carbon steel kitchen knife recommendations

[dieselmudder]

Does anyone use carbon steel for kitchen and butchering use? Ive been making do with my stainless "fine china" kitchen blades long enough. Ive wanted to get a good set of kitchen knives for some time. I just want to go with good old fashioned carbon steel. Ontario has a set, made in USA and reasonaby priced just under 70 bucks. before i get giddy and buy something i figure i should ask around a little first.

 

[GunnyGene]

Does anyone use carbon steel for kitchen and butchering use? Ive been making do with my stainless "fine china" kitchen blades long enough. Ive wanted to get a good set of kitchen knives for some time. I just want to go with good old fashioned carbon steel. Ontario has a set, made in USA and reasonaby priced just under 70 bucks. before i get giddy and buy something i figure i should ask around a little first.

We have some old ones inherited from my wifes parents, but unless you pop some significant money it's not likely that you'll find the steel you're looking for outside of yard sales or pawn shops. 99% of all kitchen knives have been made from common 440C stainless for the last 30 years or so, and more recently the ceramic knives.

Here's some excellent blades you might consider if you're willing to pay the $$: http://www.japanwoodworker.com/category/13160/kitchen-knives.aspx

A few of these are over $1,000 each.

 

[nitesite]

A Trout Knife from LL Bean is a wonderful knife to have in the kitchen. Seriously.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/7775...-knife&attrValue_0=Rosewood&productId=1286114

 

[jgwills]

As long as you maintain them. My much younger sister eventually inherited my grandmother's very old German Wusthof set and pretty much ruined them. Real shame too because they had an interesting patina to them after so many years of usage. The wood for the handles was also very unique looking. I was never sure of exactly what type of wood it was. I remember grandmother always wiped them down right after using them with a kitchen towel and some mineral oil. She would tell me it kept the wood from drying out and the blade from rusting. That set also kept a decent edge too. In my sister's defense mom never had anything out but modern day stainless in the house and so it was easy to just throw into the dishwasher and be done with it. After grandmother passed mom kept that old knife set and the fine china put away and never used it so there was never a reason to teach my sister. Real shame. Oh well.