The sharpest thing I have ever seen, period.

Well folks, I found a new love in the kitchen. No, it is not Risotto, although I am enjoying this also. Rather, it is the Shun Bob Kramer replica knives. Just what the hell are they? The world's finest kitchen cutlery... so far as I know it.

Just how did I discover these knives? I saw them on the the wall at Sur La Table more than a year ago, but thought they were more decorative than functional. I never favor cosmetics over functionality, ergo I was not particularly interested. Nothing that pretty could be sharp or effective.

A week or two ago, whilst participating in a discussion on one of the many cooking forums, I advocated Miyabi & Misono as the two best production knives in the entire world. That got a mild round of applause. However, someone quickly rose to advocate the Shun Bob Kramer series.

I mentioned that I had a couple of Shun Classic knives, and didn't think much of them. "They are mid-range pieces of cutlery; better than CutCo, but not much".

Surprisingly, the advocate agreed with me. He didn't particularly like the Professional, Classic, Kaji, or Ken Onion lines himself. The only Shun line he wanted to advocate was the Bob Kramer line. He directed me to a particular video, shot by CBS's Sunday Morning news magazine, that provided some insight into the life and work of Bob Kramer.

You can see the video here.

Just to summarize the stunning facts of that video:

1. Bob Kramer is one of only 114 (current) master blade smiths in the world today. 103 of those reside in the United States.
2. He is the only master knife smith who is also a fully certified and qualified chef.
3. He is the Stradivarius of kitchen cutlery.
4. He makes blades that bend 90 degrees without snapping or warping.
5. His blades can hack through 2x4 wood beams without damage to the edges.
6. After hacking the 2x4, the edge remains sharp enough to shave hair off your arm.
7. Most impressive of all, he whacked a dangling 1 inch diameter rope with his blade, and severed it clean.
8. His blades can also slash through a row of water bottles with a single swipe.
9. His blades cost $300 per inch. An 8 inch chef's knife cost $2,400. A 10 inch costs $3,000.
10. He has an 18 month waiting list of customers who want one.

Most incredible of all is this fact: Shun, one of the big 5 knife makers of Japan, has licensed Bob Kramer's designs. Shun sent their master blade smiths to the United States to learn Bob Kramer's process. The objective was to produce the most precise replicas they could muster. Now we have the Shun Bob Kramer line, the most expensive knives made by Shun. Mr. Kramer gives a full hearty endorsement to these blades. He feels they are very nice replicas of his work.

Now, if you understand anything at all about Japanese culture, this fact should cause your mind to boggle. There is no craft closer to the Japanese soul than blade-smithing. You would be hard pressed to name another industry which is more an object of national pride in Japan than blade-smithing. Japan is commonly accepted as the world's leader in blade manufacturing. The fact that Shun would license Bob Kramer's designs, and send their master craftsmen to learn from him, is nothing short of mind-boggling. I am still flipped out over this fact.

I have to admit, that video really put the hook in my mouth. I had to take a closer look. Last Wednesday I went to Sur La Table in Thousand Oaks with this objective in mind. I purchased a nice hard turnip over at Bristol Farms (across the street) and walked in the door asking to try the 6 inch Bob Kramer.

Let's say I was astounded. I diced the turnip as you would an onion. I made lots of cuts too: 3 horizontal cuts and 6 vertical. The turnip fell apart with easy. It was more than easy. I want you to know it has never been that easy to cut a hard turnip. Needless to say, I had to have the knife. That beautiful bastard set me back almost $290 with tax. I am very glad I did it. I have already belted out several projects with it, and it makes prep an easy joy.

I want you to know, I have not given up on my Miyabi 600D knives. I still love those knives, and they aren't much less sharp. Still, I have to say that the handles on the Bob Kramer are sensational, and the edge is even better.

I regret to say this, but... it looks better also.

I would never buy a knife for that reason, mind you.

The Shun Bob Kramer signature line is--without question--the sharpest and best knife I have ever tried. I am astounded. Don't confuse these knives with the Bob Kramer Meiji line for sale at Williams-Sonoma. That is a different line up. Those may also be very good blades, but they don't have the same handle. I haven't tried the Meiji line yet, so I can't endorse them.

