The 'T' in Kitchen

Here's the first post I've been planning for ages.

I figured that the best place to start is with the kitchen tools.
I'm very much a fan of multi-tasking items in the kitchen. I espouse the Alton Brown mantra of 'the only uni-tasker in the kitchen is the fire extinguisher'.
I don't agree with *everything* that AB says (he and I differ on coq au vin methodology, for example) but he does offer a lot of info with which to arm oneself

Let's start with the knife:
Part One


Part Two


First off, I have 3 knives that I use most often and for which I was willing to invest some money.

The three are:
My 'chef's knife' The G-55
My 'chopper' The GS-5
My paring knife The GS-7

They used to be one of the the culinary world's best kept secrets, an affordable, well made, high-output knife that could stand the ravages of time and constant professional use.
Unfortunately, someone spilled the beans (I'm lookin' at you Tony Bourdain!!!) and now everyone and his dog wants them. Williams-Sonoma charges redonkulous prices for their stuff at the best of times. What they charge for Globals is almost criminal. Same thing with Sur La Table. But, markups aside, the prices of Globals *did* go up worldwide simply because the demand exploded and good steel is pricey.

Another thing:
When it comes to cutlery, ingredients...damn near anything regarding the kitchen... I have 2 rules.
1) Only buy from W-S and SLT only when you absolutely can't find it anywhere else.
2) You can ALWAYS find what you're looking for at someplace else.
These 2 rules became doubly true once the internet exploded in the 'aught' years of this century. If you're buying at either of those stores, it's because
-you have a gift cert that you need to use up
-you love spending your money carelessly
-you're too lazy/pressed for time to look elsewhere
(or any combination thereof) which is ok... as long as you realise that's what's going on. If you think you *need* to buy anything at those stores because it's the *only place* then you need to come closer so I can dope-slap you in the back of the head a few times.

One more thing:
A dull knife and a sharp knife. Both will cut you, but the sharp cut will hurt less.
I speak from personal experience on this one.
I have cut myself innumerable times, for various reasons (or combination thereof)
-wasn't paying attention
-was trying to rush
-got startled/distracted
-using the wrong tool for the job
-failed to maintain a clutter-free work area
-knife wasn't sharp enough or wasn't cleaned properly

When a sharp knife cuts me, I often don't really feel it right away, or at least not as much as you'd expect. I usually only really start to feel the cut when it starts to bleed or when I've handled something acidic or salty.

When I'm cut with a knife that needed sharpening, I feel it right away and it's usually a 'messy' cut, where the blade edge jumped around and tore rather than sliced. These cuts can usually be prevented simply by paying attention and making sure that the knife gets a few passes with the steel before each and every use.

In the end, though, nothing beats a properly sharpened, clean knife. Speaking of which, I've noticed that my knife has been starting to 'skip' across my onions lately, so I believe that it's time to have those bad boys sharpened.
Right now, even with the large amount of cooking I do in a month, it looks like I'm averaging about 2 years between professional sharpening sessions.
Great for me, not so great for the local sharpening place. :)
I'll have to see if the place I took them last time is even still open.
I neglected a very important rule...

Always keep in touch with the following people:
your dentist
your barber/hair stylist
your doctor
your mechanic
your butcher/fish monger
your knife sharpener
your dry cleaner
When you absolutely need them is absolutely not the time to find out that they're retired/out of business/changed mgt/gone to crap.
*nodnodnod*