[butters]

Makes no sense to me either Jim!  Can't say that I have ever noticed onions blunting a knife any more than usual. 

Fried suspect your butcher just wanted you to use a knife that she couldn't sharpen at work....   

[Bubba]

The onion thing sounds like a load of bollocks.

[rich d]

Do bollocks dull knives as well then?

[GCW]

Only to the same degree that wanking makes you blind.

[fried]

http://www.garethjonesfood.com/tag/blunt-knife/

I'm not the only person who's been told this (from a North African source as well). I can't find any real SCIENCE on the issue. But I do now know that cutting onions with a blunt knife makes your eyes sting more.....what a slow day at work.

[butters]

http://www.garethjonesfood.com/tag/blunt-knife/

I'm not the only person who's been told this (from a North African source as well). I can't find any real SCIENCE on the issue. But I do now know that cutting onions with a blunt knife makes your eyes sting more.....what a slow day at work.

But until we have SCIENCE we are going with the mad ramblings of an old woman in Morocco via the medium of a blog....  Bet he has a glass chopping board or some such terrible thing 

[slackline]

But I do now know that cutting onions with a blunt knife makes your eyes sting more.....what a slow day at work.

Thats because a serrated or blunt knife will rip rather than cut through the onion, breaking more cells and releasing more of the eye-watering chemicals.

[fried]

http://www.garethjonesfood.com/tag/blunt-knife/

I'm not the only person who's been told this (from a North African source as well). I can't find any real SCIENCE on the issue. But I do now know that cutting onions with a blunt knife makes your eyes sting more.....what a slow day at work.

But until we have SCIENCE we are going with the mad ramblings of an old woman in Morocco via the medium of a blog....  Bet he has a glass chopping board or some such terrible thing 

SUPERSTITION is a  kind of SCIENCE

[slackline]

SUPERSTITION is a  kind of SCIENCE

No its not.

[Fultonius]

I'd not go for another global, after the g4 oriental knife being my main knife for quite a while.



Whilst the steel itself is great (sharpness etc) I didn't get on with the handle at all. I found my hand would slide down the handle with my index finger resting on the bottom of the blade, which would get very uncomfortable after a while. Looking at other global handles I can see this being a problem that would transfer.

Sorry for the lack of positive endorsements, my plan is to go to somewhere like http://www.kitchenscookshop.co.uk/ and have play/stare at knives for a few hours!

Funny, I have the same knife, and the same problem! The blade is great - I like the extra narrow angle of them - makes them feel sharp even when they're not. I also like the knuckle clearance that the G4 gives - I always feel that normal chefs knives leave your knuckles too close to the chopping board.

But, my hand does work its way towards the blade, in fact, these days I mainly grip it right by the join the blade.

If I was getting a replacement i'd look at some other Japanese style knife, as i find them much better for chopping.

I've also got a 4" Henckles paring knive, which never seems sharp.

I quite like my global filleting knife, but don't use it all that much.

Something like this could be perfect! http://www.sushiknifestore.com/haiku-kurouchi-tosa-8-1-2-gyuto-chefs-knife/

[rc]

Personally I find it much easier to get a knife truly sharp on a whetstone than a steel, mainly because you can keep the blade at a constant angle all the time. With a normal knife you can clip on a guide rail to keep that angle correct. With a single bevelled knife you only sharpen the flat side (which is usually slightly concave), flipping it over for a few strokes at the end to take the burr off.

Any advice on whetstone purchase? I have a right old mixed bag of knives: global, sabatier and cheap crap.
What's the deal with diamond or not? Do you need different kit for different types of steel (global vs other)?
How about this minosharp set up (with base and guide rail things). I was thinking of getting a single stone: medium (1000 grit)?
I read somewhere (forget where) the stone eventually gets worn unevenly so you occasionally need to correct this...or is this only for proper sharpening geeks?
Cheers!

[horn]

I use a Mino Sharp combination stone, 220grit (rough) on one side and 1000grit (medium) on the other. It came with guide rails and cost about £35 about a few years ago. I don't use the rough side very often, only when I've been really lazy and not sharpened for a while. I considered getting a superfine stone as well, but the price leaps significantly and the medium gets it sharp enough for me. If you're just getting a single stone get the medium, but shop around a bit, £50 sounds pricey! It'll do for all your knives.

If the stone gets uneven you can level it off by rubbing it against a fine concrete surface - I haven't had to do that yet thankfully, not much concrete round here, just gritstone houses