Become convinced that purchasing an expensive knife and spending half of your life fucking around to keep it sharp and protected is a good investment of your time.
Buy a $10 German steel chef knife on sale, get a rada QuickSharp and a (e: Victorinox 14 inch) chef hone and get on with life.
I cook quite a bit, so I disagree a little. you don’t need a stupid expensive knife, but buying one or two good quality knives is worth it. They probably last as long as you do so it’s not like you have to keep buying more, just buy quality once. I still have a couple cheap knives too. Also, expensive != quality. Choose wisely.
The cheap knives suck at holding an edge. I spend more time “fucking around” keeping the cheap knife sharp than I do the good ones.
Hand wash the knives. The dishwasher detergent will accelerate the loss of the edge and pitting, especially in cheaper steel. Use plastic or wood cutting surfaces, not hard ceramic like plates, or glass.
I buy cheap knives with the plastic handles from the local butcher as they always have spares. Got a maybe 2000 grit belt for the belt sander. Sharpen the whole lot in about 15 minutes twice a year and they hold well
agreed on the inexpensive knife, but I’ve never had good enough results with any quick sharp pull through tool. I use one knife for basically everything and hone it maybe once a week for fifteen seconds. it’s very easy to keep it sharp if you don’t abuse it (thank you dad for always looking for the sharpest thing in the room regardless of what the task is and for using knives on teflon and steel pans and ceramic plates…). I sharpen it maybe twice a year? I honestly don’t remember if I’ve even sharpened it in 2026
The wheel sharpeners are absolutely the sweet spot combination of speed/efficiency/performance… As long as you are willing to accept a little more knife degradation. And you must hone them immediately after otherwise you’re doomed to having the edges fold. Otherwise yes, I am mostly a hone user to keep cutting tools primed.
Anybody that tries to tell me there’s some magic to knives is wayyyyy out there; Too baffled by all the bullshit online to understand that keeping a knife usable is extremely simple, when you focus on the couple key techniques that actually matter.
I freehand cut this hasselback potato with a $5 knife after sharpening it. This is proof I am not just ass-shouting like most self-styled knife “pros”. The biggest technique to understanding knife care is not listening to idiots, but how to know who’s an idiot and who’s not? It isn’t easy for the average person.
I never spent a fortune on my knives or a lot of time maintaining them but I had a decent set of knives and a chef’s knife I’d sharpen once in a blue moon. Thought I was very smart.
One day I bought a $5 cleaver at the dollar store and it’s basically replaced 75% of my knife work and I abuse it like a redheaded step child.
Having nice knives is nice, some of the cheap stamped ones are awful and a good knife will last forever.
Equally, having a set of sharpening stones is also really useful to rescue knives, however you should only be using them once every few years, standard knife sharpeners are fine.
My personal experience with very expensive knives, and I’m telling you I have had some very expensive knives because my brother used to be a chef…
Not worth it. Not to me. My kitchen is a dynamic place, I need to throw things around, let them clatter around in the sink… I have had a chip out of every one of my $400+ knives within 4 weeks of owning them.
I’m done with “good” knives. Cheap German steel for this boy for life. Lol
LOL I mean people once thought the earth was flat with the same certainty… There were wrong too. I’ve seen high Def images of exactly what a hone does to a knife edge, so umm you can claim whatever…
Your pretty bitter might to work on that. An your inability to “just let it go” I’ve trolling for like 3 posts now. I can see is cheeto eating Monster drinking unclean adult smashing his keyboard :) makes me happy.
Shut the fuck up, you have no idea what you’re talking about, you are not funny, you are not clever, nothing about your existence here is justified, and your presence in my life is a waste.
Become convinced that purchasing an expensive knife and spending half of your life fucking around to keep it sharp and protected is a good investment of your time.
Buy a $10 German steel chef knife on sale, get a rada QuickSharp and a (e: Victorinox 14 inch) chef hone and get on with life.
