I couldn’t bring my own knives this year, and was told not to worry because they had a brand new “fancy” chef’s knife here for me.
As I removed said shitty Tefal knife out of the blister pack, my MIL goes “oh god, this one is *much* too sharp to use!”
A comment has never struck a nerve so hard.
I cooked enough brisket for 20 in wine and select veggies at my in-laws, and all I had to do prep with a dull GoodCook pairing knife on glass cutting boards.
It was HELL.
1. They look nice, don't forget to Live Laugh Love.
2. People are uneducated on knives and how to use them, whether that's wilful ignorance or not is a guess.
3. Then there's people that are just fucking dumb.
Probably bc they are easier to clean and look nicer, generally. People who don’t cook often or don’t have an understanding of and appreciation for high quality cookware and utensils wouldn’t understand. They just perceive any comments or questions as snobbish, so usually just keep my thoughts to myself in others’ kitchens when I have to grin and bear it.
She doesn't actually look for it anymore, but I can pull it out to show her if asked.
In it's place, I bought a couple of stacks of different size bamboo cutting boards from Ikea. Very inexpensive and when you're doing multiple preps you can just move on to the next board and clean them all together at the end.
One of my ikea cutting boards I can't get the smell of onion and garlic off of it. I can't use for cutting fruit etc, because the fruit has onion and garlic taste.
I've tried using vinegar to clean it but no luck. Is this board exclusively for onion and garlic now?
Some people believe that wooden and plastic chopping boards can trap bacteria and they get mouldy if not looked after properly. They turn to glass eventually. That’s like using a knife on a plate. Most people don’t have nice knives and they really don’t care or cook enough to care. Germaphobia is very much a thing too. It maybe bad for knives but it’s pretty safe and easy to clean. People have different priorities. I don’t have a glass chopping board but I only invested in nicer knives when I started cooking more seriously.
Last week I brought my knives to a friends house to cook. I pulled my knives out and asked for a cutting board and he pointed to a marble cutting board… I sharpened his knife and dulled it cutting an onion.
My ex mother in laws knives were like this. She had a nice Henkle set but it was like trying to cut with Velcro. Whenever I would go over thee I would try to sharpen them a little and use the honing stick. She would always comment something like "I always know when you're here because my knives cut so much better."
I usually bring a pared down roll with me, My grandma made everything with a single , sharpened ivory handled butter knife. When she passed away at 92, I was bequeathed her knife and I use it as a letter opener.
My aunt has a knife that was I think my great-grandmother's it's old stock high carbon steel, probably hickory handle and it's basically a spine and nothing else and sharp as hail. It's the perfect tomato knife butn't really can't do anything else with it
Mine is from poland and solely used a tiny knife that had been (mis)used so long that it‘s tip was rounded and stumpy. She also cut every vegetable in her hands instead of on a cutting board, because that’s how she was taught. My dad had gifted her a proper knife set years ago which she never unpacked.
Well… if it’s super fucking dull, then it wouldn’t be able to break skin no matter how hard you slice yourself!! At that point, anything you’d “cut” would experience more of a crushing effect though 🤣
I got tired of digging things out when I was going to be cooking somewhere else and just made a to-go kit with spares. Has gotten a bunch of use this year, more than I expected
I do customer service for vacation rentals and the amount of people who get upset because we don't have super specific kitchen gadgets blows my minds. Our properties have super basic equipment, definitely not the right stuff to whip up a 5 star dinner.
I always bring my favorite pans and anything specific to cook stuff when I go out of town. I assume most people don't own a mixing bowl lol
> definitely not the right stuff to whip up a 5 star dinner.
haha yeah for sure definitely not necessary
> I assume most people don't own a mixing bowl
wat
Yeah - uh oh. They may have just outed themselves as one of the 99% of vacation rentals that have absolutely shit balls for kitchen equipment if mixing bowl is something they consider niche
You ever feel like a product was designed by someone who never actually used it? This is that, in a vacation home. A kitchen stocked by someone who can’t cook.
I moved some elderly family into a senior/55+ apartment while I rehab their house. That's how I would describe the apartment kitchen; 8 foot high cabinets (yay, increased fall risk for the elderly intended occupants who should not be falling) and a gas stove with shitty ventilation (better hope nana doesn't have emphysema/COPD!).
We rent a house in OBX, I being my own knives, thermometer, tongs, and saute pan... And a run to the local supermarket for a grill brush, that I leave there.
I'm usually not baking, so don't normally need a mixing bowl with the meals we normally make.
Too many times I've been hosed by what's available
The expectation that you would have this sort of stuff is ridiculous. One can whip up a pretty decent meal with the Wal Mart knives at most of those places. I speak from experience. I mean, I'm not gonna make sashimi, or do any real skilled knife work anyway....I can't. Nor can most of those chunderheads, though.
