Spyderco byteMarch 2023 - KITCHEN CLASSICS and the MURRAY CARTER COLLECTIONS

Spyderco byteMarch 2023 - KITCHEN CLASSICS and the MURRAY CARTER COLLECTIONS​

K01/K04/K05/K08/K09
K15/K16/K17/K18/K19

MSRP: $48.00 - $445.00
ORIGIN: Japan

The knives in many home kitchens are subjected to tremendous cruelty and misuse… That’s why mass-market cutlery is designed the way it is—to withstand this kind of abuse. Unfortunately, when you add soft steel and wide angles to the life that knives see in the kitchen, you have tools that are more suited to bludgeoning oxen than fine-dicing a soft tomato.
Chad Ward, author of “An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives”
If these words resonate with you, you’re not alone. When most people outfit the kitchen of their first apartment, they end up with some kind of matching set of run-of-the-mill kitchen cutlery. Truth be told, they never actually use half the knives in the butcher block because they don’t know what they’re for, and the few that do see use cut just well enough to fend off starvation. Their cooking experience, however, is typically not a particularly skillful or enjoyable one.

As they gain experience—and income—most folks eventually upgrade to a higher-priced version of the same basic theme. Although name-brand cutlery sets often do provide more refined cutting performance than their budget counterparts, they still suffer from the same shortcomings, just less so. Again, to quote Chad Ward:

Upper-end kitchen knives… are a little better, but at 52 to 56 on the Rockwell C scale are still softer than they need to be. By contrast, traditional Japanese knives tend to be between 61 and 64 on the Rockwell scale and are known for their screaming sharp edges.

Following this wisdom, most serious cooks looking for real kitchen cutting performance ultimately upgrade to Japanese-style kitchen knives. Their harder, thinner blades and more acute edge geometry provide a cutting experience that is vastly different from typical Western cutlery and make food preparation an almost sensual experience.

While this hard-earned knowledge might be news to many home cooks, to Spyderco followers, it should be old hat. The reason is that we embraced the Japanese kitchen-knife model 40 years ago with our very first culinary knives and have been getting better ever since.

Kitchen Classics​

When Spyderco first began producing knives in the early 1980’s, all our models were manufactured in Japan. While navigating that country’s complex business landscape, Spyderco co-founder Sal Glesser received an offer from one of Japan’s premier knifemaking companies to produce kitchen knives. Although the elite performance of Japanese kitchen knives was not well known in the U.S. at the time, thanks to his in-depth knowledge of international knife culture, Sal immediately recognized the uniqueness of the opportunity before him and eagerly accepted the offer.

In designing our first kitchen knives, Sal wanted to capitalize on Japan’s ability to produce thin, hard, high-performance blades, but wanted to pair them with designs and handle patterns that appealed to Western cooks. Above all, he wanted to offer a cutting experience that transcended the typical American and European kitchen knives at the time. The result was Spyderco’s original line of kitchen knives, which we now nostalgically refer to as our “Kitchen Classics.”

Kitchen Classics include a carefully chosen range of sizes and patterns designed to excel at typical cooking tasks. The smallest member of the family is the Mini Paring Knife, which offers scalpel-like precision for detailed cutting chores like the preparation of decorative garnishes. In the middle of the pack are the K05 and K04 Utility knives, which feature 4.5 and 6.5-inch blades, respectively, and are excellent for all-around kitchen use. In their fully serrated SpyderEdge™ configurations, they make outstanding knives for preparing sandwiches and cutting smaller baked goods like bagels and baguettes.

Reminiscent of a lightweight vegetable cleaver, the broad-bladed Santoku excels at chopping and dicing chores and is a very practical alternative to the conventional Western chef’s knife. Inspired by the traditional Japanese Santoku, or “three virtues,” knife, the Spyderco version was also the first mainstream commercial expression of the Santoku pattern to be offered to the U.S. market.

Finally, the fully serrated Bread Knife features an extra-long blade and is the perfect tool for cutting all kinds of baked goods. Whether you are powering through hard-crusted bread or delicately crafting a layer cake, our Bread Knife has no equal.

All the knives in the Kitchen Classics family share the same basic construction. Their blades are crafted from premium Japanese MBS-26 steel—a high-carbon stainless steel that is ground exceptionally thin and meticulously heat treated for superior cutting performance. Depending upon their style and purpose, some Kitchen Classics models are available with a choice of a conventional PlainEdge™ or a fully serrated SpyderEdge. The SpyderEdge not only provides voracious cutting power, but its unique serration pattern also features extra-long central teeth that act as standoffs to preserve the sharpness of the edge when working on a cutting board.

