Although I have a few other knives, and Lindsey has her own chef's knife, this is the core of my knife wardrobe. Astonishingly nerdy to be photographing this stuff, perhaps. But it keeps me off the streets.
Top to bottom:
10" Henckels sharpening steel, bought in San Diego several years ago.
7" Henckels International Granton Edge Santoku, bought at Target in Cary about a year ago. Perhaps my most often-used knife, and a fabulous bang for the buck.
10" Viking Professional Chef's Knife, my gift to myself upon getting a job. A bit expensive, and heavier than the same size Wusthof or Henckels. It suits my tastes and serves me well.
6" Dexter-Russell Sani-Safe upswept stiff boning knife, purchased at a restaurant supply store recently. Cheap, sharp, good grip. I've already butterflied some chicken breasts and trimmed a boston butt with it.
12" Dexter-Russell Sani-Safe Serrated Slicer, also from the restaurant supply store. I should have gotten this long ago, given my love of baking bread. It is also inexpensive, sharp and fitted with a good handle. More importantly, it's long and not pointy. I had a decent bread knife, but it was shorter, which doesn't give you plenty of sawing room, and its sharp tip scored the cutting board when I cut through a crusty loaf.
Left-3 1/2" Wusthof Classic paring knife. I got this at Williams Sonoma several years ago with a gift certificate from my sister. Thin. Sharp. Balanced. There are other nice parers around, but I don't see much need to look further than this one. A Dexter Russell parer, sibling of the above mentioned knives, is okay, but the fully-forged, full-tang quality of this little German guy is very gratifying when doing fine work.
The cutting board is a John Boos, purchased with a gift certificate from Lindz's mom. I love it, but I wish I had a bigger kitchen so I could have its bigger brethren also.
Why do I post pictures of my knives? Because I'm weird. Also because I value my tools. I'm always keen to learn more about what is and is not important in the kitchen. I'm trying to get the kitchen-gadget monkey off my back, and a thorough understanding of tools, combined with perspective and poverty, is essential to this. I longingly look at $250 copper sauciers on the internet, but my old, black Lodge chicken fryer is what I actually pull out of the cabinet to make risotto or ragu. It's not so much what you have; it's what you do with it (which also applies to the rest of life). However, what you have is a reflection of yourself. I used to buy a lot of kitchen stuff, but not so much any more. Perhaps I'm slightly more mature. I'm also married to a woman who keeps me grounded in reality. Also, I have amassed all the shit I need. I just need a bigger kitchen with better appliances now....
2 comments:
Oh, lovely. I don't think it's weird at all to post pics of the tools you respect and use all the time. Especially when they bring so much joy to every day living.
The pale Usher- threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars, with a queer handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags of all the known nations of the world. He loved to dust his old grammars; it somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality.
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