Im Looking for the Best Sou Chef Prep Knife.

March 4, 2017 5:58 PM

Please help me find a really GREAT kitchen prep knife!

I'm on my probably 5th or 6th knife now. I've bought some medium priced knives from Williams-Sonoma and Bed Bath and Beyond...They have all sucked. I actually have a friend who is a chef he's given me some of his old knives and they suck too. No wonder since they were beat to death.

What I prep is very routine...I break down onions, bell peppers, celery and sometimes some pork or poultry.

I just need a medium weight, medium sized prep knife that doesn't need to be sharpened/honed after five meal preps.

I kind of like this one but the last Damascus steel that I tried developed notches on the blade edge.


Please share any personal experience you have! Many thanks in advance!

posted by snsranch to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Kenji would tell you this one. good resources on his page.

I've gotten a lot of use out of a ceramic santoku blade I got as part of a set at costco, of all things. It's the one I reach for first. Kyocera on Overstock, I've read good things about kyoceras. You can't torque a ceramic blade, but man, they do stay sharp.

I worked in a kitchen in college, I still miss the weekly sharpened knives, and I had my favorite (it was a seven-inch chef's).
posted by Dashy at 6:12 PM on March 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

Ha! I was going to rec the Kyocera knives too. I have a few "Nice" knives, very fancy, but the Kyocera ones are the ones I end up using the most often.
posted by Caravantea at 6:16 PM on March 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

I have a Misono knife that I love. It was pricey. I got it at a place called Korin. The front of the store was filled with crappy Japanese goods and the back had a huge wall of knives, and a few professional chefs, one still in his chef pants, drooling over them all. I would trust most any knife from there. Check out their site.

I tend not to use my knife as much as I probably should, because it cost so much and I worry about damaging it. Which may be stupid, sure. Anyways, for a daily workhorse, the Wusthof Pro gets high marks from The Sweethome as a cheap one that is still good. Should run you about 30 bucks.
posted by old_growler at 6:17 PM on March 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Hello there!

I'm a prep cook so am chopping things for like 40 hours a week. Think a least 5 gallons of onions a day, lots of herbs, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

I have this Mac knife, and am quite happy with it. I hone it regularly, but only get out my sharpening stones once every few months.

Most things by Mac are pretty well reviewed, from what I gather.

r/kitchenconfidential has a sidebar thread on knives that was pretty helpful for me when purchasing mine. Here's a pretty great comment that you might find helpful as well.
posted by Grandysaur at 6:22 PM on March 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

To clarify: I don't use this knife for deboning, hacking up chickens, etc.
posted by Grandysaur at 6:24 PM on March 4, 2017

I have a larger Shun knife than the one you link. It was a gift, and it is a great knife and easy to keep sharp. I love using it. Whether it is really worth the money compared to any of the cheaper options that get high ratings is a different story, though -- at a minimum, I'd want to look closely at the cheaper ones first. Like I said, I love the knife, but the price tag isn't trivial.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:26 PM on March 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

For Christmas I got us 8" and 10" Wüsthof Classic Ikon chef's knives. They're amazing. They're also the first knives we've owned that aren't $15, so I don't really have much to compare them to. We use them daily and keep them sharp with an EdgePro Apex 4 sharpening system. Eventually I'd like to learn to sharpen free hand, but for now this gets them ridiculously sharp.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:46 PM on March 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: There are two knives we use a lot in our kitchen, a Mac Gyuoto, and an old French "Peasant Knife" sold by Lee Valley. The Mac is a light, sharp blade that's perfect for slicing veg and fruits. The Peasant knife is heavy enough for tough veg like squash or breaking down meats.

We have a bunch of other blades that get used as well, but those are the two that we reach for if they're in the block. We've had the Kyocera ceramic knives as well, and IMO, the Mac is my choice as a replacement for that. We find they both need sharpening every three to six months or so.
posted by bonehead at 7:13 PM on March 4, 2017

I also like Mac but I had to try a few others before I got there. I have a Gyuto and a Santoku.
posted by caseyf at 7:36 PM on March 4, 2017

This depends ENTIRELY on your hand size and knife use style! Go to a proffessional store with a bunch of carrots and potatoes and chop a bunch of stuff - see what feels good in your hands!!
posted by jbenben at 8:14 PM on March 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

Kenji's recommendation is really nice. I have that knife and it very thin and razor sharp. I do hone my knife regularly but I haven't had it professionally sharpened yet. The ceramic knives do stay sharper longer but they are more fragile i.e I wouldn't use them where you might cut bone. They need to be treated gently.

In any case, a good knife is a tool just like anything else so to keep it working properly you need to treat it properly. It shouldn't spend any time in the dishwasher. You should only cut on soft surfaces like plastic and wood. You shouldn't drag the edge of the board aggressively to pick up the cut bits (use the spine of the knife or a board scraper). Store the knife somewhere such that edge isn't going to hit hard things. Hone your knife regularly. Sharpen (or have it sharpened) periodically.

Lastly, specific brand suggestions are only suggestions because if the knife doesn't feel good in your hand you won't use it so do what jbenben says.
posted by mmascolino at 8:36 PM on March 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I have the Shun knife you linked to, and am quite happy with it. I generally only use it for vegetables, and sometimes meat with no bones. I use kitchen shears to break down my chickens. It still slices through tomatoes after several uses, so it appears to hold its sharpness.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 5:36 AM on March 5, 2017

Honestly, I hone my knives before every use and sometimes in the middle of a job if I notice they're dulling a bit. Honing isn't a time consuming practice, maybe 20 seconds. It's a lot less arduous than sharpening and will maintain your blade a hell of a lot longer than if you didn't. I know you have an aversion to it, but it's an essential way to preserve your knife.
posted by Ferreous at 12:03 PM on March 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Surprised nobody has recommended the Victorinox Fibrox 8' knife, which is America's Test Kitchen's top pick. I use mine almost every day, and have no complaints. Also, every kitchen I've worked in maintains a huge stock of them. It's super inexpensive, so even if you don't end up liking it, at least you didn't waste a lot of money.
posted by General Malaise at 11:37 AM on March 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

I actually bought a second 8' Fibrox yesterday for those times when I need two knives for one meal...they're basically the perfect prep knife.
posted by Kreiger at 11:51 AM on March 6, 2017

Not the cheapest, but I'm a huge fan of the Zwilling pure Chefs knife and a simple diamond sharpener to keep it in shape.
posted by Lanark at 2:00 PM on March 7, 2017 [1 favorite]