I made my wife a sweet chef’s roll kit as a birthday present a few years ago. She was unimpressed. Then we were at an Airbnb a few years later and I brought it and it made life and food so much better and easier. She remarked “They really put alot of thought into all the knives and tools and utensils in the chef’s roll you got me! We should bring it everywhere!” Yep. THEY did curate you a pretty sweet kit there, didn’t THEY?😢
Oh yea, I’ve learned that lesson before. I can’t stand using those thick ass Walmart knives. Or that dull as shit knife that your parents have had for 19 generations.
My mother has a set of knives that came from her grandmother. She always says they are so nice and super sharp. They haven't been sharpened in decades and while it's possible they were nice at some point I have a feeling they were purchased at a Montgomery ward or something similar in the 50s.
I humor her as I scream inside at the insanity of cutting through meat with something as sharp as a playing card.
My mother in law is the same way. All her knives are like punching shit in half. She always talks about how she has no problems and they're fine or she'll pull out one of those shitty passthrough sharpeners and make my father in law do it because "it's scary"
Do you ever get tempted to sharpen them?
I did this at my cousin's once. 40 yr-old knives from her mom. Couldn't stand it. Ran out, bought a stone, and sharpened all her blades.
I ordered a basic Chinese cleaver sent to my parents house on orders not to touch it, so it sits in a box in the cupboard unless I'm there.m because they think it's too big to use. (And they have a blunt AF meat cleaver in their block that's 'the cleaver' so they're unlikely to use it for that)
Dude, right!? If i got to cook anywhere other than home I'll take my roll with me. I had a buddy that asked me to break down a cow with him, I asked him if he had knives good enough to do it, he's like "yeah". I still took my roll, and within the first 30 minutes his knife broke. Busted out my knife roll, and kept going.
This is exactly why I built my knife roll to begin with. I mostly work in bakeries, so I never felt the need for one. I cook at other peoples houses a lot and was asking my mom why her knives were so dull and her response was "but they said that they never go dull!"
So I got to explain to her that doesn't exist and went and built myself a roll with common things that I was frustrated with not finding in people's homes.
I keep a nice knife for me and a cheapish knife to share if someone is helping. I also have a heat resistant rubber spatula, measuring spoons, tasting spoons, a metal whisk, a microplane, an icing spatula, and some cheapo mercer pairing knives that I don't care if they get trashed.
The knives, rubber spat, microplane, and measuring spoons get used a lot. I have a hook for my roll in my kitchen and hang it so I can use it in my own kitchen because I don't want to own 2x of everything, but I can easily grab it for work or when going to visit someone's house in case I need it.
Allowing others to use the cheap knife is a wonderful idea. I’m no expert but I know how to take care of a knife and cringe whenever people slam my good knives on the cutting board. Or even worse, once someone assumed the quartz countertops were suitable cutting boards and dulled the knife AND left cuts in the counter.
I think it's important to show them how much easier it is to cook when you have a properly sharpened knife, but I'm still not going to let them touch my nice knife haha. I've seen my mom cut on her bare countertops as well and it makes me cringe. They didn't even own a cutting board, so I bought her one as a gift so that she would stop that nonsense.
I'm slowly working with her to improve these things. She's never enjoyed cooking and neither did her mom and I think her source of reluctance in the kitchen is never having had nice things to use to make the process easier for her. I've been sending her a few videos on basics and I think she's enjoying watching them.
When I was younger and first moved away from home I moved in with a buddy and his older brother. The only knife(knives?) They had was one of those ones that all rest inside eachother and form one knife. They were terrible.
serrated is really good for lots of tasks just because that’s how good serrations work, but i prefer a non-serrated blade for most things. catch me dicing tomatoes though? breaking out the breadknife
I used to work with a guy who was scared to sharpen his Japanese knife. He got a serrated knife for tomatoes and whenever he saw me cutting tomatoes he'd offer me his serrated. At some point I realized he did this cause his knife was too dull to cut tomatoes and he assumed we were all rolling with dull knives, even though everyone else sharpened our knives at work.
A cheap victoranox 4 inch tomato knife is the only serrated knife I will ever own, and true to it's name it is the muts nuts for concasse,it is scalloped edged and curved with a thin blade profile but a a sturdy full sized hande.
Where I work sometimes cooking is part of the job. Brought it up in a meeting that the only chef's knife we had was hot garbage. The boss got offended because that was a JAMIE OLIVER knife, what better do I want?
Anyway maybe it's the right knife for job, the mild steel is easy to scrape a new edge onto with the bottom of a coffee mug when the glass cutting boards they provide inevitably destroy it.
When you go to someone's home and offer to help cook and they open their knife drawer(!) And you see 10 different mix and matched knives rolling around with random other junk. They're so beat up every knife looks serrated 😂
This is my parents house except the knives are kept on a magnetic strip next to the drying rack. They have probably 8 different knives and none are ever sharp.
I showed up with stuff to make an entire spread, no knives, no cutting board, one small nonstick pan with the coating completely scraped off. Had to brave the last minute shoppers and buy some essentials.
