Our paring knife is made by Dexter Russel, one of the last main line producers of cutlery in the USA. Tony personally has a couple of their large cleavers for BBQ duty, and several spatulas, but the paring knife gets used multiple time a day. What makes this knife so great? The blade is high carbon steel! it is not stainless and if you are looking for a pretty knife that you can use and forget about, this is Not the knife for you. Much like your cast iron, it require a little bit of care. But if you can consistently rinse it and keep it clean, this knife rewards you with phenomenal performance. It has a great edge from the factory. It is also very easy to sharpen due to the high carbon steel blade. These qualities are the best balance you could want in a knife. So what is the toasted handle about? The beechwood handle is wonderful choice of wood for a handle. It is not an exotic wood in danger of over harvesting. It is a renewable domestic wood source. It is rather light in tone, though. So we toast it with high heat, a unique wood worker’s technique to give a wooden fixture more character. We then perform an old beekeeper’s trick and fry the handle. Yes, we fry the handle in an oil and beeswax mixture. Old time beekeepers would collect the wax from their colonies. In the spring when they were getting ready for the season, they would boil their new boxes and honey frames in beeswax. The beeswax penetrated the wood pores and protected the wood from harsh conditions. With no other treatment, a bee hive could survive unpainted for decades in the outdoor elements. We certainly don’t want you to leave your paring knife outdoors, but we do want it to last you for a very long time.