It is a matter of personal choice. I just wanted to clarify that the CCK KF1303 knife which many people praised in the knife community is a thin blade knife. KF1301, 1302, 1303 series are all thin. Not all CCK knives are thin of course, but the ones that got most popular here in US are the thin ones.
Dexter Russell S5198 is just a different class.
Yes, absolutely there are. Dexter Russell S5198 is what people referring when they say “Chinese kitchen only need one knife” That one knife they are talking about is the medium blade similar to S5198 with a slightly softer steel. This medium blade and slightly softer steel allow S5198 to handle everything in the kitchen from slicing meat to breaking down a chicken (including chopping chicken bones). It is good for everything, but… not great with anything. It is: Jack of All Trade, Master of None.
The CCK KF1303 is a thin blade, hard steel knife. It is far superior in slicing meat and cutting vegetable. However, it should not be used for chopping bones.
By the way, I don’t want to give the impression that Dexter S5198 steel is extremely soft. It is on the soft side, but it is not unusually so. Many popular European knives are hardened in this HRC54-56 range. Here, the well known Victorinox chef knife is documented with a HRC 55-56:
All Wusthof knives used to be in the range of HRC56 until recently some of the newer knives have been hardened to HRC58. Here, Wusthof PRO knives:
"The blades made from high-quality chromium-molybdenum-vanadium steel offer exceptional sharpness as well as long-lasting edge retention. They are hardened to 56 HRC. "
That is so sweet. Thank you. I hope the knife has been doing ok by you? I remember that we were talking about CCK in another post. Were you finally able to get it in New York? Did you get the thin blade one or a different type?
I got the thin blade, the 1303, I think. I used it tonight to prepare our vegetables, and was perfectly happy with it. But last night I made a large quantity of matchstick pickles. I started with the CCK 1303, but in the middle of the work it started to hurt my hand, so I switched to the Glestain.
What Glestain do you have? Glestain knives are pretty awesome. I have a Glestain 210 mm Chef’s knife.
As for the CCK KF1303, do you know why/where your hand hurt? One possible reason is that many Chinese knives have a very wide blade which may induce a poor posture. I cannot find a good picture, but let’s use this as an example:
Ideally, the elbow between the forearm and the arm should form an angle a little greater than 90o. In another word, the forearm should be slightly pointing downward. However, if you have a high kitchen counter, and/or a thick cutting board, and combine with a wide blade Chinese chef knife, then you may end up with a poor ergonomic situation.
Ratgirlagogo, I’m with you on checking the Asian markets for these knives. Sometimes, you can find a great deal and you can pick up, feel how the knife suits you. One of my heavier knives is a Fosnan 3 Rams brand and a smaller, lighter one has NO markings at all! Still, the unmarked one is fantastic. Both are high carbon, hard steel and were under $15.00. Besides, it’s great fun to explore the markets!
I really want a bone chopping asian knife for my pomeranians treats ( lamb pizzles and bully sticks ). They are small, prefer them long enough to hold between their paws. However, they get tired if it is too long since they are not that aggressive chewers, so left over has to be discarded. That is too expensive to throw away as the ones i bought have no preservative and has to be frozen or refrigerated.
I have to ask my son to chop them into 3"length. Instead of asking him, I thought I would get a chopping cleaver. However, he says it will not work as one cannot get precise length chopping those dehydrated treats. Instead, he uses a wire cutter. My poultry shears made by cuisinart that came as a set is useless. They would not even work in disjointing chicken.
So, at the moment, I am not doing anything esp since I have no space in my drawer as I have a set of Cutco and a set of those cheap variable colored ones from Costco. They work fine sharpening them with the Chef’s choice trizor sharpener. My son wants to buy a 360 rotating knife holder with magnet. It is nice but pricey at $299.00 thru Amazon for basic, more if it is black ebony which is what I prefer. In addition, I hate to have my counter top cluttered up. I do no know if it is worth it
Does anyone have any experience with this set? If so, is it worth it?
ccj, if the treats are about 3/4 inch diameter or less, you might want to use a set of loppers, long-handles pruning shears. You can get them at hardware stores, usually for less than a good knife. They’re designed for cutting small branches and the longer handles give you leverage. You can position the blade where you want it and get a precise cut with both hands in a safe place-on the lopper handles. If you have a gardening friend, maybe you could test-drive the method.
If those treats have a real bone in them, forget the loppers. They’d likely get damaged with things harder than hardwood.
I have several lopers, being an avid gardener.
The one for my personal use is a felcro carbon steel, so it is very light as I am handicapped.
