Ads for the “Promja” Serbian chefs keep popping up. Now I’m questioning how I’ll be able to prepare another meal without one. Anyone out there have any experience with this specific brand or style of knife?Serbian Chefs Knife?
- Thread starter SoddenJack
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Ads for the “Promja” Serbian chefs keep popping up. Now I’m questioning how I’ll be able to prepare another meal without one. Anyone out there have any experience with this specific brand or style of knife?
Looks more like a cleaver, more a chopper than a versatile chef's knife, but if you chop a lot, it might work. For me, I'd have a week or two of making lots of chopped dishes, and then it would hold a place in the drawer, but you might find it a constant kitchen companion.
It’s aimed at being a multiple purpose knife right?
Structurally it looks sound, albeit heavier than knives I am used too. Carbon steel, good balance, triple rivets.
Depending on what you will use it for, you could also look into the Japanese “deba” knife.
Structurally it looks sound, albeit heavier than knives I am used too. Carbon steel, good balance, triple rivets.
Depending on what you will use it for, you could also look into the Japanese “deba” knife.
The Chinese "chopper or cleaver" has a similarly broad but rectangular blade.
There are 2 versions - a heavier, thicker blade for chopping up chicken/duck/fish. And one with a lighter, thinner blade for general cutting, slicing, dicing and mincing of veggies and meat/fish, and may be used on finer bones.
The Japanese "chuka bochos" are similar to the lighter Chinese cleavers. "Debas" are used for heavier chopping duties.
One of my grandmothers used a light cleaver for almost all her kitchen prep. She also used it routinely to scrape down her chopping block - a real all-purpose knife. She would use a small peeling/utility knife with garlic, eschallots.
There are quite a few YouTube videos showing off incredible knife skills using chinese cleavers
There are 2 versions - a heavier, thicker blade for chopping up chicken/duck/fish. And one with a lighter, thinner blade for general cutting, slicing, dicing and mincing of veggies and meat/fish, and may be used on finer bones.
The Japanese "chuka bochos" are similar to the lighter Chinese cleavers. "Debas" are used for heavier chopping duties.
One of my grandmothers used a light cleaver for almost all her kitchen prep. She also used it routinely to scrape down her chopping block - a real all-purpose knife. She would use a small peeling/utility knife with garlic, eschallots.
There are quite a few YouTube videos showing off incredible knife skills using chinese cleavers
If you want a good knife for vegetables get a Spyderco Santoku: https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SP...7-inch-plain-blade-black-polypropylene-handle
They're made by a special Japanese company to have a very thin edge and even blade geometry, you can buy super expensive knives that will perform about the same, but just about nothing will perform better for slicing and chopping soft foods.
They're made by a special Japanese company to have a very thin edge and even blade geometry, you can buy super expensive knives that will perform about the same, but just about nothing will perform better for slicing and chopping soft foods.
I admit to wanting to use one of those cleaver type.
I just got this knife a few weeks back. It is the best knife for food prep ever @ $20. I also use a large Winco cutting board that does not dull the knife. I do a few laps on an Edge Maker after each use.
I just got this knife a few weeks back. It is the best knife for food prep ever @ $20. I also use a large Winco cutting board that does not dull the knife. I do a few laps on an Edge Maker after each use.
I’d just add to what Ray said above about the deba. While it’s used for heavier duties, it also has a single bevel edge so can also be used easily for filleting/slicing etc.
Personally I haven’t found the need for a deba. While I have quite a few knives (used to run a kitchen), I really only gravitate to regularly using a smaller Chinese style cleaver, an 18cm santoku, a 12cm utility and a smaller parring knife
Personally I haven’t found the need for a deba. While I have quite a few knives (used to run a kitchen), I really only gravitate to regularly using a smaller Chinese style cleaver, an 18cm santoku, a 12cm utility and a smaller parring knife
While I have a cleaver and a Chinese vegetable knife I rely on my custom made Damascus chefs knife and a comparable paring knife to go with it.
Checked with my Serbian wife, she’s never heard of this brand. The name is Promaja, it is a pun, promaja is a Balkan psychosis that air moving between two windows is the scariest thing on earth. People go mental if you dare open more than one window in a Serbian house.
