3 Knives Essential to Bill’s Kitchen

It was 1965 when Glen and I started to sell gourmet cookware in our little candle shop.  We saw the need for something better than grocery store pots and pans.  The opportunity was obvious when we went looking for knives for our own kitchens.  In those days, importing goods from other countries was much easier than it is now, and cheaper.  So, we began importing knives from the knife making capital of Europe, Solingen, Germany.

Today, we still carry those knives that we imported ourselves but have added two of the best manufacturers in the world, Shun by Kershaw from Seki, Japan, and Wüsthof Trident, also from Solingen, Germany.  Both excellent quality and both come from world class blade making cities.

If I were to choose 3 knives I could not live without they would be Shun’s Alton’s Angles 4 inch paring knife, the 7” Hollow Ground Santoku and the Wüsthof Classic 8” Cook’s Knife.  With these three kitchen warriors you can cut through any job with ease.

The Alton paring knife gets all your little jobs done fast and the wavy Damascus pattern on the blade is designed to keep food from sticking.  I also appreciate the angled handle to keep my knuckles off the cutting surface.

The Shun Hollow Ground Santoku is one of the best knives I’ve ever used.  All Shun knives are made with a D-shaped handle to provide the best comfort and grip.  The hollow ground ovals on the blade are there to create air pockets that prevent thin or soft slices from sticking to the blade.

My old friend in the kitchen is the classic Wüsthof 8” Cook’s knife.  Heavy and sturdy, this gets your big jobs done like cutting through root vegetable, poultry or even quick carving.

Remember, a sharp knife is a safe knife so use your honing steel to maintain your knives between uses and get them professionally sharpened when needed.

Related topic

Shun’s Alton’s Angles:  Who is Alton Brown?

Take one celebrity chef, add the expertise of KAI's blade smiths, stir, and you've got a unique, new series of knives—Alton's Angles.

The Food Network's Alton Brown loved the sheep's foot blade shape on the original Shun Vegetable Knife, but he had trouble using it because his knuckles kept hitting the cutting board. So he asked Kershaw for a modification—a small angle that would let him both firmly grasp the knife and fully contact the cutting board.

It worked. In fact, it worked so well that now there are eight Alton's Angles blades. Not only does the design keep knuckles off the cutting board, but the natural curve created between the blade and the user's arm also makes controlling the blade even easier and more precise.

This 10° angle is the only difference. Otherwise, these are Shun Classic kitchen knives. Same clad VG-10 steel blade, same "D" shaped handle, same razor-sharp edge and precise handling. It's just a brilliant new angle on some already brilliant knives.