Kitchen cutting boards

[kage69]

A large and 2 inch thick end grain cutting board that permanently lives on my countertop.. it's not just highly functional, it's decorative and looks great in the kitchen.

Wood is the best, and certain woods are easier on knives than others.

I had an end grain board that eventually cracked after 6 years, but I barely oiled it. This one I'll be oiling every couple months.

John Boos makes some really nice end grain ones but they are like $200 or more. That's ATOT baller money.

I think the one I have now is Catskill Craftsmen. It's not as pretty as my previous one but it's still a nice piece.

It's about 17"x19" - so a nice big working area. Love that feature.

I might drill 4 small holes in it and install feet. Anybody do that on an end grain board?

I've never been able to go with Boos personally. They're nice I'll admit, def look great, but I can't justify the expense when a single round piece of wood does the job fine. It's just a surface to work on, I'd rather spend that extra dough on good steel with dimensions appropriate for my hand size and a quality/temper that allows me to go months between sharpening. A cook I know told me that if you go with Boos, definitely get their wood oil and use it to preserve your investment. Apparently it's different than normal food grade mineral oil.

I would definitely avoid drilling holes if I were you, that grippy soft mesh stuff for cabinets previously mentioned is what I use, works great.

 

[Captante]

I can't use a Schick without ripping up my face. I think the blade angle is different than on Gillette.

I find that EVERY razor is very slightly different and requires a couple "break-in" shaves for the best results when switching between brands/models. (unsure if its my beard changing in some way or just re-adjusting my shaving style)

 

[kage69]

I can't use a Schick without ripping up my face. I think the blade angle is different than on Gillette.

Disposables are a mixed bag design wise, and then there is the very subjective measure of what constitutes 'sharp,' 'broken in but still usable,' and 'so dull it's now trash.' If I'm using a cheapie I tend to not try and make it last as long as possible. I prefer Gillette to Schick as well. No idea what angle is actually used on the blade by manufacture, but somewhere way back I heard razors are typically 10-12 degrees.

 

[MrSquished]

I've never been able to go with Boos personally. They're nice I'll admit, def look great, but I can't justify the expense when a single round piece of wood does the job fine. It's just a surface to work on, I'd rather spend that extra dough on good steel with dimensions appropriate for my hand size and a quality/temper that allows me to go months between sharpening. A cook I know told me that if you go with Boos, definitely get their wood oil and use it to preserve your investment. Apparently it's different than normal food grade mineral oil.

I would definitely avoid drilling holes if I were you, that grippy soft mesh stuff for cabinets previously mentioned is what I use, works great.

I couldn't justify the Boos cost either. I didn't even consider them, but they did come up in searches for end grain boards. My board is Catskill Craftsmen, so made in NY state, which is nice. It was 80 bucks. They make a variety of wood products.

 

[ponyo]

A couple of decent knives are nice to have. I agree that they don't make a lot of difference to your cooking ability though. As long as you keep them sharp cheap knives will do most of the job.

Oh! One other disadvantage of plastic, one of mine has a big depression in it where I put something hot on it. Its a pain in the arse chopping on that one!


Must be a different model then as mine slide around all over the place. They are useful, just not to chop on.

Yup, I agree you have to find knives that's comfortable for you. I like Global knives and use their 8" Chef knife and 4" paring knife. I've been using the same Global chef knife since 2004. It's comfortable and feels right in my hands. That's all I care about. I have other more expensive knives but it's not the price or or how hard the steel is that matter. It's comfort. You can make any knife sharp. I've used and sharpen my 8" Global chef knife so much it's more like 6 or 7" knife now.

I don't know what people are doing with their chopping board or how they chop but my plastic boards are all fine even though I chop and cook a ton. I also have wooden board but I hardly pull that out because plastic is convenient and just gets the job done.

 

[kage69]

Yup, I agree you have to find knives that's comfortable for you. I like Global knives and use their 8" Chef knife and 4" paring knife. I've been using the same Global chef knife since 2004. It's comfortable and feels right in my hands. That's all I care about. I have other more expensive knives but it's not the price or or how hard the steel is that matter. It's comfort. You can make any knife sharp. I've used and sharpen my 8" Global chef knife so much it's more like 6 or 7" knife now.

I don't know what people are doing with their chopping board or how they chop but my plastic boards are all fine even though I chop and cook a ton. I also have wooden board but I hardly pull that out because plastic is convenient and just gets the job done.

