The BEST knives

I am often asked "What is really good knife" or "What are the best knives you can buy?"

The best knife is a sharp knife and before I attempt to answer this,  keep in mind that even the best knives get dull, there are knives that cost thousands of dollars and even they need regular sharpening.

Believe it or not Cutco knives are not the best, I am sorry to dishearten the loyal Cutco owners that may be reading this.

Here in the Halifax area, the best knives we can buy, i.e. walk into a store like Paderno or Cucina Moderna the familiar brands like Wusthof, Henckels, Grohmann, and then there are the Global, Shun and MAC knives which are made in Japan.

Now out of those mentioned here, I would purchase one of the Japanese made knives but with care and maintenance, i.e. regular sharpening, any of the knives mentioned here will serve you well for many, many years. Grohmann knives, a favourite here in Nova Scotia are made in Pictou so for that reason alone, they are very popular. Easy to sharpen, priced well and a pretty good knife.

However, none of these are in the "best knives in the world" bracket. For these beauties, we need to venture online, unless living in Calgary or in the Toronto area.

I'm talking about hand made Japanese knives, the kind of very beautiful and exceptionally well crafted knives sold in places like TOSHO KNIFE ARTs and KNIFEWEAR and PAUL's FINEST. These are Canadian owned and operated and are very unique stores.

The difference when you purchase a knife from Tosho Knife Arts or Knifewear for example is that the owners, the folks you are buying from are very passionate and knowledgeable about their products. When you go in and ask questions about a knife at one of these places, it isn't like going into a hardware store and asking the sales person about the best barbecue to buy. You should know that the people showing you the knife that interests you have been to Japan, they have seen and talked to the artisans who made the knife. They are world class sharpeners as well, I can only dream of walking into one of these places and buying a knife.  On line purchasing however is the way to go if you can't visit in person.

So what knives am I talking about, what brands. Well the knives are named after the artisan who designed and made the knives, and that name alone could represent generations of knife makers.

Here are some of the brands of knives that would thrill you if you owned one:

Konosuke, Takeda, Tojiro, Masakage, Kikuichi, Moritaka, Misono.

Not all the best knives come from Japan, there is of course the fabulous knives made by Bob Kramer (have sold for $50,000), Murray Carter, Devin Thomas, Pierre Rodrique (from Canada).

You just to need do a little searching and I do recommend the Canadian based stores, these folks are very nice to deal with their knowledge of knifes and of knife sharpening will astound you.

What makes these knives so good you ask?

Well I think if you had one in your kitchen and took one for a test drive you would immediately realize that these knives are truly special. A blend of factors make that so, the artisan who hand made the knife, the steel is the critical component and reason they are what they are. Your average Wusthof or Henckels is sharpened about 20-22 degrees (sometimes more), these high carbon Japanese knives can take an edge at 11 degrees and hold it. Imagine the cutting power by a blade sharpened at such an acute angle.

The prices of the knives range anywhere from $135.00 to $7, 000 and more. You can get one of these very special knives for $200.00 though, the same you could pay for some of the knives here in our local stores.

Something to think about, but when you decide to jump in, think Canadian when buying Japanese hand made knives.

Now about sharpening these knives, you may think it is difficult.

Definitely not the case, in fact I find them quite easy to sharpen, just another benefit of owning one.

There is nothing wrong with the knives we buy here in Atlantic Canada, they are really quite fine and take a great edge. The purpose of this Blog entry is simply to talk about what I consider the "best knives" not to put down any other knives. I personally own Wusthof, Global, Shun and Grohmann knives and I've been happy with them for years.

However, having a passion for knives and of course sharpening them means I am going to always want one of the knives I have listed here.  I have sharpened many of them and I'm truly impressed by them.

I just need one and it is comforting to know that I don't have to go far.

Tosho Knife Arts

Knifewear