Best large 6-8'' stainless kitchen knife under $300?

Outdoors Fanatic · Feb 18, 2011

I've been looking online there are lots of nice looking kitchen knives under 300 and even well under 200 bucks. All from reputable brands using excellent materials. Does anybody here have experiences with these brands:

- Fallkniven kitchen knives convex edge in VG-10
- Boker Damasteel VG-10
- AL Mar Ultra-Chef series

Any other?

I'm open for custom blades as long as I can order them easily.

Thanks in advance.

Noctis3880 · Feb 18, 2011

I'm personally eyeing the Miyabi 7000 MC 8" Chef's Knife. Steel should be ZDP-189(named MC66) in a San-Mai blade with Rc 66. Price is at about $200.

Though given the brittleness of the steel, I wouldn't cut anything tougher than a potato with it.

Outdoors Fanatic · Feb 18, 2011

Noctis3880 said:
I'm personally eyeing the Miyabi 7000 MC 8" Chef's Knife. Steel should be ZDP-189(named MC66) in a San-Mai blade with Rc 66. Price is at about $200.

Though given the brittleness of the steel, I wouldn't cut anything tougher than a potato with it.

Impressive knife at a great price, thanks for sharing.

CaptChance · Feb 18, 2011

I would look at the Cutco Knife. They are incredibly sharp and strong have a lifetime guarantee and are great knife. The Cutco Santuko is right at $180 - 200. The only problemis that you need to find a local sales rep to purchase one. They are not sold through any other source. The Cutco Web Site has contact information to help find a rep in your area. http://www.cutco.com/home.jsp

Moses_3 · Feb 18, 2011

Shun Santoku with grantons, I have both the 5.5" & 7" as well as high-end 6" and 8" chef knifes, the knife that gets the most use and is my favourite all rounder is the 5.5" Santoku. Plus, it costs less (~$100) so you can save some money that you really don't need to spend on a more expensive kitchen knife, or also buy a Shun paring knife, the knife that gets the second most use in my kitchen

.

Daniel Dorn · Feb 18, 2011

Don't forget the Ken Onion designed Shun 8" Chef's knife. It's a beautiful knife with VG10 center core with stainless damascus showing.

Outdoors Fanatic · Feb 18, 2011

Daniel Dorn said:
Don't forget the Ken Onion designed Shun 8" Chef's knife. It's a beautiful knife with VG10 center core with stainless damascus showing.

OMG, I'm in love with the whole Ken Onion kitchen set! Those are just beautiful.

Outdoors Fanatic · Feb 18, 2011

Moses_3 said:
Shun Santoku with grantons, I have both the 5.5" & 7" as well as high-end 6" and 8" chef knifes, the knife that gets the most use and is my favourite all rounder is the 5.5" Santoku. Plus, it costs less (~$100) so you can save some money that you really don't need to spend on a more expensive kitchen knife, or also buy a Shun paring knife, the knife that gets the second most use in my kitchen .

Do you have experience with the SG2 steel used in some Shun knives? It seems it should hold an edge like ZDP-189 I think.

Outdoors Fanatic · Feb 18, 2011

CaptChance said:
I would look at the Cutco Knife. They are incredibly sharp and strong have a lifetime guarantee and are great knife. The Cutco Santuko is right at $180 - 200. The only problemis that you need to find a local sales rep to purchase one. They are not sold through any other source. The Cutco Web Site has contact information to help find a rep in your area. http://www.cutco.com/home.jsp

Thanks for sharing. It's great to see quality utlity knives like those still being made in the U.S...
:thumbup:

Moses_3 · Feb 18, 2011

Outdoors Fanatic said:
Do you have experience with the SG2 steel used in some Shun knives? It seems it should hold an edge like ZDP-189 I think.

I don't have any knives in ZDP, but if I had to compare it to what I have at the moment I would place its edge holding ability higher than M390 and 1095, about on par with SR101. Definitely better than AUS6-8 or 400 series stainless.
Hope that helps.

Noctis3880 · Feb 18, 2011

Interesting. Ankerson places it in the same category as VG-10 and S30V here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=793481

But I guess that depends on who does the heat treat.

xmtgx · Feb 18, 2011

Anything from Shun most are less then 200 as well.

