James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
Chicago Cutlery Prep Knife Set: Chef’s, Utility, Paring | Full Tang Stainless Steel Metropolitan 3 Piece
1 min read
For the cook who wants just the basics at a good price, Chicago Cutlery offers the Metropolitan three-piece Prep Knife Set. If you don’t mind a few minutes refining some pretty good workmanship with a whetstone and sharpening steel, you could get a good set of prep knives for a deal that fits a shoestring budget.
Stamped high carbon stainless steel blades and polymer triple-riveted handle slabs put frontier simplicity together with practical modern materials. The result isn’t lovely, and does look like the knives you’d expect to work with in the average restaurant kitchen. Full tang handles without forged or ground bolsters give users an ergonomic grip without adding any extra weight. There’s plenty of handle to hang on to, with enough bulk for twisting leverage as well.
Another point in their favor is that the knives aren’t simply flat ground with a short wide bevel — these knives are taper ground, which makes them slide through a cut a little better than the average workhorse kitchen knife. Edges do require regular maintenance, and the state of the edge on arrival is a little unpredictable. Anyone with a whetstone should be able to remedy these small problems. Maintaining the edge by honing with a sharpening steel before use ought to keep the blades sharp enough to satisfy.
The 7-1/2-inch chef’s knife, 5-1/2-inch utility knife and 3-1/2-inch paring knife won’t quite cover all the work of a kitchen and you’ll still need both heavier knives and more refined knives if you want a really efficient set. This is still enough for a good start — if you step up a level, you may even feel a little guilty — because these knives will do the job. There’s just not much flash in this bare-bones set.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
The Diamond Edge Pro knife and scissors sharpener from Smith Abrasives combines electric and manual sharpening systems for quick and accurate refurbishing of knives...
For the cook who wants just the basics at a good price, Chicago Cutlery offers the Metropolitan three-piece Prep Knife Set. If you don’t mind a few minutes refining some pretty good workmanship with a whetstone and sharpening steel, you could get a good set of prep knives for a deal that fits a shoestring budget.