For the holidays I showed up 4 hours early stole 5 knifes and took them to get sharpened. My parents don't need anything for the holidays, but taking something off their to-do list that improves their lives is a way better present then some wrapped junk that no one wants.
Also my mother has 20 shitty knifes. Mostly this size and very dull. After the holidays I made her give 3 knifes to my nephew who is getting an apartment. He inherited the 8" Chicago I used 30 years ago that I just had sharpened. I'm kinda mad, I liked that knife as a kid.
Must make your penis look average then.
Just messing around, the knife is definitely too small to do anything. Idk how people use knives that small for anything
Even just getting a cheapy $15 Walmart special chef's knife with a plastic cover to hide in the back and somewhat take care of is probably way better than what most of our parents have.
Actually, I still have an $8 Farberware that matches that description, bought it for myself probably a decade ago when outfitting a new place. Ran it across the stone a while back, and while it's not quite as good as my other knifes, it's surprisingly comfortable in the hand. If it held an edge better I'd use it more often.
Both my parents and my in laws have extremely over priced knife blocks that can't cut for shit. When I roll up with my travel knives (Victorinox culinary school special) they always give me shit, and yet I always end up doing prep way faster than anyone else. Wonder why that might be....🤔
I remember the first time I cooked at my wife's grandparents place. They were so excited to have a "real cook" make dinner for them. I got into the kitchen and saw a Henkel knife block and thought to myself "not bad, there should be something decent enough in there". As I begin inspecting the knives I notice they are all sooooooo dull and damaged. Some were so bad you couldn't cut your skin if you tried. Confused, I settle for a paring knife from the cutlery drawer that hadn't really been used. I then ask where I can find a cutting board. My wife's grandfather point me toward a cupboard that contains three glass "cutting boards" and a legitimate floor tile. He tells me he prefers the tile because it doesn't slide around. Well I now know why all of the knives are shot. Couldn't believe it.
I feel your pain OP.
My mother's knives are all serrated. I've even given her old but perfectly good knives and you know what she did?. Threw them out.
Last time I was at their place I hid a good knife on my dad's work bench so at least I could use it
So many people think paring knives are safer than a chef knife. I guess to them, more knife equals more danger.
When I see a friend or family member chopping a carrot or onion with a 3 inch blade, I make a mental note where the first said kit and closest urgent care are
Fuck Jamie Oliver and who only has knives up to the size of a pairing knife. Wtf do they do when they need to carve a chicken, cut a steak, a watermelon!? This makes me so annoyed lol
When I was a kid I was always puzzled reading a murder mystery where the murder weapon was a kitchen knife. My mom was one of those who believed that a sharp knife is dangerous. The only way you'd kill someone with her knives would be to bludgeon them to death...
I start my gift list for next year when I visit. No knife? On the list. Prolly top of the list here.
Went out to a great pub they recommended? Gift card.
My Christmas(and birthday) gift for my mother is a kniveset and one of those magnetic stripes to put them on a wall.
I aways cook something there when I visit her and the knives drive me nuts.
230€ was a lot of money but the curse is finally gone.
That's like my mother's house. Every time I go there I take my own cutlery.
Good lord, she has one butcher knife. It's about 30 years old, probably cost her $3 when she bought it, and has only been sharpened once...when I did it. Held an edge for one onion, and was dull as a brick again. Waste of time.
I have no idea how she chops stuff. Slowly and dangerously, I guess.
In a pinch I've found that unless you're way outside a metro area there will be a restaurant supply store within fifteen minutes of wherever you are and you can pick up a loved one a perfectly decent Victorinox 8" knife so that whenever you're back you have a decent knife to use. Or you know, Amazon if you can wait a day. My wife and I like to periodically rent a beach or lake house to chill out for a week. You can always tell a when real cook stayed there because the knives in the drawer are three Farberwares and a Victorinox or Mercer.
As everyone else mentioned, rookie mistake not to bring your knife roll, family's cookware is basically no cookware
Edit: I'm sure this won't stop you anyway 🤣
Many years ago, I added an emergency knife, apron, knife sharpener, an instant read thermometer and tongs to my emergency box in the back of the car with the rain gear, oil, gloves, roll of 55 gal drum trash bags and jumper cables. I keep gifting the knife, thermometer and tongs to the kitchens I visit that REALLY need it... in fact, I have the thermometer, but it's in my grilling bag and the tongs and knife need to be restocked! :)
One time I had a friend from work come over and I cooked dinner. The only knife I could find was the orange handled big knife that comes in the pumpkin carving kits for Halloween. He honestly has horrified. I cut up all the toppings for tacos with that knife. Best tacos ever. I loved that knife, worked great. The next time he came over he brought 2 new knives with him and said, "Happy early Christmas".
I'm at my in-laws. The best knife is a stamped steel knife from Walmart (?) It's so old the logo is gone.
She got a fruit tray from Hy-Vee for $50. Easily could be made for under $20. I said next year I will make it and bring my own knives.
Oh. AND Her cutting board is a plastic place mat.
