Author Topic: Damascus Steel Knife  (Read 1088 times)

Wolfpack Mustachian

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1866
Damascus Steel Knife
« on: June 14, 2022, 07:11:40 PM »
I'm considering getting a Damascus knife (or set of knives) for the kitchen and was wondering if anyone had experience with that type to see if they're really a higher-quality knife.

Thanks!

nereo

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 17497
  • Location: Just south of Canada
    • Here's how you can support science today:
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2022, 07:21:25 PM »
They are very pretty, and I love mine. 

But “are they really a higher quality knife”… that’s not as straightforward.  First, there are dozens of knifemakers that produce a Damascus-style knife, and these range in quality from decent to exceptional.  It’s more costly to produce, so they are all better than the cheapest mass-produced junk (I’ve never seen a ‘below average’ version), but there are many quality knives which can hold their edge (pun intended) to even the best Damascus knives.  Some of those won’t cost you a ton to own.  And of course there’s personal preference in terms of knife edge, hardness, handle, weight, length, etc that are specific to the cook.

Ultimately, once you have a decent knife what matters is how you care for it.  If you know how to sharpen, hone your edge and don’t do bone-headed things then most of the “non-junk” knives can be great, Damascus or not.

Wolfpack Mustachian

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1866
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2022, 09:51:13 PM »
Thanks for the information. They are very pretty, as you say. I was not aware of the variation in quality. I'd like to get a good set of knives, and I was hoping to get some since I liked the look if they were good quality. Sounds like I'll need to research the particular ones I'm looking at rather than the "brand name."

chemistk

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1739
  • Location: Mid-Atlantic
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2022, 07:52:47 AM »
I wouldn't worry about getting a 'set' - get individual knives that align with your cooking style and are well-made. Our knife block has 3 different brands of knife in it, and because of where we are in life I only ever need to use 3 knives - a chef's knife, paring knife, and bread knife. I have a sharpener, honing tool, and whetstone for maintaining them. The chef's and paring are Wusthof - I use them so much that the cost was acceptable - I value the weight and ergonomics as well as how long the cutting edge stays sharp.

Raenia

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2628
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2022, 08:34:26 AM »
I wouldn't worry about getting a 'set' - get individual knives that align with your cooking style and are well-made. Our knife block has 3 different brands of knife in it, and because of where we are in life I only ever need to use 3 knives - a chef's knife, paring knife, and bread knife. I have a sharpener, honing tool, and whetstone for maintaining them. The chef's and paring are Wusthof - I use them so much that the cost was acceptable - I value the weight and ergonomics as well as how long the cutting edge stays sharp.

Agree 100%, no need to get a matching set, just get individual knives that meet your needs.

I have a few ceramic Kyocera knives (two paring knives and a small santoku), a chef's knife and bread knife from Tojiro, and a nakiri that my DH made from a knife blank.  The nakiri is easily my favorite, because the weight and handle shape are exactly designed for me, even if the steel isn't as good quality as the Tojiros.  All are kept in good shape with a honing steel, and a special sharpener for the ceramic blades.

JLee

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7512
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2022, 08:52:22 AM »
FWIW I really love my Victorinox chef's knife - it fits my hand well and I like the blade height.  I have a Tojiro chef's knife which is also lovely, but the blade isn't quite as deep and I don't like the way it feels as much, even though it's objectively a much nicer knife.

I also have a variety of brands - Victorinox chef's, utility, bread, and paring knives, then the Tojiro chef's knife and a Santoku from the local restaurant supply store (that was like $8 and is great).  I'd focus on what you use the most and buy the one-of's that you like the most.

Having a cheap / decent workhorse chef's knife has been really nice - I can run it through an automatic sharpener and not care if it's perfect / worst case if I ruin the blade in 3 years (which I haven't yet), I'm like $30 away from replacing it.

Rob_bob

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 404
  • Location: Oregon
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2022, 10:41:26 AM »
Like anything else it depends on the quality of the steel.  Damascus is basically a manufacturing process not a type of steel.  A Damascus blade is made up of many layers of thin steel welded together.  When the blade is ground you see the various layers.

Wolfpack Mustachian

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1866
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2022, 02:03:40 PM »
I wouldn't worry about getting a 'set' - get individual knives that align with your cooking style and are well-made. Our knife block has 3 different brands of knife in it, and because of where we are in life I only ever need to use 3 knives - a chef's knife, paring knife, and bread knife. I have a sharpener, honing tool, and whetstone for maintaining them. The chef's and paring are Wusthof - I use them so much that the cost was acceptable - I value the weight and ergonomics as well as how long the cutting edge stays sharp.

