topic Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation in Buying

Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:39:16 GMT

I want another Tojiro Flash knife for my collection.

In time, I want to replace all of my kitchen knives with Tojiro "Flash". At present, I have the ones which I use most frequently in the kitchen: santoku bōchō, boning knife, and bread knife. Caveat: I have a good paring knife which I use every day, although it's not Tojiro; I am perhaps using it with more gusto and frequency than strictly necessary, as I attempt to render it sufficiently outworn for me to be able to say to myself with convincing innocence: "Oh behold! My paring knife hath outworn its spirit. Get thee another, that it may be paring-valiant." (Or something along those casual lines... so that I will feel justified in getting a Tojiro Flash paring knife.)

But in the meantime, I am being siren-called by the sujiki bōchō (or, alternatively, the 21cm carving knife) and carving fork. Oh, there's some old carving fork in the knife drawer... but it's not one I remember buying. (I suspect it dates back to my pre-taking-cooking-seriously era.)Also, I feel the lack of a really good carving knife. Just two weeks ago, there was a lack of grace in slicing some roast chicken which I'd prepared in my gorgeous Emile Henry chicken roaster.

eBay isn't offering me much of a discount at the moment, not for kitchen items anyway...

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

lyndal1838 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:41:11 GMT

Have you tried Peters of Kensington Countess?

They currently have a very good sale on but it may not last much longer as it has already been on for several weeks.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:50:29 GMT

I would normally buy from them, lyndal - but I don't think they have any Tojiro Flash currently in stock.

I've never purchased from House of Knives before, but they do have what I want in stock. No difference in price between their website and their eBay store. I want to be sure that they're selling the genuine items...

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

*stuff*books* — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:51:28 GMT

My OH had a bit of a clean out in the kitchen and reduced most of our stuff by half as it just wasn't getting used and out of a whole

draw full of items only 10 items were actually used (the draw now looks almost empty).

So most of the stuff will be heading down south to the son,daughter and families but I pulled out three of the knives to sell on here as

maybe I can get a few bucks for them.

Didn't want to grab too much as she might have found a use for them again.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

springyzone — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:58:03 GMT

Just a question that flashed into my mind.
With your purchase, would you be best to limit your shopping to Australia only? I am not too sure what sort of knives are allowed through customs but if you were thinking of purchasing from overseas, it would be worth checking out first.

There's also the GST for overseas items, although I am bewildered exactly how that works. It seems to be automatically added to purchases here on ebay, but I recently ordered a baby shawl from Nottingham in England. (I figured if the place makes shawls good enough for the royal baby then they may be good enough for my grandchild.).

I was expecting to receive a GST bill to pay on pick up at the PO, but the parcel was just delivered as normal. Not complaining, mind you, just not sure how this GST thing works as I thought it applied to overseas purchases now.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 01:12:04 GMT

springyzone, I have purchased kitchen knives and cutlery knives from overseas before, but only after checking with the seller that they send via a method that sensibly permits knives that are not weapons to come through.

In general I prefer to buy locally, so if I can, I will.

I MAY have to look overseas, though, for a dedicated Tojiro knife stand. I saw an absolutely BEAUTIFUL one on the Tojiro website, but I can't find any local business/shop that stocks it and am being driven to chefs' knives' shops in the UK or Brazil so far!

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

padi*0409 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 01:27:56 GMT

Countess, I started changing to Japanese kitchen knives around 10 years ago, they are a mixture of brands and about half are Damasus steel, some came from here in Oz but the majority are from Japan and the US.

I have to say I'd never go back to "ordinary" knives again..............and I still have all my fingers intact !!!!!!

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

go-tazz — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 01:38:23 GMT

@springyzone wrote:

I was expecting to receive a GST bill to pay on pick up at the PO, but the parcel was just delivered as normal. Not complaining, mind you, just not sure how this GST thing works as I thought it applied to overseas purchases now.

