Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

seattleultrasonics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 697 posts

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#251

Post by thomassmith65 »

wisty wrote: post #246

Why is it people here seem so unusually sceptical? It's expensive (but not really, only compared to knives - a $500 GPU isn't expensive). It's probably mostly good in certain niches and using a $10 knife that's sharpened properly is probably 95% as good in almost every application, and using a $10 knife that is only reasonably well sharpened is probably 90% as good. Slicing stuff for hotpot or yakiniku or Korean BBQ…

It's the lack of pragmatism.

"Sure, people claim the kitchen knife has been a solved problem for hundreds of years, but what if there was a kitchen knife that had a battery inside and cost $500?"

And if this version of the knife doesn't connect to the cloud, the next one will.

It all seems quite gimmicky.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#252

Post by kmoser »

gehsty wrote: post #232
NortySpock wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The wet cloth between the counter and the cutting block keeps the cutting block from sliding / moving on you when force is applied, which is more comfortable and safer.

I cook every day, and I’m also a mechanical engineer, I’ve never understood where the sideways force comes from. I’ve also never had a board slide away from me. Tbh I thought this came from chefs chopping on stainless steel worktop. I’d like to understand.

When you chop, you're applying force almost entirely vertically. When you slice, you're applying at least some force horizontally. That horizontal force can be transmitted through the knife to the food to the cutting board, causing the board to slide. It's especially noticeable when you're slicing food that is high, like a loaf of bread, and the cutting board is on a slick stone countertop.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#253

Post by kmoser »

pkulak wrote: post #23
DennisP wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same as a really sharp knife. In general though, dull knives are more dangerous. You have to cut with more pressure and they're more likely to slip.

There must be a limit though. Surely a light saber is not more safe than a dull knife.

Actually, a light saber is 100% safe since it doesn't exist.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#255

Post by tptacek »

jorvi wrote: post #247
knifemaster wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was getting the impression that you are "selling" the fact that the performance of this knife is based on false advertising, and using personal anecodes and some anonymous people as a supporting argument. That's basically the only issue. Aside from that, in my opinion dicing an onion is a much more simple task for a knife than taking a very thin slice of a tomato. And in both cases it is likely more about the techn…

Well, I can't speak to "false advertising", but the thin slice he did with the tomato and the grape you can just achieve with a well-sharpened knife. Both sides of a whetstone and then a strop will get you there. As for the sticking, this is solved by vertical fluting already. Ultrasonic vibration is a complicated solution for a problem that has already been solved by the simple solution of just sharpening your knive…

He acknowledges you can do that with a well-sharpened knife. Of course you can do it with a well-sharpened knife. It's exactly the demo every single sharp knife does! His claim is that the ultrasonic knife will always do that cut, whether or not you assiduously keep it sharp, which is what I have to do with my MAC and Yuki to make it cut tomatoes like that.

But most chef-knife cutting isn't thin tomato slices, and you can always do that cut with a good thin serrated bread knife, too. I want to see it dice an onion. Seems like a small ask.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#256

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

thomassmith65 wrote: post #251
wisty wrote: post #246

Why is it people here seem so unusually sceptical? It's expensive (but not really, only compared to knives - a $500 GPU isn't expensive). It's probably mostly good in certain niches and using a $10 knife that's sharpened properly is probably 95% as good in almost every application, and using a $10 knife that is only reasonably well sharpened is probably 90% as good. Slicing stuff for hotpot or yakiniku or Korean BBQ…

It's the lack of pragmatism. "Sure, people claim the kitchen knife has been a solved problem for hundreds of years, but what if there was a kitchen knife that had a battery inside and cost $500? " And if this version of the knife doesn't connect to the cloud, the next one will. It all seems quite gimmicky.

Kudos if they develop a knife that blunts itself when your subscription expires.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#257

Post by veidr »

I think a lot of the commentary here is missing the main point — while you may not (I mean, certainly do not) need an ultrasonic chef's knife, it's a cool origin story, and the guy has the receipts! Years of iterations of circuit board design, blade shapes, and the robotic cut-test arm... I personally would enjoy using this in my kitchen just for the hacker vibes.

Although not a pro, or even a good cook, I do like quality knives — but, like most people who develop a casual nice-knife affinity, I then bought a few quality knives, a couple of junk knives to try restoring with a whetstone, a hand-made Japanese knife with my name on it, and... then I had enough kitchen knives to last the rest of my life, and there was no reason to buy any more.

This is the first one I have considered in years. Not because I need it, or because it's necessarily better at cutting must things than the workhorse Sekimagoroku nakiri I use[1] but because it's fucking neat and radiates nerdium waves.

This knife should be celebrated for what it is: basically an epic nerd project. That can also cut at least a few kinds of fruit more easily (or at least more enjoyably).

[1]: KAI model AE5206 (which seems very much like a Shun knife, made by the same company, but cost me only $53)

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#258

Post by Hikikomori »

gehsty wrote: post #232
NortySpock wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The wet cloth between the counter and the cutting block keeps the cutting block from sliding / moving on you when force is applied, which is more comfortable and safer.

I cook every day, and I’m also a mechanical engineer, I’ve never understood where the sideways force comes from. I’ve also never had a board slide away from me. Tbh I thought this came from chefs chopping on stainless steel worktop. I’d like to understand.

Wood board on stone surfare when the wood isn't perfectly level and it will just rotate with very little force applied.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#259

Post by scythe »

oofbey wrote: post #248
niccl wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd really like to see a citation for 25 Hz. It feels to me like a decimal point might be missing. And how does the knife moving at twice the frequency of the vegetables being cut work? do they do two complete cycles of the knife for every cut of the veges? that's not what I've seen watching cooking shows (which might not be the best thing to watch for this to be seen, of course)

25 chops per second would be EXTRAORDINARY. Possible? Probably but only with super elite training. Most competent home chefs can probably do 5 Hz and probably struggle to get to 10 Hz.

The sixteenth notes in "Crazy Train"[1] are nominally 552 per minute, or 9.2 Hz. Moving a knife at 10 Hz is probably very difficult. I would expect 2-3 Hz is a normal pace for a skilled knife user and 4-5 Hz is showing off.

1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tMDFv5m18Pw#t=0m32s

Post reply on HN