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Sabatier K

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I have plenty of German and Japanese knives, but i didn't have any French knives.

I cured that by ordering a couple Sabatier K knives direct from the company in France.

On the left is an antique 28 cm stainless steel butcher knife.

On the right is an antique 8 inch Nogent carbon steel chef knife.

For those of you familiar with French knives, what can I expect?
 
I've had the chance to use the chef's knife twice now. Made tossed salad both times. Definitely a different feel and profile to the German knives.

I did sharpen it on a soft and hard ark. I can't seem to get as keen an edge on my German and Japanese knives.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
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I have plenty of German and Japanese knives, but i didn't have any French knives.

I cured that by ordering a couple Sabatier K knives direct from the company in France.

On the left is an antique 28 cm stainless steel butcher knife.

On the right is an antique 8 inch Nogent carbon steel chef knife.

For those of you familiar with French knives, what can I expect?
They take a great edge with 500-1000 grit stones. They are a bit soft and roll more easily than some. Not an issue if you hone lightly and regularly. They need an actual sharpening more often than many Japanese knives, but they are also a bit tougher. All of my working knives are Sabatier carbon. I love them all. I have had plenty of experience with Japanese, American, and German mass produced knives...Tojiro, Dexter, Henckels, etc. They can rock chop, but their real forte is the draw cut. They also slice quite well. I cubed half a chuck roast, not rushing, faster than my wife wrapped the other half to freeze. If you want more, I highly recommend Bernal Cutlery in San Francisco. The F. Dick sapphire is IMHO the perfect steel for them. I got the 14". It can handle the 11 1/2 inch chef or the two inch parer.
 
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The F. Dick sapphire is IMHO the perfect steel for them. I got the 14". It can handle the 11 1/2 inch chef or the two inch parer.
I see only 12" oval as an option on Bernal's website. Is your 14" round or oval?
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
Very nice! Now I have another rabbit hole to go down.
I keep forgetting how much money this site makes me spend. (yeah that's right, i'm blaming it on all YOU guys)
So sorry. If you love your knives, there is no need to go down this rabbit hole. If you don't love your knives, this is a fairly affordable solution.
 
So sorry. If you love your knives, there is no need to go down this rabbit hole. If you don't love your knives, this is a fairly affordable solution.
Oh no worries! I did have some nice knives back in the day but have long forgotten them. It's fun to revisit these things. My wallet does groan every once and a while but I can deal with that!

I will say this, one of the nicest knives I ever had was an affordable model of a Portugese brand I can't remember. Don't know what ever happened to it. It was wicked sharp and took an edge nicely.
 
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I love big green knives; the top one`s a 14" Butchers and the bottom one is a crazy 10" Santoku.

I don`t care if they`re cheap ; I can dice four onions a minute ; been cooking since the early seventies and I try my best to feed the homeless.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
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I love big green knives; the top one`s a 14" Butchers and the bottom one is a crazy 10" Santoku.

I don`t care if they`re cheap ; I can dice four onions a minute ; been cooking since the early seventies and I try my best to feed the homeless.
Nothing wrong with cheap. They are probably what most folks are using in restaurant kitchens, including high end ones. Nice eclectic set in your block.
 
Nothing wrong with cheap. They are probably what most folks are using in restaurant kitchens, including high end ones. Nice eclectic set in your block.
Yes you are so right Tirvine - I`ve zigged and zagged all over and most chefs use cheapies because a good one would get damaged if borrowed or stolen; sad but true.
Nothing wrong with cheap. They are probably what most folks are using in restaurant kitchens, including high end ones. Nice eclectic set in your block.
Thank you Tirvine I am not a cook or a chef but I do enjoy it and I have had few rejected totally inedible meals in the scheme of things, just the odd accidentally over-seasoned or burnt offering - like us all - haha !

IMHO blade geometry, knife skills and sharpening skills are equally important and most of the best cooking I`ve had has come from overworked, underpaid chefs with cheapie knives of wildly varying degrees of bluntness and sharpness but made with an irrepressible enthusiasm, imagination and love.

The better knives are usually more fragile and take more care and sometimes need less sharpening and steeling/honing but may be better looking or more balanced to wield but need careful washing, drying and use on foods that aren`t too hard like big bones, hard nuts and shellfish for example.

Usually small gains for a much bigger outlay - the law of diminishing returns - as in a lot of things.
For example knife steels have a balance of edge retention, ease of sharpening, toughness and stain resistance and it is hard to find a knife that is even average in more than a couple of variables; there is usually a trade-off in attributes.
 
