So I'm a bit of a knife nerd. I like knives. And I cook, so obviously I need a Chef's Knife, that ubiquitous tool that solves so many slicing, dicing, and chopping needs. After years of buying cheap knives, and months of researching higher end knives, I thought I'd share how to buy a BIFL knife as I know it.
First off, I totally get wanting a several hundred dollar piece of Japanese or German steel. But, awesome as high end knives are... it's a piece of steel and you don't really get much more BiFL than modern production steel, no matter the price, country of origin, or whether it's forged or stamped. You can't buy your way out of sharpening them. Your cheapest knife and your most expensive knives will both become blunt, useless instruments at some point. And there's a trade-off, buy a hard steel that keeps its edge longer and it's harder to sharpen, buy a softer steel that becomes dull faster and it'll be easier to sharpen.
So, practically, what you want is a knife that isn't serrated, so you can sharpen it easily, a full tang--where the steel of the blade goes fully into the handle, three rivets securing that handle, a durable material for said handle, and most importantly, some way to sharpen it. That's it. There's no magical knife out there.
In many ways, I think my $20 8" Paula Dean Walmart knife is ideal. It's dirt cheap, you can throw it in the dishwasher (although you should never put high end knives in the dishwasher, this isn't that), and it can be made as sharp as much as any other knife. It does definitely lack that wow factor. Nobody is going to be proud to wield their $20 Walmart knife. But as a "beater" knife it's hard to beat. It doesn't have to be that brand, any inexpensive knife with the aforementioned features will work.
For under $100, Tojiro DP is consistently rated very well, even against more expensive knives. Enjoy forged Japanese steel with VG-10 core and have a Kill Bill marathon. The handle is wood, so dishwashing is obviously a no-go, and at some point you may need to rescale (replace the handle) it--though at this price point you might as well just replace it.
For over $200, buy anything that makes your loins quiver and you can impress your friends with. Functionally, you aren't buying anything better than a $20 knife.
And what do the pros use? They use knife sharpening services that provide names you've probably never heard of whose knives are regularly sharpened, and that can be sterilized easily.
All steel is pretty much BIFL. Whether you buy cheap or expensive, learn how to sharpen your knives. Dull knives are dangerous. Whether you go with a $300 sharpening system, or a $20 whetstone (or a very expensive whetstone for that matter) sharpening is the key to a BiFL knife.
Submitted April 09, 2017 at 12:27AM by PaleBlueEye http://ift.tt/2oRIEdf
