Something like this is all you need.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Soft-Arkansa...item53f8081875

I use one knife almost exclusively these days, and that's a KOBE steel knife, made in Japan. I haven't really had it very long, about a month & a half now, but it just does everything perfectly. The blade's edge is a lot wider than most, and has some weird-looking lines in it, kinda like Damascus steel, but not quite the same. It's not serrated, but the sloping part kinda looks like it is.

Cool. I'll buy one and give it a go. Thanks for the link.

Well, it's another OXO unit that was one of their cheaper ones. Bed Bath and Beyond didn't carry any of the ones that people seem to really like. The one I bought was one of the few that got ok reviews, but it does have some drawbacks. I used it today and it cut sweet potatoes pretty easily. You should have seen me trying to jam sweet potatoes through the crummy one.... i'm surprised I still have fingers.

Here is the one I ended up with: https://www.kitchenaudition.com/?page_id=1499

I don't like that it is made out of white plastic, shouldn't take long to look pretty bad.


Here is the one that sucked. Did I mention that it is also a whopping 70 dollars?:

Thanks for this one, I am going to try this tonight for dinner. I have 2 vegetarians in the family and it is hard finding recipes the whole family will eat.

Very nice! I've always had trouble with cucumbers here in Fl. We used to grow them regularly up north.

Awesome, there's nothing better than a ultra-fresh fry up!

Thanks for the info! I have a cheap ceramic-bladed plastic unit that only does julienne cuts, but it flexes too much with anything more firm than a cuke, I'm going to try to avoid another plastic one.

Chuckk, that fish fry looks great!

More tomatoes: this time with basil from my herb garden & fresh mozz



the other day my aunt made these killer veggie wraps with lattice work crepes for the carb concious folks, wrapping lettuce, roasted & pickled bell peppers, goat cheese. Good stuff.

Great looking fish Chuckk. But let's see that stove! I like those too. I have a few of them. The trusty Svea 123. The thing kept me alive during back country climbs in the 70's.

Awesome pics, guys! I can smell that fish frying. Mmm.

I use one of these to sharpen and, while I have several nice knives, I admit to using this one for 90% of my cutting needs.

CrMo, the connoisseur's choice in this forum.

A $100 Norton 3 sided stone is extra nice, but overkill for the OP's $15 Kitchen Aid Santoku. The Ikea knife is a throwaway.

I made no comment on the knives and was simply stating that the Norton is the sharpening system I use. What anyone does with the info is up to them.

I almost forgot about my "sandwich" knife. It says Anolon Advanced, high carbon steel, heat treated & ice hardened. I'm pretty sure it was made by those guys in the original Conan movie. Lunch today is 2 burgers, with bacon & cheddar mixed in before cooking. I dunno, it was on sale at Safeway, & looked good. The first one was pretty decent, but I need to take a short break, before eating the 2nd.

All information is appreciated, whether or not it fits in my budget. Hopefully, taking a picture of the ikea knife shows how even the 15 dollar kitchen aid is an improvement. I figured my new knife might get a few eye rolls unless it had that context. It may not be fancy.... but in my kitchen it is.

In defense of the Ikea knife, anything nicer would have just been a waste sitting unused. Our kitchen was used like a large hallway for the past 6 years.

Nothing wrong with Ikea gear. High design, high value. I love Ikea cabinets, laminate counters, china, glassware, lighting, and anything they make in stainless steel. But man cannot live by Ikea alone! I guess that's why there's Viking, Herman Miller, DWR, Arhaus, Flos, Henckels, Bosch, etc.

Yeah. When my wife and I first moved out our apartment looked like an ikea catalog. We bought everything one year prior to moving and just had flat boxes stored waiting for our move. We still have a bunch of it, but not nearly like it was. It's fine stuff, but it's definitely nice not to be so saturated with it.

I still use mine too!

(The Svea, not the fish.)

Those look really good. I've never seen wraps like that, did she have to make them?

I just took the cloches off my 1" tall tomato plants. I figure I'll get my last tomatoes right before the snow falls.

Yes she made them, my aunt is the baker/chef in tha family. She's got a real knack for interesting food ideas.

I bought one of these, and like it. But a bit surprised when I logged onto this site to see his prices have gone up about 30 % since I bought mine.

https://edgeproinc.com

I can't remember the last time I found a classic bike at a thrift store but I did find this at Variety Village, complete, for the paltry sum of $7.99. It's probably early 60's, an electric Vesuviana. No serial number.
It's the 12 (espresso) cup model, and will make about 4 decent size caps or lattes.

It's so much better than the silly expensive Rancilio we got as a wedding gift, which burned out its boiler after 2 years.

Best. Coffee. Ever.





I even found a place to buy gaskets.

That's knives, espresso makers, any other C&V kitchen gear out there?

That is a seriously cool piece of C&V hardware!