Nothing wrong with being frugal, but as someone who sharpens kitchen knives so much it's basically a side job, I have to say your comments on steel hardness and the ease of sharpening are definitely amusing. While I totally agree with your comments on comfort, having a hard time trying to square that position with love for a knife you admit has lost inches from it's original form. YMMV though I guess. I've found blade height to be a crucial element in comfortable (and safe) use, so I can't imagine hanging onto one that worn. Making a knife properly sharp while removing the bare minimum so as to preserve the original blade geometry is actually quite difficult. When done right the knife can outlast you, providing the steel isn't too soft. A polished edge does an easier job and leaves better results, just ask any wood carver or sushi chef. I'm not super familiar with Global, but I'm curious, how do you sharpen?

'Forging takes 3 years to learn. Sharpening takes a lifetime.' - paraphrased saying from Seki, Japan.

 

[MrSquished]

Nothing wrong with being frugal, but as someone who sharpens kitchen knives so much it's basically a side job, I have to say your comments on steel hardness and the ease of sharpening are definitely amusing. While I totally agree with your comments on comfort, having a hard time trying to square that position with love for a knife you admit has lost inches from it's original form. YMMV though I guess. I've found blade height to be a crucial element in comfortable (and safe) use, so I can't imagine hanging onto one that worn. Making a knife properly sharp while removing the bare minimum so as to preserve the blade original blade geometry is actually quite difficult. When done right the knife can outlast you, providing the steel isn't too soft. A polished edge does an easier job and leaves better results, just ask any wood carver or sushi chef. I'm not super familiar with Global, but I'm curious, how do you sharpen?

'Forging takes 3 years to learn. Sharpening takes a lifetime.' - paraphrased saying from Seki, Japan.

I recently bought a good 1000 grit whetstone, and an going to practice on a cheap knife before taking it to my good knife. I have some resources that the chef knives subreddit has linked up, but do you have any tips?

 

[lxskllr]

Probably personal preference, but I found I do a much better job using a small stone, and moving it on the blade, rather than using a benchstone, and moving the blade on the stone.

Worth learning both ways, and seeing which works better for you.

 

[kage69]

I recently bought a good 1000 grit whetstone, and an going to practice on a cheap knife before taking it to my good knife. I have some resources that the chef knives subreddit has linked up, but do you have any tips?

Sure. You just mentioned the first tip!

Always get a stamped steel beater to learn on (also make it the bone and shell bitch).

1000 is probably your best all around grit, though a lower grit helps save time if you're rehabin something very dull. I don't see much need to go beyond 4000.

Use a dry erase marker to color the bevel on the side of the knife you are working on. Allows you to easily see how much contact you are getting and what your progress is.

Leather is your friend. When you are done sharpening give the blade a stropping. Cleans up the bevel and polishes the edge so that first couple of cuts are crazy good.

Stay away from diamond surfaces. Waste of money.

If you are dealing with Japanese steels, invest in a ceramic honing rod. European honing steels don't really work that great on the stuff past 60 on the Rockwell. You'll be there forever.

 

[sdifox]

Of all things, why did random kitchen crap off Amazon become my hobby? lol

You did it to hide your personal lubricant obsession no?

 

[ponyo]

Nothing wrong with being frugal, but as someone who sharpens kitchen knives so much it's basically a side job, I have to say your comments on steel hardness and the ease of sharpening are definitely amusing. While I totally agree with your comments on comfort, having a hard time trying to square that position with love for a knife you admit has lost inches from it's original form. YMMV though I guess. I've found blade height to be a crucial element in comfortable (and safe) use, so I can't imagine hanging onto one that worn. Making a knife properly sharp while removing the bare minimum so as to preserve the original blade geometry is actually quite difficult. When done right the knife can outlast you, providing the steel isn't too soft. A polished edge does an easier job and leaves better results, just ask any wood carver or sushi chef. I'm not super familiar with Global, but I'm curious, how do you sharpen?

'Forging takes 3 years to learn. Sharpening takes a lifetime.' - paraphrased saying from Seki, Japan.

I used to use this.

Global Stage 3 Sharpener

Now I use this.

Global Speed Sharpener

I have brand new Global 8" chef knife sitting in a box. Eventually, I'll use it. But my current Global chef knife works fine. Sure it's smaller now from wear, tear, and use but I also have fondness for it because I've used it for so long and made so many great meals with it. It's not about money with me.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Have a good sized bamboo cutting board for most standard stuff (veggies, red meat, etc) and an assortment of light foldable plastic cutting boards for more pungent/microbial food (board for fish, board for chicken). Plastic boards go through the dishwasher, wood board gets a rinse in the sink.

