KITCHEN KNIVES
Years ago, after some good tuition, I learned to handle knives like a pro. Ask my neighbors, since word got around I knew how to sharpen knives. I had new friends. Thats when you can hone a K-Mart $3.00 special to slice tomatoes as well as the Wustof's, Shun, Ken Onion, Henckel's, and the really fine stuff like Ichiro Hattori, of Seki Japan and Bob Kramer of the US. The K-Mart probably won't keep an edge, but will work for a short while like one dinner and then needs a tune again.
My knives get treated like royalty all in blocks, or edge protectors, and don't ask to borrow. One of these days I'll get a BOB KRAMER but they are $2400.00 for an 8 Inch chefs knife. Finest knife in the world. I stick with the medium lines, good enough for what I do everyday.
There are only four rules with knives.
1) Right knife for the right job and no fooling around or showing off.
2) Wash in soapy water and dry with towel. Np dishwashers.
3) Store in a block drawer block, sheath, or edge guard.
4) The edge should be maintained, for the next job, and thats not with an electric sharpener.
LOANERS:
I even have a loaner set of very sharp cheapies for those excursions where I have had things tend to vanish. Like large charity events, golf tournaments, demos, etc. Many of us volunteer for these fundraisers, and cook-outs. I found a neat box at Sears tool department. Now each blade, (it's a mixed bag of old favorites all well kept), has an edge guard, plus the extras like a thermometer, a simple synthetic stone and steel. These extras I'll let the a helpers use but most of them bring their own gear. Don't ask to borrow my good stuff, the answer is still no. My loaners, maybe if you ask nice, OK.
EVERYTHING ABOUT KNIVES - THE STEEL PART
Carbon Steel -
Most knife blades in the past were made of carbon steel. They take a better edge and may be made sharper but they lose their sharpness faster, they are brittle, they corrode and discolor if not treated right.
Stainless Steel - Stainless steel is stronger than carbon steel, has better properties as to rust or corrosion. It's harder to get a good edge, but practice and the use of stones will make it easier and it will hold an edge much longer.
High-carbon Stainless Steel - This is the combo of carbon and stainless steel. This results in a good edge, and the stainless prevents rust.
Ceramic - Not Steel -
Ceramic knives are very hard ceramic, usually zirconium oxide. They retain a cutting edge longer than most metal knives, no discoloration or corrode, BUT and it's almost a BUTT. They will break edges and they will crack if dropped rendering them useless. On a ten dollar model I bought on a whim from Harbor Freight, it lasted all of ten minutes till the blade cracked. I was glad I didn't buy the 60 dollar model from the Chef's store. The 300 dollar KYOCERA's require a bodyguard to prevent theft.
Damascus Steel - I was looking for the clues to find the Holy Grail of knife-making, so lets go back into time to the source of some great carving, slicing, stabbing and chopping...the Crusades.
The differences in knife styles came about or became more evident in the traditional East Meets West Religious tournaments held often enough called the Crusades. Now there's a two hundred year reality show still going on today, the swords and lances being replaced by bombs and rockets.
The heavier steel swords of the armed Knights and foot soldiers contrasted with the lighter sharper Damasene foundry work. Damascus steel was a term used by several Western cultures from the Medieval period onward to describe a type of steel used in Middle Eastern swordmaking from about 1100 to 1700 AD.