Is it a sex blog? A mommy blog? A bitch & moan blog? Um, . . . yeah. This is my place to be totally honest. In my real life, I feel like I'm always lying to somebody about something. Here, I am totally honest. Brutally so. However, no matter what bad things I say about my kids, I adore them and would never ever really, say, sell them on Ebay. The husband, often referred to as Spousehole, is another story. Oh yeah - if you are under 18 (or if you are my husband), please leave now.

Friday, November 16, 2007

My Favorite is 5½" of Hardened Steel

I like to have a variety at my beck and call, of course, but my favorite is 5½" and oh so perfect for me. I love how it feels in my hand, how very hard and sharp it is, how it's heavy enough, but not so heavy as to be a burden. It goes everywhere I need it to go. I know that some feel that bigger is better, but I love my 5½" the best.

It's 5½" of forged steel, ice-hardened, with a full tang and a comfortable handle. It's a santoku, my favorite general purpose knife style. I use it for just about everything. It slices, it dices, it minces - veggies, fruits, fish, chicken breast, herbs, almost everything. The smaller size fits my smallish hands and the weight is comfortable for me. It's perfect for mincing onions, garlic, or ginger, or for chiffonade, being fairly small.

For bigger jobs, I have the brothers of the 5½", the 7½" santoku & the monster 9½" santoku. I also have a traditional 8" Wüstof chef's knife and my beloved J.A. Henckels boning knife, which is also ideal for skinning fish. And bread knives, carving knives, and paring knives, of course. But the santokus, the chef's knives, and the boning knife are the core of my collection.


All my favorites are German. Not sure why that is. I guess because they are nice and hard and stay sharp a long time. I hone my knives regularly at home, but do have them professionally sharpened when necessary. A dull knife is a dangerous knife!!!

The wood-handled ones never, ever go in the dishwasher, of course. The non-wood handled ones do, laying sideways in the upper rack, edge up to prevent dulling. I do not keep them in a knife block, as I find the block tends to dull my knives. The most used are kept out in plain sight, within easy reach, on a magnetic strip. The lesser-used ones are in sleeves or cases in a drawer or cabinet, out of the children's reach and sight.

One of Spousehole's main objections to how I keep my kitchen is that the knives are in full view. He feels that they are a temptation to the little ones. I say they are well back from the edge of the counter, where the children would have to stand on something to reach them, and I have taught the children that they may never, ever touch Mommy's knives as they are dangerous. Just like they leave the hot stove or oven alone, the children have left the knives alone. Go figure.

13 comments:

Edtime Stories said...

great title...

Polt said...

Ah yes, I think if I had a German that was hard as steel whenever I wanted, that would be my favorite as well. :)

HUGS...

Lady in red said...

for months I kept all my sharp knives wrapped up in a tea towel and hidden at the back of the bottom drawer in my filing cabinet away from my husband.

Em said...

Enticing title for a post!

But it turns out to be about knives. But since I love to cook, I understand about having a favorite knife. I have one that I love to use more than any other in the kitchen.

George said...

And your children actually listen to you? I am certain that spousehole just can't understand that too well.

Anonymous said...

All my favorites are German...

ha,ha, my favorite is German too. My husband. He is hard like Krupp-Steel all the time...

Cheers!

Rae said...

Love the title! (apparently I'm not alone)

My favorite too is about 5 1/2 inches, nearly six...but I'm not talking about knives :-)

h said...

One could say the Santoku was designed with a Woman's pleasure and comfort in mind. The handles are a bit too small for trolls.

Hope you do switch to the longer-blades whenever it's appropriate. It's important to be able to handle them skillfully too.

Vixen said...

I'm slightly disturbed....

LOL

;)

Anonymous said...

And who exactly says size doesn't matter?

It matters when it becomes your favorite, then either smaller or bigger just doesn't seem to satisfy.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I have a rather large collection of knives but most of them aren't of the kitchen variety. =D

Blue said...

For some reason I'm a little scared of you now...

Anonymous said...

LOL!!
NONE of my knives go in the dishwasher - wood handled or not. They all get handwashed. I was a little surprised that you thought the block dulled them, but then after I thought about it, I believe you are correct.