Bernal Cutlery

Hi, Josh from Brunelcolor here. You might not be surprised to hear me tell you that knives make great gifts. There'something that for many people will get used almost every day, will last years and don'take up much space. Often people will request a specific knife or a specific style, which helps narrow it down. But when it's not so cut and dry, there's a few things that can be helpful in making a good choice. First off, we're going to need to work in generalities to start with, as it's easy to get lost in the specifics. There's a few questions that are helpful to get started. Is the person that you're getting a knife for good with knives? Are they generally methodical, detail-oriented people paying attention to what they're doing? Are they multitaskers who have busy houses with a lot going on at meal preps? Are they using Japanese knives? If you've cooked with them, do they use a knife gracefully? If not, are they a little herky-jerky with their knife? Or on the other hand, do they seem afraid of it? Typically, you don't want to give someone a knife that requires they change their habits drastically to be able to keep up with their new knife. That said, an upgrade to what they're using always makes a big difference. By and large, Japanese knives are made with harder, higher carbon steels that hold an edge longer, but have a narrow range of uses than non-Japanese knives, which tend to be less prone to damage from mild misuse. Non-Japanese knives typically are softer and therefore tougher, but faster to dull than Japanese knives. Quite often, Japanese knives cut vegetables and boneless proteins more smoothly than not in Japanese, but cannot handle small bones, hard shells, or poor technique Non-Japanese, especially Western knives, often have a wider range of applications and can do small buttery tasks For those that don't want to hear about what not to cut, Western knives might be a safer bet. Japanese knives will fall under single or double bevel geometry. Chef's knives, utility knives and slicers, are all going to be double beveled, even if they're sharpened mostly one side. Single bevel are shaped Single bevel knives tend to be single purpose as well. A yinagi for sashimi, a deba for fish butchery, or an usuba for vegetable work. Unless Chef's knives and the Japanese gyuto, or the smaller santoku, or the multi-taskers of a kit, most This is what I would consider a great desert island knife. For some users, an 8-inch chef or a 210 gyuto is the ideal geometry, just big enough to have some power, and enough blade for bigger ingredients For those that cook smaller meals, or express a preference for a smaller knife, a 6-inch chef's knife, or a santoku, is a great choice as well. Nakiri vegetable knives are awesome for vegetables with a diameter smaller than the blade, and especially vegetables and smaller bunches, think a handful of green onions. These are less ideal for proteins in that they don't have a tip. Precise Nakiri can be a great accompaniment to a tougher Western chef's knife though. For those that already have a knife, chef's knife, the second most important knife is a utility or a petty knife. This has more maneuverability than the larger and wider knives, and has a lot of uses. It can be a central knife for a lot of smaller meal preps. A petty knife differs from a paring knife in that a paring knife can be more ideal for in-hand peeling, and a petty is great for on a board, so mincing a shallot, cutting fruit, etc. A petty knife is less ideal for in-hand work as their heel protrudes a bit, and that can poke your palm. Slicers for proteins, bread knives, especially butchery knives, those are also great for those that already have a lot of good knives and love to cook, but are secondary to the knives at the core of a kit. All double beveled Japanese and non-Japanese knives can have their edges prolonged with a sharpening steel or ceramic rod. Harder steels benefit from ceramic as it's harder than the metallic sharpening steels, but many higher quality steels work well on double beveled Japanese knives that aren'too terribly hard. Stones are going to be ideal for re-sharpening, but that's another video. Finally, carbon vs. stainless steel. This could be a long discussion, especially getting the weeds of different sharpening options for the Japanese carbon steels, but by and large Julia Child's advice to get carbon steel as it holds an edge longer and is easier to sharpen still kind of applies. Still though, stainless alloying has greatly improved since you gave that advice in the 1960s. That said, carbon steel is more work than stainless. It isn't for everyone. If you're gifty, is the prep, cook, eat, clean up in the morning type of person, carbon steel maybe isn't a good choice. If they're the type to expect white sneakers to stay white, carbon steel isn't a good choice. If they already cook with cast iron or they express an interest in sharpening with stones, then maybe it's time to bring a carbon steel knife into their life. There's all sorts of price levels of Japanese knives. At the lower price points, Japanese carbon steel can be a really good bang for the buck. Lastly, you don't have to buy a knife from us. We do appreciate it if you do. Whoever you do buy it from should know what they're selling. They're getting scammed with deceptively labeled knives. If it says German steel or Japanese steel, quite often they are not made in Germany or Japan and are of low quality. This isn'the case with Swedish steel somehow. This is not yet hyped by scammers. Typically knives and knife sets marked at deep discounts online are not what they seem. A $1,700 knife set discounted to $300 was not really a $1,700 knife set. Many of these brands are always on sale and are cheaply made and you are not getting a deal. If the n It's If you buy from someone who specializes in knives, understands what's a good choice for different users and can help you follow up with the care of the knife, that's great. Lastly, if they tell you that the knife is dishwasher safe, run away. There is no such thing unless it's made of plastic. An exchange policy is very important for the seller as well as for your giftees. They can pick out a different one if it's needed. Understand that a lot of operations can offer cash refunds. They actually spend time with people, stock a selection of knives and those are expensive propositions. So, anyhow, thanks again. Feel free to stop by our San Francisco shop or shoot us an email to help you find the best knife for your giftee or yourself. All right, thanks again.