Price is a little steep for me as I already have too many knives, but
someone may be in the market. I wonder if it is 'good value,' as most
Kirkland brand products are that I've purchased.

http://tinyurl.com/5xectd

says: handmade.

Kirkland by Kai the makers of Shun

$599 s&H included
a.. 33 Layer clad VG10 stainless steel blades for a sharp edge and cutting
edge retention
b.. Ergonomically designed handle for a comfortable grip
c.. Perfectly balanced
d.. Hand washing recommended
e.. Hand made in Japan
a.. 8" Chef knife
b.. 9" Bread knife
c.. 7" Santoku
d.. 6" Utility knife
e.. 3.5" Paring knife
f.. 9" Slicing knife
g.. 9" Honing steel
h.. Bamboo drawer storage tray

Dee Randall wrote:
> Price is a little steep for me as I already have too many knives, but
> someone may be in the market. I wonder if it is 'good value,' as
> most Kirkland brand products are that I've purchased.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5xectd
>
> says: handmade.
>
> Kirkland by Kai the makers of Shun
>
> $599 s&H included
> a.. 33 Layer clad VG10 stainless steel blades for a sharp edge and
> cutting edge retention
> b.. Ergonomically designed handle for a comfortable grip
> c.. Perfectly balanced
> d.. Hand washing recommended
> e.. Hand made in Japan
> a.. 8" Chef knife
> b.. 9" Bread knife
> c.. 7" Santoku
> d.. 6" Utility knife
> e.. 3.5" Paring knife
> f.. 9" Slicing knife
> g.. 9" Honing steel
> h.. Bamboo drawer storage tray

Shun are very good knives and VG-10 is excellent stainless steel. With that
said if these are made by Kai they are not Shuns as the handle shape is all
wrong as are the blade shapes.

I'm also not much on buying knife sets at all. With a set you buy 8 or more
knives and most you will never use. Most home cooks rarely use more than 3
to 5 knives. The knives I would recommend are an 8" to 10" chef's knife,
3.5" paring knife, 5" to 6" utility knife. Now if you eat a lot of roasts,
etc then a carving knife or if hard crusted bread then a bread knife in some
cases could be the same knife. A 10" Chef's knife will work fine for a
carving knife for most home cooks also. The santoku is just a shorter chef's
knife and too small for much, but seems to be a favorite of most home cooks.
Perhaps due to watching the Food Network. If you do any butchering then
perhaps a good boning knive but a utility knife could do that also. I don't
recommend steeling VG-10 as the steel is generally harder than European
knives with less chance of the edge rolling over.

--

Joe Cilinceon

On Sep 25, 12:05*pm, "Joe Cilinceon" > wrote:
> Dee Randall wrote:
> > Price is a little steep for me as I already have too many knives, but
> > someone may be in the market. *I wonder if it is *'good value,' as
> > most Kirkland brand products are that I've purchased.
>
> >http://tinyurl.com/5xectd
>
> > says: handmade.
>
> > Kirkland by Kai the makers of Shun
>
> > $599 s&H included
> > *a.. 33 Layer clad VG10 stainless steel blades for a sharp edge and
> > cutting edge retention
> > *b.. Ergonomically designed handle for a comfortable grip
> > *c.. Perfectly balanced
> > *d.. Hand washing recommended
> > *e.. Hand made in Japan
> > *a.. 8" Chef knife
> > *b.. 9" Bread knife
> > *c.. 7" Santoku
> > *d.. 6" Utility knife
> > *e.. 3.5" Paring knife
> > *f.. 9" Slicing knife
> > *g.. 9" Honing steel
> > *h.. Bamboo drawer storage tray
>
> Shun are very good knives and VG-10 is excellent stainless steel. With that
> said if these are made by Kai they are not Shuns as the handle shape is all
> wrong as are the blade shapes.
>
> I'm also not much on buying knife sets at all. With a set you *buy 8 or more
> knives and most you will never use. Most home cooks rarely use more than 3
> to 5 knives. The knives I would recommend are an 8" to 10" chef's knife,
> 3.5" paring knife, 5" to 6" utility knife. Now if you eat a lot of roasts,
> etc then a carving knife or if hard crusted bread then a bread knife in some
> cases could be the same knife. A 10" Chef's knife will work fine for a
> carving knife for most home cooks also. The santoku is just a shorter chef's
> knife and too small for much, but seems to be a favorite of most home cooks.
> Perhaps due to watching the Food Network. If you do any butchering then
> perhaps a good boning knive but a utility knife could do that also. I don't
> recommend steeling VG-10 as the steel is generally harder than European
> knives with less chance of the edge rolling over.
>
> --
>
> Joe Cilinceon

