My Knife Collection: All The Knives You Need (And DON'T!) 

HELLO LOVELY VIEWERS! Important Note: If you have questions about this video, you can post it here for the community to answer. But if you want to ask me, please get in touch via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or my website (all links are in the description above). If you leave questions in the comments I may not see them due to the large volume of comments I receive across the hundreds of videos on this channel. Thank you for watching!

I realize this is an older video and you might not see this comment, and no hard feelings if that is the case. I have appreciated your cooking videos very much over the past year because they have really helped me to get into basic Thai cuisine. But let me just say that l watch many knife videos and you did an extremely good job here of helping less experienced people understand which types of knives are more or less useful. And perhaps you have helped guide some novices away from wasting money on useless blades and getting some good ones that will really do the job well. So kudos for that! Fwiw, l am a huge kitchen knife nerd, and l have collected and worked on a wide assortment of blades and have gotten pretty good at making them into the best tools they can be. You are a much better chef than l am, though! Anyway, it saddens me that you don't really use the best knife in your collection, which is your Aritsugu blue steel bunka. That is truly a gorgeous blade. And l want to offer my services free of charge if you would ever like to have that particular knife thinned and polished and sharpened to its maximum potential. Or, l would also be very happy to put you in touch with friends l have in Canada who would be happy to supercharge that blade and assist you in learning how to best maintain it. I think many of us would love to see you use that one in your videos rather than keeping it in a drawer because you are afraid of dulling it or damaging it. That knife deserves to be used! Happy New Year, and as always, l very much enjoy your cooking.

The 青 on the Japanese knife (bunka bôchô) stands for aogami kô - blue paper steel. It's a high carbon steel with some other alloying elements added, mainly tungsten.

Your 6th Japanese knife is actually a high quality carbon steel called aogami (blue steel) or 青紙in Japanese. Knife style is called bunka which is hybrid of traditional nakiri vege knife and western chef knife. Same as your second global knife.

It's nice to see Pai's culinary journey through the showcase of her knives.

The sentimental, hand-made Japanese knife is made by Aritsugu, located in Kyoto’s Nishiki Market. I purchased a couple for myself during a recent trip. They’ve got a great weight and hand-feel to them. Super sharp carbon steel blade make easy slicing and chopping. They’re two of my go to knifes in my collection. Great video as usual-informative and entertaining at the same time!

Sandwich knife... - Hole in center is for cutting cheese, it prevents it from sticking. - Solid tip is for spreading things like Mayo - Serrated tip is for cutting through the whole sandwich - Middle flat blade is for cutting cheese, tomatoes, etc... That is what makes it a sandwich knife.

Hello, the hole in the sandwich knife is for cutting cheese, so that cheese don't stick to the blade ... adiós, Rainer

And please also make a tutorial on chopping boards. Because there are so many things and saying about the boards. And don't know what is true and what is a myth 😔 Please guide us too

'A backup knife when everything else is dirty' 🤣 I admire the honesty!

The "Heel" of the knife is called a bolster, bolster is used to counter balance weight of the knife. The hole in the Sandwich knife allows you to cut through block of cheese without sticking to knife. Utility knife I use to cut bagels etc, so I don't have to sharpen my chef knife as much. It's purpose is an in between of a Chef and pairing knife.

Mysterious hole who's condition I can not see!😂😂😂😂😂

The bolster/heel on the Messermeister can be ground down a bit by a professional knife sharpener so that it is flush with the edge again.

Hi Pailin, You should definitely use your Japanese knife. It seems not to be stainless steel, but it is on contrary even better, because you can sharpen it very easily with a flat Japanese sharpening stone. After cleaning it with cold water, dry it and cover it with oil (a drop in a paper towel). So it is protected from rusting. I am German and living in the near of Solingen, the very famous German knife-town. But! - my favorite knifes are Japanese. They are so sharp ... perfect and dangerous ☺️ Have fun and enjoy Martin P.S.: Thank you very much for sharing your Thai food knowledge. I learned so much ...

Lesson here: Don't surprise Pailin in her home.

the kanji reads ao 青 means blue. it is rather blurry but i think it's the closest one

Those cheap, fine serrated bread knives are awesome for slicing tomatoes!

I think I never found any other episode as funny as this one. Fun and genuine, I loved it !

I'm trying to imagine how must've been to carry all that to adam's House all the way trying not to look suspicious

Agree with the issues on storage and thanks for the recommendation. Concerning the knife heel, I have found it helpful in protecting the finger from the sharp right angle of non-heel knives...and when the heel becomes oversized with time, I simply use a file or dremel drill to restore the blade/ heel relationship.

