Gifting a knife....edge care?

[Proinsias]

Planning to gift a knife to friend who spends a lot of time making salad with a blunt knife. A nigiri seems in the area but open to suggestions.

My concern is storage & edge damage. Suspect I can pick up an acceptable upgrade for $50-$100 but none of them come with a what do you call it? sheath/scabbard/woodenthing/edgeprotector/impresssiveslimlinecarbonfibrecase. This seems to jump from Global edge rubbery thing to high end Japanese steel.

Is there a simple way to gift a random knife and not have it live in the cardboard box it came with or terrify everyone that uses the cutlery drawer until it gets blunt?

 

[paintflinger]

Planning to gift a knife to friend who spends a lot of time making salad with a blunt knife. A nigiri seems in the area but open to suggestions.

My concern is storage & edge damage. Suspect I can pick up an acceptable upgrade for $50-$100 but none of them come with a what do you call it? sheath/scabbard/woodenthing/edgeprotector/impresssiveslimlinecarbonfibrecase. This seems to jump from Global edge rubbery thing to high end Japanese steel.

Is there a simple way to gift a random knife and not have it live in the cardboard box it came with or terrify everyone that uses the cutlery drawer until it gets blunt?

Chef knives to go sells saya's if you need one.

An example

CKTG Nakiri Saya A

It is best to buy a knife and saya at the same time so we can ensure a good fit. If you’re buying a saya separately, we will need to know which knife you’re buying it for. Please let us know in the Comments section of your shopping cart. If a knife has a compatible saya, it is shown and linked...

www.chefknivestogo.com

 

[Proinsias]

saya! thank you

 

[JohnPS]

I agree saya is the very best option. Sometimes use a roll. A lot of Chefs will use a tea towel and roll up the knife in it and use a rubber band to secure it.

If you have a knife in the meantime and don't want it to be damaged, use a roll. Knife blocks are also okay if placed somewhere respectfully and not get bashed around.

Also a dedicated knife shelf or drawer, with a tea towel on the bottom of the drawer or rubber matting cut to size... with knives laid out individually. In some fine dining Japanese kitchens, we have knives that belong to the kitchen and our personal knives... all kitchen knives that get used get touched up on the stones daily by whomever responsibility that is. Our personal knives are our own responsibility. When out for the day these are stored in a knife block if they are not being used for the day by someone. At night they are sharpened and stored on dedicated trays lined laid out individually and stacked then locked away for the night.

Most of the kitchen knives are Masamoto though we had some carbon misono too and others. Our personal knives are even more expensive... there's a rule "never touch another person's knife"... like ever!

Most people stuff things into a drawer... what an ugly horror.

 

[Tirvine]

Even though it is inexpensive, the Tojiro ITK from CKTG is a ton of fun and a good deal. If you got them such a nakiri with a saya and inexpensive two grit water stone they would be fully equipped to succeed. I can do 95% of my cutting with that little blade.

 

[JohnPS]

M

Even though it is inexpensive, the Tojiro ITK from CKTG is a ton of fun and a good deal. If you got them such a nakiri with a saya and inexpensive two grit water stone they would be fully equipped to succeed. I can do 95% of my cutting with that little blade.

Sharpening knives for most people is challenging to say the least. It takes a lot of practice being able to hold a knife steadily at the correct angle, create a burr symmetrically along the length of the knife etc. It is a good skill to master though...

What we didn't ask is why that the knife is blunt? It may be a terrific knife that simply needs to be sharpened!!!!

A great number of people don't understand that knives need to be sharpened and simply buy new knives.

In kitchens we use knives for decades! My step father has knives from his apprenticeship from back in the 1950's and these survived torture and constant use. He has knives older than him, some of the handles have been replaced over the years, some haven't.

My advice has changed... just sharpen the knife or have it sharpened professionally if it is decent, sharpening is extremely important.

 

[Tirvine]

M


Sharpening knives for most people is challenging to say the least. It takes a lot of practice being able to hold a knife steadily at the correct angle, create a burr symmetrically along the length of the knife etc. It is a good skill to master though...

What we didn't ask is why that the knife is blunt? It may be a terrific knife that simply needs to be sharpened!!!!

A great number of people don't understand that knives need to be sharpened and simply buy new knives.

In kitchens we use knives for decades! My step father has knives from his apprenticeship from back in the 1950's and these survived torture and constant use. He has knives older than him, some of the handles have been replaced over the years, some haven't.

My advice has changed... just sharpen the knife or have it sharpened professionally if it is decent, sharpening is extremely important.

Amen! Most of my knives are over fifty years old. IMO learning to sharpen a knife is not that hard. Most ten or twelve year old kids learn how on their dad's stuff. Sure, the jobs are imperfect, but the knives are sharp and over time technique improves. I think people are scared they'll destroy their knives, and the reality is that most of the bungled jobs can be fixed.

 

[TexLaw]

Is your friend going to maintain that edge? Frankly, if he isn't concerned about keeping a good edge, he'll be cutting with a dull knife again in no time, no matter what you give him.