The sharpest damn thing I have ever seen...?

So, my pals at Sur La Table sent me a coupon for $10 off my next puchase last week. The mailing was very nice and flattering declaring that "You are one of our best customers." It must be the 5 or 6 people I have sent their way looking for Emile Henry, Staub and Le Creuset. That must have triggered the flatter... that and the fact that I bought some Emile Henry, Staub, and Le Creuset.

So I walked in the door during lunch hour on Thursday. One of my favorite sales ladies grabbed hold of me right away, asking what she could show me today. I showed her the coupon, and said I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just rummaging around looking for sales.

She basically dragged me over to the knife section to show me the Miyabi knives. As strongly as she could, she urged me to grab the 7 inch Santoku. The normal price is supposed to be $129.95, and it is on sale for just $89.95. It will soon be going up. She explained all of this too me as she grabbed a new one out of the lockup cabinets.

I wasn't too thrilled by the notion. I have a lot of knives. I had just added a marvelous Misono 155mm utility knife to my kit, and I was thinking about the Misono Gyuto next. Still, I wanted to give that knife a whirl; hold it in my hand; give it a test cut or two, and see if there was any substance to it.

The knife was extremely sharp. It handled well. It had a very nice weight and balance to it. I like the Kullens. Hollow grinds are my specialty. I was doubtful. I am not a particular fan of J.A. Henckels. I am a bigger fan of Wusthof. Miyabi is owned by Henckels. This is their 'full market capitulation brand.' This is the one Iron Chef Morimoto endorses, but does not use. Have a look.

Even at this moment, I am not exactly sure why I caved in and bought it. Value was on my mind. The knife cost a total of $86.00 out the door. That is precious little for a knife like that. The Santoku is my favorite knife design. It's the best knife for just about anything. I also love the hollow grind. As I walked out the door with my new Miyabi Santoku, I basically slapped myself, saying "That was stupid! You already have two excellent Wustof Santokus, a Kyocera coming back in the mail, and now this? With such an acute edge, how are you going to sharpen this thing?"

Well, here we are a few days later. I am pretty damn glad I bought this knife. Cooking with it for the first time was something else. I had some nasty trials for it as well. I made celery root mash, turnip mash, and hash brown potatoes. All of these roots pose interesting problems for a blade.

The blade fell through a large yellow Spanish onion like it was going through air. For those who don't know about Celery root, that is one tough root. I had to press the Santoku to get it through, but it sliced the celery root without a lot of effort. I have seen others, including Alton Brown, really fight with these things. Alton uses Shun, by the way. He even brought out the dreaded hacksaw, although he quickly switched to the Santoku (smart substitution there).

Turnips are usually tougher, but it was easier chopping turnips than the celery root, for this particular blade. That was shocking. Surprisingly enough, the simple russet potatoes were the most problematic. These things formed a vacuum seal with side wall of the knife that was surprisingly difficult to break.

I am trying to be conservative here, and remember back 3 years ago when my Kyocera Santokus were brand-new. However, I want to say that this Miyabi may well be the sharpest damn knife I have ever seen. I don't say that lightly. I have fucked around quite a bit with knifes. I have Wusthof, Misono, Cutco, Kyocera, Victorinox, F. Dick, and Shun in my collection. I am not talking about the lesser series either.

At this moment, the Miyabi is the sharpest thing I have in my collection, with the Misono UX-10 150mm petty knife coming in 2nd place.

I have been stuck in a mild state of amazement and perplexity for the past several days. Why don't more people know about this? Why isn't there a buzz?

I decided to have a look on the internet for some information in this regard. I found it. This is the highest rated link on Bing and Google regarding the Miyabi 600D Fusion Morimoto Edition. If you read what this gentleman expert has to say about it, I think you will find it quite an eye opener.

He was asked by Henckels to participate in the beta tests of these blades. Yep, that's right, they asked him for some help. He requested and received a Miyabi 255mm Gyuto. Although the knife was extremely sharp right out of the box, he decided to re-touch the edge himself with a diamond impregnated strop and some fine film.

