THE ALCHEMY OF KNIVES
THE CHEF’S MAIN TOOLS
👨🍳 Lots More Stuff — More stuff to store and I have a lot of knives. Unfortunately at eighty years old I can’t take them with me. Im selling my Wusthof's, Shun, Ken Onion's and Bob Kramer knives I'm not doing commercial work any more .
👨🍳 German Steel Is Bullsh*T Advertising —
Most of the knives you see in stores with celebrity names are stamped, burned or otherwise marked, GERMAN STEEL. Please, realize that is nothing but a selling point and does not make it better, just harder. If not your knife would dull on the first stroke.
But to someone who knows knives it’s not important, it’s just part of the process. Why? German steel is a metal made from bog iron ore in a forge, with charcoal for fuel. Thus you get “ Carbon steel”. Charcoal is used as the carbon supply or ingredient necessary for steel production or the steel would be too soft. But the term carbon steel does not sell.
Historically the Germans got their iron ore from Scandinavia. This was one reason they invaded North during WWII, Heavy Water was the other. This ore from Sweden had some neat trace elements in it that made for very good hardened steel. The huge German Steel industries developed in the 1800's with companies like Krupp.
The second steel renaissance came during the rebuilding of Germany after the first World War. Steel became a vast part of the culture, again unfortunately it was more for Panzers, Tigers, Bayonets and Gun barrels than the kitchen. They had the good blast furnaces from Britain and with good ore and charcoal, you had “German Steel” and the world lost almost 60 million people. So much for German steel, I see it in ads all day long. It’s bullsh*t, it simply is carbon steel and a small amount of chromium for stainless reasons.
👨🍳 Carbon Steel — Carbon is the most important element, which increases the strength of the steel, and without it the alloy would not harden. BUT they have a down side. They can lose their sharpness faster if not used right, they are brittle, they corrode and discolor if not treated right. So in better knives alloys are imperative.
👨🍳 Solingen Steel — Another name that pops up is "Solingen" steel which is a trade name for formulas by each manufacturer adding small elements of rare earth, each is proprietary to the maker. A sample might be .5% carbon, 15% chromium, 2% molybdenum. It also can denote a technique such as hammer forging. Solingen pocket knives main blades were hot-punched from stock and beat on a few times before stock removal. This makes for a better blade by compressing the molecules.
👨🍳 High Carbon Steel — Stainless Steel - Stainless steel is stronger than carbon steel, has better properties as to rust or corrosion. Downside Its harder to get a good edge, but practice and the use of stones will make it easier and it will hold an edge much longer. It’s also the reason most newbies buy grinder sharpeners which will ruin a good knife in two strokes.
Chromium is what gives the alloy its corrosion resistance, it forms chromium carbides for wear resistance, and hardens the steel. But it has limitations, it can make steel too brittle if used to excess. Thus the secret formulas and processes such as freezing or cold quenching to produce a good knife with properties are kept secret.
Stainless Steel is really chromium steel with 13% chromium. The first 11% forms carbides, the rest help with anti-rust qualities. Stainless steel alloys can rust, they are only rust resistant, not rust proof and can stain by some acidic foods.
👨🍳 China Is Not Japan — Garbage Knives And Scams — It also put China on the map as the supplier of a large percentage of kitchen knives, mostly stamped not forged by some big names we call celebrity chefs, and there is such variance in the quality I do not recommend them for anything other than clearing brush around the campfire and then throw them in the campfire.
Henckles Cheap Stuff — Here is another example, the prestigious German knife maker Henckels who went International ( China spelled backwards) and put their name on a line or several of lesser quality blade lines which set them backwards. It backfired, they were named after a Chinese off shore boat. “ Le JUNK” I had accumulated on a deal three MIKADOS MADE BY HENCKELS stamped German steel in larger print and MADE IN CHINA hidden by the hilt needing a magnifying glass to see.
Cutco Overpriced Junk — Another loser is VECTOR CO. is the company behind marketing Cutco’s products. More of their sales pitch bullshit and not vested much in their stamped blades something Ron POPIEL would be proud of with a set of 26 knives for 39.95.
And they will work better than Cutco after it loses it’s sharpness and you send it back to the factory, so they can restore its micro grinder edge which they are the only ones that do it. Have you priced postage these days? I do not know any real chefs that use Cutco.
You are paying them three times what the knife is worth. Vector sells door to door by hiring sales associates and paying them commissions (High Percentage) on successful sales since motivated starving salespeople make excellent pitchmen. But any commission-based sales program is suspect since it’s the money and not necessarily the need to solve ones dull knife problems.
It’s obvious the sales person makes a commission, the his or her sales manager makes a commission, and guess who pays all these fine folks the additional profit which was in the form of your check, about 50% goes for commissions.
It’s all bullsh*t — The kinetic energy is because they work on referrals and door to door sales by those referrals. You are not going to disappoint your friend who recommended you because she fell for the spiel — So you know, for you, about 125% more than it is worth in quality and in plain English you just paid 50 dollars extra for a 12-16-20 dollar knife at the most.
Stamped steel crap, supposedly cryogenic to harden since stamped knives do not get quenched and dumb ill-shaped plastic handles. How smart are you? In the case of CUTCO it’s more sales technique and product presentation than product. It’s nothing but a scam. No thanks.
