My younger son decided (on his own) to use my chef's knife last night to open a coconut, and what used to be a straight edge now is, well, serrated. I went to the local Williams Sonoma today to try a bunch of knives, and really liked the feel of the Shun Classic. They have two models of their classic chef's knife-- one hollow ground (with grooves) the other, flat. The folks at the store said that the only difference is that the grooves may help when chopping or slicing with the food not sticking to the knife, but otherwise performance should be comparable. Anyone have a view on whether to groove or not?
Shun Classic Chef's Knife -- Hollow Ground or not
- Thread starter jojo
- Start date
The Granton edge, I find does little to nothing.
If they are the same price, pick the one that looks better.
And, tell your son that he picked the right knife, but used the wrong part.
The spine of the knife will easily crack a coconut, with no damage to the knife, and less chance of injury.
If they are the same price, pick the one that looks better.
And, tell your son that he picked the right knife, but used the wrong part.
The spine of the knife will easily crack a coconut, with no damage to the knife, and less chance of injury.
Unless you are getting a 20 inch slicer, a granton blade will not be an advantage. Happy hunting!
Grantons, kullens, hollow grounds- whatever you call them, do little to prevent sticking. They may help a bit with super sticky items such as tuna (you should be using a yanagi for that anyway), but my experience is that they're not worth the considerable upcharge versus the standard blade. They do look cool, no question.
I wouldn't recommend them for a chef's knife, and I think they're best employed in slicers. Glestain makes some great ones, but I still consider them a bit "gimmicky".
If you like the handle, you'll enjoy the Shun. Good steel and balance.
I wouldn't recommend them for a chef's knife, and I think they're best employed in slicers. Glestain makes some great ones, but I still consider them a bit "gimmicky".
If you like the handle, you'll enjoy the Shun. Good steel and balance.
I love the Shun knives. I bought a hollow-ground Shun santoku knife and now I hardly ever even use a chef's knife.
My advice would be to look into going with a santoku instead of a chef's knife. It does everything a chef's knife can do and does it better.
My advice would be to look into going with a santoku instead of a chef's knife. It does everything a chef's knife can do and does it better.
Santoku's are my least favorite knife.
They have no belly for rocking the blade, and the point isn't pointy enough for the detail work.
They also lack the bolster(of course all Shun's do) that a good German chef's has that can be used to break apart joints.(the part of the blade closest to where your fingers would be)
To each his own, but in the interest of fairness it should be noted that if you were to canvas aficionados of knives, you'd find those who prefer a santoku over a gyuto to be in a very small minority. A santoku is supposed to perform the "three virtues", but doesn't really excel at any of them. For one, it's too short.
You can use the heel of a knife with a bolster for tough tasks, but you really should be using a different knife for that. The fact that the bolster prevents you from sharpening the edge all the way down to the heel makes it a negative compared to bolsterless designs.
Aye, but in a fast paced situation, it beats having to put down one, and pick up another.
(besides I had more than a few run in's with the heel of a Global 8" that left me bleeding in front of customers
)
I had more than a few run in's with the heel of a Global 8" that left me bleeding in front of customers
Yep. That unprotected heel sure can nip ya.
A good tip is to sharpen the heel to a much wider angle than the rest of the blade. The heel is rarely used for any fine work, and the added toughness of a more obtuse bevel can come in handy.
Santoku's are my least favorite knife.
They have no belly for rocking the blade, and the point isn't pointy enough for the detail work.
They also lack the bolster(of course all Shun's do) that a good German chef's has that can be used to break apart joints.(the part of the blade closest to where your fingers would be)
I bought a Santoku and I like it, but it will never repalce my chef's knife!
Dave
