Kitchen knives for an abusive user

[markeriv]

So my lady is not so gentle on her knives. I came home tonight and found our 9 year old set from Henkles thrown out because the wooden base's paint was flaking and two of the steak knives had chips. >.> <.<. The challenges of being a married man.

So now I need to purchase a new set to prevent this $35 abomination set of garbage and rubber from Ross from taking up living space in my kitchen. Whatever knives I get will most assuredly be put through the dishwasher with no care as to their placement or what kind of dishwasher detergent gets used. I'm looking to spend around $300, however I am tempted to splurge on $600 worth of Cutco simply for the fact that I've seen them take the kind of abuse the lady can throw out and seem inclined to replace damaged knives. I've seen Cutco get a lot of poor reviews on this site and am open to suggestions.

What would you get someone who you know isn't going to take care of their knives? Particularly when you are going to be forced to put up with using them too... I've tried having a his/hers set - and that just gets me damaged knives.

I've been thinking of:
(LINKS TO NON-SUPPORTING DEALER REMOVED; Please don't link to dealers that don't support Bladeforums)

Her being very dishwasher happy really makes my choices feel limited.
Does anyone have any better recommendations?

 

[vilePossum]

If she is truly that dishwasher happy get some victorinox kitchen knives. The lower end lines are cheap and work. Sure the steel is rather soft so you will have to resharpen more often but they can take a lot of abuse. Plus some of them come in different colors.

 

[jc57]

Go to the local restaurant supply store and get some Dexter-Russells.

 

[midnight flyer]

Go to the local restaurant supply store and get some Dexter-Russells.

I like this idea of a lot. I do some light catering from time to time and work with some volunteer groups. They use knives for cutting, prying, chopping, on any material imaginable. They haven't hurt these knives so far, and they have a good amount of utility value even though I find the handles a little uncomfortable. These knives will take a lot of punishment and are meant to be in hot dishwashers and seem to suffer little or no harm at the hands of those who don't appreciate good cutlery.

On the other hand, if you go to a good restaurant supply store they have other knife brands as well that are quite affordable. My favorite boning knife is a pretty good quality steel, sharpens easily and holds an edge very well. I paid $8 for it...

So if you go, look around!

Robert

 

[3fifty7]

His and Hers knives,

DO NOT CROSS THE STREAMS !

 

[lex2006]

Better buy Busse
Honestly Im in the same boat , if I try to keep the kitchen knives sharp they will be worn out in a year
Its just a tool for most people , especially in the kitchen

 

[l1ranger]

get the cutco if you want.
my mother in law has about 340 cutco knives - she has given us a set, and has give us individual knives as well.
they have all held up to a wife and two teenage daughters. they say not to sharpen yourself, but I've worked on the paring knife, the only one we have that is not serrated, and the results are good. they will hold up

I also have my knives too, that they can't use

 

[HotSteel]

get some victorinox kitchen knives

This. Why would you buy a $600 set of knives for someone with no appreciation or respect for them?

 

[jc57]

There's a trick with kitchen knives - if you know how to sharpen and maintain edges, and don't mind doing it pretty often, you can get by with some pretty inexpensive knives.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

My wife does not destroy knives, but she tends to let me do most of the cutting because she knows I love doing it

What we do in my house is to keep a brace of various knives of various quality for specific uses.

Cheap chinese beaters are reserved for cutting up the kiddos food on plates. Old Hickory knives are used for dirty jobs that may need a fine edge but I don't mind dinging up (carving out all the little pieces of meat on a turkey or something).

I have a couple of nice (yet not very expensive) Shun knives i keep razor sharp and out of the dishwasher. A chef knife and a 6" utility do my precision work. I think they were both about 60 bucks each and from the more economy line. Nice VG-10 fused to a cheaper 400 series stainless body. It gives me the cutting and sharpening ability of a nice knife for a fraction of the cost.

 

[afishhunter]

Go to the local restaurant supply store and get some Dexter-Russells.

This.

The Old Hickory 'SaniSafe' knives would also be a good choice.

 

[Velitrius]

Cold Steel made a set of kitchen knives. They can take some punishment, are inexpensive, and still cut like mad.

You can still grab some at One Stop Knife Shop:

http://www.onestopknifeshop.com/store/cold-steel-kitchen-knives.html

 

[Cvrobinson]

I purchased a set of kershaw kitchen knives in the early 90's, explained to the wife they were "not dishwasher safe". It's the only fib I've managed to keep for over 25 yrs (their claim to fame was they were sold as dishwasher safe).
I believe the reason they still look like the day I bought them is twofold, first they have always been hand washed and I maintain the edges regularly, secondly my eyesight has declined approximately the same as my memory has faded, so they seem the same.
I miss the 90's , I think, hard to remember.

 

[danbot]

Ginsu 2000!!
Seriously though, I would get a decent but reasonably inexpensive set for the kitchen and get yourself a set of three really nice ones that you like. No one touches your knifes but you! Wash and dry them as soon as you are finished with them and put them out of harms way!
And if she has her own money, make her buy the kitchen set!

Its the only way unfortunately.

 

[GermanyChris]

I treat kitchen knives like your wife does and I buy Tupperware.

 

[Valyrian steel]

My wife stays out of the kitchen. She can't cook. She tried once, and left a burnt nuclear afterimage of a grilled cheese sandwich in my stainless fry pan. So I usually keep my knives in good shape.

That cold steel set looks like a winner. Try Gordon Foods service (GFS) brand. We have a set out to deer camp and they rock.

 

[abbazaba]

+1 on the Victorinox

The best thing I've done is start zipping my kitchen knives through a Work Sharp. Easy, quick, mindless. This way I don't cringe at the abuse as much because I know I can make it sharp again with little effort every other month or so.

I have ONE knife in the block that is MINE (Tojiro DP Gyutou) and does not go in the dishwasher. However, I have still found in at the bottom of the sink with pans on top of it.

 

[Coyja]

Buy Moras.
I did this 5-6 years ago and it was the smartest thing I could have purchased.
They’re bombproof, easy to sharpen, and feel great in the hand.

 

[eisman]

I have some of those Cold Steel kitchen knives. They have held up very well over 20 years. They don't mind the dishwasher, and they sharpen without a lot of effort. I keep wanting to replace my CS Bread knife, but just can't stand the idea of getting rid of something that works so well. I haven't sharpened that one in years and it still slices bagels without pulling.

 

[NJBillK]

As said already, get Dexter-Russel or other commercial kitchen brands.

Your wife can't be as hard on knives as the folks I work with...

This doesn't show the worst of it... This knife started out designed to cut cheese, with two handles, one each on opposing ends. One was snapped off and they made the best of it. That huge chip in the corner is new, the small one 1/4" up isn't new...