# Do you have beater knife/s ?



## Dxtreme (Mar 31, 2019)

Do you guys use beater knife for those menial tasks? I still have a block of my old Ginsu Chikara (best affordable consumer report 2004 set !!) that I still use to cut up vegetables scrapes for the compost bin.


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## Noodle Soup (Mar 31, 2019)

Victorinox 10-inch chef. My beater and my wife's favorite knife.


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## Bcos17 (Mar 31, 2019)

Had a few that I sold off on eBay, kept a 7 inch Zwilling pro Chef's knife as my beater knife. Its good for smashing things and the smaller size works well for my girlfriend when she needs to use a knife.


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## K813zra (Mar 31, 2019)

I guess I'd have to call my Fujiwara FKH my beater. So yeah, I still use my beater. It along with my KS are my most used knives and they compliment one another due to the extreme size differences. Though I do have a K-sab on order to play with. (Yeah, I work backwards.)


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## Walla (Mar 31, 2019)

I've have a very dependable friend...a 10 inch stainless Sabatier...when service starts expensive japanese knives go away....I've seen too many horrible things happen...

My Sabatier has stood the test of time...it's earned its place...it's always there... always ready...15 years of rough restaurant work... Lobsters by the hundreds ...it's hit the floor a couple of times... nothing a very short time on the stones couldn't set right...

Does it cut the way some of my j knives do...no...of course not...does it cut well...you better believe it does...

After years of restaurant kitchen work...I firmly believe you need both...high performance (high maintenance) race cars and something more dependable and utilitarian...

Take care


Jeff


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## CoteRotie (Mar 31, 2019)

A 20cm Wusthof Grand Prix chef's knife. It's the only knife my wife will touch. 

It has a wicked dent in it from the time years ago when I brought it up to the ski cabin and someone took a hammer and center punch to it. (Otherwise I have no idea how it could have happened.) 

Took forever to fix the edge on a coarse stone, but it works fine now.


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## Migraine (Mar 31, 2019)

Tojiro DP gyuto - was my first foray into J-knives and messed about thinning it a bit and stuff. Actually cuts really well with an edge on from the JNS1000. Girlfriend uses that + a little Konosuke GS+ petty; I use the Tojiro as a beater but not the Konosuke.


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## Dxtreme (Mar 31, 2019)

Walla said:


> I firmly believe you need both...high performance (high maintenance) race cars and something more dependable and utilitarian...
> Jeff



Very wise words indeed.


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## Paraffin (Mar 31, 2019)

The only beater in the drawer of knives in daily rotation is an old Wusthof paring knife. Easy to sharpen frequently, which is a good thing because it gets used sometimes for opening packages or other abuse. "Paring" knives lead hard lives. 

Everything else my wife and I use for cooking are medium to high-end Japanese knives. They're great, why not use 'em all? I haven't succumbed (yet) to collector mania, where I have other nice knives that are out of regular rotation.

We do have an entire category of beater knives as "guest knives." When we have relatives visiting who will want to do some of their own cooking, I put out a knife holder block on the island. It has another old Wusthof parer, an old Wusthof 6" utility knife, an old Henckels Santoku, and an old Henckels bread knife. Basically, our old knives before we got into the nice Japanese stuff. 

These wouldn't qualify as "beaters" when they were new, not like a Costco knife or something. But some of them are 20+ years old, scratched up, sharpened and thinned enough to be functional but with fairly wide bevels. Compared to what's in the good knife drawer, they're beaters. Guests are welcome to use them, I don't freak out if they're left in the metal sink or put in the dishwasher. Guests are asked not to touch the knives with the weird handles in the knife drawer, because they're expensive, dangerous, and will rust if you look at them sideways (an exaggeration except for the expensive part, but it works).


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## JustinP (Mar 31, 2019)

Yeap, my trusty old Vic/Forschner 8 inch chef knife. It's 20+ years old.


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## Dxtreme (Mar 31, 2019)

Paraffin said:


> Guests are asked not to touch the knives with the weird handles in the knife drawer, because they're expensive, dangerous, and will rust if you look at them sideways (an exaggeration except for the expensive part, but it works).



This is GOLD


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## bahamaroot (Mar 31, 2019)

My Victorinox used to be my "good" knives but now they're my beaters and guests knives...


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## ecchef (Mar 31, 2019)

10” Wusti circa 1985. Got me through culinary school and was part of the kit for many years afterward. Still sees some action for those nasty jobs.