That is great advice on not getting a set.

Thanks to all for the general knife advice! I also know but am learning more here about how before I get anything remotely expensive I need to dig into how to properly care for a knife as I've only had cheap ones in the past.

Ecky

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 342
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2022, 08:20:52 AM »
FWIW I really love my Victorinox chef's knife - it fits my hand well and I like the blade height.  I have a Tojiro chef's knife which is also lovely, but the blade isn't quite as deep and I don't like the way it feels as much, even though it's objectively a much nicer knife.

I also have a variety of brands - Victorinox chef's, utility, bread, and paring knives, then the Tojiro chef's knife and a Santoku from the local restaurant supply store (that was like $8 and is great).  I'd focus on what you use the most and buy the one-of's that you like the most.

Having a cheap / decent workhorse chef's knife has been really nice - I can run it through an automatic sharpener and not care if it's perfect / worst case if I ruin the blade in 3 years (which I haven't yet), I'm like $30 away from replacing it.

I have a few Victrinox knives myself. They're not expensive, and they're not even that much to look at, but they're good steel. There are knives with harder steel, but they chip easier and are harder to sharpen back to a good edge.

JLee

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7512
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2022, 08:46:02 AM »
FWIW I really love my Victorinox chef's knife - it fits my hand well and I like the blade height.  I have a Tojiro chef's knife which is also lovely, but the blade isn't quite as deep and I don't like the way it feels as much, even though it's objectively a much nicer knife.

I also have a variety of brands - Victorinox chef's, utility, bread, and paring knives, then the Tojiro chef's knife and a Santoku from the local restaurant supply store (that was like $8 and is great).  I'd focus on what you use the most and buy the one-of's that you like the most.

Having a cheap / decent workhorse chef's knife has been really nice - I can run it through an automatic sharpener and not care if it's perfect / worst case if I ruin the blade in 3 years (which I haven't yet), I'm like $30 away from replacing it.

I have a few Victrinox knives myself. They're not expensive, and they're not even that much to look at, but they're good steel. There are knives with harder steel, but they chip easier and are harder to sharpen back to a good edge.

I originally bought mine to use as my camping kitchen set and they ended up taking over as my primary kitchen knives, lol. I really like them.

lemanfan

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1271
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2022, 09:20:00 AM »
I've also fallen into the pit of high-quality kitchen knives, preferably of the Japanese tradition.  Fun fun, but perhaps not mustachian.  Free-hand sharpening is now a hobby of mine.  :)

The better, harder, thinner Japanese-style knives really do make a difference in my opinion.  They can get incredibly sharp, but also tend to be a bit more fragile (i.e. no cutting in bone, kernels or frozen stuff).  I also like that they are often made by small-scale makers or named individuals, not an anonymous factory. The Damascus cladding is more of a appearance enhancer, it'd doesn't really affect the cutting performance.

There are stuff in all price ranges, but I also want to point out that there are quite a bit of stuff being imported that looks nicer than it is.  This Reddit thread is an overview of some crappy stuff that is often advertised on Facebook and the like:

https://www.reddit.com/r/chefknives/comments/rr6ekq/the_pakistani_damascus_and_chinese_vg10_an/

If you can overlook the esthetics and just want decent price/performance, the Victorinox stuff seems very nice in the more Western tradition.  Usually a bit thicker blades and a bit softer steel.  I am personally convinced that the IKEA stuff from their 365+ series is also very good for the price - especially if you thin them out a bit behind the edge.  I use these for the stuff where I don't want to risk chipping my good knives.

Another fun way to go is the chinese "vegetable cleaver", often called "Cai Dao" (depending on which region in China you happen to stumble upon).  If you live near a decent Chinatown you can probably get something that can be made to cut very good for low prices ($20-$50) but they almost always do require a decent thinning and sharpening session before they shine.

I'd also be happy to throw in some concrete recommendations if you give me a budget to work with.  But... then I might get facepunched for knowing about this expensive stuff.

uniwelder

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1697
  • Age: 44
  • Location: Appalachian Virginia
Re: Damascus Steel Knife
« Reply #11 on: June 16, 2022, 12:38:57 PM »
Like anything else it depends on the quality of the steel.  Damascus is basically a manufacturing process not a type of steel.  A Damascus blade is made up of many layers of thin steel welded together.  When the blade is ground you see the various layers.

+1. Buy Damascus for the aesthetics, not for superior cutting edge quality. You have no idea which thin layer made it to the.001” very center of the blade which has the edge.