Also have several felcro pruning shears but really do not want to use it for my pom’s treats. This treats are kept refrigerated, the poms are given the treats when we are in bed, and when do not finish them, they are discarded unless I take them away and refrigerate them again. They are not treated with any preseravatives.
I have two Glestain knives. A 270 mm chef’s knife and a petty. I love them both.
Where my hand hurt was at the base of the index finger, where it encounters the knife’s spine. I suppose I should follow Chad Ward’s advice about rounding the spine, but I haven’t done it yet. Most of the time I’m not doing knife work long enough for it to bother me.
Oh oh. Yeah. that. I actually find CCK knives are a little better at polishing their spines than most Chinese knives. However, it may not be enough. Still, getting pain from the spine or the heel (because of semi-sharp geometry) is still infinitely better than getting pain from bad posture. No long term consequence.
Yeah, I really like my Glestain too. Do you really find the Glestain petty to be useful? In my experience, the food release aspect (no-sticking) of Glestain is its most unique strength, but that is only meaningful for knives going against a cutting board. For a petty knife, do we need the food to stick less to the blade? Love to hear why you like the petty. Thanks.
P.S.: I sometime wonder if Glestain will ever come up a Chinese wide blade knife.
P.P.S: Actually, I found it… except… it probably has no advantage here. See the photo:
Why do I like the petty? I don’t know, who can explain love? Sometimes I use the petty to peel uneven ginger roots or similar instead of a peeler. Then it’s nice when the peels just fall away from the knife.
It is rather expensive and would be an eyesore for me. I hate to find a place to store it. However, my son usually wins. Am already having a hard time leaving a newly acquired teapot on the counter top as I just broke my other teapot . Wander what I am going to do with it other than on the DR table as it is slightly bigger and the cups are larger too.
Wow… I thought it looks good. Anyway, if you think it is expensive, and it looks bad… then it doesn’t sound very appealing? If you are purely looking to save space, then maybe a magnetic strip on the wall? There are some cheap ones, and some attractive one. Generally speaking, they save more space. One thing, I don’t like about them is that they are stationary.
Undercounter knife holder is a slight small variation:
By the way, for most people, 90% of their kitchen prep works are done by one main knife, so a very inexpensive method is to simply keep one to two knives out.
I thought it is expensive , looks good but des not like it because it occupies counter space.
My kitchen is such that there are no place for a magnetic strip on the wall.
There are 2 drawers which are for knives. One drawer is for the Cutco knives, plus other cutco products such as kitchen shears, extra catch knife, knife sharpener, can opener. The other drawer is for Costco;s colored knives and different cutting boards as well as juicer .
I am perfectly happy with that except my son who wants that knife block.
He very very seldom cook anyway. So, unless I come up with a counter space for that knife holder, I am not buying…
I had to convert my cabinet for the central vac hose and attachments for my rice cooker, cuisinart , food processor, meat grinder, waffle maker , food saver etc as I do not like them on the counter top.
Thanks for suggestions… Unless I can cut a hole in my kitchen wall, build another shelf to store my Wolf countertop gourmet oven, that is it.
What honing angle would you recommend for the CCK KF1303, and the Dexter Russell S5198?
@sck was kind enough to pick up a CCK KF1303 for me during his recent Hong Kong trip. I am loving it! Cut through a butternut squash like it was a zucchini. Very light weight.
Yes, Chan Chi Kee KF130X and others can slice through big items foods with less resistance. Based on my experience, a 15o edge angle (30 total) works well for me for KF1303 and a 20o edge angle for S5198. 15o may work for S5198 too, if you don’t mind sharpening it a little often
By the way, I actually keep my Dexter S5198 with an edge angle of 15o as well, but you may find it makes more sense to have it at 20o.
This way you can keep your CCK KF1303 slicer for 90-99% of your work, and your Dexter S5198 for the slightly tougher works like cutting through chicken cartilage and breaking up a chicken, or mincing pork meat on a cutting board…
This strategy will preserve the sharper and finer edge of your KF1303, so you don’t have to sharpen it as often. This is the advantage of having a finer and a tougher knife pair.
That is so sweet. Thank you. I hope the knife has been doing ok by you? I remember that we were talking about CCK in another post. Were you finally able to get it in New York? Did you get the thin blade one or a different type?
I actually find CCK knives are a little better at polishing their spines than most Chinese knives. However, it may not be enough. Still, getting pain from the spine or the heel (because of semi-sharp geometry) is still infinitely better than getting pain from bad posture. No long term consequence.