 

[dfoulk]

You have to know your friend and their habits before gifting them a knife. This way you'll know what type of knife to buy.

For example, are they going to abuse it by cutting frozen foods, if so then maybe skip the sharper but less durable Japanese knives. Some Japanese knives are carbon steel which also require some additional care.

Are they going to put it in the dishwasher? If so, then no knife it going to stay sharp. Some knives will be damaged by the dishwasher well beyond what it does to the blade.

In purchasing knives for family members I usually choose Wustof Classic knives as they are durable and hold an edge well. I tend to avoid gifting Japanese knives to family members as they aren't as durable and most won't take care of them properly. Still should not be put in the dishwasher though. I've also gifted in drawer knife blocks (about $20) to protect the knives. This is an excellent solution to your cutlery drawer as it'll keep the sharp edges where they belong. Most will hold three of four larger knives and the same number of smaller ones.

You can find a Wustof Classic Six inch Chef's knife for around sixty bucks. It's very affordable, durable and small enough to not be intimidating. It would probably be a bit more useful than a Nigiri which is more for just vegetables.

A pull through sharpener would be useful as well for those not inclined to sharper their knives properly. At least that way they'll have something to keep them going in between the sharpening that you'll likely end up doing for them.

 

[Legion]

I keep my go to knives in a knife block like this. They are full of thin plastic rods, so you can fit any size knife and don't hurt the edges.

If you have a hunt around they can be found for not too much money. This allows the knife (knives) to be sitting out ready, and not buried in a draw crashing against each other, which would happen even if the knife had a cover.

 

[Doc4]

Planning to gift a knife to friend who spends a lot of time making salad with a blunt knife.

My concern is storage & edge damage.

Is there a simple way to gift a random knife and not have it live in the cardboard box it came with or terrify everyone that uses the cutlery drawer until it gets blunt?

The fate of the knife depends entirely on the willingness of the recipient to care properly for it.

That being said, the recipient may be better served by a knife block and a good friend (you) who can and will give his current knives a good sharpening (assuming his current knives are quality-but-dull rather than dull-and-cheap).

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

A dexter Russel offset serrated sandwich knife is handy. It's also $20 or less. Unless you know they can maintain a knife, a nice blade will quickly become a dull or broken knife.

 

[Doc4]

Unless you know they can maintain a knife, a nice blade will quickly become a dull or broken knife.

Indeed.

A good, foolproof, easy knife sharpening system may be a better gift than a good knife!

 

[Proinsias]

Thanks for all.

I considered a decent knife gift a year or so ago and decided against it for much of what everyone has already mentioned.

The current knife is ****, there may be one or two others that could hold an edge but they are heavily used by elderly family everyday and live in the drawer, I suspect sharpening them would lead to injury.

She's been using the knives I maintain for a friend and is keen on a sharp thing for veg. I bought him a double sided dmt as after 10yrs or so of me maintaining his knives he's keen to go solo. She has since went and bought a carborundum stone and is interested in making/keeping steel sharp. I'm happy to sharpen and maintain blades....whilst my preference is honing razors the few I have just work and my knifes only get a occasional touch up...suspect much of my sharpening time over the past few years has been fixing terrible things that friends have done to their knives.

Still shopping, whilst a saya seems like the solution the saya is almost the cost of an entry level nakiri. CKTG are awesome but I'm in the UK and a saya almost doubles the cost. Seems a bit **** the £5, 3-knife set I got from Lidl all come with plastic saya but a £60 nakiri is another £30/40 for edge protection.

Thinking back I just kept my gyuto in the cardboard box it came with for a ten years or so. Thanks to B&B I thought I might end up in a knife rabbit hole but I went in on a group buy on a nice gyuto here a while back and it has made me smile with pretty much everything I've cut ever since.

 

[Alacrity59]

I actually own an especially dull plastic knife to cut salad greens.

 

[Proinsias]

plastic knife?

 

[Doc4]

Still shopping, whilst a saya seems like the solution the saya is almost the cost of an entry level nakiri.

Morakniv (from Finland?) makes great knives that come with plastic sheaths.

... oh, looks like it's from Sweden.

 

[Alacrity59]

plastic knife?

Yes. Salad greens, so the theory goes, when cut by a sharp knife will brown. So there are many versions of plastic knives. I only brought this up because your original post was about salads. Here is an OXO version.

That being said Nikiri knives are great for cutting veg. A Santoku might be more multi-functional. You can buy, sigh, plastic knife guards . . . five pack for less than 10 bucks.

 

[Proinsias]

I have a mora, wonderful knife but more camping than kitchen

Plastic oxo knife is cool, never knew that was a thing.

Spotted this, which looks like it accommodate a nakiri/santoku : Large Magnetic Guard for up to 260mm - Japanese Knife Company - https://japaneseknifecompany.com/product/large-magnetic-guard-for-up-to-260mm/

thoughts?

 

[JWheel]

i‘ve used knife blocks, but this solution is much superior. Downside is that they lead to more knives. I keep my carbon steel Japanese knives in a roll, far away from my partner’s hands.