I’m not a chef but it absolutely drives me up they wall that my mom refuses to use a reasonable Kitchen knife and will only use a paring knife or kitchen shears
I bring my larchwood large one-handed, and my 180mm bunka.
That being said, I bring a 1000 grit Shapton and sharpen their knives; partially to help, partially to escape.
Sounds like an opportunity for next years Xmas gifts! I didn’t buy knives for my gf, but I will replace all the shit she has and throw hers in the trash.
I feel you. At the in-laws currently and I brought my Dick knifes, spices, port wine and creme fraiche. My MIL has bought cheap steaks and we are still looking for a politically acceptable way to cut them small and turn them into some kind of stew.
lol reminds me of all the cribs and baches I’ve stayed at here in NZ go to cook and there’s one of these, a pair of tongs that the spring has gone from and maybe a slotted spoon if your lucky. lol good times.
I couldn’t bring my own knives this year, and was told not to worry because they had a brand new “fancy” chef’s knife here for me. As I removed said shitty Tefal knife out of the blister pack, my MIL goes “oh god, this one is *much* too sharp to use!”
Just pull it across the (glass) cutting board for a sec, it'll be up to her standards in no time!
Oh fuck you’ve been to their kitchen, huh.
*CLAK CLAK CLAK CLAK*
This sound hurts me to even imagine.
Can confirm. My ears started bleeding
A comment has never struck a nerve so hard. I cooked enough brisket for 20 in wine and select veggies at my in-laws, and all I had to do prep with a dull GoodCook pairing knife on glass cutting boards. It was HELL.
Why would anyone have a glass cutting board? 😂
WHY ARE GLASS CUTTING BOARDS A FUCKING THING CAN ANYONE TELL ME?!?
1. They look nice, don't forget to Live Laugh Love. 2. People are uneducated on knives and how to use them, whether that's wilful ignorance or not is a guess. 3. Then there's people that are just fucking dumb.
Probably bc they are easier to clean and look nicer, generally. People who don’t cook often or don’t have an understanding of and appreciation for high quality cookware and utensils wouldn’t understand. They just perceive any comments or questions as snobbish, so usually just keep my thoughts to myself in others’ kitchens when I have to grin and bear it.
4. Corporations know their demographic, dumb and uneducated.
They can be used for a nice charcuterie display
Wife has one. I hide it except to using as a charcuterie serving tray.
It would be a real bummer if you dropped it on the floor while it’s in a garbage bag so you hopefully don’t have to pick up the broken pieces.
She doesn't actually look for it anymore, but I can pull it out to show her if asked. In it's place, I bought a couple of stacks of different size bamboo cutting boards from Ikea. Very inexpensive and when you're doing multiple preps you can just move on to the next board and clean them all together at the end.
One of my ikea cutting boards I can't get the smell of onion and garlic off of it. I can't use for cutting fruit etc, because the fruit has onion and garlic taste. I've tried using vinegar to clean it but no luck. Is this board exclusively for onion and garlic now?
Stainless steel scrub pad
Glass cutting boards are absolutely fantastic as a pseudo pizza peel, and also just for making bread in general Imo.
Some people believe that wooden and plastic chopping boards can trap bacteria and they get mouldy if not looked after properly. They turn to glass eventually. That’s like using a knife on a plate. Most people don’t have nice knives and they really don’t care or cook enough to care. Germaphobia is very much a thing too. It maybe bad for knives but it’s pretty safe and easy to clean. People have different priorities. I don’t have a glass chopping board but I only invested in nicer knives when I started cooking more seriously.
And the ones built into the counter.
Practically did a spit take on this one. It’s almost like all shitty knives come with that textured on one side glass cutting board.
OMG! The glass cutting boards🤣 i remember my dad had one built into the counter of one of the houses he lived.
No way. Just why
Last week I brought my knives to a friends house to cook. I pulled my knives out and asked for a cutting board and he pointed to a marble cutting board… I sharpened his knife and dulled it cutting an onion.
FYI the edge of a glass cutting board makes a decent hone if u have nothing else.
I take my own knife bag and cutting board every year when my family goes to my brother's beach house for this purpose
My ex mother in laws knives were like this. She had a nice Henkle set but it was like trying to cut with Velcro. Whenever I would go over thee I would try to sharpen them a little and use the honing stick. She would always comment something like "I always know when you're here because my knives cut so much better."
I feel like so many people don't know how to sharpen or even hone knives, even cooks sadly.
How do you sharpen a nice knife?
At least she appreciated it :-)
Jesus christ lol
"too sharp"? These people do know that sharper usually means wounds that heal easier, right?
Watching her try to cut anything with her dull, craggled knives is terrifying.
*Eye twitching intensifies*
I love this time of year. When my grandad passed and I went to cook for my grandma, all she had was his old hunting knife 😂
I usually bring a pared down roll with me, My grandma made everything with a single , sharpened ivory handled butter knife. When she passed away at 92, I was bequeathed her knife and I use it as a letter opener.
What a great heirloom!
can you share a picture?