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Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
Yes you are so right Tirvine - I`ve zigged and zagged all over and most chefs use cheapies because a good one would get damaged if borrowed or stolen; sad but true.

Thank you Tirvine I am not a cook or a chef but I do enjoy it and I have had few rejected totally inedible meals in the scheme of things, just the odd accidentally over-seasoned or burnt offering - like us all - haha !

IMHO blade geometry, knife skills and sharpening skills are equally important and most of the best cooking I`ve had has come from overworked, underpaid chefs with cheapie knives of wildly varying degrees of bluntness and sharpness but made with an irrepressible enthusiasm, imagination and love.

The better knives are usually more fragile and take more care and sometimes need less sharpening and steeling/honing but may be better looking or more balanced to wield but need careful washing, drying and use on foods that aren`t too hard like big bones, hard nuts and shellfish for example.

Usually small gains for a much bigger outlay - the law of diminishing returns - as in a lot of things.
For example knife steels have a balance of edge retention, ease of sharpening, toughness and stain resistance and it is hard to find a knife that is even average in more than a couple of variables; there is usually a trade-off in attributes.
All spot on. When I cooked for a living I was always happy with a sharp Dexter 10" and a decent steel. Even though I had my first Sab in the late '60s, there is no way I would have taken it to work. It is, however, perfection for a home cook who likes Eurocentric cooking.
 
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You are so right Tirvine, you can`t really go wrong with a Sab; I love fusion cooking and have a couple of budget workhorses that are easily replaceable if they go walkies.

I`m not a big fan of bolsters because they`re not as versatile as an Asian knife that can push or draw cut and you can`t sharpen or use the whole blade.
 
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I did a second honing on the sabatier k chef's knife last night and got much better results.

The first honing i started with a dan's soft ark and then hard ark.

Last night I started with a dan's washita, and then went to the hard ark. Wicked sharp edge!

Now I'll be able to see how long I can maintain the French steel edge with a honing steel.
 
View attachment 1931338

I have plenty of German and Japanese knives, but i didn't have any French knives.

I cured that by ordering a couple Sabatier K knives direct from the company in France.

On the left is an antique 28 cm stainless steel butcher knife.

On the right is an antique 8 inch Nogent carbon steel chef knife.

For those of you familiar with French knives, what can I expect?
Years ago my dad found a Sabatier 8 in chefs knife and gave it to me for Christmas. I really never took a liking to it. Fairly heavy, for me it had a problem holding an edge (or at least the edge I was expecting).
I gave it to my nephew since he was in college, and they were commanding a good price on ebay. I figured it would have bought a textbook or 2.
I'm not sure, but I think I already had a Victorinox chefs blade. It's stamped steel, but it's light, agile, holds a 15 degree edge for quite a while.
The rocker angle on the tip is shallower than most knives I've used, but that's just an adjustment.
My nephew on the other hand got rid of the Victorinox chefs knife I gave him and kept the Sabatier.
 
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Years ago my dad found a Sabatier 8 in chefs knife and gave it to me for Christmas. I really never took a liking to it. Fairly heavy.
That's interesting to hear. Your father's Sabatier must have been a different model than the 8 inch chef's knife i purchased; mine is quite light and nimble. Much lighter, and thinner than my German knives.
 
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I think I have one (top one) Sabatier K but it`s quite a big 19" carbon blade - love it.
The bottom white Sheffield Granton is a 10 inch blade.
 
All spot on. When I cooked for a living I was always happy with a sharp Dexter 10" and a decent steel. Even though I had my first Sab in the late '60s, there is no way I would have taken it to work. It is, however, perfection for a home cook who likes Eurocentric cooking.
I worked at a meat packing plant one summer. They used Chicago Cutlery carbon steel. They took a good edge, had to be sharpened every day, and they were inexpensive.
Lot of years in the middle, but I think my victorinox is a much better knife. High carbon stainless, and 15 degree bevel. It gets sharper, and it stays sharp longer.
 
I worked at a meat packing plant one summer. They used Chicago Cutlery carbon steel. They took a good edge, had to be sharpened every day, and they were inexpensive.
Lot of years in the middle, but I think my victorinox is a much better knife. High carbon stainless, and 15 degree bevel. It gets sharper, and it stays sharp longer.
i think I found out why I thought my Sebatier was MEH. At one point there were close to 30 companies making Sebatier knives. No copyright laws. I probably had one of the knives made by a second tier company.

I just went out to Chicago Cutlery, and when I started looking, some of their knives are 26 degree bevel. That makes them pretty durable.
 
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