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Honored Contributor
Posts: 36,947
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

I am old and have been cooking since I was 14.  I have also been watching cooking shows since Julia Child came on tv.  I bought myself a 12 inch chef's knife as my first kitchen knife when I was no longer living at home.

 

I have always watched chefs, read about keeping knives sharp and how to choose and use a good knife.  I'm not great at it but I am good enough to have made life easier over the years.

 

I was thinking about this because I was so excited to get a good sharpener for my Asian knives over the weekend.  So I wondered if any of you are "into" knives and have some treasured ones you use all the time.  

 

When I was growing up we had a small knife and a bigger serated one maybe 5 or 6 inches long, and a butcher knife that we seldom used.  It really makes life easier for me to have an assortment of good sharp knives suited to the things I do most often.

Occasional Contributor
Posts: 14
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

I'm not necessarily the best with knives but for the past 36 years the only knives that I have used are from Cutco.  They are expensive,  good knives but they are guaranteed for life and you can send them back to be sharpened too.  The ones I use the most are the petite carver and the paring knife.  I can pretty much do anything with just those two knives so I have a couple of each.  

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,122
Registered: ‎06-25-2012

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

I only use my collection of Cutco knives I collected years ago. Woman Happy

"Pure Michigan"
Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,185
Registered: ‎07-15-2016

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

Funny you should ask!  Instead of using my mandoline slicer last week, I thought I'd just use a knife to slice an onion.

 

The wound on my thumb is almost all healed!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,782
Registered: ‎05-23-2015

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

I'll tell you one thing, that old cliche about dull knives being more dangerous than sharp ones does not apply to me.  Every cut I ever got while cooking was from a sharp knife. My fault, but  when you are cut by a sharp knife, well it hurts.

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,788
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

I do have a great selection of quality kitchen knives.   As for my knife skills, they are nothing close to what is shown on cooking shows, but I prepare edible meals for my family, and have the same 10 fingers I was born with.    

 

In Home Ec, we learned to cut and peel with a paring knife, not a vegetable peeler.   We peeled potatoes, then continued to hold the potato while we sliced or diced them---we did not lay them on the counter or cutting board and cut them.   Same with an onion; we held the onion and sliced it with a paring knife, we did not use the technique shown on any cooking show.   

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,178
Registered: ‎09-02-2010

@QVCkitty1 wrote:

I'll tell you one thing, that old cliche about dull knives being more dangerous than sharp ones does not apply to me.  Every cut I ever got while cooking was from a sharp knife. My fault, but  when you are cut by a sharp knife, well it hurts.


LOL, me too.   I didn't even realize I was cutting through my nail until it started bleeding.    My knife skills were better before I did this.  And my knives were sharper.

 

nail

~~
*Off The Deep End~A very short trip for some!*
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,147
Registered: ‎12-23-2015

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

we allso have a set of cutco knives. they are very good. we have had them for 15 years.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 36,947
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?


@RedTop wrote:

I do have a great selection of quality kitchen knives.   As for my knife skills, they are nothing close to what is shown on cooking shows, but I prepare edible meals for my family, and have the same 10 fingers I was born with.    

 

In Home Ec, we learned to cut and peel with a paring knife, not a vegetable peeler.   We peeled potatoes, then continued to hold the potato while we sliced or diced them---we did not lay them on the counter or cutting board and cut them.   Same with an onion; we held the onion and sliced it with a paring knife, we did not use the technique shown on any cooking show.   


Yikes!  That scares me!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,334
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: How are your knife skills and do you have a good collection of kitchen knives?

I wish I could find someplace local where I could get my knives sharpened. I'm just not that good at it.  I try and they are good for a while just not as long as when you first buy them.

 

I have a set of Wusthof.