Kitchen Classics’ handles are injection molded from durable polypropylene plastic and feature a distinctive “stepped” texture pattern that offers both comfort and control during use. Molded directly onto the blade tangs for strength, they are also available in several different color choices depending upon the model.

Joining the Elite​

Spyderco is best known for defining the form of the modern folding knife and our broad selection of best-in-class knives in that genre. For that reason, many people—including savvy knife enthusiasts—are surprised to learn we make kitchen knives. Once they learn the history of our Kitchen Classics and experience their performance for themselves, they begin to understand the advantages of Japanese culinary blades. Not surprisingly, they also wonder about the next levels of performance in that realm. Spyderco’s answer to that question is the elite Murray Carter® Collection.

Among true kitchen-knife enthusiasts, Murray Carter is a legend. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, at age 18 he visited Japan and had the good fortune to meet Sensei Yasuyuki Sakemoto, heir to a 16-generation lineage of Japanese bladesmiths that traced back to the era of the Samurai. That fateful meeting led Carter to embark on a demanding six-year apprenticeship followed by 12 years working as a village bladesmith in Japan. After 18 years of devoted study and service in Japan, Carter became the official heir to a 420-year-old family bladesmithing tradition—an unprecedented honor for a non-Japanese. Now living in the US, he is one of the world’s most respected experts on Japanese culinary knives and his exquisitely crafted kitchen knives are coveted by discriminating cooks all over the world.

Through Carter’s remarkable collaboration with Spyderco, we took five of his signature custom designs and faithfully translated them into production cutlery. To provide options appropriate for a broad range of budgets and skill levels, we expressed these designs in three different tiers inspired by the skill progression of traditional Japanese chefs. All the knives in this elite collection are manufactured in Japan to Spyderco’s exacting quality standards.

The first tier of the collection is the Minarai™ Series. Literally meaning “to look and learn,” minarai is a quintessentially Japanese way of defining the role of an apprentice. The knives in this series capture that spirit by expressing Carter’s highly refined designs in an economical format that is ideal for cooking enthusiasts who want to begin exploring the elite performance of Japanese-style kitchen knives. Their blades are precision ground from American-made CTS® BD1N—a high-carbon, nitrogen-enriched stainless steel that provides a superior balance of hardness, edge holding, and corrosion resistance and is prized for its ability to support acute, highly polished edges.

The classic octagonal “wa-style” handles of Minarai Series knives are injection molded from durable polypropylene. Molded directly onto the blade tangs, the lightweight polypropylene handles reduce the weight of the knives and give them a lively, slightly more forward balance.

The second tier of the Murray Carter Collection is the Wakiita Series. Wakiita literally translates as “near the cutting board” and is a title used to refer to journeyman chefs skilled enough to assist high-ranking chefs, much like sous chefs in Western kitchens. Like the Minarai Series, the blades of Wakiita Series knives are precision ground from CTS BD1N stainless steel; however, their wa-style handles are painstakingly machined from solid black G-10, a durable fiberglass and epoxy laminate. Beautifully polished to reveal its layered construction, the G-10 handles provide more heft than the Minarai Series handles and shift the knives’ balance more toward the hand for deft control.

Itamae means “in front of the cutting board,” and is an extremely prestigious title reserved for highly skilled sushi chefs. Consistent with that elite status, the Itamae Series—the highest tier in the Murray Carter Collection—proudly features premium materials and uncompromising craftsmanship. The blades of its knives are expertly crafted from laminated steel featuring an Aogami Super Blue tool steel core clad between layers of SUS410 stainless steel. This classic three-layer san mai construction allows the outer layers to protect and support the ultra-hard carbon-steel center layer that forms the blade’s precisely-honed edge. These elite blades are paired with traditional wa-style handles crafted from stunning burl G-10—a laminate material that replicates the intricate grain of wood burl—and highlighted with black G-10 ferrules.

The five patterns featured in every tier of the Murray Carter Collection range from the small Petty paring knife up to the impressive Gyuto (“cow blade”). All are ground exceptionally thin and feature breathtakingly sharp edges that make food preparation a true experience in cutting performance. Best of all, they faithfully capture the spirit of Murray Carter’s coveted custom kitchen knives at a fraction of the price.

Spyderco has a long, proud tradition of producing world-class kitchen cutlery. Whether you prefer our tried-and-true Kitchen Classics or want the elite cutting experience of the Murray Carter Collection, you’ll find our culinary knives deliver the same Reliable High Performance™ as our legendary folding knives.