Sulaco · Feb 18, 2011

I appreciate the really nice cutlery, but the practical side of me just takes over when I even consider spending more on a single knife than I spent on an entire set of Forschner. That stuff is so nice, it's really hard to justify spending more! Heck, I could invest the savings and buy another set in a few years!

norcalblacktail · Feb 18, 2011

You could get one from Ban for that price.

Cynic2701 · Feb 18, 2011

Sulaco said:
I appreciate the really nice cutlery, but the practical side of me just takes over when I even consider spending more on a single knife than I spent on an entire set of Forschner. That stuff is so nice, it's really hard to justify spending more! Heck, I could invest the savings and buy another set in a few years!

In my experience the great majority of cutting in the kitchen can be done with a chef/santoku blade shape approximately 7-10 inches in length.

How much and what type of cooking do you do? Different styles of cooking require different types of knives.

I can see the allure of the big German manufacturers--they use a softer steel and more obtuse angles to compensate for the types of food usually encountered in continental European cuisine. One or two knives do all the work.

On the other hand, I can also see the allure of the Japanese style knives--they use a higher hardness and shallower angle to allow for precision cutting. With a properly sharpened and well made knife, you can make cuts in fish without disturbing the grain--you can even slice fish so thin that you can see through it. The assumption, however, is that you know how to take care of your knives, and that you will use a different knife for specific types of cuts.

Depending on the style of cooking that one does, I can definitely see one knife being worth an entire set of lower-quality knives.

Big Mike · Feb 18, 2011

For less then a buck and a quarter you could get a Bark River kitchen knife: http://www.knivesshipfree.com/product_info.php?cPath=465_485_722&products_id=9513

Big Mike

gdwtvb · Feb 18, 2011

Global fan here. For awhile, when I was looking, it was a toss up between shun and Global. I am really glad we went with Global. I really like my Global chef's knife. use it daily. Easy to sharpen. (I use a sharpmaker.) The smaller paring knives and such are somewhat uncomfortable for me to use due to their small handles and my large mitts, but those are my wife's favorites. I just use the chef's knife for everything. I think the Chef/paring starter set usually goes for around $120 online. I love the one piece integral handle construction. Easy clean-up.

It would probably be a good idea to go to a high end kitchen store and handle a few different types before buying. if you are using them alot, a comfortable handle is a must. My wife found the shuns uncomfortable.

Good luck and let us know what you get.

Grizz

Jameson · Feb 19, 2011

CaptChance said:
I would look at the Cutco Knife. They are incredibly sharp and strong have a lifetime guarantee and are great knife. The Cutco Santuko is right at $180 - 200. The only problemis that you need to find a local sales rep to purchase one. They are not sold through any other source. The Cutco Web Site has contact information to help find a rep in your area. http://www.cutco.com/home.jsp

Not only have I heard terrible things about Cutco, now I see they are charging near $200 for a $20 knife, I am actually pissed off. I have used their knives, and thought they were nothing special with a FAIR factory edge that dulled rapidly. Certainly nothing better than a racheal ray spc at $30

JC

Gator97 · Feb 19, 2011

Noctis3880 said:
I'm personally eyeing the Miyabi 7000 MC 8" Chef's Knife. Steel should be ZDP-189(named MC66) in a San-Mai blade with Rc 66.

It is ZDp-189. After I published Miyabi MC 7000 Santoku review, Henckels Japan rep. contacted me and provided quite a bit of info, including that bit, MC66 is ZDP-189 currently, where MC stands for micro carbide and 66 is target hardness of the knife, acceptable range being 65-67HRC. More details in the review.

Noctis3880 said:
Though given the brittleness of the steel, I wouldn't cut anything tougher than a potato with it.

Well, as far as gyutos go, they are designed for soft food, vegetables, etc. I've been using ZDP-189 in the kitchen and outside of it for a while, and it's not that brittle. Never had a chip in the kitchen, and I did cut aluminum discs and various wiring with William Henry ZDp-189 folder, that's 67HRC, that one didn't chip either. If you are a little cautious what you do with those knives, they are just fine.

C-9 · Mar 1, 2011

CaptChance said:
I would look at the Cutco Knife. They are incredibly sharp and strong have a lifetime guarantee and are great knife. The Cutco Santuko is right at $180 - 200. The only problemis that you need to find a local sales rep to purchase one. They are not sold through any other source. The Cutco Web Site has contact information to help find a rep in your area. http://www.cutco.com/home.jsp

Garbage