He tested it against a Nenox S1 Karin Gyuto. That is a $600 blade from Japan. Even the Nenox G-Type are $300 blades. So far, this gentleman believes the Miyabi 600D is the top gun. He claims it is far sharper than Shun. Wow... I mean wow...

So you can see, dear people, it isn't just me. Some professional experts are also impressed by these blades. To think the edge can be further refined and get better still is shocking. To think I walked out the door with an $86 edge that can out-perform a $400-$500 custom knife makes me very happy indeed. Now that is value, and I always love a good value.

Word of advice to Sam Bradford. Now that you have that big contract, and will be outfitting your first home, go over to the Sur La Table website and order a set of Miyabi 600D Fusion knives. You will get glad you did. It won't cost you much of the guaranteed money, and you basically can't get better. As Favre says, you can pay more, but you won't get more.

This way, when either mom or a girlfriend come over and cook for you on an off-day, they can be very impressed with your cutlery.

I wonder what Alton would think of this?

So Shun has shocked the world by reinventing the hacksaw. I just got a piece of bacon in my mailbox from Williams-Sonoma indicating that Shun has introduced a new hacksaw called Edo Dual-Density 8 inch utility knife. You can read about it here.

For those of you who do not know, one of Shun's most vocal advocates is none other than Alton Brown. He holds a Shun in his hand and says "Happiness is a sharp knife." He admits to having had a very promiscuous and experimental background history with knives, but says he has settled down in to a monogamous relationship with Shun.

Alton also hates serrated blades of all strips and colors. He derides them as hacksaws. At least two ad-hoc YouTube.com videos show Alton going off, like a bomb, about the hateful, detestable, wretched, foul and malodorous nature of the hacksaw. If you haven't seen these videos, you missing some prime-time entertainment.

Alton speaks loudly, and caries some clout. He has damaged the market for serrated blades. The once popular items are now quite difficult to sell. People sneer at you in line, if you have the bad taste to carry them to the check out counter. It's only safe to order them by mail from amazon.com or Ronco.

I don't think Cutco has forgiven him, and I doubt they ever will. Even though they are famous for their straight edges, Cutco has a few good hacksaws, and they have a blade-protection scheme that looks similar to the hacksaw. They believe they have the best engineering designs on earth. They are quite pissed the culinary types are unwilling to give it a try. They reserve a large heaping helping of ire for Alton's campaign against the hacksaw.

I, personally, don't have anything against the hacksaw. It has it's purpose, moments, and uses. There is an application for this engineering concept. I don't want to cut bread without one. Beefy St. Louis Ribs have tough membranes that are tough to cut without a good hacksaw.

When I saw this piece of bacon from Williams-Sonoma, I let loose with a big belly laugh. Now doesn't Alton feel might damn betrayed about this, aye?

German cutlery is on very hard-times right now

When I was kid, expensive, elite kitchen cutlery was a German thing. It was understood by us kids that Moms and Grandmoms would get very jealous when they heard a certain neighbor-lady just got a set of German knives.

German knives were the best. German knives were expensive also. Everybody wanted them. Not everybody could or would afford them. They were kinda like a KitchenAid stand mixer these days. German knives were the "some-day, eventually, maybe soon" thing grandma might buy. We wanted to get grandma a set of these things for Christmas, but damn... they were just so expensive.

Today, I am amazed to see how completely the Japanese have taken over the market. The Germans are way off in the distance. Not since the 49ers blew past the Rams in the NFC West during the 1980s have I seen such a thing. The Rams owned the West for decades. The 49ers seized control in one fell-swoop. Likewise, the Japanese have completely taken control of the cutlery market, setting the Germans in deep second place.

How the hell did they do it? It's a complex picture. It would include all of the following things:

1. A radical new design (from the viewpoint of the West) call the Santoko
2. A radical new design (from the viewpoint of the West) called the Gokujo.
3. The rediscovery of how to make Damascus steel.
4. The use of the 15 degree angle rather than a 22.
5. The use of double-hollow ground blades rather than a single bevel.
6. The use of V10 steel and beyond
7. Some very beautiful design work.
8. Some hellacious demos.

