First food prep done with the 11 inch nogent. The out of the box edge was surprisingly good this time, but it will only get better.
Carrots and potatoes went fine, it is very strong at 271g. Horizontals on the onions were really good actually. One knock I will give is that when I was doing verticals to the onions with the tip after horizontals in order to make small dices, it didnt go so well and the reason is that the very tip section is actually thicker behind the edge. It will be a very easy fix on the stones however and then it will be great in that regard also.
Very pleased and this is definitely a user for me.
The ones I considered–and am still considering–are smaller, lighter, and more finesse oriented. I just already have such great utility knives that I’m not sure I’d be willing to consider it my “go-to” for poultry.
While they are still findable, I believe you would enjoy a Nogent parer, the very small, straight edged one with the great point. I have seen them on Flotsam and Fork. The small ones are not very expensive. They represent an important era in French kitchen goods.
That straight edged paring you have looks great for in hand work. Would like one as well, perhaps even exchange mine to one from usability perspective, but the wood pattern on mine is just fantastic, so no way I’d give that up
So while I hesitated if I should still order the 8 inch nogent chef, now it or they are gone. I have a feeling more could appear one day though again. Maybe they are only finishing (or just releasing) a few at a time to keep introducing these old blanks to the market still and keep the audience interested and show they have long traditions.
nice to see you here also :). That could be one way of seeing it I guess. These are not cheap, that is true, but the prices are in line with their present offering and for me there is a charm in these, so I don’t mind the price so much.
In fact I just now ordered some more, the 8 inch nogent came back to stock as someone probably canceled their order. It’s gone now as I certainly won’t
Expecting to receive them quick again as they have shipped with DHL express at least to my location. I have to say I have been quite pleased with DHL express.
do you by the way have any Sabatiers, I don’t remember such detail now, or if it was discussed even? How about other knives, made any acquisitions lately?
I should finally sell some of mine, I have some piled up in their boxes in a closet. Lately I moved my Kisuke B#1 240 mm (I’m the second owner of that “custom” order direct from him) and the Kisuke B#2 nakiri out. I needed to make some room in my drawer block now also, so I moved my Zwilling pro 26cm chef out - I honestly regret buying it a bit since I don’t use it, although it I think its a pretty good knife.
No, I don’t own any Sabatiers, but I grew up using them in my childhood home and really liked the profiles of the bigger chefs knives. If I were looking for something in that vein today, I might consider something like this: https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/tansu-52100-integral-sab.57142/
Otherwise, I’ve made no new acquisitions lately, despite recently having visited the U.S. I was tempted to get a Shihan, but honestly, workhorse grinds just don’t appeal to me very much. I much prefer lasers and midweight blades overall. What is your objection to the Kisuke, if you don’t mind my asking?
ok nice to hear. I have no idea what knives we actually had in my childhood, but probably some Fiskars and Hackman or something. It’s a beautiful knife that Tansu, though for a “Sabatier” I want a Sabatier :). I also haven’t shelled out that kind of money for any knife yet and still have no plans to do so either, though I have in total used more than a little.
I have also started to appreciate a bit thicker grinds, or edges that are not super thin, or hard steel. With these Sabs for example I have little worries about them chipping and there’s a certain comfort in that to me after all. I haven’t chipped any of my Japanese knives though, but still. At the same time I enjoy some of the quite super thin and delicate edges of some of my Japanese knives as well. For example the Yoshi made Kashima Sanjo and my self thinned Konosuke GS+ which is pretty damn thin behind the edge and light too. Takamura santoku has seen lots of use. The Kashima has been a fantastic cutter and features that delicate thin tip also in that hakata style, which is very nice for onions/shallots etc.
I suppose that Kashima is still my no1 “best pure cutter” as it flies through produce like “laser” yet doesn’t really even have the laser stick problems to speak of in my experience. It was in the set of first J-knives that I bought and I remember you recommending the gyuto in that series to me and I took note, but fell for the hakata then and got a Sukenari gyuto instead The Sukenari has been great overall imo, not as thin bte, but a very nice cutter still that has went though many pineapples etc also.
The Kisukes, I don’t really even have bigger objections about them and having a hard time thinking if i actually want to sell them. The nakiri is my only nakiri, and while I prefer to pickup a cleaver, I’m not sure I want to get rid of it for that reason alone already. One knock I would say is that they seem to come with a very sturdy lacquer on top and it was harder to remove than usually and perhaps they were a bit more reactive than some of my other iron clad knives after that, but it toned down also then, so it’s not really a knock either. In general I am also wanting to move a bit away from kurouchi finished knives and I now have 4 of those moved out of current use. Though I removed the ku manually from the Kisuke nakiri, so not sure if it counts anymore
The Kisuke bevels seem to indeed be hand finished on stones as claimed, I have a few times re-finished the nakiri bevels with stones and it was nice without low spots. That’s a big plus. The gyuto still has the original Kisuke finished bevels, but I removed the lacquer.
I am posting just to see how you feel about this Sabatier. As some of you know, the name Sabatier is widely used to the point that the name does not necessary translate to quality.
Here is a couple of $18-20 Sabatier which I have no idea if they are any good. However, there are plenty of signs. First, they are made in China, not France
I don’t like those, but it is what it is. Knife hobbyists or collectors etc will know it, or find it out before buying most likely imo… but the average Joe just shopping for some knife could mix it up I suppose and think they bought a real Sabatier.
They told me these are not flexible, so I bought them as “steak knives” for us. I think they do a pretty good job for steak knives actually. They are a nice size IMO and not too fancy, but rather homely. I mean that even if I have plenty knives etc, I might feel a bit dumb about using a fancy steak knife personally, and more so offering those for quests to use.:
You are probably referring to Thiers-Issard, which is indeed also considered good. I have no experience or much reading done on those, but Tim likes his.
K Sabatier is very much a “real” Sabatier also though, they are the ones I have, you can read about K-Sab history here for example, at their official site:
They also have put this one up:
In general what I have seen is that Thiers-Issard and K Sab seem to be the two most commonly recommended Sabatier brands of today. I haven’t had plans to get to know all Sabatier brands or anything like that. I chose K Sab mainly for their long history and because from them I had the opportunity to buy old stock knives in an easily accessible form and unused.
I would honestly be interested in getting one modern 10 inch Thiers-Issard also, if just to compare, but getting one might just open up a new rabbit hole and soon I would then “need” something else also. I have essentially too many knives already and have been toning things down…
For the full tang, bolstered models, I have found no discernible visual differences among Jeune, K, and 4 star elephant knives. All three look very traditional. I have, however, never knowingly used a K. The Nogents, with their partial tang, thinner spine, and no bolster but a slightly rounded choil, are unique. If I needed a large chef’s knife, a big Nogent would be awesome, but I really do not need one. The 10" Jeune is just fine for the stuff I do, and my wife loves the 8" Elephant.
The Sukenari has been great overall imo, not as thin bte, but a very nice cutter still that has went though many pineapples etc also.