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## Noodle Soup (Mar 31, 2019)

JustinP said:


> Yeap, my trusty old Vic/Forschner 8 inch chef knife. It's 20+ years old.
> 
> View attachment 51010


 Add two inches and you have mine. Mine is probably 30 years old now. It came from the days when I was selling kitchen and meat packing knives. There was a blemish on it somewhere that I can't remember now but I didn't think I should sell it. Been working hard in our kitchen every since.


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## JustinP (Mar 31, 2019)

Noodle Soup said:


> Add two inches and you have mine. Mine is probably 30 years old now. It came from the days when I was selling kitchen and meat packing knives. There was a blemish on it somewhere that I can't remember now but I didn't think I should sell it. Been working hard in our kitchen every since.



I'd wager a guess the Forschers were the best bang for the buck knives ever made. You can put them through hell and they still work great. Super easy to sharpen too.


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## RonB (Mar 31, 2019)

Any knife my wife has ever touched is now a beater... 

But, at least, now she knows what not to touch.


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## stringer (Mar 31, 2019)

I have a lot more beaters than nice knives. But this one is my current favorite. 360 grams of vintage carbon Sabatier with Baltic Birch plywood handle.


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## parbaked (Mar 31, 2019)

My beater is a stripped down line knife from Salem Straub.
AEB-L at 62HRC with micarta handle...no frills.


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## Grunt173 (Mar 31, 2019)

I have a Zwilling Twin Four Star II 8 inch chef knife that I love using on garlic and a Wusthof Classic 8 inch chef knife that I also use from time to time and yet I have some old Green River butcher knives that I use also.Although some would consider these my beaters,I have just as much love for these knives as my expensive Japanese knives.


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## daizee (Mar 31, 2019)

I have a 20yo 7" Henckels 4-star santoku and the matching 3" and 4" paring knives. Those are now my 'beaters', but honestly they get little use. For packages and things, I've made blades specifically for those utility purposes. They live in the kitchen and my office, so there's no excuse to use a kitchen knife for something inappropriate.

Out at the cabin, i have an ergonomically improved and reground Chicago Cutlery 8" chef.


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## mc2442 (Mar 31, 2019)

First "real" knife I bought, a 270mm Tojiro PM. Back when I thought $150 was a lot for a knife.


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## GorillaGrunt (Apr 1, 2019)

A few Tosa forged knives from JWW and the like, they keep an edge after doing all of the things you should never ever do with j-knives. I also sold my Mac to a guy who needed a good knife for not a lot of money, but I’m thinking I might have to get another one! It does the above while being thinner and more versatile.


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## krx927 (Apr 1, 2019)

I also have 20 years old Zwilling classic 8" chef knife. I just thinned and refinished it a couple of months ago and out it back on the rack.


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## bennypapa (Apr 1, 2019)

I have mostly beaters.

My oldest is a 10" Henckels pro S chef that needs thinning badly.
Newest is a cheap stainless cleaver that I really enjoy.


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## lemeneid (Apr 1, 2019)

My main beater is a Kikuichi Elite Carbon gyuto. It’s soft enough to not chip and still gets razor sharp on demand. Pretty expensive for a beater though. 

That said, does anyone use a Kato or Shig as their beater?


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## ian (Apr 1, 2019)

Yea, to me it seems like the definition of a beater is “your least expensive and most robust gyuto/chef’s knife”. So, everyone’s got one. Mine would be a stainless 210 Uraku, but it’s certainly not a crappy knife. Cuts great, and I often reach for it over the fancier ones. If it had a thinner tip, I’d probably reach for it even more, but then again, part of the reason it’s so great is that you never have to worry about ****ing up the tip.


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## Xenif (Apr 1, 2019)

20 yr old CCK stainless cleaver, I just hacked up an entire jackfruit with it


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## ashy2classy (Apr 1, 2019)

Mizono dragon swedish carbon 240mm gyuto...


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## davidg (Apr 2, 2019)

An old house line of aeb-l knives do the trick. Sharpen well, but aren't as thin for sending into dangerous territories (like guests hands).

Additionally, one or two of the old target knives my wife had. Need to chop wood in the kitchen? Grab one of those. Ha!


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## kevin (Apr 2, 2019)

10" henckels


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## Nemo (Apr 2, 2019)

I think my favourite ready for anything knife is my Hinoura Hyakuren. A middleweight in ironclad white2. The wide bevels are ground flat (actually slightly concave). Reasonanly tough, easy to sharpen (or just strop) and the cladding is not too reactive. Doesn't do anything brilliantly but does most things well and always seems ready to do anything.


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## labor of love (Apr 2, 2019)

Nemo said:


> I think my favourite ready for anything knife is my Hinoura Hyakuren. A middleweight in ironclad white2. The wide bevels are ground flat (actually slightly concave). Reasonanly tough, easy to sharpen (or just strop) and the cladding is not too reactive. Doesn't do anything brilliantly but does most things well and always seems ready to do anything.