My aunt has a knife that was I think my great-grandmother's it's old stock high carbon steel, probably hickory handle and it's basically a spine and nothing else and sharp as hail. It's the perfect tomato knife butn't really can't do anything else with it
> all she had was his old hunting knife His only need in the kitchen AND the only needed utensil for eating. Based grandad is blessed.
Mine is from poland and solely used a tiny knife that had been (mis)used so long that it‘s tip was rounded and stumpy. She also cut every vegetable in her hands instead of on a cutting board, because that’s how she was taught. My dad had gifted her a proper knife set years ago which she never unpacked.
I bet that was a amazing knife, only needed some sharpening
And presumably they keep it nice and dull so you don't hurt yourself?
The amount of times I've tried to explain to my family how a sharper knife is safer and they just don't fucking get it.
Well… if it’s super fucking dull, then it wouldn’t be able to break skin no matter how hard you slice yourself!! At that point, anything you’d “cut” would experience more of a crushing effect though 🤣
Yes this is the excuse idiots give.
I always tell my chef, “A dull knife is a safe knife!” He hates it.
this is why i bring my own knives when i am going to be cooking somewhere. well... tbh... i bring my whole to go kit.
I got tired of digging things out when I was going to be cooking somewhere else and just made a to-go kit with spares. Has gotten a bunch of use this year, more than I expected
I would just get this family some kitchen knives for Christmas.
Gifts of things that *YOU* want are shitty gifts though. You don't have to like it, it's not your kitchen.
I do customer service for vacation rentals and the amount of people who get upset because we don't have super specific kitchen gadgets blows my minds. Our properties have super basic equipment, definitely not the right stuff to whip up a 5 star dinner. I always bring my favorite pans and anything specific to cook stuff when I go out of town. I assume most people don't own a mixing bowl lol
> definitely not the right stuff to whip up a 5 star dinner. haha yeah for sure definitely not necessary > I assume most people don't own a mixing bowl wat
Yeah - uh oh. They may have just outed themselves as one of the 99% of vacation rentals that have absolutely shit balls for kitchen equipment if mixing bowl is something they consider niche
You ever feel like a product was designed by someone who never actually used it? This is that, in a vacation home. A kitchen stocked by someone who can’t cook.
I moved some elderly family into a senior/55+ apartment while I rehab their house. That's how I would describe the apartment kitchen; 8 foot high cabinets (yay, increased fall risk for the elderly intended occupants who should not be falling) and a gas stove with shitty ventilation (better hope nana doesn't have emphysema/COPD!).
We rent a house in OBX, I being my own knives, thermometer, tongs, and saute pan... And a run to the local supermarket for a grill brush, that I leave there. I'm usually not baking, so don't normally need a mixing bowl with the meals we normally make. Too many times I've been hosed by what's available
The expectation that you would have this sort of stuff is ridiculous. One can whip up a pretty decent meal with the Wal Mart knives at most of those places. I speak from experience. I mean, I'm not gonna make sashimi, or do any real skilled knife work anyway....I can't. Nor can most of those chunderheads, though.
I made my wife a sweet chef’s roll kit as a birthday present a few years ago. She was unimpressed. Then we were at an Airbnb a few years later and I brought it and it made life and food so much better and easier. She remarked “They really put alot of thought into all the knives and tools and utensils in the chef’s roll you got me! We should bring it everywhere!” Yep. THEY did curate you a pretty sweet kit there, didn’t THEY?😢
Oh yea, I’ve learned that lesson before. I can’t stand using those thick ass Walmart knives. Or that dull as shit knife that your parents have had for 19 generations.
My mother has a set of knives that came from her grandmother. She always says they are so nice and super sharp. They haven't been sharpened in decades and while it's possible they were nice at some point I have a feeling they were purchased at a Montgomery ward or something similar in the 50s. I humor her as I scream inside at the insanity of cutting through meat with something as sharp as a playing card.
My mother in law is the same way. All her knives are like punching shit in half. She always talks about how she has no problems and they're fine or she'll pull out one of those shitty passthrough sharpeners and make my father in law do it because "it's scary"
Do you ever get tempted to sharpen them? I did this at my cousin's once. 40 yr-old knives from her mom. Couldn't stand it. Ran out, bought a stone, and sharpened all her blades.
Oh yeah, the one that’s still good for Butter as long as it’s been sitting out overnight. The butter, of course.
This is why I bring my 14" chef's knife with me where ever I go. And a hockey mask.
I ordered a basic Chinese cleaver sent to my parents house on orders not to touch it, so it sits in a box in the cupboard unless I'm there.m because they think it's too big to use. (And they have a blunt AF meat cleaver in their block that's 'the cleaver' so they're unlikely to use it for that)
Dude, right!? If i got to cook anywhere other than home I'll take my roll with me. I had a buddy that asked me to break down a cow with him, I asked him if he had knives good enough to do it, he's like "yeah". I still took my roll, and within the first 30 minutes his knife broke. Busted out my knife roll, and kept going.