I always hated wood boards because so many of the flat department store crap would warp and go to crap thanks to uneven expansion of the wood until I finally got a Bamboo board with feet. Board is built like an absolute unit, didn't cost hundreds of dollars, is easy on my knives without getting horribly disfigured itself, and having a raised board allows it to quickly dry out after a rinse on all sides without pooling or collecting water.

 

[WelshBloke]

I might get one from here. They do them to measure.

4cm Thick End Grain Chopping Board - Customisable

A completley customisable end grain chopping board made from a wood of your choice. Choose corners edges and handles, or not.

woodenchoppingboards.co.uk

 

[pete6032]

I get my knives sharpened professionally every couple months. It's not very expensive, I'd rather just have someone do it for me and it take them only a few minutes.

 

[kage69]

I used to use this.

Global Stage 3 Sharpener

Now I use this.

Global Speed Sharpener

I have brand new Global 8" chef knife sitting in a box. Eventually, I'll use it. But my current Global chef knife works fine. Sure it's smaller now from wear, tear, and use but I also have fondness for it because I've used it for so long and made so many great meals with it.

Can you take out the ceramic bits and clean them? Ceramic honing rods build up steel with use, you have to remove it with a rust eraser or abrasive cleaner periodically.

If you're happy with it that's all that matters, though I bet you'd be impressed if you had a pro do it for you by hand. You get a better, stronger edge when sharpening with the grain of the steel as opposed to a perpendicular angle of attack. I just took a look and see now that Global has changed a lot in the last many years, their sharpening gadgets do look better than other designs I've seen, particularly the one that you can add water too. Very cool.

It's not about money with me.

Wait, aren't you the guy who refuses to pay more than $3 for hot sauce? Seemed like money was the most important thing to you in that ChickFilA thread. Jus sayin...

Doesn't matter, my mention of frugality was no bash and you have nothing to prove to me. Hanging onto a good knife that is still safe enough to use is only proper, and I wish more people cared for their tools like you do yours. Believe it or not, I know people who *big deep calm breath* throw away knives when they get dull. Not just bread knives either, like, santokus. My sister the chef has a number of friends who fall into this category. I do what I can to interdict that, then I touch them up and then give them away to neighbors and friends.

 

[lxskllr]

That's some next level dumbassery there. "Knife isn't cutting so good. Guess I better buy another one..."

 

[Muse]

IME Schick blades do last the longest before becoming too dull. I like the flexible 3 bladed model myself as it really does work better for shaving my head without any nicks or cuts.

HOWEVER Gillette IMO make the best overall razors for general shaving once you don't count price and factor in the blade-quality.

They last almost as long as Schick and IMO also give a slightly better shave, PLUS they have the only REALLY useful "trimming blade" in the business on the Sensor. They are also the ONLY 5-blade razor I've ever used that won't clog hopelessly if I don't shave for a week. (my beard is like a dang scrub-brush!)

If I don't shave for 3+ days I like to give my face a once over with my old Norelco electric before I take my shower & shave. Makes that final blade shave a LOT easier.

 

[ponyo]

Can you take out the ceramic bits and clean them? Ceramic honing rods build up steel with use, you have to remove it with a rust eraser or abrasive cleaner periodically.

If you're happy with it that's all that matters, though I bet you'd be impressed if you had a pro do it for you by hand. You get a better, stronger edge when sharpening with the grain of the steel as opposed to a perpendicular angle of attack. I just took a look and see now that Global has changed a lot in the last many years, their sharpening gadgets do look better than other designs I've seen, particularly the one that you can add water too. Very cool.



Wait, aren't you the guy who refuses to pay more than $3 for hot sauce? Seemed like money was the most important thing to you in that ChickFilA thread. Jus sayin...

Doesn't matter, my mention of frugality was no bash and you have nothing to prove to me. Hanging onto a good knife that is still safe enough to use is only proper, and I wish more people cared for their tools like you do yours. Believe it or not, I know people who *big deep calm breath* throw away knives when they get dull. Not just bread knives either, like, santokus. My sister the chef has a number of friends who fall into this category. I do what I can to interdict that, then I touch them up and then give them away to neighbors and friends.

