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Serious Heat: Roasting Chiles the Alton Brown Way
Um ... what do you do if you don't have a gas stove? Our electric range has a glass top with the burners underneath.
Mark Bittman's Savory Oatmeal with Scallions and Soy Sauce
My wife, who is Greek, likes oatmeal made with milk and feta cheese. Once you get past that, this isn't so far out.
Cheese-Filled Bacon Roll, Too Much of a Good Thing?
Man! Look at that... and you people complain about Paula Deen...
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
One thing I don't get about these knives. The blade is painted, except for the actual cutting edge. Doesn't the paint eventually flake off into your food?
Serious Heat: Roasting Chiles the Alton Brown Way
Um ... what do you do if you don't have a gas stove? Our electric range has a glass top with the burners underneath.
Mark Bittman's Savory Oatmeal with Scallions and Soy Sauce
My wife, who is Greek, likes oatmeal made with milk and feta cheese. Once you get past that, this isn't so far out.
Cheese-Filled Bacon Roll, Too Much of a Good Thing?
Man! Look at that... and you people complain about Paula Deen...
Dinner Tonight: Pork Chop with Modern Soubise
One ounce butter?? Is that by weight or by volume?
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
If you don't own a bread knife, a good steak knife works great for cutting bread!
Mark Bittman's Savory Oatmeal with Scallions and Soy Sauce
I just found this Blog. Great ideas. I would skip the meats, bacon, regular sour cream, etc. since I am trying to lower my cholesterol. Thanks.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
@Truffels: I agree with you up to a point. I have a very nice Henckels set, along with a couple of Wusthofs. However, they were all horrendously expensive! Not everyone is willing (or able) to shell out a substantial sum for cutlery. Inexpensive knives, and by inexpensive I mean less than $50, are attractive to wide range of people simply because of that factor.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I don't like gadgets that are too kitschy. I have a collection of Wusthof Trident knives that work well. Knives for professional use are best forged in one piece from bar to steel, with blade, bolster and tang individually shaped in a series of processes to produce a well-balanced tool.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
Do they pass the ultimate test ? Will they take off a clean slice of your finger tip a 1/16" thick and not realize it ? Or do they, like all serrated blades deliver a painful sawing ? I did a really good one not too ling ago, it hurts to recall it. Gross subject, Yes ? But it happens to all and I use serrated blades for bread and tomatos primarily. I just don't like the sawing through food as compared to a sharp smooth blades clean slice !
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I found a pink Santoku knife at my Target for $6.19! Going back today to find the Chef's for the same price.
They are incredibly sharp that I already nicked my finger. Yea me!
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
@runningwithscissors: i have a bread knife that i bought at a kitchen store in NYC for twelve bucks. it works perfectly. if you buy unsliced bread, it's indispensible, and inexpensive ones are fine.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I found a couple of ceramic knives at Harbor Freight Tools. A 6" "chef" knife at $20.00 and a 4" paring knife for $15.00. They may be available on line as well.
I don't think even my Henkels out of the box could cut a ripe tomato as thinly as these. Since they are ceramic, you can't do the Jacques Pepin puree garlic trick, and the paring knife does not have a sharp point, but otherwise they are incredible.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I have an irrational fear of those adorable little colored knives. Even though I know that they are SHARP, their colored blades make them seem like benign children's toys. I haven't bought one becuase I am convinced that I would quickly lose a finger if I did.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I bought a set of the Komachi knives at Costco and I've had them for about 5-6 months. They still work just as beautifully as they did the first day. I have 3 different paring knives, a chefs knife, a bread knife, and a santoku knife. These are the best knives I've ever used (so far, haha).
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
Psst...bread knives make great tomato knives too.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
when I read this I was intrigued enough to look into buying one but whilst they are only $10 in the US they are £30 in the UK (about $50) so im going to do a little searching first see if I cant find it cheaper somewhere else
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
runningwithscissors -- I have every intention of including more pretty gadgets in my existing column! I'm glad to see there's mutual interest :)
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
"I'd love to urge you to reconsider your stance--there is such thing as an aesthetically designed kitchen gadget that lives up to cooks' standards!"
Nikki, I'd actually really like to see a series on this!
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I have one of these and i love it. And I got it at TJ Maxx for $4.99
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
The bread and chef's knives are $9.95 right now at Amazon. I pre-ordered a the bread knife and a paring knife ($7.99). I have a lot of really good knives, but they're pretty and I'm a sucker for pretty.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I enjoy using my friend's knife when I cook over at her house, and am considering purchasing one for myself. Bread knives, in general, are fantastic, as they can be used for much more than just bread. I use mine for hard sausage as well.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
to answer some questions:
like blogkitten said, the color isn't paint--it's a non-stick coating. And the colors are meant to help distinguish the knives from one another (like color-coded cutting boards would).
according to the knife experts that I consulted, these can be sharpened with any normal sharpener or steel, so no worries there.
moibec--are you sure what you had was by this brand? other companies make colored knives but these are a little different. I'd love to urge you to reconsider your stance--there is such thing as an aesthetically designed kitchen gadget that lives up to cooks' standards!
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I have that bread knife (same color!) and i've used it every day for two years in a restaurant kitchen without any problem ever. Great knife. My old sous chef used the same model to trim the base of his xmas tree years ago and still uses for food to this day.
I wouldn't use a PK chef's knife, though, too lightweight.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I have one of these and I love it! I have wrist problems, so I appreciate that it's lightweight and the easy grip handle is fantastic. Makes cutting butternut squash something I can actually handle without pain again.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I DID have one of the "painted" knives - a paring knife - and the paint HAS chipped and I HAVE chucked it. Had no idea where the paint chips fell off into, but it made me mad that I'd fallen for the cheery brightness before thinking it through. Lesson learned. Color is for decorators, not for serious cooks. Knife blades don't need to be coated with any substance that's gonna be short-lived and of questionable safety.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
I have the Santoku knife and the bread knife. The Santoku I've had for a year and a half. No paint chipping, and it still chops and slices really well. The only mildly annoying thing I noticed is that the painted part gets a bit stained after awhile, since the knife is light lavender. I did wonder about sharpening though.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
Hmmm I bought a red PK chef's knife to take away this holiday. Catering for 18 needed some decent kit, but baggge space was limited and the Henckels just weren't going to make the trip. So in went a few Opinels and a PK
Like you, at first I found handling very different but easy to adapt to, the knives sharp and adaptable to any task. But within a couple of weeks whilst the Opinels bore up, the PK blunted badly, and didn't easily sharpen up leading to at least on nasty cut. By the end of three weeks the PK went from being used for everything to being left in the draw.
They do look nice though.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
From the Apartment Therapy (http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/cutlery/colorful-knives-pure-komachi-2-knife-set-091626) article about the knives:
"They looked like gimmicky knives to us at first (where's the steel?) but it turns out the color is from bonding FDA approved resin to high carbon stainless steel blades. So basically these knives have a nonstick coating."
I'd be more concerned about the ability to resharpen the knives w/o losing the aesthetic feel to the knives.
Gadgets: Pure Komachi 2 Knives
@runningw/scis: My second knilfe would also be a paring knife, but a bread knife is indispensible to me; I would need all these three in a single purchase, and then I think I'd be fine...Should I find myself wanting to fill in my knife block, my fourth purchase would be a filet knife with a nice, bandy blade...
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One thing I don't get about these knives. The blade is painted, except for the actual cutting edge. Doesn't the paint eventually flake off into your food?