I want a ajikataya pretty bad.


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## CulinaryCellist (Apr 2, 2019)

I just use the Mercer 8in chef knife that I bought through my school


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## HRC_64 (Apr 2, 2019)

ian said:


> Cuts great, and I often reach for it over the fancier ones. If it had a thinner tip, I’d probably reach for it even more, but then again, part of the reason it’s so great is that you never have to worry about ****ing up the tip.



Key for effective beater or line knife, IMHO...
alot of "most used" knives are for exactly this reason


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## LucasFur (Apr 2, 2019)

My 'beaters' are just knives i wont hesitate to use excessively and dont really think about taking care of at all when in use and dont mind taking to the stones and working on. 

1. Togashi Blue 1 Honyaki, Custom ordered waited 18 months to get. Received with among the worst thickest grind ive ever owned. Spent 15 hours thinning and "making it mine" now its my ultimate beater and its a fantastic knife and i love it. 
2. I also really love a Mizuno Blue 1 shinogi i bought off the bst in rough shape ... broken tip & chipped heel ... best performing knife i own for the fine cutting days. 
3. Sukenari YXR - impressively tough steel, love the way it flies through product. 
4. Shiro kamo R2 - Stainless and just a monster on the board. 
5. Musashi Kogetsu monosteel white 1


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## Barashka (Apr 2, 2019)

Chicago Cutlery 5.5 paring ... I split a 1/2 inch wood board with it once. Usually, though, I use it to separate frozen fish etc. It has served me surprisingly well for all it's been through.

(this is probably not the reply most people are looking for  )


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## megapuff5 (Apr 2, 2019)

My 210mm Glestain Indented Gyutou or wifes cleaver


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## dan (Apr 2, 2019)

6 year old 8" global. 2013, the best year for globals (/sarcasm)


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## minibatataman (Apr 3, 2019)

8" Henckles Pro S. Was my first decent knife, bought it on an Amazon sale for under 50 bucks. I use that thing for everything from hard foods to busting cans, and somehow it still cuts.


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## daddy yo yo (Apr 3, 2019)

Have an old (25 years) Zwilling/Wüsthof/Dreizack (you name it) generic German chef’s knife. I will keep it forever as it was gifted to me by my mother as my first kitchen knife. I use it for the nasty jobs...


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## Bolek (Apr 5, 2019)

Walla said:


> Lobsters by the hundreds


How do you cut a lobster with a knife ? My knife slipe on it.
BTW my beater are second hand chiped knives that I sharpen often. Once the chip is wear of I give them to freinds.


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## DSChief (Apr 5, 2019)

Those old Forschners will not die, a little TLC once a year or so is all they need. These are circa 1970 ish.


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## K813zra (Apr 5, 2019)

I think my 9 inch K-sab might be stealing the 'beater' title from my FKH. I had one years ago and don't remember liking it this much. Sure is soft though!


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## Grunt173 (Apr 6, 2019)

ashy2classy said:


> Mizono dragon swedish carbon 240mm gyuto...


Hey,I got one of those.Can't hardly call that sweet thing a beater.


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## frank358fr (Apr 6, 2019)

10” Wusti circa


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## changy915 (Apr 6, 2019)

Shi ba zi Chinese cleaver for when I need to cut chicken bones, cartilage and frozen meat. The weight makes it incredibly easy to use in those scenarios


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## Steel+Fire (Apr 6, 2019)

A whole block of old vintage 1990's Henckel 4 Stars sit in my kitchen for everyone to use. My knives are just for me. So yes we have some beaters.


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## labor of love (Apr 6, 2019)

K813zra said:


> I think my 9 inch K-sab might be stealing the 'beater' title from my FKH. I had one years ago and don't remember liking it this much. Sure is soft though!


Which Sab brand?


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## K813zra (Apr 7, 2019)

labor of love said:


> Which Sab brand?



K Sabatier (Au carbone). Both this one and the one I had a few years back. 9 inch now and 10 inch before.


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## labor of love (Apr 7, 2019)

K813zra said:


> K Sabatier (Au carbone). Both this one and the one I had a few years back. 9 inch now and 10 inch before.


Those are nice. Always wanted an “chef au ritz”


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## JaVa (Apr 7, 2019)

Mac Professional chef 240 is my beater. My first good knife since about 22 years ago and still going strong. Actually bought six Mac knives then and still have two in regular use. Other one is the 120 pro petty. 

Not sure what happened to the 4 others though?


