Kitchen knife

J

jackstraw42

Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
73
Hey all, So my mother's birthday is coming up soon and I want to get her a new chef's knife. She is such a great cook, but has such bad knives..She needs something better. I wanna keep it around 6-8 inches (pref. larger), santoku or traditional style chef's knife. I wanna keep it around 50, but I'll go a tad bit higher for something I can't pass up.

So far I've seen the Calphalon Katanas, the new Ikea "VG 10" blades that were posted recently, and the lower-end Kershaws (Shuns are too pricey)...they all look alright. Unforunately I'm seeing, a lot of "high carbon" and "surgical grade" BS. What do you guys think? are these okay? is there something else I should look at? Please help! Thank you!
 
I own one Katana and the edge rusted and pitted so terribly that I vowed to never go there again. They claim they have fixed the problem, but customer service never agreed to replace my knife.

GIANT THUMBS DOWN.
 
Nothing wrong with carbon steel knives, but they will patina and discolor. Some people like that, some don't.

I have several VG10 kitchen knives that I'm using, one from Al Mar, a few Fallknivens, several from Hiro. I also have a Misono carbon steel.

They are all excellent knives, but I believe outside what you are wanting to spend. (possible exception being the Misono line)

Keep in mind that "traditional" japanese knives are made with very thin blades, they get razor sharp, and slice like the dickens, but are not suitable for hard kitchen use (frozen foods, cutting bones, etc.

I haven't seen that Ikea VG10 knife yet, but it would be interesting to check out. I'd be curious to know the quality of it at that price.

Many non-Japanese manufactures make Japanese style knives that have thicker blades, so shop around, I'm sure you will find something suitable.

You might want to try and find out if your mother has a preference between stainless or carbon steel.

Carbon steel is generally a bit easier to sharpen than VG10, in my experience

Kevin
 
Dag-nabit said:
Nothing wrong with carbon steel knives, but they will patina and discolor. Some people like that, some don't.
Click to expand...

Something I've learned from my own gift-giving experience is that many folk don't take proper care of carbon steel, especially in the kitchen. :( That aside, those "French Peasant" knives Lee Valley sells are a handy design for cheap.
 
Victorinox Makes a Good chef knife. Probably not what a pro would use, but it is really easy to maintain and can get fairly sharp.
 
I know you said Shuns are too pricey for what you want to spend, but as of today Amazon has a Shun Steel 8" scalloped chef's knife for $79.99. That's a great deal on a great knife if you can swing that much over $50......
 
I don't know what your budget is.But if your looking for a really nice gift you should think about a custom knife.Rick Menefee would make anything you would want. Your mother will most likely have a knife for life and you wouldn't be ashamed of the gift. #(405) 222-8939
 
jackstraw42 said:
Hey all, So my mother's birthday is coming up soon and I want to get her a new chef's knife. She is such a great cook, but has such bad knives..
Click to expand...

Hi

Is it the "bad" knives or your mothers ability to sharpen them. Perhaps a good sharpening set and some instructions on how to use them.

Also a few hints on how to look after a blade in the kitchen ie wooden or Poly cutting boards NOT glass :thumbdn: which is trendy!

I know the problems I have with my wife. I gave her a Cold Steel Kitchen Classics set and a diamond sharpener, thinking she might get the idea. To little avail. I've just given up and still maintain her knives for her. Oh well, she cooks so well. I have to contribute somehow;).


Regards Dutchy
 
I think the calphalons have an odd handle shape, she should hold one before you buy her one.

I would look at Global. Their G2 chefs knife might be just what youre looking for, they also have a forged version with a more "European" styled handle. I've got a few Globals and love them. As used by Anthony Bourdain and Giada de Laurentis.
 
For a reasonable price, I agree that the rosewood-handled Victorinox kitchen knives perform well. Get the plastic-handled versions for camping.

If money is not a big issue, my favorite kitchen knives are three Murray Carters. They are light enough to use for extended periods without fatigue and they are insanely sharp.

DancesWithKnives
 
Dutchy357 said:
Is it the "bad" knives or your mothers ability to sharpen them. Perhaps a good sharpening set and some instructions on how to use them.
Click to expand...

This is a good point... even some cheap plain edge knives can perform nicely with a good edge put on them. But like you said, you can't buy someone the willingness to sharpen on a regular basis with the equipment. :confused:
 
in that price range probably need to go with vic. 10 in. chef pattern.was a cook in 60s & these worked great,however new products have eclisped that performance.but the better blades are much pricerer.teach her how to use a butcher slick& you wo,nt have to sharpen hers too oftion.
 
