Customer Reviews

Global G-4 7-Inch Oriental Chef's Knife

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my first Global knife, and I've since bought four more. After three years of daily use it's still as sharp as ever, with only a few passes over a diamond steel occasionally. (If you are going to use Global knives, bite the bullet and get a diamond steel.)Global knives are frightenly sharp when they are new, even the serrated knives like the bread knife, which appear more benign. Be careful with these things until you get used to them, even if you've had good German knives before. (No, you won't cut your fingers,you'll be naturally cautious about that, you'll nick an arm or a wrist by brushing the blade, something I never even knew could happen until I got my 10 inch Global chef.)

The eight inch Oriental chef is a great little chopper and slicer, and the very wide blade is nice for lifting slices, but do think about the traditional 8 inch Global chef as your mainstay knife if you're only getting one. This one is balanced for a "push" stroke, rather than the pull stroke that most Western cooks use, the handle is a little high for a good rocker chop -- at least until you get used to it, and the back of the blade is curved, so if you're used to scraping your cutting board with the spine of your blade, this one won't do the trick. Your veggies will escape under the curve. The blade is hollow ground (beveled on both sides) not single sided like the denba, so you don't have to worry about being left or right handed.

None of this makes the knife a bad one, but it does take some getting used to and frankly, I'm more comfortable with the 8 inch chef as my mainstay knife. (The 10 inch chef is a bit of a monster for most tasks. Great for cutting a pizza all the way across in a single rock, but, well... I guess I shouldn't admit I use my good knives on pizza, huh?) You won't go wrong with a Global knife, it's just a question of which one feels right for you.

One more thing: these knives look like modern art, if that sort of thing matters to you. You can see the quality in them as well as feel it.

I bought this knife after having my Wustof rust through at the handle after 20 years of use. It was my previous favorite knife, and I was about to just purchase another one as a replacement. Then I was watching a cooking show, and saw this strange steel-handled knife, and I looked into it. After reading a few reviews, I decided that [the money] was a reasonable risk to take, and that if I didn't like the knife, I could just sell it and get another Wustof.

I took this knife out of the box, and pulled out a clove of garlic. With more ease than ever before (it was like the garlic wasn't even putting up resistence to this ultra-sharp blade), I immediately was making paper-this slices very quickly. The knife balanced so well, and the blade was so sharp, I was immediately hooked. The light weight of the knife really allows you finer control than I was ever able to get out of my heavier knives. My plan is to make all my knives Global from now on.

As for sharpening it, definitely do get a diamond steel or a whetstone. These knives hold their edges for a much longer time than my Wustof did (or Henkels that I have previously used), but they still do need to be sharpened occassionally. I simply use the diamond steel, and that's all I've needed so far. One other thing to look out for--the handles are built for small or medium sized hands. If your hands are huge, you will probably engulf the handle a bit. But for me, well...like the title of this review, I'll never go back.

I've worked quite a few kitchens in my life most of them being Japanese restaraunts so I have a little bit of experience with knives and I must say... this Global knife is one of the best I've had the opportunity to use. I first heard about Global in the book "Kitchen Confidential" (Which is a great book, and if you have worked a kitchen or two in your life you will relate to a lot of the stories!). I checked this knife out at the local cutlery store and was immediately impressed. Although not as hefty as my regular 8" chef's, it's balance was amazing. The shaped handle made handling of this knife a true pleasure. The blade truly holds it's edge, and slices and chops like a dream. You will not be dissapointed with this knife, and I have no doubt it will become your knife of choice when working in the kitchen.

One note, although the company recommends using their diamond steel to sharpen due to how hard the steel in the knife is, I found that using my regular steel on occassion works just fine. I know I'm wearing my steel down a little quicker but it realigned the edge just fine.

I'll try to make this really simple and not waste your time: I will choose Global knives over Henkels, Wustoff, or any other traditional European knife. Why? It's lighter and stays sharper. I always sharpen with the Global pink and yellow stones and never use it on an automatic knife sharpener nor take it to somebody else. It's important to keep in mind that the blade is formed differently than the European knifes. So, don't buy this knife if you're going to just grind it away on a cheap knife sharpener! It'd be a waste of your money and you're not giving the proper care it needs. Basically, if you take good personal care of this knife, it will treat you well for the rest of your life.