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## labor of love (Apr 7, 2019)

I actually just bought a Mac Pro suji that’s on sale for $115. Quite a nice knife.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 7, 2019)

Agree with Jeff you need beaters & Ferrari in the work force. Even as a home cook now need my beaters. Petty Tosagata White, Gyuto Blue Moon BL. #2, Cleaver CCK Kau Kong Chopper. Just cut up a frozen slab of wild caught salmon with the KK chopper & a mallet. Don't want it to be thawed at all when I put the serving sizes in the freezer.


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 7, 2019)

Lobsters have split thousands mostly with CCK medium cleaver.


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## frank358fr (Apr 7, 2019)

I bought a Petty


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## Michi (Apr 7, 2019)

Keith Sinclair said:


> Lobsters have split thousands mostly with CCK medium cleaver.


Yeah, gotta watch them lobsters. Don't let them get their claws near the handle of the cleaver!


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 8, 2019)

DSChief said:


> Those old Forschners will not die, a little TLC once a year or so is all they need. These are circa 1970 ish.


Had a batch of those 1970's Forschners too. Back then a 10" chef knife cost 9.00


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## ChefShramrock (Apr 9, 2019)

I have a tojiro dp 240 and a kai pro 270 that I use as beaters.


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## Michi (Apr 9, 2019)

I have Opinel Carbone No. 9 and No. 12 knives in my block. The smaller one is for the odd cutting task, such as opening parcels, cutting the plastic wrapping of things, slicing up cardboard, and similar jobs. The larger one I use for cutting things that I really don't want to use a high-grade knife for, such as cutting tough jerky or biltong.

I don't mind using these knives for rough jobs because they are really cheap and, if I do damage an edge, they are super-easy to sharpen.


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## LucasFur (Apr 9, 2019)

Am I the only one using Japanese blades as daily beaters? 
I probably wont open a can with them admittedly, mainly because i made them too thin.


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## Michi (Apr 9, 2019)

At $200+ a pop, no, I don't use my Japanese blades as beaters


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## HRC_64 (Apr 9, 2019)

LucasFur said:


> Am I the only one using Japanese blades as daily beaters?
> I probably wont open a can with them admittedly, mainly because i made them too thin.



Meanwhile a cutcu wil get OEM replacement if you actually break it


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## inferno (Apr 9, 2019)

I have a confession. ALL my knives are beaters. I have only 1 single knife that I baby and its probably my most beefy and durable knife. A masamoto blue 2 santoku in black finish.
I have an old fiskars stainless that I pretty much use as a construction tool when needed. I cut all kinds of crazy stuff with it. I also test stones with it. Never use it on food though.
I once tried to split 2 beer cans in half with a kurosaki AS. The beer cans kinda won. Should have used the Fiskars for this task of course.


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## panda (Apr 9, 2019)

Hiromoto honyaki is my beater, and also just got a heiji for same purpose.


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## QCDawg (Apr 10, 2019)

LucasFur said:


> Am I the only one using Japanese blades as daily beaters?
> I probably wont open a can with them admittedly, mainly because i made them too thin.


Kaeru = beater for me


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## Bodine (Apr 10, 2019)

Beaters come in varying quality for different tasks.
For the worst of tasks, I use cheap Chicago Cutlery, mostly non food related.
For food, slightly frozen or tough stuff, I use a Shun 10" chefs' knife.


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## mikaelsan (Apr 11, 2019)

I got two.
A Chinese brand that makes knives for tojiro as far as I have understood. basically a slightly softer mono version of the dp 210, messed is up a little out of the box, thinned it and created this ugly handle end to shift the balance a little . Thinnest knife I own, and my absolute no fuss knife, will put it through almost anything and just leave it wet on the table afterwards.

Then there's the Piotrek kaminski, this thing was not what I expected, just wanted to try a cheap Western maker. I was frankly unhappy with it at first. much thicker behind the edge, curvier, higher tip and softer then I realised when I got it. I thinned it, and It has since really grown on my me, and also pulled me back out of this whole allure of having to use the hardest knives all the time. Its my rock-star, you know, the knife I rock with, and build like a tank at least to my standards.


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## KitchenCommander (Apr 12, 2019)

8" CUTCO Chef . First intro into kitchen knives when my GF and I were getting married. Bought a few Cutco's before I knew better. They still hang around because of how much I paid. 

10" American Cutlery (I think) Carbon chef with a thick edge. Its a $5 flea market carbon chef knife that was actually name-brand. Used for large jobs where I don't care to watch my technique and just hack away.


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## mattador (Apr 12, 2019)

My 10” Nogent Sab never fails me, my rock so to speak. End of the day I know I can depend on it for any task while being extremely comfortable.


