We’ve had this discussion in one form or another multiple times already, but yes, a person wanting great quality stuff, like me, often holds on to older designs.
I’m looking around my kitchen right now and see lots of ‘old’ stuff - from a Smeg gas stove (including gas oven) and Kitchenaid mixer, to a Vibiemme e61 espresso machine, Le Creuset enameled cast iron, copper pans, a 10 dollar electric rice cooker bought in Thailand in the 1990s, and even a 1960s Omann Jun Danish design high board where I keep my glassware, liquor and porcelain!
I played with Miura blades until I stopped playing golf in 2011.
I still miss the crisp feel of a well struck shot with my Miura blades. I could really shape the ball on Par 3’s.
Didn’t hit them long, but very precise.
My driver on the other hand was 300+ yards, but too often in the woods LOL
I was a 6 handicap, when I quit the game.
I also owned a set of Macgregor and Hogan blades - but my Miura blades were my favourite irons.
I don’t miss the game of golf any longer.
I did enjoy walking the golf courses but my temperament was not that well suited for golf in the long run and I started to hate having to play at least twice a week in the great danish rainy windy weather to play to my handicap, and that killed my passion.
Unless you are into something arcane that requires specialized tools, like molecular gastronomy, the old stuff works just fine, and, for the most part, it either will not wear out in our lifetimes (or the next) or is easily repaired.
I’d really appreciate it if we don’t start talking about knives here as it’s going to cost me a ton of money. I mean there’s a whole thread devoted to knives that I’ve managed to ignore…
I do read about it - but I was a bookworm long before I ever cooked anything. Childhood habits and all that. I was easily bribed by my parents with gifts of books, not cookies.
However gorgeous an open kitchen is, I look back to my student days in a one room apartment, and I know for certain I don’t want to sit in my living room and watch my appliances age. It’s bad enough to have to look in a mirror
I use the squatter, fatter 1-pound “camping” gas propane cannisters made for lanterns, which are less tippy to start with, and an aftermarket wider base. The base I got is 6" in diameter to start with, and it has swing-out wings that can make it effectively 12".
Watanabe cleaver is still great. What I noticed is this: Because my my Watanabe nakiri and Watanabe Chinese (thin blade) cleaver stay the sharpness, they are my best knives for making thin “sashimi” slices.
I don’t have the best photos to illustrate this (took this a few months ago for other purposes)
By the way, I asked Mr. Watanabe why I do not see him using blue (aogami) steel for Chinese thin blade cleavers. He replied that he used to do that, but there is no good thin aogami stock.
Quote: I don’t have thin raw material of aogami. About 10 years ago, I used to make these cleavers of blue. I had to forge from 8mm thick raw material. I spent too much time. And it is impossible to make beautiful knife from it. Iron clad White #1 is the sharpest and long edge retention. And easy to resharpen. It is good for thin cleavers.
Blue is good for tougher cutting works.
Ah, Chem, thanks for pointing out another great example of hidden practical limitations in cutlery.
Here’s another: It used to be that if you wanted to make a blade of 52100, you had to first forge a blank from very large industrial ball bearings. Then ONE mill started rolling barstock out of that alloy, and that’s what put Bob Kramer on the map. Now it’s widely available in various gauges, so even stock relief blades aren’t that hard to do.