You should try Thai brand Kiwi knives, I have many knives but from where I bought these Thai I only use them. Incredibly cheap and very convenient, you can find on Amazon. Regards

The heel of the Messermeister can be ground down. I inherited one of these and the previous user did just that. Works great for chopping.

North Arm gang! I love their hunting/fishing knives and their Chef's Knife is my go-to nice gift for people I like. You should definitely get their fillet knife since I didn't see any in this video.

Thank you Pai for another great and informative presentation. It's always difficult to choose the right knife and as you mentioned, the sales person cannot always be trusted so your sharing of your experience and opinions are extremely helpful. By the way, the Japanese knife you've got, please oil it with cooking oil to prevent from rust as I can see few rust spots appearing. Simply soak a folded kitchen paper towel with cooking oil and wipe it every now and then which gives the knife the rust proofing it needs whilst not getting overly sticky or messy.

This was super informative, you do a great job explaining the advantages/disadvantages of different kinds of knives!

I’d love to hear how and what you use to sharpen your knives.

Great layman explanations of different knives. I found this channel by accident but I have to say: I absolutely love my utility knives. If you want the heft of a chefs knife without the 6/8/10inch length, these are great at 4 or 5 inch lengths. There's a lot more control. The pairing knife I use for fine slicing/dicing for garlic or shallots.

I love a thin Chinese cleaver for most things, but especially large quantites of vegetables.

Pailin ! I love how you explain everything about knifes , alway enjoy to watch your cooking show.. Thank you for sharing . Good health and Best of luck to you & your family 🙂❤👏🌹

Thanks Ms. Pailin and Adam for a great video! I am somewhat knife novice. As other commentors have stated, a honing rod is essential to for blade maintenance. Use it after every knife use. Knife sharpening is also a whole subject into itself. IMO, for kitchen dual bevel works best for me. Primary bevel 11 degrees each side (22 degrees inclusive angle) and secondary bevel 30 degrees each side (60 degrees inclusive angle). All my knifes can feather slice magazine paper. A sharp knife truely is a safe knife. Low end sharpener is DMT Diamond Diafold (220 grit, 325 grit, 600 grit, 1200 grit, 8000 grit) with water as lubricant paired with Gatco bevel guide and handle. High end sharpener is Wicked Edge with diamond stones. Very experienced sharpeners can use whetstone but must be able to keep same angle of grind.

This like all of your videos was fun and informative. It is always interesting to see a chefs tools and knives are the most personal (IMO). Some like Jacques Pepin have over 300 knives that he has collected over the years! I think others have addressed some of the questions you mentioned like the bolster and your Japanese knife. FYI a good knife service can regrind the bolster so you can properly used your older knives again. Also Messermeister was created by a California chef and is now run by his wife and daughters and are famous for making knives with only a partial bolster to eliminate the problem you faced with your old Chef knives. Take care.

Thanks for sharing about your knife collection, and other things kitchen knife related. I recently came across a 4.7" serrated 'tomato knife' that I believe will become my tiny kitchen's daily user. Discovering this knife thiugh has gotten me interested in other knives for the kitchen, so I am now seeing what others have to say about them. Especially those with more experience like yourself !

It is nice to have a knife that you don't want to use so you don't ruin/abuse it. My best friend gave me a wonderful Shun knife and it is the one that I rarely use.

Only saw this because it came up in auto play while I was eating lunch but I watched the whole thing. Who knew I could actually find knives interesting. Great video. I think I’ll check out some of your other stuff as well.

You are such a joy to watch! I can't believe i just watched a full vid on rice cooker and now knifes.

Wow~You have lots of knives🥰 Thanks for showing and explaining💗

Nice video. Thank you. Ref 3rd knife in with heel as you referred. See if someone can use a wheel grinder to grind it down so that it allows your blade to come back into contact on back of board. Thanks again for the video

Hi, I've enjoyed your videos for awhile now. I hope I can give back a little here with a few suggestions. Funny that you don't use your Japanese knife. It's one of the best knives you own. There is a little bit of rust on it. An easy way to clean it off is to use Japanese rust erasers. They are little rectangles that you can use for all kinds of things. They will get rust off of your cast iron and clean up the carbon steel blade on your Japanese knife in no time flat. Which leads to the next couple of suggestions: You might want to consider taking your knives to a reputable sharpener. It will make all of your knives seem brand new again and make your work easier. A sharpener can also remove the part of the bolster that is getting in the way if you still want to use the knives that have been sharpened past the bolster. I'm sure you must sharpen your knives in some way. The best way is to use whetstones and then a leather strop loaded with .1 micron diamond spray or compound to finish. If your knife is sharpened properly, you can strop the blade to bring back an edge for quite some time before sharpening again (depending on use of course). A honing rod does a similar job, but a leather strop can't be beat. If you get the rust erasers, they also work very well as whetstone cleaners, i.e., when your sharpen, the whetstones load up with metal shavings, the rust erasers get the metal bits out of the stone so the abrasives in the stones can work properly. If you ever get a chance to read this, I hope something I mentioned will be useful. If not, maybe other viewers will find something here. Happy cooking. - Cheers