Not convinced about this cleaver. It looks too thick to be anything other than a heavy cleaver in my opinion. Chinese cleavers are very thin so they work for their food prep, this won’t be practical for Western/European food prep. Even the unfinished edges are nice to look at but enforce my opinion that they are a bit of a gimmick, chefs don’t food particles trapping on their tools, it’s unhygienic.
I actually MADE a mean cleaver like that from a leaf spring
Not convinced about this cleaver. It looks too thick to be anything other than a heavy cleaver in my opinion. Chinese cleavers are very thin so they work for their food prep, this won’t be practical for Western/European food prep. Even the unfinished edges are nice to look at but enforce my opinion that they are a bit of a gimmick, chefs don’t food particles trapping on their tools, it’s unhygienic.
I actually MADE a mean cleaver like that from a leaf spring
I normally make small EDC fixed blades and pocketknives but had a guy that wanted me to make him one of these so I figured I'd try it out! 5/32" 1084 carbon steel, textured, w some awesome triple dyed black ash composite scales. 6 1/2" blade and 12" total length.
Really good knives have to be kept like expensive watches. If anyone else helps in the kitchen, they probably shouldn't use the "good" knives. Some well meaning person inevitably decides to pry open a jar with it or otherwise abuses a good knife. You have to keep them to yourself. I don't try to use my wife's beloved knives, on general principles, though she encourages me to do so. I have some old Chicago brand service grade knives that are good enough for my purposes.
My mother said I'd never get paid to play with knives and fire. I proved her wrong for about 20 years.
It was a cardinal sin to use another's knife and another sin to leave your own knife unattended.
A chef once left a knife unattended and went on vacation. He returned to a blade with holes from a prep cook that cut tomatoes and didn't clean the acidic juice off (and put the dirty knife somewhere silly to be found later).
At home, I have my Wustof set and another set of cheaper blades for others to use. I also keep a few "throw away" knives on hand that I get at the Dollar Tree (which can get banged around in drawers and dishwashers).
I have nice chef's knives but most (90%) of my food prep is now done with a 3" serrated paring knife I got at a dollar store for 50 cents. Its very sharp and stays sharp and is great for everything except fileting large pieces of meat for which i use a razor sharp 5" slicer which no one else will touch because its too sharp.
The knife depicted looks more like an asian fish knife to me but i am not an expert on knife designs.
The knife depicted looks more like an asian fish knife to me but i am not an expert on knife designs.
If you get a chance to pick up the old Vanadium steel knives at a Good Will or Savers ...Vanadium is one of the most expensive and durable of the stainless steel knives. You can frequently find Sears brand or Cutco and some from various small cutlery houses. Definitely worth the buck or two for them.
I like big heavy knives in the kitchen. We were watching a Chinese chef preparing pork at a local market, WHACK WHACK WHACK with a big cleaver, and I said to my wife "Man I want one of those." and the guy looked up and said "We have them in Aisle 2" So I went and looked and sure enough, and like 30 bucks. It's a Hong Moon Suk or something, I can't remember, but basically a ubiquitous Chinese 1 piece steel chopper, and damn, it's great. Takes a razor edge and keeps it. I do a lot of work with it, even fine stuff, garlic, jalepenos, whatever. So those big Serbian pattern knives are attractive to me. The thing is, there's about a dozen being sold under different brands, Ken Fuyuki etc. All about the same, 70 bucks or so. I figure any knife that tells you how sharp it is in the advertising is probably shitty. So I have held off.
Vanadium is a component found in many steels, and at higher levels in many of the ultra high end examples. Vanadium heat treats to a very fine grain which adds wear resistance and toughness to the particular type of steel.
Typically knife steels are mostly made of carbon, chromium (moreso in stainless steels) And molybdenum. Those are like Virginia and Burley and Cavendish in a pipe blend, Other elements that affect a steels final overall characteristics are vanadium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and tungsten. Those are the Perique, Latakia, orientals, etc etc and etc just saying.
I have an old cutco, 12" or so, jesus it's incredible.
Love cutco, it’s what we use when spending on a knife. Plus the lifetime repair and sharpening is nice…….they are like the zippo of knives. I inherited an old hunting cutco knife that must be 50-60 years old a couple years back that Iv considered sending to them to refresh.