[Sca-cooks] Rant: And speaking of cooking equipment...

[Vitaliano Vincenzi]

Well, I certainly own some knives from the $80 to $100 range as well, 
and in fact, I don't own a single knife that itself would be $200 or 
more, but that's not to say I never will.

As for quality, I look for a thick blade that extends all the way 
through the handle - and I want to be able to see that. I don't mind 
plastic handles so long as they aren't molded around a little nub from 
the blade. My set that I have now has blades all the way through the 
handle with a two piece handle riveted to the blade itself. The set I 
have is made by Philippe Richard, which may not be a top brand, but the 
set sold for over $250 when I received it. I also own a couple of 
Chicago Cutlery knives from BEFORE they were made oversees - when they 
were still a great knife.

A knife doesn't have to be expensive to work well in the kitchen, as 
long as it is a good, sturdy knife with a thick blade extending well 
into or through the handle. I forced our shire to purchase two good 
Santoku knives last year after being asked to cut turnips with a Ginsu, 
and we only paid about $40 per knife for these at a restaurant supply 
store. They work great, have good thick blades and really nice balance, 
so they are easy to cut with. I of course volunteered to keep up the 
maintenance on them as very few in our shire know how to do this.

Geez, who thought this "hobby" crack would cause so much debate. I am 
still having fun though...

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
> This may be true to some extent, but my glass floor for unacceptably  
> cheap knives is more like $80-100 than $200 (I assume we're talking  
> about some form of chef's knife, maybe 10 or 12-inch). I haven't  
> found that my cutting with more expensive knives to be significantly  
> easier _or_ significantly better, ditto maintenance. I don't like  
> molded plastic handles or really thin-bladed chef's knives that look  
> stamped, and I won't even pick up a knife that alleges never to need  
> sharpening unless I'm cutting cardboard, styrofoam or something like  
> that.

-- 
Lord Vitaliano Vincenzi
aka Shane Lambert
http://www.periodfood.blogspot.com
Shire of Rokeclif: http://www.rokeclif.org
Kingdom of Northshield: http://www.northshield.org