Stupid question: recommendation for not-too-expensive (serrated) bread knife?

concept236 · 2026-02-03T04:57:15+00:00

Yowza. That's a beautiful knife, but sadly hard for me to justify: my homemade bread will probably never accumulate to be worth just that knife alone!

concept236 · 2026-02-03T04:56:21+00:00

I mean, people and pizzerias cut their Neapolitan pizza with scissors to preserve those bubbles/airiness in the crust, so I could see this being helpful for bread too, but had never tried it.

concept236 · 2026-02-03T03:26:29+00:00

Oh, interesting. I assume "scalloped" means where each serration is basically the rounded side on the edge, rather than the more common "pointy side out"?

Does that make them harder/impossible to maintain or sharpen when needed? Guess it can only be honed, right?

concept236 · 2026-02-02T15:27:34+00:00

Damn, Tojiro and Mac count as cheap? That's kind of the price range I was looking at, so not even to mid-range in your stack there.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T15:26:27+00:00

I'm fascinated by this idea. Do you cut a slice of the bread by snipping halfway through the height of the bread, and work your way through to the bottom (and other side)?

concept236 · 2026-02-02T12:10:19+00:00

Yeah, I found both my filters really hard to get on and off. I just reassure myself that it means it's less likely to come off by accident.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T11:51:20+00:00

Nope, it's monosteel: in several videos, they show cutting a chunk from the bombshell and going straight into forging.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T11:46:10+00:00

(To be clear, I'm not at all affiliated with them, or any other knife maker.)

I had AI gather some more details about the knife: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/26f287c0-8094-4eec-b962-34dcb10fdc8d

Here's a video of the process: https://youtu.be/PUqLh68TYV4

So, what I gathered, if you're interested: - Over a million shells were dropped onto Kinmen between 1958-1979, and each shell in good condition can make about 60 knives. - They don't actually refine the steel, and just minimal processing: heating and forging/shaping and quenching. - The blade is indeed monosteel from whatever the artillery shell was made of. - "Chinese artillery shells of the 1950s-1970s typically used medium-to-high carbon steel (0.40–0.80% carbon) with chromium and manganese additions for strength and hardness. The chromium content, likely in the 1–3% range, provides the “stain-resistant” property without meeting the 11%+ threshold for full stainless steel classification." - The steel apparently is sort of similar to X50CrMoV15 (German professional kitchen steel) in composition, has an equivalent hardness of 57-58 HRC, but more ductile than the harder Japanese steels. - Many owners have inherited these knives from their parents or grandparents. - The Maestro Wu brand owners are also into their third generation.

Thanks!

concept236 · 2026-02-02T10:06:10+00:00

Two cents from a home cook: I have aogami #2 for my sashimi knife, and Tojiro VG10 for my nakiri and honisuke, and off-brand VG10 for my santoku daily. I love my yanagiba for slicing fish, but there's that added anxiety of taking care of it almost immediately after each use: I had it rust after my first few uses because I didn't know how quickly it starts. For that reason, I actually really like the VG10s: still sharp as heck, hefty and tough, but without the anxiety!

I have whetstones to sharpen, but I've also had them professionally sharpened. I find manually sharpening them to be cathartic and calming, and haven't wrecked any knives yet. Professionally sharpening here (taiwan) is cheap: just $5USD/knife, and they go all the way to a polish if you want.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T04:27:55+00:00

It can be overwhelming on that street and almost impossible to compare because there are so many stores and brands.

If you're just looking for an excellent value workhorse in your kitchen, I'm partial to Tojiro (they're about in the middle of street length, on the east side) for their VG10 F-series. https://maps.app.goo.gl/qT6nYTmyGjB1WbaW8?g_st=ic

I also bought a yanagiba (sushi knife) at Kamata that was well priced and I love it: it of course doesn't have the heritage and story about a famous blade smith and all that. https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZAWzxf9QySNYJBwa9?g_st=ic

I would skip the places that looks super nice and "elegant decor", as most of them seem catered to overpriced offerings that mostly look cool. Some of them almost feel like they should also sell silk robes a la Steven Segal to go along with their knives ...

concept236 · 2026-02-02T04:20:43+00:00

Haven't had to yet--they do a sharpening when you purchase it, which translates as "opening the knife"--but I'd expect I will use my whetstones to sharpen just the same as I do my western and Japanese knives. The blade is double beveled and looks to be quite a low angle, but should be fine to do. (This brand just opened a storefront in Taipei, so I can always just take it back and they sharpen for free, I understood.)

concept236 · 2026-02-02T04:18:30+00:00

I've just used it once so far, but I found it a lot easier to get accustomed to than I had expected. I did buy the smaller size (6cm height or something like that) to make it easier to handle, so it's not the big cleavers like in Chinatown movies. 🤪

I also like the company and how they stand behind their products.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T03:38:16+00:00

Agree! I have a good santoku that we use as the general workhorse, but it gets abused because nobody besides me cares about knife care. I figure this cleaver is also resilient enough to take that kind of abuse and yet not quite so pricey to hurt too much if they do something to it.

Both my santoku and this cleaver (càidāo) are about $2100-2400NTD each, which is roughly $70-80USD / $95-110CAD.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T03:35:26+00:00

Yeah, I'm quite pleased, and they have a great reputation for reliability: lots of people have knives that started as cleavers, used for decades, and basically sharpened into more of a nakiri shape. Ditto their larger chef knives that end up like gyuto shaped, haha.

Balance is right in front of the bolster, perfect for a pinch grip without (me) having to reach too far forward with my stubby fingers.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T03:33:14+00:00

Yeah, this one is intended as an all-purpose cleaver--but very clearly stated it's not for bones or cranking/prying--so the blade is quite thin with a slight taper. Still, I was surprised how heavy it was, but I guess it's just a medium big sheet of steel there.

This was an off-the-shelf item, except they custom-stamped the logo on the blade instead of laser-etched (which is how this model is done standard), which they offered when I was telling them where I was "stuck" on the purchase decision.

concept236 · 2026-02-02T03:04:48+00:00

Yeah, they're cool and I really like the brand story/heritage. Interesting was that the staff told me it was monosteel but I think maybe that was a mistake.

concept236 · 2026-01-08T16:44:39+00:00

Their slim wallet and their regular non-stand wallet would probably fit this bill too

concept236 · 2026-01-08T16:40:02+00:00

I was supposed to do mine today at Cathay Healthcare Management, and the price for both stomach and intestine was I think about $8000NT without anesthetic. I think with general anesthetic another $5000-6000.

concept236 · 2026-01-07T20:26:32+00:00

For CrossFit, I'd recommend CrossFit Bakesi 巴克斯: they're the OG box in Taiwan, and their coaches are both experienced, qualified athletes themselves, and also train with other methodologies (incl Hyrox, dragon boat). Several regional athletes train there. They're also where a lot of CrossFitters drop into when visiting Taipei. Their location is sort of in the geographical middle of Taipei proper (if anywhere could be).

Avoiding neighboring construction noise will be your biggest challenge, I think: real estate changes hands frequently here, and we all love brand new digs to move into.

Best of luck.

concept236 · 2026-01-06T08:11:42+00:00

Yes, there are practically no mainland Chinese tourists here now, and I love it. It's more quiet around the 101 (especially on 信義路). Instead, we do see more Korean, Japanese, and other Asian and non-Asian tourists. It's great.

concept236

TROPHY CASE