Regardless of what knife style you prefer, the most important thing is that the blade is sharp and properly maintained. A $1 knife purchased at a thrift shop that is well looked after and sharpened is preferable to a $120 Wüsthof that never sees a honing rod or whetstone.

[count2infinity]

I went with victorinox's 8 inch fibrox chef knife. From everything I've read it's not the best knife you can find, but for the price (especially since we're going to move in a year or so and there's no guarantee that everything will make it safe and sound) it's a great knife. Bought a sheath for it as well so that after I'm finished with it, clean it, dry it, and put it somewhere away from my wife's hands.

[shmenguin]

Knife sharpening tutorial. Give me one. I know about using the steel to keep it sharp. But I slacked off so I need to recover the edge.

[tifosi77]

Are you using a set of whetstones?

[pittsoccer33]

Does anyone have good recommendations on a vegetable chopper? I'm thinking something like the Slap Chop (if those actually work). I'd like to eat more vegetables at home but I detest cutting and peeling them.

[shmenguin]

Are you using a set of whetstones?

Nope. Just steel.

[mac5155]

Does anyone have good recommendations on a vegetable chopper? I'm thinking something like the Slap Chop (if those actually work). I'd like to eat more vegetables at home but I detest cutting and peeling them.

Mandolin slicer?

[shmenguin]

Still gotta peel them if they need peeled.

If you're doing it right, your veggies shouldn't take longer to cut than it takes to clean a food processor. Work on your knife strokes. Brag about it at parties.

[mac5155]

Maybe I just don't eat fancy veggies. But I can peel a potato in about 9 seconds; carrots are bought pre-peeled. What else do you peel? Apples are eaten with the peel on. Citrus fruits?

[columbia]

I got some harissa-infused olive oil for Christmas. As predicted, it works really well with hummus.

[tifosi77]

Are you using a set of whetstones?

Nope. Just steel.

Then you won't be sharpening anything. The steel only hones, which is to say it realigns a blade that has the odd buckle or burr. Sharpening actually means you are removing material from the blade to create the edge. I'd suggest taking them to a knife shop and getting them professionally sharpened, then use the honing rod before every use. (I actually hone my blades every time I switch ingredients when doing prep, but that's probably overkill.) Even with heavy use, you only need to sharpen a knife every couple months to keep it in tip top shape.

[shmenguin]

I haven't sharpened them since I got them 5 years ago. I've known about what steel does, and I used to use it every time I pulled the knives out, but I slacked off on a lot of maintenance once I was blessed with a little person who used up all my time for such things.

So taking it to a pro is better than doing it myself then at this point.

[tifosi77]

Does anyone have good recommendations on a vegetable chopper?

A sharp knife.

I'm thinking something like the Slap Chop (if those actually work). I'd like to eat more vegetables at home but I detest cutting and peeling them.

Slap Chops (and their ilk) are terrible. The cuts are inconsistent, and any time you think you are saving by speed chopping is offset by the difficulty in keeping the thing clean.

[count2infinity]

I haven't sharpened them since I got them 5 years ago. I've known about what steel does, and I used to use it every time I pulled the knives out, but I slacked off on a lot of maintenance once I was blessed with a little person who used up all my time for such things.

So taking it to a pro is better than doing it myself then at this point.

unless you do it often (every few months, depending on usage), may as well just take them to a pro. If memory serves it's not all that expensive.

that being said, I just sharpened all the knives that i got for our wedding today for the first time since we got them (they're a $100 set of ginsu knives from target). took quite a while, but got them sharp again. likely won't last long though.

[columbia]

The local hardware store shoukd be able to handle it.

[shmenguin]

It's probably a good thing that I haven't kept them sharp. I work on my knife technique quite a bit, but I would have had some gnarly gashes if i was dealing with a full capacity blade over the last few years.

[redwill]

As it happens, I got this a couple of weeks ago:



Man, it puts an edge on like you wouldn't believe. Maybe (?) not as good as a professional, but more than enough for me or probably yinz.

I've sharpened six kitchen knives, three pocket knives, and some utility knives. Now I'm looking for knives to sharpen. (Unfortunately, it doesn't do scissors, which would have been too much to ask.)

Anyhoo, I agree with tifosi that a sharp, well-maintained knife is what any cook wants, regardless of brand. Spending $150 on something like this sharpener is better than spending similar money on a couple of super high-end knives, IMO. That being said, a friend of mine has a high-end Cutco chef's knife and the Cutco handle is superior to anything I've ever had.

[blackjack68]

Cutco has "free" sharpening for life.

Just pay shipping to and $8.95 shipping return and send back any and all Cutco items serrated and flat knives (vegetable peeler and scissors included).

One handle had a chip in it, they replaced the whole knife. I've had them replace other knives without asking. Good service.