Good advice. My favorite knife is the Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook)
chef's cleaver. I use that for about everything but steak knifes for
cutting small stuff and, of course, steak.

Noodles wrote:
>
> Good advice. My favorite knife is the Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook)
> chef's cleaver. I use that for about everything but steak knifes for
> cutting small stuff and, of course, steak.

I use the orginial Martin Yan cleaver (made by Dexter) for about 30 years.
In the last three years I've gotten in to Japanese knives and now have a few
custom made Chinese Chef's Knives (cleavers with Japanese steel) as well as
a bunch of knives most of which are considered very high end steels and
such. One of the best books on the subject is "An Edge in the Kitchen" by
Chad Ward who reseached it for about 3 years. I have both carbon and
stainless steels in my block and racks.

--

Joe Cilinceon

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:05:17 -0400, "Joe Cilinceon"
> wrote:

I'll bet the folks in this ng use a lot more than three knives
regularly. I know I keep trying to get down to a single knife block,
with no success.

>....The knives I would recommend are an 8" to 10" chef's knife,
>3.5" paring knife, 5" to 6" utility knife.

I've never come across a real use for a utility knife. What can you do
with a utility knife that you can't do with your chef's knife? Or with
one of your steak knives?

>If you do any butchering then perhaps a good boning knive but a
utility knife could do that also.

Wow, that's certainly not true for me.

My current knives that I find essential for somewhat ambitious home
cooking:

1. 8" deep-bodied Wusthof chef's knife
2. 2.5" Lamson fluting knife
3. 5.5" Global forged stiff boning knife
4. Global forged cleaver
5. Sabatier monster bread knife (12" x 3" rectangular serrated blade)
6. 10" Global Yanagi sashimi slicer

Hmmm, now if I can identify those as the essentials, why can't I part
with the rest? Good question ... I'll have to think about that. 8

-- Larry

pltrgyst wrote:
> On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:05:17 -0400, "Joe Cilinceon"
> > wrote:
>
> I'll bet the folks in this ng use a lot more than three knives
> regularly. I know I keep trying to get down to a single knife block,
> with no success.

I don't doubt it at all.

>
>> ....The knives I would recommend are an 8" to 10" chef's knife,
>> 3.5" paring knife, 5" to 6" utility knife.
>
> I've never come across a real use for a utility knife. What can you do
> with a utility knife that you can't do with your chef's knife? Or with
> one of your steak knives?

Sandwich knife, general uses like cutting lemons etc and yes one could use a
chef's knife or even a steak knife which is basically nothing more than a
utility knife.

>
>> If you do any butchering then perhaps a good boning knive but a
> utility knife could do that also.
>
> Wow, that's certainly not true for me.

I personally use boning knives for steak knives.

>
> My current knives that I find essential for somewhat ambitious home
> cooking:
>
> 1. 8" deep-bodied Wusthof chef's knife
> 2. 2.5" Lamson fluting knife
> 3. 5.5" Global forged stiff boning knife
> 4. Global forged cleaver
> 5. Sabatier monster bread knife (12" x 3" rectangular serrated blade)
> 6. 10" Global Yanagi sashimi slicer

90% of all my kitchen cutting is done with a Chinese cleaver (thin slicer
type) with the other 10% spreed over special needs such as cutting hard
crusted breeds, rough butcher work (I buy my meats in 1/2 animals at a
time).

>
> Hmmm, now if I can identify those as the essentials, why can't I part
> with the rest? Good question ... I'll have to think about that. 8
>
> -- Larry

--

Joe Cilinceon