I’ve heard that a chef’s knives are like personal tools. Like a painter’s brushes or a professional Mechanic’s wrenches. Is that true? Is there like a next level of knife that us mere mortals are not allowed to access? And how protective are the chef’s over their knives?
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As a chef, I wouldn’t bring a display knife into a professional kitchen
Anything pattern welded or selling itself as Damascus
Not that using communal knives is ideal
A $30-$50 workhorse will do great if you learn to sharpen it and you won’t have to worry about it getting beaten up (it will no matter how protective you are anyway)
But that’s just me, I’ve absolutely seen guys with those show pieces who were so damn protective of them
Yeah any chef worth their salt will have their own knife roll. They will be used to the weight/balance of the knife. And they know when they last sharpened it.
There’s nothing particularly special about a chef’s knife though, anyone can buy them. More expensive ones aren’t necessarily better, but they will usually be more durable.
Former Line Cook here, the shared knives in kitchens are typically “rentals”. My experience is that each week they are swapped out for sharper ones. These are machined sharpened.
We had our own personal knives too. Kept them in a roll in our lockers. Each of us had a preference for chef’s knives, some liked the French Profile, others a Japanese Gyuto, mine was German. Some even had a type of steel they preferred. This is just like the MAC vs. Snap-On Vs. Matco debate.
Catch was we had to sharpen our own knives but, again, to our preference. And we paid a lot for them. That’s why we treat each of our knives with respect.
If you wanted to downright abuse a knife, go for the rentals. If you needed to surgically Julienne scallions or slice chives consistently, you use your own.
You, as a mere mortal, can get some chef quality knives for not hideous amounts of money.
I have a nice set of Furi knives.
If you look after them they will last pretty much indefinitely, so it is a worthwhile investment.
The biggest things about chefs having their own knives is
* Honing and sharpening
You and I can be taught exactly the same way on how to use a steel, but we will be slightly different with our angles, pressure, etc.
A chef will hone their knives multiple times in a shift. The slight differences in people’s technique make a huge difference to the edge.
Never, **EVER** sharpen a chef or cook’s knives.
#ever
* Personal choice
My Furi knives weren’t the most expensive, but they felt the best in my hand. Everyone has different methods of chopping, so what’s right for one person won’t be right for another
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