I just got my honey a bunch of these Pure Komachi II series.
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/s...&srch=eqCATE CODEdatarq=shun&bwSKUdatarq=ksab
She picked out what knives she wanted to make her set. Then we got a magnetic strip to put them on, lots of color for her. I don't know how your Mom feels about the colors but they are inexpensive (not cheap) and hold up very well with only the most basic care. If you just touch them up every few uses with a ceramic rod they hold up great. The flouropolymer coating is non-toxic, easy to clean and very non-stick. For the price you really can't go wrong.
 
You can get a good knife for 50, but not 'the' knife or something flashy, e.g. upgrade handle/premium steel, etc.

Messermeister has a line of seiki made stamped Japanese style blades w/ western handles for $40 or so. Not bad for the money.

The carbon Old Hickory are super inexpensive and cut well.

The vic fibrox are actually used in some kitchens, but most chefs have their own setup.

It may be worth while to get her something shaped like her old knives. After years in the hand, switching is noticeable and what may be better isn't always perceived as such.
 
Thank you for all your advice! There are a couple reasons for the < $50 limit. 1) I don't want to spend a ton of money on a pricey knife, just to find out that my mother will treat it the same way...which is not well. That said, she is the type of person to take on a sense of responsability because it is a gift, so I remain hopeful. 2) If she somehow finds out I dropped $100 on a Fallkniven Blue Whale, she'd kill me!

After taking all your advice into consideration, as well as my own personal research, here's what I came up with...Basically two short lists, one of decent quality larger chef's knives, and another of better quality, but smaller utility knives. She would get good use out of either type. I would love some last minute input to push me in the right direction :D

Large chef's:
- Kershaw Wasabi 8" Deba
- Kershaw 9900 Set (chef's, paring, wooden board)
- Victorinox Forged 6" Chef's
- Victorinox Fibrox 8" Chef's

Small utility:
- Al Mar 4 or 6" utility (VG-2 steel?)
- Spyderco Yang (6", VG-10...blade not very wide though, may not find one)
- Global 4.5 or 6" utility

What do you guys think? Does the extra size outweigh the need for a better steel? Is there really a noticable difference in steel quality when it comes to mid-range kitchen knives? Generally, cooking people seem less concerned with blade steel than knife people, just an observation :)
 
Last edited:
If you are looking for a light knife that will be easy on your mother's wrists for cutting up vegetables and moderate size pieces of meat, keep in mind that debas are generally somewhat heavier. I have a couple forged deba bochos and the makers told me that they were intended for tasks like butchering large fish or busting up chickens. Mine have a bit more weight (like a light cleaver) and thicker edge to handle those tasks. For chopping up vegetables or cutting up smaller pieces of meat, I prefer a lighter knife with a thinner blade.

DancesWithKnives
 
Hi, I recently got a set of about a dozen Wusthoff classics from my dad when I graduated from college - they're excellent knives that haven't been mentioned (probably because they are a little out of your price range...). Regardless of that, of all of the various sizes and styles that came, the 8" chefs knife is really the only one that gets used. The small pairing knife occasionally has some uses, and the boning knife is used quite regularly, but mainly on a day to day basis it's the chefs knife that gets used mostly - and personally I'd like it a little larger then 8".

So if it were me, I'd rather a nice Forschner 10" chefs then a more expensive pairing/utility knife. Actually, I had a nice Sebatier 12" chefs which wasn't really much over 50 bucks a few years back, I'd look into them - I'll bet a 8-10 inch chef is right in that region.
 
jackstraw42 said:
Hey all, So my mother's birthday is coming up soon and I want to get her a new chef's knife. She is such a great cook, but has such bad knives..She needs something better. I wanna keep it around 6-8 inches (pref. larger), santoku or traditional style chef's knife. I wanna keep it around 50, but I'll go a tad bit higher for something I can't pass up.

So far I've seen the Calphalon Katanas, the new Ikea "VG 10" blades that were posted recently, and the lower-end Kershaws (Shuns are too pricey)...they all look alright. Unforunately I'm seeing, a lot of "high carbon" and "surgical grade" BS. What do you guys think? are these okay? is there something else I should look at? Please help! Thank you!
Click to expand...

you can get the Calaphon "katana" knives in vg-1 pretty cheap. They hold a good edge and you can put a pretty good edge on them.
 
I have chef's knives from 8 to 14 inches and I agree with cOOper that the 10-12 inchers are my favorites (especially a 1970s 12" Sabatier in carbon steel with forged guard). In fact, I gave a 8" Henckels to one of my hunting buddies because he liked its looks and I wasn't using it as much.

As for the Wasabi series, I think the Santoku would be a better choice than the Deba for general kitchen use.

DancesWithKnives
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top