I cook quite a bit, so I disagree a little. you don’t need a stupid expensive knife, but buying one or two good quality knives is worth it. They probably last as long as you do so it’s not like you have to keep buying more, just buy quality once. I still have a couple cheap knives too. Also, expensive != quality. Choose wisely.
The cheap knives suck at holding an edge. I spend more time “fucking around” keeping the cheap knife sharp than I do the good ones.
Hand wash the knives. The dishwasher detergent will accelerate the loss of the edge and pitting, especially in cheaper steel. Use plastic or wood cutting surfaces, not hard ceramic like plates, or glass.
I buy cheap knives with the plastic handles from the local butcher as they always have spares. Got a maybe 2000 grit belt for the belt sander. Sharpen the whole lot in about 15 minutes twice a year and they hold well
agreed on the inexpensive knife, but I’ve never had good enough results with any quick sharp pull through tool. I use one knife for basically everything and hone it maybe once a week for fifteen seconds. it’s very easy to keep it sharp if you don’t abuse it (thank you dad for always looking for the sharpest thing in the room regardless of what the task is and for using knives on teflon and steel pans and ceramic plates…). I sharpen it maybe twice a year? I honestly don’t remember if I’ve even sharpened it in 2026
The wheel sharpeners are absolutely the sweet spot combination of speed/efficiency/performance… As long as you are willing to accept a little more knife degradation. And you must hone them immediately after otherwise you’re doomed to having the edges fold. Otherwise yes, I am mostly a hone user to keep cutting tools primed.
Anybody that tries to tell me there’s some magic to knives is wayyyyy out there; Too baffled by all the bullshit online to understand that keeping a knife usable is extremely simple, when you focus on the couple key techniques that actually matter.
I freehand cut this hasselback potato with a $5 knife after sharpening it. This is proof I am not just ass-shouting like most self-styled knife “pros”. The biggest technique to understanding knife care is not listening to idiots, but how to know who’s an idiot and who’s not? It isn’t easy for the average person.
I never spent a fortune on my knives or a lot of time maintaining them but I had a decent set of knives and a chef’s knife I’d sharpen once in a blue moon. Thought I was very smart.
One day I bought a $5 cleaver at the dollar store and it’s basically replaced 75% of my knife work and I abuse it like a redheaded step child.
Partially agree:
Having nice knives is nice, some of the cheap stamped ones are awful and a good knife will last forever.
Equally, having a set of sharpening stones is also really useful to rescue knives, however you should only be using them once every few years, standard knife sharpeners are fine.
They are tools, not your hobby.
I mostly agree with you!
My personal experience with very expensive knives, and I’m telling you I have had some very expensive knives because my brother used to be a chef…
Not worth it. Not to me. My kitchen is a dynamic place, I need to throw things around, let them clatter around in the sink… I have had a chip out of every one of my $400+ knives within 4 weeks of owning them.
I’m done with “good” knives. Cheap German steel for this boy for life. Lol
Ask any chef, the exact opposite is true.
I don’t think most knife sharpeners can really get rid of nicks in the blade? Needs a proper sharpening stone for that?
First hones are worthless if not activity bad for a knife edge. 10 dollar German knives are trash unless you win the lotto or something.
You don’t need to spend hundreds but a good knife will last a lifetime and stay sharp 10 times as long.
“hones are bad for a knife”
Brother, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you understand absolutely nothing about knives and you should never try to talk about them again.
LOL I mean people once thought the earth was flat with the same certainty… There were wrong too. I’ve seen high Def images of exactly what a hone does to a knife edge, so umm you can claim whatever…
The only correct response to you right now is “shut the hell up”.
And yet you were incapable of following your own advice, interesting…
Shut the hell up.
Your pretty bitter might to work on that. An your inability to “just let it go” I’ve trolling for like 3 posts now. I can see is cheeto eating Monster drinking unclean adult smashing his keyboard :) makes me happy.
Shut the fuck up, you have no idea what you’re talking about, you are not funny, you are not clever, nothing about your existence here is justified, and your presence in my life is a waste.
Blocked