Live data from Hacker News

Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

seattleultrasonics.com

431–440 of 697 posts

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>People spend hundreds of dollars and many hours sharpening kitchen knives... What amazes me is how many people spend absolutely zero time sharpening knives, using decades-old knives that have never been sharpened and can't even cut through cucumbers.

I don't use knives in my kitchen. My romantic partner does. Yesterday I decided to cut some tomatoes only to find out that all knives are dull. She never said anything, I didn't know it. Why? Because she is just "used" to it and to her these knives were just fine. So she never thought about sharpening knives in the first place. I will take those knives to a pro and he will sharpen them for me, as in a rental I stay i…

This is all very defeatist. Learn to sharpen your knives for your own sake and your... romantic partner. It's a very basic life skill that you should know.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#432
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…

E-waste can be solved without reducing the number of items. Just requires basic investments in recycling.

Recycling is a sham. There is mostly no efficient recycling of sufficiently advanced components, the industry just spent decades on making you think you can buy lots of cheap things and all that trash isn’t your problem. Well it is.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#434
This is super cool tech and I truly appreciate the grind this guy went through to bring a hardware product to life.

At the same time, I've been using a $5 chef knife for almost a decade and just giving it a few passes against a honing steel every few weeks. It gets plenty sharp after that, to the point where I don't feel I'm missing anything. Then again, I'm just a home cook who's super into kitchen knives so I acknowledge I'm not in the target market.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#435
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…

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 spend hours every 6 months or so sharpening knifes on whetstones. I like the excuse to have some me time, listen to an audiobook or just do some thinking. Akin to meditation.

I also dont like the blades ruined through automatic sharpeners - the knifes are made of good quality steel, were made to order in Jp, and have sentimental value. I also sharpen the cheap knifes this way, tho - I like manual work.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#437
Why can't you just buy a cheap whetstone and sharpen your knives when they're dull? I have a mid chef's knife from wustoff or zwillig, don't remember which, that I just keep sharp periodically when I notice it's dull. I've had it for years of home cooking.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#438
post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knives get stupid beyond a certain price point. I've been using the same thrift store knife I picked up 15 years ago. It gets sharpened maybe once a year, honed every so often. It was like $20 i think? Most chefs I know have a similar story with their knife/knives, something cheap that does the job. Spending more on knives is just status symbol nonsense, which unfortunately has infected absolutely everything. It's li…

I remember seeing a comment by a local "celebrity chef" where he said he never sharpens cleavers - he just buys a specific inexpensive brand 5 at a time for $8 each and throws them away when they become dull. While I don't agree with externalising the manufacture/disposal costs with that sort of disposable consumption, I do see the economically-rational decision making behind it. If you're running a restaurant in Aus…

If a dull knife takes whole 5 minutes to sharpen, it's 12 knives an hour. At $8 per knife, this is $96 per hour. Not worth it during deep overtime during a public holiday, otherwise...

I suppose someone less handsomely paid collects these disposed knives, sharpens them, and resells them on the side.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#439
Target market is a hobby chef nerd’s mom :)

Otoh: this is NOT how a person cuts with a knife! Kills credibility of the whole complicated measurement with the robot. Just ask a chef to cut on a scale. You will be surprised. People can cut with semi-dull knife by pulling the knife towards their body not pushing down towards the cutting surface.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use knives in my kitchen. My romantic partner does. Yesterday I decided to cut some tomatoes only to find out that all knives are dull. She never said anything, I didn't know it. Why? Because she is just "used" to it and to her these knives were just fine. So she never thought about sharpening knives in the first place. I will take those knives to a pro and he will sharpen them for me, as in a rental I stay i…

Were you cutting tomatoes with a serrated knife? If not, you should be - they do a far better job.

I cut through tomatoes with my pairing knife all the time, with no resistance, and it has a straight blade.
Post reply on HN