OT: Advice on quality kitchen knives

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by Clancy

Without going down too far into the rabbit hole, I could use some advice on a quality 8” chef knife. I’ve been looking at the Wustolf Classic but wondering if I’m paying more for the name and if there’s better options known by those in the know. This will be a Christmas gift for my wife who loves to cook and will be replacing an old inexpensive chef knife. Whatever the he brand we will probably stick with that and slowly build up a complete set.

You can't go wrong with the Wustof....

I have a set of Henckels 4-star that I've had for 25+ yrs...

Also have KenOnion and Bob Kramer Shun/Kershaw chef's knives...very pretty, very sharp, great ergo....but my go to is still the Henckels 8" Chef for everyday chopping and cutting....totalworkhorse and equivalet to the Wusthof classic.

It will be a lifetime investment, so don't fret too much about the price.

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

'Costco'???...righto..when you don't pay much for a chef's knife, you get a cheap chef's knife. yikes..

...

I have not looked at knives at Costco, but in general Costco sells quality items at good prices. Not cheap quality products.

Jeff

[RKW]

Cut Brooklyn

/thread

http://cutbrooklyn.com/

[cash05458]

People seem to sorta crap on them here abit but I like the Henckels stuff...for my needs they have been great...lived with a professional chef for years and he steered my towards buying a starter block set of them with the basics...cheaper that way...and then I could build it out over time which I did...the professional s stuff is great...like any of these things...bikes, cameras...you can go crazy via price and the slightest differences...but for a solid everyday set of knives, I think they have been great...

[echelon_john]

Good review & fundamentals here from a reliable source.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50gujs4l-I

I haven't used the Victorinox but for the $ it seems tough to beat, although it isn't a "special" knife in terms of gift giving...

[ftf]

Originally Posted by echelon_john

Good review & fundamentals here from a reliable source.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50gujs4l-I

I haven't used the Victorinox but for the $ it seems tough to beat, although it isn't a "special" knife in terms of gift giving...

I have Wusthof classic knives, and have used the Victorinox knife, it's physically very large. For me the best knife I've used is the global knives, I have large hands, and they have small handles, but they feel great.

[Spinner]

We have both Henckel and Wusthof and the visible difference between the two is the finish of the handle pieces. Many Henkel knives have black filler between the wood sections and the tang, whereas the Wusthof pieces have a finer finish with no filler.

I typically grab my 40+ year old stainless Case chef's knife when prepping foods. It can be difficult to sharpen, but is has great balance. I also love my Case serrated stainless knife which is perfect for cutting bread, tomatoes and other foods.

My absolute sharpest cutting device is a Village Blacksmith cleaver that is well over eighty years old. This piece can be easily sharpened to a razor's edge.

[Mzilliox]

Originally Posted by RKW

Cut Brooklyn

/thread

http://cutbrooklyn.com/

at those prices one can do much better i think.
Thats not entry level, thats the next step or 3 up in price.
One can get a very fine blade under $500
like this:
[IMG]20191206_133950 by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr[/IMG]

[tuxbailey]

Late to this thread and not an expert on knives. But when I got the Victornox Fibrox Pro it was night and day. At $40 is a great purchase. Even if you have a very expensive knife, it would work well as a back up.

[djg]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

I have not looked at knives at Costco, but in general Costco sells quality items at good prices. Not cheap quality products.

Jeff

I'd say that's generally true, but they tend to sell full knife kits from the big manufacturers. There's nothing wrong with that, but if it's a good deal on a large selection of not quite the knives you want . . . maybe it's not a great deal any more.

I wouldn't tout anything exotic for somebody who doesn't already want it, and want the upkeep. I would tout finding a single chef knife of a profile, weight, and grip that feels good to the user -- needn't be a quest for somebody who doesn't want a quest. And a way to keep it sharp. And after that, sooner or later, meeting a perceived need, whether it's a paring knife, a bread knife (some cheap ones are just grand, btw), or a deba for that matter.

[einreb]

My 2 cents and a variation of your original question...

We have an 8" Wusthof chef's knife, but it stayed in the block a lot more once we added a "Wusthof Grand Prix II 7 Hollow Ground Edge Santoku"

Lighter but still big with what seems to have more usable blade than the chefs knife. I like the grand prix handle in that it holds a good grip when wet.

-b

[buddybikes]

Ok, now that we have blown our budget on nice knives, what do people use to sharpen (easily not taking hours)?

[Hardlyrob]

I typically use an accusharp sharpener - looks like a cheap piece of plastic crap, but it works great - and it is cheap. If I have a damaged blade out come the water or oil stones from the woodworking shop to work a nick out of the blade.

[RKW]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Ok, now that we have blown our budget on nice knives, what do people use to sharpen (easily not taking hours)?

https://www.amazon.com/Tri-Angle-Sha.../dp/B00JHX512S

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Ok, now that we have blown our budget on nice knives, what do people use to sharpen (easily not taking hours)?

we have an older set (not vintage) of henkels--the kind of big dept store thing where you get a wooden block with 5 cooking knives and then 8 steak knives. it came with a little "pull through" sharpener thing (looks like little discs in there). it creates a very sharp but thin edge that chips easily. I never liked the knives much so recently saw a sale on a nice set of 7 fleischer and wolf knives on a magnet stand with a similar pull through thing, but it is not discs, and has a 'coarse' and 'fine' groove. It is much better, but i know i still need a honing steel. The F&W knives feel much better to me, and have stayed sharp longer. I've also paid attention to instructions and kept them out of the dishwasher.