Zwilling J.A. Henckels Gourmet 6.5" Nakiri Knife Expired

There are a few topics on SlickDeals where suddenly EVERYONE is an expert. These topics include watches, health effects of coconut oil, garden hoses, and of course knives.

The world of knives is full of misconceptions so let's clear a couple up. Before we get too far in, if these words stop making sense, just skip all the talk and buy a stamped knife. If you are a knife nerd, read on and see why a good stamped knife like this one is also the best choice.

The first issue is stamped vs forged. Forged knives start as a bar of metal that is hammered or cast into the knife shape. Compare that to a stamped blade which starts out as a sheet of steel from which the shape of the knife is stamped out by a machine. The forging process gives a greater variety of thickness to the blade, which is nice if you want a bolster or a thick blade. However bolsters get in the way and a thick knife is only useful if you are doing a lot of heavy work like processing many animal carcasses. This is the first mistake people make: thin knives cut much more easily. Cutting isn't just about sharpness, it is about moving the entire blade through the food. If you have a thick blade, you have to move the food more. To be an efficient knife user, pick the thinnest blade that works. That usually is a stamped blade.

The second issue is sharpness. People talk a LOT about hardness and sharpness. However few people actually sharpen their knives. If you don't sharpen your knives a couple times a year, then all this hardness talk means nothing because you are using dull knives. Harder steel stays sharper a little longer, but not much. It is also harder to sharpen. Its not as big a difference as people make it out to be. I prefer to use softer steel because it is easy to sharpen and it never chips. Hard steel chips and you have to remove a LOT of steel to fix a chip. Hard steel is very overrated. Stamped blades are heat treated just like forged blades to harden them. One isn't necessarily softer than the other.

Third issue is price. It is cheaper to make a cheap stamped steel knife. There are more cheap stamped steel knives, which makes people think they are inferior. However there are plenty of good stamped knives that outperform forged knives, depending on what you are looking for.

Hopefully these three points make it clear that stamped knives can be as good as and are often superior to forged knives, especially when price is included. If you want a knife that sharpens easily, holds an edge almost as long as a hard steel knife, will not chip, is lightweight and handles quickly, and is reasonably priced, this knife is awesome, as is the Victorinox chef knife about about the same price. If you want expensive kitchen jewelry, get a fancy knife. Whatever you do, learn how to sharpen a knife before buying a nice knife. A sharp cheap knife is better than any fancy knife if that knife is dull.

Yeah, I bet you wish you had a nakiri though.

Stamped knives tend to chip LESS often. Your new damascus Shun is extremely prone to chipping. My friends own Shuns. All of them have chips. They send them away for free sharpening and lots of steel is removed to fix the chips. Not only is the knife 3x the cost, it doesn't last as long due to the chipping.