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Ever wondered what knives top chefs swear by? Bon Appétit asked 10 of NYC’s best chefs to share the knives they can’t live without–from Japanese gyuto and bunka knives to German knives, carbon steel blades, petty knives, honosuki poultry knives, and essential serrated bread knives. Learn the difference between Japanese vs Western knives, carbon steel vs stainless steel, how blade shape affects control, and which knives are best for home cooks.Wüsthof Classic 6” Chef’s Knife: https://cna.st/st/wtSnbMrMasanobu Gyuto: https://www.korin.com/HMB-VGGY-180Misono Swedish Carbon Honesuki: https://cna.st/st/3UNoJnUMercer Culinary M23710 Renaissance, 11-Inch Wavy Serrated Slicer: https://cna.st/st/M79kgJIMiyabi Kaizen II Utility Knife (bunka): https://cna.st/st/9e4EMFMTojiro Fujitora DP Petty 120mm: https://cna.st/st/6nKwVijShun Premier Chef’s Knife: https://cna.st/st/eAf0L1uJikko Knives: https://jikkocutlery.com/collections/gyuto-chef-knife
Transcript
00:10maybe it's weird to say I just find this to be a really sexy knife so I think the
00:16six-inch chef's knife from Wustav is one of my most favorite knives to use in the
00:19kitchen a chef's knife is what you've seen in books the most classic looking
00:24knife it is the most quintessential knife because it does everything I have a
00:29Japanese knife and a German knife in my hands and both of them are
00:32fundamentally so different just look at the shape so that is called the bolster
00:36of the knife and you could use it for so many things you're breaking down a
00:39chicken you want to go down the wishbone and break it this heavy piece of metal
00:43that kind of breaks down bones a German knife takes much longer to sharpen
00:48because the metal is much thicker but it also means that the blade lasts for much
00:52longer the German knife definitely feels much heavier but that also gives a lot
00:56of people control I've actually had this knife for more than seven years now so
01:01it is really being a trusted old friend and that is one thing with German knives
01:06just like German cars they last you a while
01:11the knife I use the most is the Masanobu Gyoto knife the Gyoto is one of the best
01:15knives I've used I prefer a Japanese style knife I just find that it's a little
01:20bit more versatile when it comes to doing different tasks it's a relatively
01:24narrow thin blade which makes it lightweight and I like it because of the
01:28feel in your hand and I want the knife to be an extension of essentially my arm and
01:33my hand so the Gyoto knife also has a little bit like less of a rock then
01:37you'll find and a Western knife meaning that it's straighter down in the back as
01:42opposed to like a very curved blade the handles are often heavier and bulkier on a
01:47Western knife and also when I hold this knife I don't hold it in the handle but
01:53I hold it like this I tip the hold actually hold the blade you know it's a
01:56very nice balance the other fingers are just sort of guiding the knife and life
02:00should be balanced here you don't have any screws or bolts or nails which forces
02:06you to actually put the pressure on the blade and not put the pressure on the
02:10handle so we push down it's a blade that goes through maybe it's weird to say I just
02:15find this to be a really sexy knife I love the sleekness of it it is really
02:19easy to use but I think it's really beautiful my favorite knife is my Masono
02:26Honosuke knife the Honosuke knife is primarily used for poultry I love to use
02:32it though for other cuts of meat or I need to remove the bone it has a tapered
02:37edge bit triangular with a really sharp tip and a sturdy spine so it's really good
02:42for getting in and getting pieces of meat off the bone and getting as much yield
02:46as possible as a chef with somewhat smaller hands I love this because it is
02:50a smaller knife and it allows me to feel really confident when I'm using it it
02:54does have a really nice weighted handle so you feel like it is sturdy in your
02:58hand but the rest of the knife feels pretty light and easy to maneuver around
03:02whatever you're cutting this specific Masono is carbon steel which is a much
03:07sturdier stronger steel so it does hold its edge a bit longer which is really
03:11nice it is a bit more difficult to sharpen and it does rust more often if
03:16you don't really care for it but I do kind of like the patina the stains that
03:21have grown over the years it's important that it stays very dry when you're done
03:25using it so I always like to dry it really well and then just give it a little
03:29drip of a neutral oil coat the knife with it I've had this Masono knife for I would
03:36say at least 12 years now there were some times in my career where I would
03:40butcher cases in cases of chicken so I invested in this and it's just become
03:44one of my favorite standbys when I'm doing butchery the knife that I use the
03:49most is this one that's called bunka the bunka knife is different from other