So I keep a lot of fish tanks and do a lot of aquascaping. The tools are all steel so we use magnetic panels that attach to the wall to hold the tools. I use the same to store my knives. The magnetic wall pad is a great talking point and allows me to show off my knives and when I need one it is as easy as pulling it off the wall.

So funny that you are talking about stamped serrated knives and wood blocks while I'm on the road staying in a furnished apartment that has both! If I traveled for work more often I would get a chef's roll. Also the first good knife I ever received was a Henckels utility knife that was a gift 30+ years ago. It was my best knife for many years and many of my friends still prefer it to my chef's knife when we cook together. My favorite thing about it is that when I dropped it and snapped the blade a few years ago (so much for the supposed Solingen hand forging) the company replaced it for no charge!

Great collection! Agree about the chef's knife and the pairing knife. To that, i add a chinese chef's knife. Those three pretty much do everything. Your sharpener can grind the heel off the end of your old school knife and bring it back to life.

So informational! I'm so glad you did this video. I'm picky on knives too so this helps a great deal.

This was great! A very informative presentation! This is why all your subscribers ❤️ you!

I've been waiting on this video to be made my entire adult life. I finally got myself a decent Victorinox chef's knice and blade guard and it has become my primary knife. I keep a separate whatever brand santoku knife for secondary mirepoix for when I can't be bothered to wash during the food prep time. Absolutely agree though, fuck knife blocks.

If a knife with a bolster, the guard thing, gets worn and the blade no longer makes contact with the table you need to grind off part of the bolster on a cheap stone to fix it. For home use the bolster option is personal opinion, some love it, some hate. For professional definetely not a good choice.

As a butcher I would say if you're going to be cutting meat off the bone you need a flexible knife that can hold an edge, also a heavy knife for cutting through joints. Just my personal opinion, I don't anything but meat anymore

Needed such a detailed video for some of us amateurs. Been looking for a video on knives for as long as I can remember and there has not been one as informative as yours. Now I know what I should not buy.

Thank you for sharing. It's a great perspective to see what knives a real chef, with 900k+ subs is using. Knife nerds sometimes get carried away .. like any enthusiast about their hobby, including me. As a side note: my utility knife is second (or 3rd) most used knife! I use it as a bigger paring knife, a small carving knife, cheese and bagel knife, open the package knife, cut the top of a banana knife .. pretty much any time I don't want to bring out the big guns.

The cleaver is ideal for chopping through bone, but Chinese home cooks tend to use them to cut almost everything.

I have a Cutco utility knife which is serrated that I use often for small tasks- it's serrated, so it's good with tomatoes and peppers, I use it to chop vegan sausage into small chunks, it's great at opening packages of tofu so often use the same knife to slice through the tofu. On a small scale, it can do a lot of what a chef's knife does, but I can't do much of it before it gets tiring to use because you can't pinch grip it, so when it's just me cooking for myself, it's good to do small prep. plus it's smaller to clean.

It's funny, my Yaxell Utility knife has become my most used knife aside from my chef's knife. It has enough knuckle clearance for me and it works better for slicing small things than any paring knife I've ever had. To each their own.

My favorite knife is a 240mm (9.4 inch) Swedish carbon steel series gyuto (gyuto is basically the Japanese version of a french style chef knife) made by Misono. Its is not stainless and will rust if not cared for properly, but I have found that once a patina forms, which happened pretty quickly, I have not had any problems with rusting at all. And this is for a nice used daily in a commercial kitchen. Love that knife, and also my 300mm slicer of the same series and manufacturer. Works great for skinning and portioning fish. I went through about 30 pounds of Rockfish with it recently, and it was a joy to use. I use whetstones to sharpen my knives, and steels (one diamond steel, and one semi-smooth steel from F Dick) to to touch them up a bit. One of my other favorite knives, now sadly disappeared, was a (formerly) 4 inch paring knife from K-Sabatier. At one point it fell onto a tile floor and lost its tip, after which I ground it down to about 3 3/4 inches, which for me felt like the perfect size. That was by far the most satisfying paring knife, out of many, I have ever owned, so nimble and maneuverable. I’m a bit surprised you didn’t mention one of the other uses for that little Thai knife, fruit carving. There are a couple of cool channels on RU-vid demonstrating Thai fruit carving, and it is always pretty impressive.