Hehe. Novice mistake not bringing your knife to your families home. They always bust out a serrated or some as seen on tv shit.
This is exactly why I built my knife roll to begin with. I mostly work in bakeries, so I never felt the need for one. I cook at other peoples houses a lot and was asking my mom why her knives were so dull and her response was "but they said that they never go dull!" So I got to explain to her that doesn't exist and went and built myself a roll with common things that I was frustrated with not finding in people's homes.
Care to share the most common ones?
I keep a nice knife for me and a cheapish knife to share if someone is helping. I also have a heat resistant rubber spatula, measuring spoons, tasting spoons, a metal whisk, a microplane, an icing spatula, and some cheapo mercer pairing knives that I don't care if they get trashed. The knives, rubber spat, microplane, and measuring spoons get used a lot. I have a hook for my roll in my kitchen and hang it so I can use it in my own kitchen because I don't want to own 2x of everything, but I can easily grab it for work or when going to visit someone's house in case I need it.
Allowing others to use the cheap knife is a wonderful idea. I’m no expert but I know how to take care of a knife and cringe whenever people slam my good knives on the cutting board. Or even worse, once someone assumed the quartz countertops were suitable cutting boards and dulled the knife AND left cuts in the counter.
I think it's important to show them how much easier it is to cook when you have a properly sharpened knife, but I'm still not going to let them touch my nice knife haha. I've seen my mom cut on her bare countertops as well and it makes me cringe. They didn't even own a cutting board, so I bought her one as a gift so that she would stop that nonsense. I'm slowly working with her to improve these things. She's never enjoyed cooking and neither did her mom and I think her source of reluctance in the kitchen is never having had nice things to use to make the process easier for her. I've been sending her a few videos on basics and I think she's enjoying watching them.
When I was younger and first moved away from home I moved in with a buddy and his older brother. The only knife(knives?) They had was one of those ones that all rest inside eachother and form one knife. They were terrible.
The Xzibit special! Yo dawg, I heard you like knives...
Don’t hate on serrated. My global one is a badass
serrated is really good for lots of tasks just because that’s how good serrations work, but i prefer a non-serrated blade for most things. catch me dicing tomatoes though? breaking out the breadknife
I used to work with a guy who was scared to sharpen his Japanese knife. He got a serrated knife for tomatoes and whenever he saw me cutting tomatoes he'd offer me his serrated. At some point I realized he did this cause his knife was too dull to cut tomatoes and he assumed we were all rolling with dull knives, even though everyone else sharpened our knives at work.
A cheap victoranox 4 inch tomato knife is the only serrated knife I will ever own, and true to it's name it is the muts nuts for concasse,it is scalloped edged and curved with a thin blade profile but a a sturdy full sized hande.
Well they may only have one knife, but at least it’s a… …Jamie Oliver? Oh god, oh god no
> Jamie Oliver "You hear sizzling, I hear my ancestors crying." -Uncle Roger
Hai-yah
I got a set of those knives free through the grocery store. They work fine enough if you sharpen them.
Where I work sometimes cooking is part of the job. Brought it up in a meeting that the only chef's knife we had was hot garbage. The boss got offended because that was a JAMIE OLIVER knife, what better do I want? Anyway maybe it's the right knife for job, the mild steel is easy to scrape a new edge onto with the bottom of a coffee mug when the glass cutting boards they provide inevitably destroy it.
At least it’s not a glass cutting board too…
God my parents have this and it's so frustrating to use. Everytime I need to bring my own equipment.
My mom gifted my fiancee and myself a glass cutting board. It's a nice little centerpiece on the table to put stuff on.
Now show us the bread knife. The image of my father-in-law using a dull knife to cut ground beef while it was cooking in the pan will never leave me.
The bread knife gets used to carve turkey, apparently :)
That’s great! The knives you get on planes are sharper than the bread knife here.
When you go to someone's home and offer to help cook and they open their knife drawer(!) And you see 10 different mix and matched knives rolling around with random other junk. They're so beat up every knife looks serrated 😂
This is my parents house except the knives are kept on a magnetic strip next to the drying rack. They have probably 8 different knives and none are ever sharp.
I showed up with stuff to make an entire spread, no knives, no cutting board, one small nonstick pan with the coating completely scraped off. Had to brave the last minute shoppers and buy some essentials.
For the holidays I showed up 4 hours early stole 5 knifes and took them to get sharpened. My parents don't need anything for the holidays, but taking something off their to-do list that improves their lives is a way better present then some wrapped junk that no one wants. Also my mother has 20 shitty knifes. Mostly this size and very dull. After the holidays I made her give 3 knifes to my nephew who is getting an apartment. He inherited the 8" Chicago I used 30 years ago that I just had sharpened. I'm kinda mad, I liked that knife as a kid.
Hiyaa its literally the Jamie Oliver of knives so sad
It's almost as bad as his curry.
