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Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

seattleultrasonics.com

451–460 of 697 posts

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#452

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.

Can one even sharpen a serrated knife without destroying the teeth? Google search autocomplete shows I'm not the only one wondering that

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#453
I feel like the demo video embodies a lot of startup advice I've seen on HN about product vs team.

This video makes me like Scott and Seattle Ultrasonics. I feel I can trust Scott's expertise. His backstory fits what I imagine I would do if I were obsessed with a project like this. This makes me compelled to learn more and to maybe become a customer? Why? Because I want to see Scott succeed and would feel proud to be a part of that. Even if this knife didn't end up performing to my expectations or if I didn't really need a knife like this, I want to see Scott make more things. He has a very well-proven record of delivering and I would bet he could do it again.

Funny, that! Whatever type of marketing this is, it works on me.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that video show him doing actual prep? I 100% believe he made a knife that can make a paper-thin slice of a lemon. But that's not what a chef's knife is for. As someone who thinks the world would be a better place if this product worked and was successful: for god's sake record someone processing an onion. That's what matters.

In Rand's video he does an "old" lime, mozzarella, and a shallot. It's just a quick vid he did in like five minutes but it shows some prep. Rand is a prolific amateur chef... https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7374472... Disclaimer: I've enjoyed many delicious meals at Rand's table

Im sorry but the video feels a bit disingenuous with the way he is cutting the lime. With the normal knive he just pushes straight down on the lime and with the vibroknife he actually does a slicing move. Same with the cheese. It doesnt feel like an honest comparison

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#455

I feel like the demo video embodies a lot of startup advice I've seen on HN about product vs team. This video makes me like Scott and Seattle Ultrasonics. I feel I can trust Scott's expertise. His backstory fits what I imagine I would do if I were obsessed with a project like this. This makes me compelled to learn more and to maybe become a customer? Why? Because I want to see Scott succeed and would feel proud to be…

Yeah, I don't know anything about knives and this is definitely not for me, but I will say I think the pitch was a perfect 10/10. I thought I would watch for a few seconds and stayed for the whole thing. Great job.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn, I was set to completely dismiss this as entirely useless overcomplication but making stuff not stick to the knife would be nice.

That’s where a lot of mess comes from, so I’m very interested in this tech. The worst are cucumbers, they stick to the blade and new slices pop them up and they roll everywhere. I get some better results by slightly angling the blade but it’s not perfect. The blade quality doesn’t look great but I think any decent cook that knows how to hone will do just fine with it. I’m not sure I’d spend the money and replace my e…

The thing you are looking for is convex edge geometry https://youtu.be/cZ2Y7lyzq24?t=885. Done right it can massively help with food release.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#457
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…

I wrote in another comment that I think this pitch is a 10/10, but I think I understand the skepticism.

There's something about this sort of product that feels inherently gimmicky. I can't quite explain why, maybe because it's too good to be true, maybe because it's a kitchen appliance, maybe it has something to do with the vibrations.

For instance, my girlfriend has this eye cream applicator(?) that vibrates... for some reason. Is it a gimmick? I don't really know, but there isn't a research paper in the world that would convince me it isn't.

Anyways, this video had me hooked, and I would 100% try this out if I could. But I would never buy it without trying first.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#458
To me the main appeal of this is not that it makes cutting easier (you already reduce much of the cutting force needed if you slice across instead of pushing down, which this seems to be doing at a micrometer level) but the fact that food doesn't stick to the blade.

All of my knives have sticking issues, potato slices are the worst culprits. When doing a lot of prep work on veggies in a cramped area it's a pain and this seems like it could actually fix things?

OTOH, I'm not a huge fan of the design, I don't mind spending good money on a knife but between the blade profile and the chonky handle, it looks like an hybrid between an 8" fibrox and an electric turkey cutter.

If there was a premium release with a fancier handle (could wood work?) and a nicer blade profile (something like a gyuto or a french sabatier) I would be interested and I think it would reduce sticker shock (looks premium, expect premium price). I love the design of the charging tile though!

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Can one even sharpen a serrated knife without destroying the teeth? Google search autocomplete shows I'm not the only one wondering that

I guess it depends on the style of serrated edge. But if you look at commercial tomato knives you'll see they're all serrated.

Re: Ultrasonic Chef's Knife

#460
post #444
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…

> People spend hundreds of dollars and many hours sharpening kitchen knives I am ashamed to admit it, but I have been happily using this 5,99 EUR IKEA knife sharpener for nearly 10 years know: https://www.ikea.com/de/en/p/aspekt-knife-sharpener-black-57... I use it 1-2 times a month for 30 seconds on the 2 knives I use in the kitchen. They pass the paper test. Previously, I used the bottom of a coffee mug. That being…

No need to be ashamed, if it works it works. Whetstones look cooler but they do the same job. I actually bought the same device at a local knife store for my parents and the clerk said it was perfect if you just want to get sharp knives and be done with it. Whetstones or professional sharpening is more useful for pros or knife hobbyists/enthusiasts.
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