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Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

seattleultrasonics.com

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Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#391

Post by komali2 »

razzmatazmania wrote: post #286
Taek wrote: post #243

I'm a bit surprised to see how much snark there is in the comment sections of this video. The requests for "let's see an independent chef use this knife to do real kitchen work" make total sense, but the moralizing around e-waste and losing fingers etc feels off balance. People spend hundreds of dollars and many hours sharpening kitchen knives, of course there's a viable market for sharper kitchen knives. And for e-w…

I'm surprised there isn't moralizing about the price point. I don't see why the US is so far behind in manufacturing efficiency. Everything seem to be 10-100x the cost of comparable Chinese goods, and US labor isn't paid anywhere close to 100x more.

Why would manufacturing cost come into play? Isn't it a given that a company will charge as much as they can get away with charging? Cost of labor and material I understood to only matter at the absolute bottom of a highly commoditized market e.g., bolts or capacitors or whatever. This is the only consumer ultrasonic knife (as far as I know) so they can charge whatever.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#392

Post by bsder »

chneu wrote: post #387
bsder wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I always have to "figure out" sharpening process. Get the Worksharp fixed angle sharpener for about $70 (about the price of 2 decent stones). If you're really interested, get the leather strop add on for about $10. Get on with sharpening your kitchen knives. Put it in your closet until next year. Is it "great"? No. If you want to be a knife nerd, it's not for you. If you have a couple of kitchen knives you need to…

Reiterating that any sharpener with the ability to set the angle is really all anyone needs if they don't want to invest in the time of learning how to sharpen. I have the ruixin version and it works fine. I like that I can use the stones without the system.

Sure. Most fixed angle sharpeners work to some degree, I just recommended one that isn't sold by "Random Letter Chinese Shop" and that I have bought and know personally works.

In addition, for the moment, the stones used in the system I recommended are reliably decent and have been analyzed by a bunch of the YouTube knife nerds. The other fixed angle systems can be hit or miss with the stones.

If someone is sufficiently interested that they want to use the stones without the system, they've started down the path to being a knife nerd and have outgrown my recommendation.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#393

Post by HeyImAlex »

I think if this can keep a knife effectively sharper than the equivalent nice steel with less maintenance, then it’s going to find a market.

I’m a nerd, but Ive found that once I’ve mastered a hobby I eventually gravitate towards convenience, optimizing my time over absolute performance. I’ve built five PCs in my life, and now I only own a macbook. I spent loads of time optimizing my hifi setup, and now most of my apartment is sonos. And I have probably 1k worth of nice japanese knives + whetstones, that I would happily replace with a single knife that needs little to no upkeep.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#394

Post by victorhooi »

jcims wrote: post #273

I've invested close to a thousand dollars in sharpening tools over the years. I keep my knives super sharp as a hobby more than anything. I'd still love to have one of these in the drawer for certain tasks. It's ugly and clunky but I'd probably still use it on a semi-regular basis for warm breads, cheeses, etc. I bet the action would help with sharpening as well. I do wonder if a tuning fork or 'mass on a stick' hidd…

Oh wow - would love to know what you got for sharpening, or what you'd suggest for the home cook?

When you say ugly/clunky - I'm guessing you mean it's a bit heavier, or the weight will be off compared to a good high-end chef's knife? (I don't have anything like that, haha).

I did note on their FAQ they say to never activate the blade whilst sharpening:

https://seattleultrasonics-ceizljlxnpt.gorgias.help/en-US/ho...

> Do not activate the ultrasonics during sharpening - this can damage both the blade and your sharpening stones, as the ultrasonic movement is too aggressive and not evenly distributed across the entire cutting edge. Also, reshaping the blade to a different belly curvature or tip shape can cause it to fall out of tune, so avoid removing more material than you would during normal sharpening.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#395

Post by xdfgh1112 »

john_minsk wrote: post #360
DannyBee wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall agree it seems cool, and maybe interesting. "People spend hundreds of dollars and many hours sharpening kitchen knives," The former, totally agree - i've seen people buy a tormek to do basic knife sharpening (not grinding), which is like swatting a fly with an $800 hammer. The latter, do you mean overall, or in a sitting or what? I've certainly seen people on various forums go nuts, and then you have hertzman…

I admire you. You are a minority, you know that, right? I don't have time in my schedule at the moment, which says "sharpen the knifes". So for me - it would be amazing if someone solved this problem in a radical way. Sporadically I would sharpen the knives and since I don't have it in my "skills" section of the brain, I always have to "figure out" sharpening process.

