Knives are arguably the most important piece of equipment in your kitchen. Sadly, many otherwise great home cooks don’t care enough to own good, solid cutlery, while others think they can’t afford the necessary tools of the trade. Both are poor excuses for such blasphemy! If you care about cooking at all, you will have at least one (if not several) high quality knives in your arsenal.
I plan to remedy this situation! Over the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about kitchen knives – how to choose the knife that’s right for you, the difference between chopping styles, cutlery ergonomics, that sort of thing.
I won’t hide the fact that I’m giddy about the opportunity to pontificate on something I’m truly obsessed with. Anyone who knows me well understands that I have a thing for knives – in fact, I own several sets of professional throwing daggers. I might be diminutive in stature, but I’m not someone you want to piss off. 
To kick off this cutlery series, I’m having a little contest. Sur la Table has been very kind to provide me with a gorgeous Shun Ken Onion 8″ chef’s knife, and I’m passing it on to one of you lucky readers. This beauty, which would run you up to $250 in stores, will be given away in a random drawing on Monday, June 15th, just in time for Fathers Day.
Here’s a little more about the knife, straight from Sur la Table:
“Designed by legendary custom knife maker Ken Onion, this chef’s knife is a must-have for collectors of Shun and other quality cutlery. Flowing, ergonomic design fits the hand flawlessly for extraordinary balance and effortless rocking. VG-10 steel blade clade with 16 layers of stainless steel for a beautiful rust-free Damascus-look blade. Bamboo holder. 8¼” blade.”
I have one of these knives, and I just have to say this: it’s f**king bad ass.
How do you win it? Well, that’s easy. There are a few ways to enter the drawing:
- Post a link to this post to your Twitter account, with the words, “@sstiavetti is giving away a Shun Ken Onion 8″ chef’s knife at Wasabimon.com! http://rubyurl.com/IgCz ” Then post a reply here with your Twitter username for one entry.
- Give this post a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon, and leave a comment here with your StumbleUpon username for one entry. Don’t forget to hit the big green THUMBS UP button or it won’t work. Better, yet, leave a short review to make sure I see your entry.
- Post a link to this post to your Tumblr account, with the same wording above as for Twitter. Leave a comment here with a link to your post.
- Post a link to this post to your Facebook account, with the same spiel above. And again, LEAVE A COMMENT!
- Digg this post and leave a comment here with your Digg username.
You can enter up to five times, once for each service I mentioned above. If you want to post this elsewhere too, I’ll probably give you an extra entry if you tell me where in a comment.
Perhaps you’re seeing a trend here… you have to LEAVE A COMMENT! The last time I had a contest, people were posting links all over the place but never said anything about it here. So, please… do yourself a favor and leave a comment here! Fer serious, I’m not friggin kidding!!
Here’s a BIG TIP to make this all even easier for you: do you see a row of snazzy little buttons just under this post, about an inch down the page? Those buttons go straight to the sites you need to use to enter the drawing. Just click those buttons to do the deed, following through to make sure you’ve completed the process, then leave a comment here.
Ok, I think I’ve gotten my point across.
Good luck!!!
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 99 comments… read them below or add one }
Next Comments →
I’m in need of new knives, so sign me up for the contest. Now, if only I could find someone giving away a knife skills class….
No kidding. Many cooking schools give somewhat cheap public classes. Have you looked around?
Have you checked out your local Sur la Table or Williams Sonoma? Ours here offer classes, and a few local chefs do as well!
Facebooked and tumbled…
posted to facebook, but had to use the real url and not the short one
@KrisBordessa @sstiavetti is giving away a Shun Ken Onion 8″ chef’s knife at Wasabimon.com! http://rubyurl.com/IgCz
Using a Shun knife is an orgasmic experience. If you’ve ever used a dull knife to cut an onion and the used a Shun, you’ll understand.
Oh and I posted on Facebook.
Pick me! Pick me!! I never win these darn things but I’m posting the link on Facebook right now!!
Passed this around on Twitter! You know my username!
Cool, looks like three people saw my twitter and have commented here
Stephanie–
You are so right, if you love to cook you need good knives. End of story. And this happens to be one of the finest ones money can buy. Great idea for a contest!
Posted in Twitter as pen4hire.
Posted to Stumble Upon. Pen4 Hire.
Posted to Facebook. Vera Marie Badertscher
Posted and commented on Digg. Veramarie
That was fun. Thanks for the challenge and thanks in advance for the knife, which I will win because I am so virtuous and such a good cook.
By the way, my mother would have told you that the recipient needs to give you a penny, because if you give a person a knife it cuts your friendship, so you have to “sell” it to them.
Oh, I forgot about that! Maybe I can get them to paypal me a penny for my trouble.
Oh yeah,
This is quite a knife. Handles wonderfully and is very comfortable, even for someone with large hands like myself.
Such a beautiful knife. I want one now. Not even sure what I would use it for first… but it would be something where I’d have to dice up a lot of.
Tweeted @FeedingFashion
Up on Twitter @dankrag
omg I’ve been coveting one of these things for months now. Such a sexy piece of steel.
I’ve tweeted the giveaway! http://twitter.com/foodgoesinmouth
tweeted @cmhtine – what a great contest!
Twitter: Fountainpen
Spiel Posted 6/10/09.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
I tweeted! My twitter name is @bellalimento!
tweeted twitter.com/emmylyn
tweeted at yssirhcmik!
Twittered from: @optimista
Thumbed up on Stumbleupon: optimista1969
Posted to Facebook with the real link (since the shortened one has been reported as abusive and can no longer be used): Michelle Cheng
Yay!
Facebooked, myspaced, Googled, and linked in!
I…ii..ii..I want the knife!
I so want to win that bad a** knife!!!
Up on facebook! (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=620889858&ref=mf)
I hope to win! Thanks for the opportunity. Posted on twitter @sslopes.
Posted both on Twitter (@fungible) and Facebook (Rick Castello).
Sexy knives!
Next Comments →