Let me preface this article by saying that I am going to be generalizing A LOT here. Not all models of Japanese knife are the same, nor are all European knives.
What is a Chefs Knife or French Knife?
A chefs knife is probably the most useful piece of kitchen equipment next to a frying pan. This style of knife generally ranges from 6 to 10 inches with the most common length being 8 inches in length. Blades may be straight or curved, thick or thin, but generally there are two distinct styles of chefs knives with different blade styles and construction techniques. Inside each of these classes there are also differences between brands and models when it comes to construction, metal quality, and balance.
Construction
Japanese knives are often made with additives like vanadium and molybdenum, making the blade harder and more stain resistant depending on the alloy. German knives will generally be a high carbon stainless steel, which is a little softer than the Japanese alloys. Oftentimes, a harder blade is more prone to cracking or shattering. In a working kitchen, it isn’t uncommon to hear a story about how someone’s Global hit the floor and broke in two, or the tip broke off.
You’ll see a lot of terms thrown around when it comes to knife construction. Things are added to steel that resist tarnish, add hardness, etc.
High carbon steel is just steel with more carbon added. Carbon hardens iron, making steel, and more of it makes harder steel. Harder means more brittle, and more difficult to sharpen, but it means the blades won’t bend/roll as easily.
Stainless steel is steel with chromium added, making it more resistant to tarnish and rust. You’ll see manufactorers boast about chromium alloys – that just means their knives are stainless steel, just like your cutlery.
Molybdenum increases the hardness of steel and reduces the brittleness of high carbon steel knives. Like molybdenum, nickel, vanadium and manganese are other metals that increase hardness. Tungsten aids in durability by reducing brittleness and wear.
There’s no reason to feel uncomfortable around these terms. They’re mentioned by manuactorers as buzz words, and virtually all professional quality knives use one or more of these metals to improve their steel.
Maintenance
Japanese style knives really don’t need to be honed like German knives do. Honing the knife on a standard steel is done to straighten the blade, not sharpen it. Japanese blades are harder, and do not roll as easily as softer German blades which need straightening. This also means that it is a lot harder to sharpen a Japenese blade compared to a German one. It also means that you have to be more consistant in your angle when running the blade on a stone, or you’ll never get a good edge on your Japanese knife since you have to be able to keep that 90/10 or 70/30 proportion.
Blade Styles
Japanese style knives tend to have thinner blades, and are sharpened with a different edge called the 90/10 (or 70/30) meaning 90% of the edge is on one side of the blade, and 10% on the other. The thinner blade means that there is less metal used in the construction of the knife, thus making the knife lighter. This can be a positive or a negative depending on how you’re going to be using the knife.
A heavier, sharp German blade will in all likelyhood glide through a tomato or bell pepper when it falls. The German blades are usually sharpened to a 50/50 edge, which helps prevent them from rolling as easily as they would if sharpened with a steeper angle on one sid
The Bolster
The bolster is where the handle of the knife joins the blade. A bolster adds weight to a knife which acts as a counterbalance, and gives the knuckles a place to rest. The bolster may be full, meaning down to the edge of the blade, or shorter giving you full access to sharpen the entire blade. A bolster, especially on German, 8 inch or larger knives, adds much needed balance to the blade. On shorter or Japanese thinner bladed knives, it isn’t really necessary, however Japanese knives tend to be slightly off balance, always wanting to fall tip down.
Tang
Not the beverage. The tang is the extension of the blade into the handle. It provides strength and balance to the knife. The Henckles knife pictured below has the metal of the blade extending all the way to the back of the handle. This is known as a full tang. The Victorinox has a rat tail tang (I believe). A rat tail tang is a thinner tang extending from the blade into the handle.
The Global knife pictured below has no tang, but not in the same way cheaper knives do. The Global is made from one piece of steel, and could be considered a full tang in a way.
An Overview of the Knives
Henckels Professional S 10″ Chefs Knife
Henckels Professional S 10 Inch Chefs Knife
Big and heavy, this is my latest knife acquisition. The metal may not be as hard as some Japanese knives, but I haven’t had any problems with it rolling yet, and I’ve been pretty brutal with it. I also don’t hone it very often, and it cuts incredibly well.
Victorinox / Forschner 9 inch Chefs Knife
Victorinox 9 Inch Chefs Knife
This knife is made of butter-soft stainless steel. It rolls like nothing else, but you can essentially sharpen it on a regular steel. Plus, they retail for about $30. The Victorinox knives are extremely easy to sharpen on a stone, and can get very sharp, they just won’t hold that edge for a long time. I keep this one for home use, and I like the non slip plastic handle. Take special note of the dents in the blade.
Global G-2 8 Inch Chefs Knife
This Global model, and all of their other chefs knives I believe, have a problem where they are quite sharp on the top near the handle. After a few hours, your index finger will be aching because of the sharp metal digging under your knuckle. It’ll help you develop a killer knife callus though.
The Global knives are hardened to 56-58 Rockwell and constructed using molybdenum/vanadium stainless steel.
Because of the handle sharpness, this knife lives at home as well. I love it for 15-30 minute cutting jobs, but it hurts too much to use for 4-8 hours inspite of my formidable knife callus.
MAC MBK-85 8.5" Chefs Knife
All of MAC’s knives are hardened to 57-61 degrees Rockwell and are chromium/molybdenum/vanadium – that is to say, hard and shiny. I find it quite light, and it has an ergonomic resin impregnated wooden European style handle. The handle is a little short for me, though. Kind of a pain in the ass to sharpen, but it holds an edge well with only minor chipping.
This is my favorite knife, and my go-to for working with fish, cutting veg, and I’ve even used it to carve a few barons of beef when in a pinch.