In Japan I could just drop my knife in a nearby house's box with $6, they'd sharpen it and phone me to pick it up within a few hours. Cheap enough that I never bothered to do it myself.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#396

Post by turtlebits »

geuis wrote: post #272

This product is a huge gimmick. Buy a $20 double sided sharpening stone on amazon and you can keep even the cheapest stainless steel knives sharp and chef ready for years. Just basic knife sharpening skills are needed which you can pick up in 10 minutes on YouTube.

Theres a whole class of people who will pay more to not have to maintain things themselves. I bought an EV because they require little maintenance and I also hate filling up.

I have decent knives but have probably never sharpened them properly. If there are more reviews, I'd pick this up.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#397

Post by benbayard »

HeyImAlex wrote: post #393

I think if this can keep a knife effectively sharper than the equivalent nice steel with less maintenance, then it’s going to find a market. I’m a nerd, but Ive found that once I’ve mastered a hobby I eventually gravitate towards convenience, optimizing my time over absolute performance. I’ve built five PCs in my life, and now I only own a macbook. I spent loads of time optimizing my hifi setup, and now most of my ap…

I am like you, but my concern with this knife is lifespan. My Japanese knives will last a lifetime. This knife has no warranty that I could find, but how long do we expect it to live? If it’s 10 years or so, I could be happy with it.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#398

Post by victorhooi »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #169
jitl wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

drop potato slices with less fuss I’m a decent home cook with decent knife skills and i take my knives to a sharpener from time to time, I have tech job salary, I preordered. Seems neat.

Ok congrats!

Hmm, that seems a bit snarky =(.

I don't think the parent was bragging about the salary thing - a lot of the other comments here are mentioning the price (which to be fair, is definitely in the expensive gadgets/toys bucket...) so he/she (s/g) is saying - he's just a home cook, he's got semi-decent knife skills, and he's in a position that he can afford this.

And let's be honest, tech geeks are basically the target demographic for this sort of thing - as are half the gadgets on Kickstarter. Yes - we can talk all we want about carbon credits, and eWaste, and doing things the old fashioned homestead way when men were men, took cholera and dysentry on the chin, and knew how to use a whetstone, or to whistle (I can do one of those things...)...

I am sorely tempted, and I'm an amateur cook at best...if even that. And truthfully, this probably won't make my food better than a $15 IKEA knife (assuming I just replace those regularly). But it may make the process more enjoyable. And the tech is cool...

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#399

Post by iterance »

gommm wrote: post #364
DannyBee wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall agree it seems cool, and maybe interesting. "People spend hundreds of dollars and many hours sharpening kitchen knives," The former, totally agree - i've seen people buy a tormek to do basic knife sharpening (not grinding), which is like swatting a fly with an $800 hammer. The latter, do you mean overall, or in a sitting or what? I've certainly seen people on various forums go nuts, and then you have hertzman…

Since you seem knowledgeable about knives, Do you know any great knives makers? And are those custom steels or carbide blades worth it? So far, I mostly sharpen my knives on the back of a plate. So definitely could be doing more :)

Most people can buy an opinel and be happy for decades. You don't need anything fancy for a general purpose knife. $50 max, and that's if you're feeling like getting something special.

Expensive steels are, by and large, incremental progress over cheaper knife steels, provided it got an appropriate heat treatment and has good edge geometry. In almost no applications will an end consumer notice the difference.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#400

Post by tptacek »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #390
tptacek wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the handle was the first thing I saw here that gave me pause. The handle shape matters a lot ! Though: do. not. put. your. $300. knife. in. the. dishwasher.

For those of us who aren't knowledgeable in this field, what happens if you do?

It's hard to do irreparable damage to the steel of a knife. It's just an inert lump of metal. But you could fuck up the handle. Theoretically, the detergent could dull your edge. If you don't isolate your knife and it rattles around, that'll definitely dull it. Mostly: it should only take a couple seconds to clean off your knife in the sink.
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