First and foremost, it has to be understood that a thousand years of Japanese technological development in relative isolation brought about some unique fruits. The Gokujo fillet knife and the Santoko chef's knife are completely traditional designs in Japan. We have analogs, but they aren't much like these blades.

Everybody who tries a Santoku is instantly converted. I, personally, have never found a more useful instrument. The only thing it lacks is a sharp point at the end, which would help. Enter the Gokujo. We think of it as fillet knife, but it is a lot more than than. It is the other general purpose blade in a Japanese chef's toolkit. Believe me, they beat the living hell out of a fillet knife.

Using these two blades for the first time, especially if they are from high-end vendors like Shun, blows the mind of the typical middle-american kitchen cook. It has a similar effect of Le Cordon Bleu certified master chefs. It makes you believe the Japanese are a bunch of geniuses.

The Damascus steel is another monster. The real Damascus steel was made by taking wootz steel, with mineral resources flowing from India, and using several pattern welding techniques pioneered by the various Celtic tribes. It made legendary blades that could actually slice through European swords, and pierce shields.

The Japanese don't use wootz steel or pattern welding. They fold two super-thin sheets of steel, one stainless and one high carbon, some 33 times until they form their blank. This is a forging technique, but not from castings. The favorite claim is that V10 steel exceeds anything else known to mankind. There is a group called Masahiro who claims MBS-26 steel is even better.

Whatever the case may, Japanese 'Damascus' steel is absolutely fascinating stuff, and it has totally captured the imagination of the entire world. Japanese Damascus steel now defines the high-end of kitchen cutlery. Everybody wants some. The blades look sensational. To see them is to see artwork. Not just artwork, but highly functional artwork. Even Ginsu is playing this game with devastating effects.

J.A. Henckels sold-out almost completely, gave up on their traditional lines of German cutlery, and got Iron Chef Morimoto to lend some street-cred to their fusion line of Japan-esque knives. You can't exactly call them Japanese. You can call this full-market capitulation.

But what of Wüsthof? For those who don't know, Wüsthof once defined the high-end of the kitchen cutlery market... in the whole world. Nobody but nobody was better. At the risk of quoting Soundgarden, they fell on black days.

Well, they have responded, and they are adapting. Their big move was to get together with Le Cordon Bleu in France and workup an all-new set of highly-refined knives that would be ideal for the European cooking tradition. Evidently, Le Cordon Bleu's staff of culinary professors took this opportunity seriously, and worked very hard with Wüsthof on this project. They came up with a set of knives that now bears the school's name.

Evidentially, these blades are 30% lighter than their other Wüsthof analogs. They are still made out of high carbon steel, not stainless steel, or Damascus. The are still forged from poured blanks. They are now hollow ground rather than beveled on the edge. They now have a synthetic stock material rather than wood. They still have the full-tang. They still have the signature three rivets. They have even embraced a limited use of kullens on a limited basis. The reviews are pretty sweet. Most experts are giving these items an A to A+ grade.

Still, the powerful shift in world-market tastes are hurting Wüsthof. Le Cordon Bleu is arguably the finest product they have ever made, yet they command far fewer dollars than their Japanese competitors do. At this very moment, you can buy a 8-piece set of Wüsthof Le Cordon Bleu knives for just $279 bucks, which I find shocking... shockingly low, in case you were wondering. At the same time a 7 piece set of Miyabi knives will set you back $449.

It is unfortunate that I am having such trouble finding the Le Cordon Bleu 8 inch chef's knife. I would have purchased it already. It looks like the perfect knife. The kullens make it perfect. I like kullens. Kullens do break friction and make for way less 'stickiness'.

I must say, I am sorely tempted to get a set of these Le Cordon Bleu knives. But then again, you know I love ceramic cubic zirconia.

If I were you, and if I were looking for an absolute steal on killer kitchen steel, I would definitely take advantage of the Wüsthof offer. You simply can't do better than this offer at this price.