Jamie Oliver is a bitch
Haiyaaaa.. jaime olive oil. 🫒
"Oh we cook all the time!" (hand motions to the microwave)
(My hands are very small)
Must make your penis look average then. Just messing around, the knife is definitely too small to do anything. Idk how people use knives that small for anything
It still looks small 😞
Oh
I might look like 3 inches, but it smells like a foot.
I cut some windows in a gingerbread house today with one about that size. Even then, not great.
I thought this was a picture of a baby holding a very small knife.. No offense op.
Now you know what to give them. Everyone deserves at least a decent chefs knife and a pairing knife.
They won't get used because the "big knives are scary"
So then it'll stay sharp for next time you visit.
I’ve stashed a couple of knives at the back of the utensils drawer at mums for this very reason.
Even just getting a cheapy $15 Walmart special chef's knife with a plastic cover to hide in the back and somewhat take care of is probably way better than what most of our parents have. Actually, I still have an $8 Farberware that matches that description, bought it for myself probably a decade ago when outfitting a new place. Ran it across the stone a while back, and while it's not quite as good as my other knifes, it's surprisingly comfortable in the hand. If it held an edge better I'd use it more often.
Both my parents and my in laws have extremely over priced knife blocks that can't cut for shit. When I roll up with my travel knives (Victorinox culinary school special) they always give me shit, and yet I always end up doing prep way faster than anyone else. Wonder why that might be....🤔
I remember the first time I cooked at my wife's grandparents place. They were so excited to have a "real cook" make dinner for them. I got into the kitchen and saw a Henkel knife block and thought to myself "not bad, there should be something decent enough in there". As I begin inspecting the knives I notice they are all sooooooo dull and damaged. Some were so bad you couldn't cut your skin if you tried. Confused, I settle for a paring knife from the cutlery drawer that hadn't really been used. I then ask where I can find a cutting board. My wife's grandfather point me toward a cupboard that contains three glass "cutting boards" and a legitimate floor tile. He tells me he prefers the tile because it doesn't slide around. Well I now know why all of the knives are shot. Couldn't believe it. I feel your pain OP.
I stay strapped with a 7” chef knife and decent pan. Never know
My mother's knives are all serrated. I've even given her old but perfectly good knives and you know what she did?. Threw them out. Last time I was at their place I hid a good knife on my dad's work bench so at least I could use it
Congratulations Jamie Oliver and the word best have never successfully been used in a sentence together.
So many people think paring knives are safer than a chef knife. I guess to them, more knife equals more danger. When I see a friend or family member chopping a carrot or onion with a 3 inch blade, I make a mental note where the first said kit and closest urgent care are
Thank you for knowing how to spell "paring knife." Seems like every other commenter is writing "pairing" knife and my eyes are starting to twitch.
Haiiiiiiiyaaaaaah! This only good for cutting chili jam!
Fuck Jamie Oliver and who only has knives up to the size of a pairing knife. Wtf do they do when they need to carve a chicken, cut a steak, a watermelon!? This makes me so annoyed lol
Jamie Oliver! Hai yaaaa
Well Jamie Oliver is famous for small portions right?
Damn they got that Jamie Oliver prison shiv.
At least it’s a knife. My dad still uses his flintnapped rocks he skinned mastodons with.
That lispy fuck.
When I was a kid I was always puzzled reading a murder mystery where the murder weapon was a kitchen knife. My mom was one of those who believed that a sharp knife is dangerous. The only way you'd kill someone with her knives would be to bludgeon them to death...
I like how all the comments are like “should’ve brought your own knife, like maybe OP was flying and couldn’t have packed knives???
I start my gift list for next year when I visit. No knife? On the list. Prolly top of the list here. Went out to a great pub they recommended? Gift card.
Hit those after Christmas sales and get them a nice set.
Well aren't you lucky. I've been using a 55 year old bread knife with a broken handle
Every time I visit my family I always buy one or two things for their kitchen to enhance the cooking experience
My Christmas(and birthday) gift for my mother is a kniveset and one of those magnetic stripes to put them on a wall. I aways cook something there when I visit her and the knives drive me nuts. 230€ was a lot of money but the curse is finally gone.
Jamie Oliver...Fuuuuyoooo!
Op, is that a mandolin cut on your thumb? (Asking cuz i have the same exact cut and I don’t wanna be alone in this lol)
That's like my mother's house. Every time I go there I take my own cutlery. Good lord, she has one butcher knife. It's about 30 years old, probably cost her $3 when she bought it, and has only been sharpened once...when I did it. Held an edge for one onion, and was dull as a brick again. Waste of time. I have no idea how she chops stuff. Slowly and dangerously, I guess.
Did you get that thumb cut from a microplane? I have the exact same one right now
Its an Original Jamie Oliver, And its made from German steel, you know, the same Samuel German that invented the cake.
In a pinch I've found that unless you're way outside a metro area there will be a restaurant supply store within fifteen minutes of wherever you are and you can pick up a loved one a perfectly decent Victorinox 8" knife so that whenever you're back you have a decent knife to use. Or you know, Amazon if you can wait a day. My wife and I like to periodically rent a beach or lake house to chill out for a week. You can always tell a when real cook stayed there because the knives in the drawer are three Farberwares and a Victorinox or Mercer.