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## PC315 (May 7, 2019)

So what do people use their beaters for vs their nicer knives?

Cutting frozen food, breaking down a chicken are obvious beater use cases. What about just harder food like a butternut squash or pineapple and water melons? Do you use your nicer knives for that? I guess I'm just terrified of chipping a knife so being maybe overly cautious


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## ian (May 7, 2019)

I would definitely use nice knives for squash and watermelon. Pretty safe if you’re careful to cut straight. Pineapples I’ll sometimes use a slightly less nice knife for—eg a $150 J knife rather than a $300 one.


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## Ochazuke (May 7, 2019)

One of my friends heard I liked rusty knives and gave a really beat up funayuki from Honmamon. You can find them for dirt cheap on Amazon is what he told me.

Rust aside, the grind was absolute garbage. There were high and low spots everywhere, the profile was all over the place, and the spine and choil were jagged.

I cleaned it up a bit and it’s my current beater. It wedges like crazy so I’m gonna keep working on it until it sucks less. I actually kinda like having a project knife though.


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## DitmasPork (May 7, 2019)

My beaters are:
240 Masamoto HC
Sabatier carbon 9.75 in
Mercer 8 in
Wustof 8 in

All my beaters used to be unicorns.


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## SeattleBen (May 7, 2019)

labor of love said:


> Those are nice. Always wanted an “chef au ritz”



It was after lusting after these that I ended up buying the k sab from strata in Maine and I couldn’t be happier not spending hours a week on eBay looking for those and losing bids.


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## CTKC (May 7, 2019)

Right knife for the job but no beaters. Hard squash might get more of a thicker workhorse blade; pineapples are perfect for a Sugimoto #6 or #7 and frozen food never sees a blade- no knife deserves that.

The main substitution in my house comes for houseguests – good J-Hinouras, Shigs, Burkes and Raders (and similar knives) get tucked away and my block becomes suddenly full of the 20 year old western factory knives I used when I first got married (Lamsen, global, Wusthof, New West, etc.). Carbon steel and/or thin edges and houseguests don’t mix, IMO.


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## Customfan (May 7, 2019)

Beaters, like to use on cans, no name crap

Some old shuns and dexters


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## inferno (May 8, 2019)

PC315 said:


> So what do people use their beaters for vs their nicer knives?



beer cans.


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## chinacats (May 8, 2019)

Fwiw, i lean towards wh knives but nothing like a very thin blade for hard squash, melon, etc... only real time the wh wedging annoys me. Every knife is fair game for use or I'll get rid of it... like old Wustie i use to cut rope


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## Chef Doom (May 8, 2019)

When you eat a carnivorous diet the concept of a beater is simply a wast of space on the knife rack.


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## CoteRotie (May 8, 2019)

Chef Doom said:


> When you eat a carnivorous diet the concept of a beater is simply a wast of space on the knife rack.


Well if you're a true carnivore you don't need a knife at all, just rip your food apart with your teeth


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## Tanalasta (May 9, 2019)

Old Shun for me. Better half usually reaches for a Shun paring - can peel anything from an apple whilst walking around the house with it. Definitely not a chef. Normally uses a scalpel. 

I use the Shun for anything involving lemons, hard butternut squash/pumpkin, the bamboo board as they’re the not hard to sharpen, stainless and “I don’t value them” much knives. Will still frown if they get chucked into the sink or not wiped/washed promptly. Good habits should remain good habits.


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## Keith Sinclair (May 9, 2019)

PC315 said:


> So what do people use their beaters for vs their nicer knives?
> 
> Cutting frozen food, breaking down a chicken are obvious beater use cases. What about just harder food like a butternut squash or pineapple and water melons? Do you use your nicer knives for that? I guess I'm just terrified of chipping a knife so being maybe overly cautious



Find a larger blade is better for watermelons. Butternut and Kabocha are much harder than a pineapple. Actually you can use a fairly thin knife to peel pineapples they will sail right through it.


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## Chef Doom (May 9, 2019)

CoteRotie said:


> Well if you're a true carnivore you don't need a knife at all, just rip your food apart with your teeth


Sometimes I do but I also enjoy the sophistication of using chopsticks so a sharp blade comes in handy.


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## Supraunleaded (May 9, 2019)

Noodle Soup said:


> Victorinox 10-inch chef. My beater and my wife's favorite knife.


Never knew my wife had a twin sister! The missus didn’t understand the point of such a large knife (we primarily used 6” knives) until she tried it.


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## ThinMan (May 10, 2019)

I have quite a collection of Wusthofs and Henkels.


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