Kyocera advanced ceramic blades

About a year or two ago, I saw an amazing episode of "How it's Made" regarding the world's greatest knives. They elected Kyocera advanced ceramic blades, and showed us just how they are made.

I was more than stunned. I had no idea that there was any such thing as a ceramic knife. I had no idea Kyocera made knives. I knew them only as the manufacturer of my then-present cell phone. I was amazed that these blades (that looked like white plastic disposable knives) were actually the sharpest things on earth this side of a laser beam. I could not believe steel had been surpassed by another material. It was all stunning.

Kyocera blades are made from cubic zirconia. You may know this substance as fake diamond; the stuff they make fake jewelery out of. Don't let that turn you off. Whilst cubic ziroconia may not fit your cultural prejudices regarding high-quality jewelery, it is an absolutely superb industrial material. Specifically you can make pretty outrageous knives out this stuff.

Cubic zirconia, when refined in a proper manufacturing process, is the second hardest material known to mankind. It is second only to real diamond. You can only sharpen these blades with real diamond. They will cut through steel sharpeners.

You can put an absurdly fine edge on these blades. They are more than a match for surgical scalpels. They are almost a match for the (extremely fragile) cracked obsidian blades ancient man used to use during the stone age. Those remain the sharpest edged tools man has ever used, but they last 10 minutes and they are gone. Kyocera edges last a very, very long time. I have been putting mine into a dish washer for almost 2 years now, and they still cut like straight razors.

There are more things to love about these ceramic blades. They are utterly non-reactive. They never absorb or carry the flavors of the items you cut. A simple wash and wipe and the substance is utterly gone. The pores are just too microscopic for infiltration. Unlike steel blades, no shards or particles will get in your food. Acid and base does nothing to cubic zirconia, unlike steel. This means you get the flavor of your food, and nothing more.

I don't know what it was about that short documentary, but it was pretty overwhelming. I was not that into gourmet cooking at the time. However, I was convinced beyond conviction that these were the greatest knives yet made by man. I had to own some. I grit my teeth, gulped hard, and spent a few hundred dollars on amazon.com.

It didn't take long for me to realize I made the right choice. The blades were pure murder; ungodly sharp right out of the box. The interesting thing is that I have never cut myself with one of these knives. I used to (accidentally) cut myself every now and again with steel blades. I think that is because of the force and effort it took to cut with steel Ronco blades. It takes little effort to slice anything with a Kyocera. I never struggle with anything, ergo there are no thrashing efforts. Everything is now an easy stroke.

With all this in the rear view mirror, I have been stunned that I have never seen any chef on the Food Network work with or advocate ceramic blades. They like big heavy steel blades. Alton Brown strongly endorses Shun, which is an amazing Damascus steel blade made in Japan. Tyler Florence seems to do it all with a single 7 inch Chef's knife from God knows who.

Lately I have been learning why this is so. Kyocera Ceramic blades are unbelievably light. I like this. I am used to it. Master Chef's don't like that. They are trained from day #1 of school to use a fast rocking motion in their prep. This technique is entirely predicated on using the weight of your blade to execute that cut. They like heavy blades. Within reason, they heavier the better.

Heavy blades make it easy to cut things like carrots. I stick carrots in the food processor, or I use a Kyocera mandolin slicer. It is a question of approach. There are different approaches.

Just to see how the other half lives, and to try the amazing Damascus steel Shun makes, I bought Alton Brown's signature weapon. It is a damn nice knife. I can rock with it like crazy. With that said it is not as sharp as my Kyoceras.

Just two days ago, when I was slicing up some pancetta for Bolognese sauce, the Shun got pretty tiresome. As the pancetta warmed, it became harder and harder to cut with the Shun. I could have done it, but I got frustrated. I reached for my Kyocera meat cleaver. The job got done quick. Believe me, that 1/2 pound of pancetta was diced inside 1 minutes.

I think I will get another Shun or two. I want the Ken Onion 7 inch Santuko, and I know where I can get it at a steep discount. I may get the Chef's knife also. That would be the ideal rocker.

To you guys at the Food Network: Give Kyocera a shot. It has been scientifically proven that these are the hardest and sharpest blades.

I bought mine in black.