The GST is added before you make your purchase eg: purchase amount of $2.38 it would then say on the

invoice that $0.24 in GST and then the order total.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

heihachi_73 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 01:52:56 GMT

Needs more Mick Dundee.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 02:00:54 GMT

padi, like you, I would not want to go back to ordinary knives!

Partly it's because of a health issue dating back to a car accident when I was 18. Bilateral nerve compression - never fun. I gave up viola (but hopefully after some further surgery this year I can take it up again)... I now rely on a pasta machine for making pasta rather than hand-rolling it... and I am holding back on getting a lute (and learning to play it - probably teaching myself) until I'm fully recovered... and of course I am much more cautious when using a knife.

Getting my first Tojiro knives last year really brought home just how tense I'd been when cutting/slicing/dicing/chopping, etc., for YEARS. I hadn't realized how much effort it had been taking. I could (and often do) use my Magimix with appropriate chopping/slicing discs for some food preparation, but there's something so organic and real about chopping things up oneself. I don't want to be too separated from that visceral feel, for at least some of the time.

I tested the feel of several knife brands and models about 3 years ago, with the view of eventually replacing every knife I had. It really comes down to individual preference, I know. I tried so many... and sometimes it would feel ALMOST right but not quite. It wasn't until I had a Tojiro Flash chef's knife in my hand that the universe came grinding to a halt, angels sang "Halleluja" (in Japanese), and every fibre of my body said "YES! This is the one." I tried other knives in the same series, with the same result. They are utterly beautiful to hold, so comfortable and natural and effortlessly powerful with barely any effort.

Japanese knives have it all over western knives, in my opinion. (At least, with the knife brands that I have tested.)

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 02:03:31 GMT

Only when slicing crocodile... and I never do!

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

lyndal1838 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 02:40:22 GMT

Countess, the House of Knives is a very reputable store......quite a big chain of stores. I have had a few things from them over the years.....two wedding gifts as per the bride's request.

I doubt that they would have any fakes in their stores.

Have a look through the lists of ebay vouchers available.....even a 3% discount might be worth having. I know there is a general 3% voucher available site wide until the end of the month as I had an email about it.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

collect247 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 02:45:30 GMT

Have you got a smart phone? the 3% discount is only for the app lol

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

collect247 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 02:50:02 GMT

I remember back in the 80's when you were allowed to bring whatever you wanted into AU lol.

My brother was into Kung Fu and he bought so many weapons that are now all illegal to purchase from over seas lol.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

lyndal1838 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 03:09:15 GMT

@collect247 wrote:
Have you got a smart phone? the 3% discount is only for the app lol

lol....no, no smart phone. I have not bought anything on ebay since April or early May so have not taken much notice of any emails, offers etc.

I just skim over them and delete.

But it is always worth checking the offers out.....ebay tends not to make them too accessible if they might be popular.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 03:27:03 GMT

lyndal, thank you for that! I feel comfortable buying from them knowing that you have endorsed them.

I've also contacted Tojiro by email to see about the wooden block.

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 03:29:13 GMT

Japanese knives have it all over western knives, in my opinion. (At least, with the knife brands that I have tested.)

Quite agree.

Anything that takes time to create will stand the test of time. (One of my own)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ4b9vmXzVg

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

collect247 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 03:46:21 GMT

Not everything that takes time to create will stand the test of time,ice comes to mind ( unless you don't take it out of the freezer ) lol

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 05:28:07 GMT

I will avoid the special "Ice Knife" set, then...

Re: Kitchen knife purchase contemplation

countessalmirena — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 05:44:20 GMT

Stunning technique; there is so much artistry involved in hand-forging.

No wonder that the technique grew out of Japanese swordmaking.

It reminds me a little of one of the Modern History videos, where Jason Kingsley gets a rough-and-ready practice session in making a sword as it would have been done in mediæval times.

AHA! I have been in touch with Kentaro from House of Knives; he says that Tojiro only sell certain of their product ranges and items to the Australian market, so while I can buy the carving knife and fork from House of Knives, I must look to an overseas seller for the block.

I've found a Finnish company who have the block in stock, and they ship to Australia.

(A few minutes later... DONE.)