I recently learn that there are two types of Chinese cleavers. One is thinner and is used for most chopping needs. The other is heavier and thicker---used for chopping through bones, etc.

Wow so many kind of knife 🔪uploading, thanks for sharing to us such an amazing informative and looking forward to see more posting.

Very useful video Pai, thanks so much 👍

My wife's favorite knife is an old heavy cleaver handed down from her grandmother......well worn..slightly pitted but razor sharp.

The knife sound effects are the best

Wow you’ve really opened my eyes about knife block!! Going to throw mine out right now!

After trying many (and some expensive) knives, I settled on a Lee Valley Peasants knife for my main knife. A high carbon paring knife, a no-name Japanese nakiri (VG-10) and a 6" bladed ceramic knife (cheepo) does it all

The Sixth is nice could be any number of high quality Japanese knives.. Do not be afraid to use it!! we have ditched a full butcher block and now use 3 Japanese knives and 2 others. Just clean and dry after use and hone /sharpen as needed. They hold their edge amazingly

Fun and actually useful guidance. Thanks for sharing, Pai.

I think the hole in the knife helps when cutting cheese blocks - so that it doesn't stick.

I found Japanese yanuba right hand and a deba. The right hand knife left side of the blade is not beveled . You make really fine and straight cuts. I use mine almost exclusively. I make knives but these are really sharp and work spectacular

The indentations on the first knife are called Grantons, after the company that invented them. The heel as you call it, is named the bolster. It double functions as counterbalance and finger guard. HM Queen Elisabeth II still want her potato tourne ;-)

I believe the correct word for maneuverability when handling a knife is referred to as being Nimble. Also I'm surprised that the 6" utility knife you showed at the end was your least used as most chef's & kitchen knife users would say they use this style & size of knife the most also referred to as a Petty Knife

Informative video, thank you, just ordered the Joseph Joseph knife organiser and cutlery organiser, they look very useful and safer.

Those dont prevent food sticking but it allows to remove from knife easier.

I used to use the worst knives that would reside somewhere in the gadget drawer. Then I decided to upgrade. Lots of good deals if you shop around a bit. Chef’s knife, vegetable knife, serrated bread, cleaver, boning knife. Speed peeler/s. Mandolin cutter. I’m never going back to poor quality cutlery. I’m also in the market for a storage solution. I might go with one of those magnetic strips.

I love LOVE love Kiwi brand knives although they are much more light weight and inexpensive and the blades are thinner, they are so sharp. They are my best friends in the kitchen. Lol.

I maybe wrong, but I believe the long slicing knife is great for cutting sashimi or fish. When visiting japan I have watched the sushi chefs use long slender knives like your slicing knife. And yes, it is for a single stroke cut so that the fish cut is smooth and melts in your mouth when you eat sushi. The fish does not have that jagged feel in your mouth. Those sashimi slicing knives are super sharp and can inflict pain one is not careful. While in japan, I wanted to buy one of the Japanese Damascus steel slicing knives but they run for several hundred dollars and more depending on the integrity of the steel. Thank you for your show as enjoy watching and learning more and more about proper cooking techniques. Thank you.

I loved the knowledge that I gained from this video. I was laughing when you talked about the wood blocks for knives and totally agree!

Really funny how the little knives take up so much of one's work. And time.

I would say that I use my utility knife almost exclusively for breaking down proteins like fresh bone in chicken breasts, cooked chickens, etc. I actually have a really nice japanese version that I opt to not use because I'm afraid of hurting the blade as well!

Many thanks for the video. I bought, over the last two years, a COMPLETE set of Dahlstrong knives (Shogun Series), along with a Henckels 7-inch Zwilling Pro chef's knife. An expensive purchase overall ... but the best investment I could have made as a serious amateur chef. I get a LOT of use out of the Santoku, the 9-inch chef's knife, the paring knife, the utility knife, and the bread knife. I rarely use the slicing knife, but I'm glad that I have it when I need it. I cannot emphasize enough the value of a good set of knives to anyone who takes culinary arts seriously. I could probably get along with five or six knives, but I'm glad to have more than I usually need. I like your channel!

Wow! You have a good collection of knives!

I just came across you in RU-vid and I am sad that I just get to know you but happy I am now a follower bec I love Thai food.

