Product Test: Global Cooks Knife 20 cm and Stanley Rogers Acacia Butchers Block from Kitchenware Superstore (14 Dec 2013)

http://www.kitchenwaresuperstore.com.au

Feeling like a MasterChef

Thanks to Elle O'Connor from Kitchenware Superstore for inviting me to receive some products of my choosing to kitchen test. After checking out the extensive website of pretty much everything and anything you'd want for a kitchen I decided on the Global 2pc Starter Set ($109.95) and Stanley Rogers Acacia Butchers Block ($55.95). I've never had a knife that I've been completely happy with so was hoping the Global Cooks Knife 20 cm would do the trick since it's the same one they use on MasterChef which the contestants keep cutting their fingers with. I don't do a lot of home cooking but since using the Global knife and block it's made it a more pleasurable experience having a knife that actually feels good to hold and is so sharp compared to everything else I have. I was actually quite scared at first time I'd be cutting my fingers like the MasterChef contestants but so far so good and I'm getting more used to using it now.

The knife has performed well in general fruit and vegetable cutting but there's one test that seems to beat all knives I've tried it with and that's when you very slowing press the blade down on a tomato without a slicing motion. It must be something about the skin of a tomato that's resilient to knife blades when you're not using it in a slicing action. Eventually it did slice through and did it quite cleanly. I'm thankfully very happy with the Global Cooks Knife and Butchers Block which have performed well to my expectations and have become a great asset to my kitchen. I could probably put away all my other knives and just use this one with the block for most tasks. I find the block is a good size, not being too small or too large to be able to pickup and wash. It's also very sturdy having four rubber feet. I've yet to try the Global minosharp water sharpener because the knife is still sharp and I'm also scared I might blunt my knife from using it which I guess is a silly thing to think. My philosophy is if it ain't broke don't fix it but perhaps I should be using the sharpener all the time to help maintain the sharp edge better — any advice?

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Knife is very sharp, well designed and comfortable to hold. Butchers block is sturdy with rubber legs, has a large surface area, handy grooves on side for picking up and holds up well to cutting.

CONS: Butchers Board can be a little heavy to lift and awkward to wash down in a small sink but it's built to last.

MUST TRY: Testing the Global minosharp water sharpener but I'm fearing I'll do it wrong and blunt my knife

VERDICT: Would definitely recommend the knife and butchers block. Would make a great Christmas present for any foodie that loves to cook at home.

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 Global 2pc Starter Set ($109.95) and Stanley Rogers Acacia Butchers Block ($55.95)

Global Cooks Knife 20 cm — responsible for all those bleeding fingers on MasterChef

Global minosharp water sharpener 

Stanley Rogers Acacia Butchers Block ($55.95)

Handy side grip for picking up and moving around the bench

Rubber feet make it very sturdy to cut on

Apparently natural wood can kill bacteria — how's that work?

Back edge of knife flat making it suitable for scraping cuttings off board

Passed the paper test

None of my knives have ever cut an apple this fine before

Cleanly cuts and doesn't squash bread. So sharp it left the paper underneath sliced up

Good sized board to work with cutting up watermelon

Lots of area for cutting

Try the tomato test on your knives

After a bit of pressure the knife followed through and cut cleanly

Who else cries when they cut onions?

Suitable for my magnetic wall holder and a great addition to the kitchen

Product test: Edge of Belgravia Ceramic Lime Santoku knife (26 May 2013)

http://edgeofbelgravia.com.au

Getting to the point

Thanks to Palina Antonova from The Trish Nicol Agency for providing a 5 inch Ceramic Lime Santoku knife ($88 RRP) for product testing. I'm a novice when it comes to cooking but I welcome any opportunity of finding a super sharp knife to make things easier in the kitchen. I decided on three tests to see how it performed. Cutting a semi-ripe cherry tomato was the first test. If the knife was used in a slicing motion it performed well although when used in a very slow downward vertical motion without a slicing motion it had trouble cutting the skin of the tomato. I tried this with my current stainless steal knifes which failed as well although they weren't as sharp as this new knife. Second test was holding a piece of paper and slicing. It did a pretty good job of this and most sharp knives should do the same. The final test was cutting a carrot. It did a pretty good job although I noticed I kept producing a curved slice each time. I'm not quite sure if this might be the intention of the blade design but I think it shouldn't be. My preference would be a straight cut which happens with my other knives. Maybe it's not the right knife for the job.

In terms of the ergonomics and design it's quite a comfortable knife to hold in the hand. Feels quite light although my preference would be for a knife that has a bit more weight which I think would also help in cutting. The 5 inch knife is slightly larger than my paring knife but smaller than my utility knife so size wise it's probably a bit too small for maybe an all purpose knife. I think their Chef's Knife looks more ideal both in size and shape. I generally use the back edge of a knife to scrap cuttings off the chopping board but the curved design of the Santoku sits above the surface which isn't ideal to do this. I use a wall mounted magnetic holder for my knives for easy access and to save on bench space but you won't be able to do this with a ceramic knife. I'm suspecting the Damascus Chef's Knife would be a better choice for me from what I can see with its blade design, size, being metallic and having more weight.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Comfortable grip, Nice packaging, Blade supposedly stays sharp for years without the need for stone grinding

CONS: Ceramic knife not compatible with magnetic holder, Curved back edge doesn't sit flat to a chopping board for scrapping, Seems to chop with a curved slice for some reason

MUST TRY: I need to test dicing an onion, thin slicing meat and chopping herbs

VERDICT: Initial testing hasn't been favourable although I'll keep using to see if sharpness is retained over time and test on other ingredients

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Nice packaging 

Number 074 of 999 made in series 

Quite nice to hold although for most cutting I ended up positioning my index finger on the top of the handle to make room underneath to slicing  

5 inches is a rather short blade and prefer a longer blade for general kitchen preparation

Back edge of blade is curved so leaves a gap underneath which can make it less effective in scrapping cuttings off the board 

Being a ceramic blade it's not compatible with magnetic wall holders 

Performed well when thinly slicing tomato 

Didn't perform well with very slow downward vertical motion on tomato for some reason

Performed well with paper slicing. This would be my main text over time to see how the blade retains its sharpness 

Carrot cutting OK except the blade seemed to what to cut with a curve 

Cutting with right hand created a curved edge favouring a direction towards the right 

Forged under 300 tons of pressure and 1400ºC apparently renders the blade almost as hard as diamond. “The blade remains sharp for years of use without need for sharpening” — sounds good to me!