Cuts like a Samurai blade quality, and doesn't need to steel as frequent as the Henckels/ Wusthof knives. It has excellent weight for a medium sized hand. However, the handles get quite slippery when wet, so keep your hands clean and dry while using this knife for safety. Also, if you plan on saving money on getting a cheaper steel, DON'T, because this Global blade is much harder than the Henckels/Wusthof blades; a qood quality Diamond coated or ceramic steel is a must, or if you really like the steel design, get the Global steel which can cost quite a bit. Overall, this is a good quality knife with proper care and attention needed, just like a Samurai would do to get use to his sword.

This is the knife I reach for when working with fish, vegetables, and boneless poultry. It is razor sharp, light and well balanced in the hand and easy to grip. I find the dimpled handle to be quite comfortable most of the time. The knife holds its edge well and a few draws across the diamond steel brings it back to a keen edge. It is easy to clean with no gaps to catch dirt. Criticisms? A few. The blade is delicate and should be well protected when not in use. I would stay away from cutting through bone; the blade cannot handle it. The shape is significantly different from European knife designs and takes a little getting used to but it is not difficult. When I hold the knife close to the blade, the square top edge of the blade digs in to the side of my index finger and that gets old in a hurry. So, I needed to get used to holding it lower on the handle. All in all, I rate it "five stars" because once accustomed to the differences between this knife and the European knives, this knife performs magnificently. Its light weight and thin sharp blade make it easy to control and thin, consistent slices are made easy.

This was the first Global knife I owned and it is the most used in my collection. I find it has great balance, an excellently sharpened blade, and a nice shape for dicing. One of the things that I was originally apprehensive about when I bought this knife was Amazon's description of this being for small-handed individuals (as I am six foot and of average build). I have no problems handling this knife.

It's a little more slippery than, say, the Chicago Cutlery knives I have with wooden handles, but the trade off is that it's easier to clean (don't put it in the dishwasher) and looks a lot cooler. If you're serious about cooking, and have the coin to upgrade, I would go with Global's heavier line.

These knives are a little more difficult to sharpen than most knives I've had (especially this one with its curved blade). The manufacturer says to use a waterstone, which I have, but I tend to use my electric sharpener which does the job nicely.

Since I've bought this knife, I've acquired the Chef's knife, vegetable knife, and the paring knife from this collection and I am happy with all of them.

I went to Sur La Table to try out the Global 8" chef knife. It felt too light and not balance in my hand. The salesperson had me tried a Shun and Miyabi chef knives. Too heavy. Then she gave me the Global G-4 oriental knife and it was unbelievable. Although the G-4 is 7" long it feels slightly heavier than the 8" chef knife. The G-4 is sort of a hybrid between a chef and santuko knives. Like a santuko knife with the chef's sharp taper tip. I cook with only one knife and this is it. I bought it immediately. No regrets.

We have had knives from all the big names: Shun, Wusthoff, Global, and more.

By a large large margin, I think the Shun's are the most pretty, but the GLOBAL knives are my favorite to actually own and use!

PROS:
* Our Global knife has stayed sharper than all the others, even though it gets a good workaround regularly
* its handle is very ergonomic
* its handle feels anti-slip compared to our other knives, when my hands are wet
* the knife is so nicely balanced.
* the knife weighs practically nothing at all
* feels very easy to use.
* it's just one solid block of metal, so it feels solid and easy to clean!

CONS:
* the knife weighs practically nothing at all, so if you are doing something like trying to cut through large thick slabs of meat or something like that, it might not have the heft (the inertia...) that you want/need. For that task, use a heavier knife, but I'm not a professional butcher so I don't worry about that! :-)

Buy this knife! You won't be sorry!

Anthony Bourdain, chef and food-TV personality, recommended Global knives in his memoir, "Kitchen Confidential." He noted that many chefs and kitchen staff were trading in their Wustofs and Hinkles for Globals. The reason? It is much easier to maintain a great edge on a Global.

Food Network fans will also notice that Iron Chef Cat Cora uses this knife during competition.

You will need to buy the special sharpener for it, but the additional cost is well worth it.