Yes, the ceramic stone bits can be removed, cleaned, and replaced. It works well enough for my needs. I thought about getting Chef'sChoice electric sharpener but manual ceramic stones work well enough for me.

Yes, I'm the guy who refuses to pay more than $3 for hot sauce. Why? Because Crystal and Louisiana Hot Sauce both cost like a buck each and are better than the $3+ hot sauces. So why pay more to get something inferior?

I'm also the guy who canceled Netflix when they first raised the monthly price by $1. That was like 8 years ago, and I never looked back.

And Chick-fil-A is awesome. Best fast food restaurant when you factor in the price.

 

[MrSquished]

Sure. You just mentioned the first tip!

Always get a stamped steel beater to learn on (also make it the bone and shell bitch).

1000 is probably your best all around grit, though a lower grit helps save time if you're rehabin something very dull. I don't see much need to go beyond 4000.

Use a dry erase marker to color the bevel on the side of the knife you are working on. Allows you to easily see how much contact you are getting and what your progress is.

Leather is your friend. When you are done sharpening give the blade a stropping. Cleans up the bevel and polishes the edge so that first couple of cuts are crazy good.

Stay away from diamond surfaces. Waste of money.

If you are dealing with Japanese steels, invest in a ceramic honing rod. European honing steels don't really work that great on the stuff past 60 on the Rockwell. You'll be there forever.

Ahhh, nice trick with the dry erase marker. I will do that.

I've been reading about strops on reddit, those guys love them too, they are super cheap so probably get one, good to hear that advice reinforced. I do have a borosilicate rod I bought years back with my first Japanese knife. That was right around 59-60 on the rockwell scale. I read a steel rod would even negatively affect most Japanese knives.

Now I have two blades that are like 62/63 on the scale. Those are the ones I want to work up to sharpening. Cutting vegetables with those knives is ridiculous. I'm not deboning a chicken with those, not like I break down whole chickens anyways. I don't like white meat unless it's fried or in chicken salad lol

I got the 1000 grit Shapton stone. Those forums said it's one of the better Japanese stones, due to density, I figured just get one and done for a looong time - and yeah, pretty much they echoed what you said - 1000 is all you need if you don't let your knives get too dull, and if you don't care about getting a sick polish on the flip side.

Gonna have those knives forever.

 

[nutxo]

I get my knives sharpened professionally every couple months. It's not very expensive, I'd rather just have someone do it for me and it take them only a few minutes.

I wrote a huge long post but I'll summarize. make sure the knives are sharpened using stones.

 

[kage69]

Yes, the ceramic stone bits can be removed, cleaned, and replaced. It works well enough for my needs. I thought about getting Chef'sChoice electric sharpener but manual ceramic stones work well enough for me.

Fair enough, and it's good to be wary of powered sharpeners. Less of an issue with ceramics I think, but any belt or syn stone wheel can make a small mistake a big one, plus high RPMs create heat which can affect a temper.

Yes, I'm the guy who refuses to pay more than $3 for hot sauce. Why? Because Crystal and Louisiana Hot Sauce both cost like a buck each and are better than the $3+ hot sauces. So why pay more to get something inferior?

Why? I thought your claim to not care about the money to be contrary to some of your previous posts I guess, posts where you explicitly cite cost as the reason for your position. There are plenty of sauces better (some much better) than Crystal and Louisiana. I think you're just applying the same rational to sauce as you do sharpeners - you've found the stuff that works well enough for your needs, and one of those needs seems to be it can't be more than a few bucks. But... it's not about the money?

I'm also the guy who canceled Netflix when they first raised the monthly price by $1. That was like 8 years ago, and I never looked back.

Well, you're stressing small amounts of money again. Not sure how that supports the phrase in question.

And Chick-fil-A is awesome. Best fast food restaurant when you factor in the price.

One of the better chicken sandwiches out there, sure, it's just a pity about their need to fund the politics of inequality. Couldn't care less they're closed on Sundays personally. Regardless, in that thread you made it about price and company profitably, outright saying you didn't care about the politics of it (which was kinda the subject). Not sure how that supports the phrase in question.

Idk ponyo, I think maybe I should just sharpen that old Global sometime for you and show you what I'm talking about. Maybe I'll throw in a bottle of something zesty for the return trip. Serious offer if you can bring yourself to part with it for awhile.

 

[kage69]

Btw, anyone looking for a bargin on something sharp...

Miyabi 8" chef for $99 (!) and free shipping.