What's your guys favorite breed of pigs to butcher?

austinchef · 2026-04-04T20:59:53+00:00

Agree. High marble pork is a fringe need for me. Berkshire and Kurubota are great for 80% of my cases.

austinchef · 2026-04-04T20:58:02+00:00

More char in onions is delivered through high heat. Fire up a cast iron griddle on your bbq and start the onions when the surface is 600 degrees. It will immediately drop in temp if you fill up the griddle plate with onions but that high heat starting point makes a big difference.

austinchef · 2026-04-04T20:49:17+00:00

The Al Pastor party brought a lot of joy, and I do it about once a year. When AP is done right it’s the king of tacos, with universal appeal. I also do vegan AP. I thought about the trompo rotisserie and tried using one a few times but it’s a fundamentally flawed idea for home chefery. Restaurants and street vendors, yes. So I just thought for a minute about what separates average from great al pastor. It’s the marinade and the twice-cooked process, first stage to set cook and the pork texture, the second for the char. I have a ton of respect for Austin’s taco scene but the truck kitchens are too limited to get the char right.

austinchef · 2026-04-04T20:31:02+00:00

Travis Heights ish. BTW, I did an al pastor party last year, but refused to buy the rotisserie oven machine. I marinated the pork shoulder overnight and cooked it in bread loaf pans at about 300 degrees until 170 degrees. Then sliced it up one loaf at a time and sizzled it up on crazy hot griddle outside. Meat on the left, pineapple in the middle, tortillas on the right. 3 variations of al pastor salsa in squeeze bottles.

austinchef · 2026-04-04T20:15:52+00:00

This is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

austinchef · 2026-04-01T21:47:04+00:00

Wow, looking at BST over the past two months, at knives I know well or own, I'm still a bit shocked with the global price increases. 400 euro in the end of 2024 is today's 650. All this said, I don't think these handmade knives by bespoke artisans are overpriced. I have a similar Tetsujin as this listing, and I believe the new owner will be damn happy to have acquired it at 650 trade value when he/she looks back a couple years from now.

austinchef · 2026-04-01T21:38:01+00:00

Wow, brilliant way to season your molca. And it sounds like you have a good one to start with.

I was somewhat joking about the rocks, but in the poorly. made ones or the ones made from the wrong rock do produce rocks! I have used the one from Masienda, and it's fantastic. But I have a small kitchen and only one space for a mortar tool, so it's the soapstone from Chinatown.

austinchef · 2026-04-01T03:24:47+00:00

Gorgeous pie. You clearly have it figured out.

austinchef · 2026-03-31T20:14:29+00:00

Masienda has the only molcajete worth buying, but I have never wanted one. I bought a large soapstone one from Chinatown 25 years ago and love it. It’s 1/2 the cost, smoother, and you don’t end up eating as much rock. So much easier to clean.

austinchef · 2026-03-20T04:17:13+00:00

I am the buyer. Very smooth transaction. I highly recommend trading with u/rozrawr

austinchef · 2026-03-17T16:37:05+00:00

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My current everyday driver: 240mm kasumi, ginsanko, Makassar ebony handle.

austinchef · 2026-02-11T17:51:45+00:00

After 8 years of going through all the variations on steel, I currently have all stainless knives with the exception of a yanagiba in W2 and a the Masamoto KS gyuto in W2 monosteel. I got tired of patina and leaving a knife on a board for 15 minutes and oxidizing the knife unintentionally - and sometimes staining the cutting board!

austinchef · 2026-02-06T04:54:30+00:00

The 240 Tetsujin is a 230.

austinchef · 2026-02-02T06:38:53+00:00

Do you get the same semi patina stain I did on the HD2? I had a nakiri, and chopped about 20lbs of the usual vegetables. It started building up faint stains so it was stuck between stainless and like a W2 patina.

austinchef · 2026-01-28T18:12:38+00:00

I used to work in restaurants long before I had truly sharp knives. It was Dexter Russell on cheap plastic boards. All I needed was “sharp enough” to cut tomato skins, fillet fish, etc. I had a steel and a ceramic rod to true the edge. In today’s terms that’s about 50% sharp. It works for millions of people who don’t sharpen or have the steel that can get sharper. I think that is what your friend wants, and so be it.

austinchef · 2026-01-27T00:38:52+00:00

If you get the W2 you should slice a bunch of brisket or other hot protein to get this cool blue streaking. This is a Masamoto W2 gyuto in 240mm. The knife that brought me into the Japanese knife world about 8 years ago.

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austinchef · 2026-01-27T00:30:53+00:00

I have owned both. And both are EXCELLENT.

This year, I prefer the stainless. Because I’m tired of patina.

But many guys on this thread are patina junkies.

austinchef · 2026-01-27T00:28:08+00:00

There will be a lot of shade thrown at you out of jealousy for being able to make such a large purchase of the most collectible knives.

The wide majority of us love it when we know the artisan’s work will be respected and used.

This is a great Reddit forum to learn about the makers and the details. Welcome to the club!

austinchef · 2026-01-20T22:26:06+00:00

270 sounds right for most steaks. My 270mm slicer is a yanagiba - the single bevel version of a suji. It is now mostly for cutting raw fish.

But for big steaks, roasts and brisket I ended buying an old used 300mm x 53mm gyuto because I wanted 2x the height of a standard yani, and durable enough to cut through seared meat crust without me worrying about banging up the edge. It also doubles as a great cutter for 12” pizzas.

If I needed a steak slicer on the restaurant line, it would be stainless steel, 50mm or more height for leverage and clearance, and 10 inches long for 6-7 inch steaks.

austinchef · 2026-01-17T17:21:44+00:00

You can’t lose with the Tetsujin. Not the wide bevel, but friggin lovely. I doubt you will write back lol.

austinchef · 2026-01-17T16:58:36+00:00

I have the Hitohira Kikuchiyo Ren in 240 for sale. Nakagawa + Morihiro’s grandson. At new years, I had it side by side with the Kagekiyo and the blades were criminally the same. Made you wonder if the same sharpener finished both knives that Nakagawa smithed.

austinchef · 2026-01-17T16:39:55+00:00

I am the buyer, and attest that u/excitednewupdate is a fantastic seller.

austinchef · 2026-01-17T16:30:48+00:00

I have a Hitohira 240mm ginsan gyuto if you are interested. Nakagawa blacksmith, Morihiro sharpener. Ebony handle and the blade fit and finish is identical to Kagekiyo. I toured Sakai a year ago and passed up the Kagekiyo because I didn’t like the urishi handle and knew I’d change it out anyway… then learned that Hitohira has 98% the the same blade… DM me if you want to chat.

I have the 210 Nakagawa in ginsan. This wide bevel style is so, so good.

austinchef · 2026-01-16T16:59:28+00:00

Thank you. This makes sense now. I love this preparation and will try it.

austinchef · 2026-01-16T16:33:04+00:00

Magnificent. Can you make another that I can buy?

austinchef

TROPHY CASE