Hot take: I spent $600 on a Japanese chef's knife and regret it

Everyone raves about those high-end Japanese knives, but I bought a Shun for $600 two years ago and honestly, it's been more trouble than it's worth. The blade chipped on a butternut squash my third week using it, and I had to pay $40 to get it sharpened because I didn't trust myself. My old $60 Victorinox is easier to maintain and I don't panic every time someone else grabs it off the rack. For home cooking or a busy line, I think the expensive stuff is overrated for most of us. Has anyone else gone back to a cheaper knife after splurging?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota78716d ago

I spent $600 on a Japanese chef's knife and regret it" is pretty much the story of my life, except my version involves a $200 chef's knife that I use mostly as a paperweight now. My $40 Mercer that I got off Amazon is my daily driver because I'm too clumsy to trust myself with the fancy one, but hey, at least the paperweight looks nice on my counter.

lunawilson16d ago

Keep that Mercer out and let the fancy one sit there. Ive done the same thing with a Wusthof my sister got me. Thing sits in the drawer because I know I'll try to chop through a chicken bone and chip it. Grab a ceramic rod off Amazon for like $15 and run the Mercer along it every few weeks. That $40 knife will cut circles around anything expensive if its sharp and you dont live in fear of hurting it.