03:54knives because it has a very flat edge and it has this pointy tip which makes it
03:59very precise for different things like cutting vegetables trimming fish among other
04:05things because of this like surface that it has you're gonna have to go like this
04:11and it gives it like a big range of motion and very precise as well of course I use
04:16it a lot so I have to sharpen like at least once a week but because of the
04:20blade and how thin it is to stay sharp very long time this knife is very light
04:26it's a really good option for home cooks because it's not as intimidating as a big
04:31chef's knife so anyone could have it I always recommend a petty knife to any new
04:37chef definitely my favorite knife my opinion petty knife is best knife so a
04:43petty knife is smaller than other knives it's great for getting around small
04:46things and cutting brunoise and shallots and playing fish cutting steaks really
04:51everything they're quite easy to sharpen because they're so small a petty knife
04:54usually Japanese technique for pickles fruits and vegetables so never using for
05:02meat usually use honeski but this time I use for the petty so I try start to use it
05:08I was like wow so smooth you don't need a power you just touch it then you don't
05:13feel like cut it you just feeling supporting well actually even the last
05:17restaurant I worked at I got yelled at a lot for this because I worked with grill
05:20station I would choose this knife they always tell me use a meat slicer use a
05:23bigger knife I just liked using this because I didn't have much space that's
05:26the other thing that I like about this knife if you working a station that's
05:28very crowded and you don't have a lot of space you can you just have it not
05:32worry about it being in the way at home you don't want to use maybe big knife
05:36you're too scared sometimes but you can buy something very special one petty knife
05:41because you can use anytime anything you don't have to shopping all the time
05:46special strong handle very light and strong tips I love this
05:54the knife I use the most is sun premier chef's knife this is classic Japanese knife which
05:59originally was made for slicing the meat very thinly but right now it's honestly all-purpose
06:06chef's knife in Ukrainian cuisine we have a lot of vegetables which are bigger in size like
06:12beets potatoes carrots the handle feels really light and I feel like I'm in control so I don't have
06:19to push it it just go through the food and it has very nice rocking motions yeah this chef's knife
06:25it's very easy on the wrist when you have a lot of work to do like chopping the herbs that's
06:31almost
06:32all the work for you so your wrist doesn't feel tired it's been the best helper ever if this disappears
06:39I don't cook I just close the kitchen
06:45the knife I like the most is blue carbon steel jiggle knife for a daily test in the rations I
06:53need
06:53something like well performance then this is the knife we are a very fast-paced restaurant and we
06:58need to like be efficient we have to like cut a lot of cucumber all the herbs with things like
07:05scallion a
07:06lot and this is a knife that I think it just help everything easier I am left-handed so normally
07:14I
07:14have to look for left-handed knife but this is double blade so I can use it you see like
07:19how this shape
07:20it's like perfect for my finger it's super super light one thing about blue carbon steel it really have
07:29excellent performance when you cut it it very easy to get rusted so normally when I after every
07:36use I cut it I have a dry towel and I just like clean my knife you always want to
07:42keep it dry
07:44sometimes it's like too heavy sometimes it's like too long and this one is just perfect for me
07:51in every bakery pastry shop or the pastry kitchen in a restaurant serrated knife
07:56is an absolute must the serrated knife is a special kind of knife that doesn't have a straight edge
08:02has a little like teeth like edges as you're cutting through it these teeth are making like a sewing
08:08motion you know it won't give you as a clean of a cut as a straight edge will but it's
08:14easier it's
08:14faster and you know it won't crush an item for example for cutting something like a sourdough it is
08:20hard sometimes to cut through that hard crust with a straight edge knife it might like squish the middle soft
08:26part and same thing with the cakes cakes are very delicate especially something like a high ratio
08:31american cakes which has a lot of fat they're very soft and very delicate and it's absolute must to use
08:37the serrated knife to cut them in half and not damage the texture of the cake another thing why serrated
08:43knife
08:44is good is because essentially the edge stays sharper for longer so if you're one of those people
08:51not necessarily want to sharpen your knives i will highly recommend that you use a serrated knife it
08:58does the work and lasts longer and you won't need to sharpen it as you would with a straight edge
09:03knife
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