While not kitchen gadgets per say, they do belong in the kitchen. And I love them. Immensely.
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My old knives, as well as the
greatest peeler ever. |
This is a love that has been 5 years in the making. I went to Calgary with a friend to shop 5 years ago and we found these knives. They are amazing. They are Damascus steel, strong and beautiful, made with a hard wood handle. They felt amazing in our hands, and were beyond sharp. The only problem? They were ridiculously expensive! They were completely out for me for that reason, but that did not stop me from dreaming of them, talking about them, researching them, planning to one day buy the first and slowly build up my collection. My friend received a knife here and there over the years, she now has 4 beautiful Shun Classics. I on the other hand have had the same
2 knives for the past 5 years. Don't get me wrong. They have served their purpose, and I actually really like them a lot. They have been honed once and sharpened once over the past 5 years (yes, honed and sharpened once, on the same day in 5 years). About a year ago I was about ready to throw them out a window and my dad offered to take them home and sharpen them, leaving his Henckel Twin Signature santoku and pairing knives in their place. They were amazing in comparison. I didn't want to give them back. I looked online and found a really good deal on a Twin Signature knife set. I was all ready to buy it but just couldn't go through with it. Knives were switched back, returned to their homes and I forced myself to be happy with what I had. In all honesty it wasn't hard, once sharpened they were returned to their former glory and they once again served their purpose well. I actually didn't have much room to complain about them. So I put new knives on the back burner, and continued on with mine. Slowly I started researching and hunting for deals for the Henckels. I would put them in a shopping cart and take them out. Look at them online, in stores. But I couldn't commit.
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My bread knife was left behind
by a crazy roomie |
Over the last few weeks I've renewed my passion for the kitchen. I don't know what happened but I just love cooking again. One day I was cutting a piece of thawed chicken breast and decided the madness must stop! The knives are in desperate need for sharpening again. Now here is where my logic was a little skewed. I figured I couldn't live without my knives for a day or two, because I was eating healthy, cooking daily, cutting veggies and chicken. There was no way I could make do without my santoku. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to do the exact same thing as before. They have a chef's knife AND a santoku. They could have made it a day or two without one or the other (personally chef's knives look too daunting for me and I would prefer not to use one). So I decided it was time to actually buy a knife. I promise my intention was to just buy the Henckel Twin Signature set. I went to Amazon, I found the set that I had almost bought before, only to discover that it was a whole $20 more than before. Instantly turned off I let my attentions wander and I discovered
Amazons Warehouse deals. I was fascinated. How did I not know of this before? I looked through everything in the kitchen section. Everything. I discovered a set of Shun's that were an 'internet special'. It included a 7 1/2" hollow Santoku (which was the knife I was going to buy first), a weird looking pairing knife (not the exact pairing knife I wanted, but it would be fine) and a bizarre looking 'utility' knife. I'm pretty sure utility knife is code for "a knife you don't actually need, doesn't serve a specific function, waste of money" but the price couldn't be argued. If I were to buy each knife separatly it would have easily come to around $400, but they were only $299 as the internet special. Even better? The warehouse had them used-like new condition. Which to me was code for, some idiot bought them, sent them back without the original packaging, so they had to be resold at almost half the $299. (idiot because they returned them. WHY?? Its a SHUN!!). Decision made. Into the cart they went, out went the Henckels. I would buy three knives first for less than $50 more than what the essential santoku would have cost me alone. I was well on my way to making my collection. All I needed was a honing steel and a bread knife,
but I would buy those later. Then I noticed the honing steel in the warehouse deals. Into the cart it went as well. Now all that was left was the bread knife. I casually clicked my way over to it. It was full price. Do I leave it and buy it later?
Yes. I would. I could live without it another few months. My little sister on mat leave is in spending withdrawals. Normally she tells me I don't need to spend so much money, but I've noticed she kinda does the opposite lately. I mistakenly asked her opinion and she told me to go for it. I laughed, called her on it, got a sorta confession, but decided to do it anyways. So instead of paying $20 extra for the 11 piece Henckel set, I ended up paying $110 more for the 5 Shun's. All in all, I'm happy I did it. What is the point of a knife set? Tons of knives that you won't actually use. I knew originally all I needed was the santoku and paring knife. It was what I had survived on for years, a bread knife was a perk, a bonus, a desire. The utility knife? I have no idea what I will do with it. I read its good for bagels and tomatoes, and is a dream for sandwiches. Awesome. Don't eat bagels, and do not really care for sandwiches. But the tomatoes? I will slice those bad boys into oblivion. My necessities are complete. I don't NEED any more knives. But, to be honest, I do like the look of the birds beak pairing knife, as well as the small vegetable knife. Maybe next year.
I had them sent to the border storage, as they would not ship to Canada. If I had patience I could have sent them to my sister in the states, but I didn't have patience. My little sister and I went to pick them up only to discover my stupid debit card would not work at the ATM in the store. So we went to Shelby to an actual bank ATM and I got money out. My sister wanted butter (yup, butter) so we stopped at the grocery store and she bought butter. We then grabbed my knives and I prepared myself to have to pay $60-80 in duty. The border guard asked us how long we were gone for (few hours), where we went (Shelby), why (to which I answered "Oh, we also picked up a package from the border storage, but we went to pick up butter in Shelby"). The package was not what interested him. Butter? You bought butter? How much? ($15). He then proceeded to tell us that you were only allowed to bring $20 of dairy across the border, then you are charge 237%. That is not a typo. We were stunned. We laughed. He gave us our passports, said have a nice day and sent us on our way. We were asked 4 questions. The package was not one of them. I escaped duty honestly! Trip success!
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Terrible! No way to treat
knives! |
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Their temporary home. Sad |
The knives are amazing. I am in love with them. Everything is butter! Everything! They glide through the potatoes. They slice the peppers with ease. I am astonished. I can honestly say as soon as I had these bad boys in my house, all buyers remorse was gone. My friend told me her Shun Code. No one besides her and her husband can use them. They must be immediately wash, dried and put safely away into her Kaboosh Knife Block. I have adapted that code, however with a slight modification as I have no storage solution. I'm ashamed to admit that I have abused my knives in the past. I let them sit dirty, I let them soak in water (that's why the paring knife's handle is discoloured), and I just tossed all my knives together in a drawer all these years. Terrible. But the Shun's will not suffer that same fate. Currently they are lined up on my counter on a paper towel. I went to Calgary to search for a block I liked. Nothing. I looked online, nothing under $100 I liked. I considered a magnetic bar, but I'm not in love with the idea. Eventually I decided on a magnetic wooden knife block. The blades will be on display, which is perfect as the blades are unique and worth displaying. I can see what knife is where and not have to hunt through the stupid block to find the one I want. I hate blocks because you don't know what is in those holes, bleh. Problem solved! This time I did send to my sister's place, but luckily I go next week!
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Can not wait |
update! I got my block! I love my block!