[Sca-cooks] Knives

[Maggie MacDonald]

At 02:46 PM 3/28/2006,Tom Vincent said something like:
>   What about knives?  What are folk's favorites, least favorites, dream 
> knives, etc?
>
>Anyone try/like ceramic knives?
>
>   For me, I love Chicago Cutlery's traditional knives, with the wood 
> handles...They just *feel* like knives.  I had a set of Henckels and got 
> rid of it.
>
>   Now, some of these Japanese Damascus chef's knives really get my blood 
> moving...
>
>   Duriel

My favorite is a Calphalon one, an eight inch chef knife. It fits my hand 
well and does 99% of what I want to do.  My 2nd favorite is a sturdy paring 
knife that I found at a 99cent only store.  I was so impressed by it that I 
purchased a dozen slicing knives for the baronial kitchen gear (they had 
_no_ knives at all), and people refuse to believe they were that 
inexpensive.  They work fantastically, they hold an edge, clean up well, 
and look awesome.

I have a ceramic knife, and frankly, I'm disappointed. I checked with a 
knife smith (Njall Hagarson sp?) and he tells me that the ceramic stuff is 
mostly hype. This thing does not hold an edge well, after very light use 
over one year it bludgeons tomatoes, not slices.  It now lives in the back 
corner of the knife block, in a position of honor, but not seeing use.

Regards,
Maggie