👨🍳 Ceramic Knives - Do Not Drop — Ceramic knives are very hard ceramic, usually zirconium oxide. They retain a cutting edge longer than most metal knives, no discoloration or corrode, and great for salads so the lettuce doesn’t turn.
BUT BEWARE! If dropped most likely like China they will break, very easily, and the edges will crack if left in a drawer mixed with other knives or tossed and pitched in a dishwasher. And again, if dropped will be rendered useless. And dropping is not warranted. Nor will your friends reimburse you when you let them use it.
The 300 dollar KYOCERA’s require a bodyguard to prevent theft and if dropped or mistreated are gone and you are screwed.
👨🍳 Damascus Steel - And Religion — I was looking for the clues to find the Holy Grail of knife-making, so lets go back into time to the source of some great carving, slicing, stabbing and chopping...the Crusades. The differences in knife styles came about or became more evident in the traditional East Meets West Religious tournaments held often enough called the “ Crusades".
Now there’s a two hundred year reality show still going on today, the swords and lances being replaced by bombs and rockets in the same arena we call the Middle East Wars and they are carrying on all the traditions.
The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of the Roman Catholic Church to restore Christian control of the Holy Land. It started in Spain and the Crusades were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. Other campaigns in Spain and Eastern Europe continued into the fifteenth century.
Prejudice, extermination, carried on by the religious leaders of all sides followed by many despicable acts of abusive behaviors, inquisitions, pedophilia proved to me a long time ago man has to get real and start with the elimination by proxy of the two worst abusers and murderers in mankind.
Campaigns were also waged against Slavs, Balts, Jews, Russian, Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and other political enemies of the various Popes. Sort of a “my way or the highway” approach to theology. So much for “Can’t we just get along?”. No? then die…
The Broadsword - Vs. Damascus Steel — The heavier steel swords of the armed Knights and foot soldiers contrasted with the lighter sharper Damascene foundry work. Damascus steel was a term used by several Western cultures from the Medieval period onward to describe a type of steel used in Middle Eastern sword making from about 1100 to 1700 AD.
These swords are characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent of flowing water. Such blades were reputed to be not only tough and resistant to shattering, but capable of being honed to a sharp and resilient edge. In one scene from a movie the Saracen slices a silk scarf in mid air. The broadsword smashed a table. My chainsaw would win every time and last longer if I was a furniture destroyer.
It became further apparent in the traditional sword-making of the Japanese, who also blend the metals into layers, and has filtered down into the Japanese higher end kitchen knives we see today. They are as much art as they are tools. They as many things are, traditional as in many parts of the world, copied and cloned in China where something called quality is left out.
👨🍳 Two Separate Processes And Name Calling —
- Knives have either forged or stamped blades. Stamped blades began life as thin sheets of steel. Punched blanks are cut out and the knife is then finished. The Blade-shaped blanks are punched out of the long sheet in a huge press, bolsters may be welded in place. Some feel stamped blades are thinner and lighter in the front for better slicing. But not stronger.
- Till you get your hands on a quality Japanese thin blade don’t knock it. This is the basic difference of East vs. West knife theology. Weight and balance, thickness of the stock and in good quality Eastern knives rolled or layered specialized steel for thinness and stiffness. Both styles may be forged or stamped, usually the forging products costing more. The thinner blades may be cryogenically treated which means they have been subjected to extreme cold and unique quenching processes to stiffen them. Not stronger just stiffened.
- Some of the knives have exotic handles which easily raise the price range. Good knives have good handles and good blades. Shun, WUSTOF, Henkel’s, Global and Victorinox, Forshner, in their premium lines. But not all make both stamped and forged lines in a myriad of handles and shapes (and price ranges) including one piece stainless knives to accommodate all markets from high-end to middle preferences and price ranges.
- The eight inch standard chef’s knife is available for budgets from $2.99 to $2400.00 and no less than eight countries manufacture these knives. They come in colors, they come in weird handles, strange looking blade shapes and lots of promises that last as long as your time allocated to credit card statements. When you have been to a plant and seen the steel-working processes’ and hand honing of a quality knife and then the production line setup of a lesser cost item, you might start to understand what quality and literally “soul" means in knife-making.
👨🍳 Commercial Knives — Restaurant cooking requires something a little more in the design of knives as they will be used heavily by many different chefs, linemen, cooks and prep people.
- They are abused, usually unclean, even rusted, chipped and dull just before being stolen. Mis-treated, dumped in the dish washer, dropped on the floor, sharpened on a grinder or with a file and auspiciously displayed on a magnetized holder on the wall to make sure it was not stolen.
- Some places had their blade handles numbered and a corresponding number on the wall, just like they do in prison kitchens. I don’t blame them, if we fired someone in the kitchen, first thing was a knife count.
- Dexter Russel, Mac, Tramontina, Mundial, Franklin Commercial, to name just a few. Most chefs have their own knives and guard them voraciously, as I do. I had a bankers vault metal box secured (BOLTED) to the bottom of my table with a padlock when I went home. Never lost a good knife.
- My portable knife kit is good quality TRAMONTINA commercial knives, fairly inexpensive but excellent quality. My really good Shuns, Wusthof’s and my one Kramer do not leave the house for a charity gig.
- Sometimes at a really nice charitable function we’ll give a knife to the best helper as a gift for being a worthy person and some restaurant quality knives from GFS and Tramontina for volunteer helpers.