Oh lord yes I remember the tons of potatoes I butchered in school lol. We called the Tourne knives “Parrots beak”. You are so right Though I’ve had to seriously purge knives. My go to knives are my Chef knife and paring knife as well, from my good ol school knife kit lol. It’s so comfortable in my hand. I do have a utility knife I rarely use. You’re right though if you are shopping for knives I’d go with Chefs knife and a paring knife and make sure you can hold it and feel the weight of the knife in your hand. Very informative video.

It's 3am and I'm watching your channels. That's how much I'm a fan.😂

I love that Pailin has a brownie knife LOL

Your Messermeister knife with the heel problem, the blade is worm quite a bit, simply needs to be put on the grinder to grind off the bottom of that heel.. I have a very old Sabatier knife with the same problem and there the heel got ground in a 45 degree fashion to sit a little higher than the blade. Now year of enjoyment even though I mostly favor my Japanese knives.

Hi Pai, for that cheap IKEA bread knife, try slicing tomato with it, it actually works fine when you are slicing delicate and juicy things.

The breadknife with the small teeth makes a better looking cut. And about the bluntpart at the bottom of the knives that blocks you from getting the cutting edge to the board. Ask a friend to remove a mm or so with a grinder. And the knife will be fine to use again:)

North Arm makes really cool pocket knives too!

You were on point with the knife connoisseurs in the comments lol. Learned some good stuff here.

I have a double wide Wustoff I bought in 95. I have the same problem with the bolster, so when I take it to the sharpener guy, he grinds it down for me. Still my go-to knife after all these years. Don't waste your money on a fancy pants paring knife. Get one of those cheap disposable type Dexter, Mundial, Victornox. Also, On a bread knife, get the offset serrated kind as it is a lot handier than your standard bread knife. Sliced tomatoes and Pico de Gallo FTW.

This was informative, thank you

i cant break an egg to fty and cant think of cooking at all but at the same time i am kinda fascinated about knives. why is that :D

Its the bolster that is in your way. Get a file or a grinder to reduce it. I bought Japanese Chefs knives (Dragon BD1) that have no bolster.

I have that whustoff I found it at a thrift store and payed $12 for it! My parents have that last chef knife you showed its gunther wilhelm brand and they got it at costco to. I looked up that north arm knife that you use and if it was made recently its made with some really nice steel S35vn which is considered to be one of the best blade steels around right now.

oh no 4:00 that knife gives me a lot stresse whenever I cut somthing I ruin my chopping board as well I thought I am only one having the problem so happy you mention the poor design !! :) good explaination all perfect thxx!

You could grind, or have ground, the hilt/ricasso/heel to match the blade profile, on your Messermeister.

I have found someone with more knives than me! 😂 I am a 82 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. My first knives came from there. The most used knife is a 8 inch Victorinox chef knife. I also have many knives that you have but I always go back to my beloved. My advice is never buy a knife you cannot first try out in the store. What fits in my hand may not fit yours. Thanks for the advice on the knife holder. Happy cooking.

My father regularly used the bread knife as a mini saw for cutting the base of Christmas trees to fit the tree stand!

Your amazing and very helpful

LOL In most Chinese families or to most Chinese chefs the big Chinese cleaver (the big rectangular one) is all you need

Tomato knife. I used a filet knife to cut watermelon. The thin and flexible blade removes the rhine easily and doesn't leave a big watery mess.

The "Costco" santoku knife is made by Gunter Wilhelm. I bought a set of them. They are decent knifes and the claim is their steel is harder than that of Henckels, Wusthof, etc. However, a green scrubbie scratches it, where it doesn't scratch my Henckels. I called the owner at the time and spoke to him about the hardness and how a scrubbie scratches it (implying that the steel is SOFTER than a Henckels) and he pretty much shrugged his shoulders verbally. Fast forward 5 years. I still have the knife set and I now hand sharpen knives. The Henckels stay sharp a LOT longer than the Gunter Wilhelm. So, I rarely use the Gunter Wilhelm knives anymore. Another important note regarding the bread knives, always buy one with scallops on the edge, like you suggested. Those types of knives can be sharpened. The "cheap" Adam's bread knife can NOT be sharpened.

It's a full bolster! Never hindered me from sharpening.

15:42 i think slicers are less tall to keep meat from sticking to the knife, same with boning or fillet knives, maybe the "sandwich knife" as well, as little knife as possible to go through the meat. i don't really know how it works, i just really don't like trying to slice meat with a tall chef knife, cheese also seem really though to cut so i assume there's some sort of special requirement.

Awesome video!! I was literally thinking about how I am going to CLEAN my knife block! And, you starting talking about your knife holder. Lol I'm going to Amazon right now!! :-)