Ethan Becker and Dan Eastland collaborate on a sharp tool for the kitchen.

Long-time knife designer Ethan Becker and Dan Eastland of Dogwood Custom Knives have collaborated on a chef’s knife that combines each of the principals’ vision of exactly what such a knife should be.

Introduced at BLADE Show 2024, the Joy of Cooking 8-inch K-tip chef’s knife is a mix of Japanese and Western styles and premium stainless steel and synthetic handle materials.

It also has the iconic Joy of Cooking logo on the blade, Joy of Cooking the internationally renowned cookbook originally written by Becker’s mother, Irma Rombauer, and edited in some subsequent editions by Ethan. He handed those duties off and today the book is co-edited most ably by his son, John, and Megan Scott.

With extensive experience as both a knifemaker and a cook, Eastland brings the kind of know-how to the project that gives it edged gravitas.

“Dan is pretty much the perfect person to do this because he’s been in a commercial kitchen and knows his way around that,” Ethan said.

Dan also spent a number of years as an apprentice maker to Georgia Knife Makers Guild member Andy Roy of Fiddleback Forge in North Georgia, and now builds knives at Dogwood Custom Knives in Greenville, South Carolina.

As for the Joy of Cooking knife and its features, Dan approaches it all from the maker/cook perspective.

“The blade has a Japanese influence. I always liked Japanese blade geometry and balance, but I didn’t like their handles. Ethan and I both like a little palm swell,” he noted, “so we wanted more of a Western-style handle.”

In Joy of Cooking, Ethan writes about a grip for home cooks that’s comfortable, Dan said, so the handle has rounded corners to eliminate hot spots and an overall design that helps promote a pinch grip. The blade is weighted toward the front for balance and has the K tip for precise tip work.

Ethan said he’s a big fan of the santoku style and has designed santokus and used them in the kitchen almost exclusively for 20 years.

“The one problem with the santoku is it really doesn’t have a good piercer,” he noted. “You can get by without a piercer if you keep the knife really sharp but guess what—most people don’t keep their knives sharp enough. But for such jobs as taking off the top of a tomato, for instance, the K tip works pretty good.”

Dan lauded the utility of the K tip for other tasks as well, adding, “My grandmother opened all the packaging with the tip of a kitchen knife. No matter what knife you gave her, she sliced the top of the package open with the tip and went to work.” The K tip is tailor made for such chores, as well as others.

The edge has a nice curvature for rock chopping and push cutting meats and vegetables. The heel of the blade also curves toward the rear and sits flat on the surface for controlled cutting.

“The neat thing is when the blade comes down [at the heel during a rocking cut or chop], it stops,” Ethan explained. “It’s also good for a push cut,” Dan added, “so it’s good for both a rock chop and push cut. And having that heel down a little bit it will bottom out, so you cut all the way through something and don’t wind up with little partially cut bits at the end.”

Joy Of Cooking Knife Details

The 8-inch blade is CPM S35VN stainless steel. The Rockwell hardness is 60 HRC and the blade is 3/32-inch thick at the thickest. Along with the contoured handle the knife weighs in at a scant 5.5 ounces.

“I’m of the opinion the Greeks told us everything we need to know about a double-inclined plane—the longer the plane and the lower the angle, the more efficient it is,” Dan said. “A knife blade is a double-inclined plane, and I wanted to make this knife as light as possible.”

He returned to his grandmother’s experience.

“And again, my grandmother used to complain that Henckels and Wusthof, she loved the knives, but they weighed almost as much as she did. By using the S35VN we’ve been able to thin it out and get a mechanically better cutting blade, but also a lighter blade.”

Ethan agreed that most kitchen knives are too heavy.

“The wrist gets tired easy and to be able to not have very much weight that you’re working with, hey, what’s wrong with that?” he observed. “Most traditional kitchen blades were thick because they were forged before they were ground … The cutlers in Europe were very, very concerned that the housewives would use the blades for things they weren’t supposed to, so they used soft steel so it wouldn’t nick and if they opened bottles with it it wouldn’t hurt it. The result was blades that didn’t hold an edge worth a damn and were not terribly efficient.”

Dan said the S35VN has good corrosion resistance and the edge retention is phenomenal.

“We tested the knife extensively in an industrial kitchen to ensure edge retention and durability, and I like S35VN because it’s a good balance of durability and edge retention. And we can get that 60 Rockwell so it can take a nice, keen edge and we don’t have to worry about it chipping out.”

As noted, Dan and Ethan wanted a Western-style handle with a palm swell and offer it in a choice of G-10 and Micarta®. The Micarta is available in black and natural versions, both with texture and grain for purchase. The G-10 comes in red, black and blue.

“Those colors will always be the same over time as we introduce other knives in the lineup, so you can buy a knife that will match whichever color knife you previously bought,” Dan said. The intent is for there to be a complete set of Joy of Cooking knives, though nothing was set in stone in that regard at press time.

Joy Of Cooking 8” Chef’s Knife Specs
Designers: Ethan Becker and Dan Eastland
Company: Dogwood Custom Knives
Blade Length: 8”
Blade Steel: CPM S35VN stainless
Rockwell Hardness: 60 HRC
Blade @Thickest: 3/32”
Handle: Black and natural Micarta® and blue, red and black G-10 options
Overall Length: 13”
Carry: Plastic snap cover
Knife to Know: K tip blade; lightweight design; hidden handle pins
Country of Origin: USA
MSRP: $200

More Kitchen Knives:

• Best Tomato Knives
• Henckels Everpoint Review
• Best Custom Brisket Knives
• What Is A Petty Knife