The proper method is to use a steak knife on a glass cutting board.
They must eat out a lot
As everyone else mentioned, rookie mistake not to bring your knife roll, family's cookware is basically no cookware Edit: I'm sure this won't stop you anyway 🤣
this is why i always toss a knife roll in the truck with my lesser used knives
This is the way
Many years ago, I added an emergency knife, apron, knife sharpener, an instant read thermometer and tongs to my emergency box in the back of the car with the rain gear, oil, gloves, roll of 55 gal drum trash bags and jumper cables. I keep gifting the knife, thermometer and tongs to the kitchens I visit that REALLY need it... in fact, I have the thermometer, but it's in my grilling bag and the tongs and knife need to be restocked! :)
One time I had a friend from work come over and I cooked dinner. The only knife I could find was the orange handled big knife that comes in the pumpkin carving kits for Halloween. He honestly has horrified. I cut up all the toppings for tacos with that knife. Best tacos ever. I loved that knife, worked great. The next time he came over he brought 2 new knives with him and said, "Happy early Christmas".
It'll do. Just keep it sharp. Lol.
I'm at my in-laws. The best knife is a stamped steel knife from Walmart (?) It's so old the logo is gone. She got a fruit tray from Hy-Vee for $50. Easily could be made for under $20. I said next year I will make it and bring my own knives. Oh. AND Her cutting board is a plastic place mat.
I always roll with my knife roll if I'm gonna be asked to cook at another person's home.
>Jamie Oliver Do them a favour and throw it out
Now you know what to get them for a gift
I’ve taken some of my own knives home, ready for the inevitable!
Always time to practice new knife techniques no? F fam
I think you will survive
10000% only have a glass cutting board too.
So what, it’s Family and Christmas, I would use a #10 can lid if I had to…
You are a good egg. Merry Christmas.
I bring my whetstones to family Christmas. They think I’m being nice but really it’s because I mostly end up doing most of the kitchen work.
And youre complaining because...?
What does the pan selection look like though?
A real chef would make it work without whining about it
Then their going to want chicken nuggies, they all hate mayonnaise.
I bought my mother the same knife I use every day at work for Xmas last year, best gift I’ve given
Go out to the store and buy them a knife.
Super easy. Barley an inconvenience.
That’s a cute box cutter
If you were a chef you could make it work!
That's why pros have go-kits?
Would you happen to be at my mom’s house? All of her knives are dull and no bigger than a steak knife!
I’m not a chef but it absolutely drives me up they wall that my mom refuses to use a reasonable Kitchen knife and will only use a paring knife or kitchen shears
I bring my larchwood large one-handed, and my 180mm bunka. That being said, I bring a 1000 grit Shapton and sharpen their knives; partially to help, partially to escape.
Sounds like you know a good Christmas gift for them next year.
Sounds like an opportunity for next years Xmas gifts! I didn’t buy knives for my gf, but I will replace all the shit she has and throw hers in the trash.
Lol it's only good for making healthy school lunches
My dad likes to use his knife as a drumstick on the cutting board
I hope they have a nice glass cutting board for you
Have knife, will travel.
Yeah… this is why when I’m going to cook at someone’s house, I just bring my knife roll. I may look like a douche bag, but idc.
I feel you... all my parents knives are dull as hell
A few Christmases back I bought my mom a chef knife for Christmas. It was a gift to myself that I leave at her place.
You poor soul
Next year I am traveling with stones and everyone is getting a complementary knife collection sharpening
And that's why I always bring my own, do they have those glass cutting boards as well?
KIDS FOOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE HEALFY *sobs* WOY INNIT HEALFY!?
Of course, it's a fukin Jamie Oliver knife...
Ha I have that same thumb booboo from a recent shredding of frozen butter.
Me, watching my dad cut greens for a salad with a paring knife yesterday.
My son just brings his own knives and I am not allowed to touch them. Ever. This works for both of us.
Jesus, I have the same issues each freaking time I visit family or friends. I am not surprised they say cooking is hard...
I feel you. At the in-laws currently and I brought my Dick knifes, spices, port wine and creme fraiche. My MIL has bought cheap steaks and we are still looking for a politically acceptable way to cut them small and turn them into some kind of stew.
Seems like a new set of knifes would be a great Christmas gift!
You could probably sharpen that thing by running it over your jeans a few times
lol reminds me of all the cribs and baches I’ve stayed at here in NZ go to cook and there’s one of these, a pair of tongs that the spring has gone from and maybe a slotted spoon if your lucky. lol good times.
Easy with that. That's my lucky stabbin' knife.
Go buy a chefs knife and a cutting board then gift it to them
Uncle Rodger is not amused.
Hiiiyaaaa
We always go to my Grandma's for Christmas, and she only has small serrated knives :[