Kitchen knives recommendations please!

H

hoser

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Nov 7, 2000
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I'd like to surprise my wife with some new kitchen knives. I'm not a fan of the big sets because we probably only need 4 or so: a veggie cutting knife, paring, bread and maybe cleaver. Would this cover it?

My wife saw the Shun Ken Onion line at a retail store and thought they were cool. She especially like how some had indentation in the blade to keep veggies from sticking the blade. Are these good knives or just overpriced production stuff?

Recommendations, pictures and advice greatly appreciated (especially you gourmet kitchen guys and gals)!
:D
 
For around the price of a single large Shun knife you could get a whole set of AG Russell kitchen knives. Here is one that is well designed and made with great material. I picked the set of seven since it includes several small knives that are very handy for different tasks and a variety of large ones that will be very productive. Whatever you pick in the end be sure she has a soft cutting board (not glass or ceramic). Nothing will ruin a good knife faster than cutting on a counter top or a plate. http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_...lock/a_g_russell_set_of_7_kitchen_knives.html
 
Cleavers can serve two purposes. The thinner chinese cleavers can be used like a heavy chefs knife for slicing and dicing. It gives you some weight in a blade that is not too long or too thick. A traditional western cleaver is used like a hatchet to chop through bones or frozen food. I like a sort of compromise that can do some of both. The Joyce Chen multipurpose cleaver doesn't match a set, but is attractive and practical. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=9925
9925.jpg
 
I splurged for Shun's Elite 8" Chef's and 7" Santoku, since they're the ones that get banged on the cutterboard. The rest of my stuff, including the block, is Chicago Insignia2 ... not bad for carving and paring, if a bit soft.

I even bought a set of Acacia wood steak plates from Grill Lovers. Don't even think about bumping a fine edge against anything hard, and that includes the kitchen sink during hand washing. While you're at it, you might think about how to keep them sharp. The coarse steels that come with most knife sets ... well, it's all been said here in other threads.

Oh, those little indentations are called a Granton edge. IMO, just a gimmick.
 
I own Shun Pro knives. They are very good. I would recomend Murry Carter kitchen knives. They are very reasonablly priced for knives from a custom maker. He was making Muteki line of semi custom knives. these are less expensive than his hand made knives. If you are getting only a few knives you may want to look at these. Kellam Knives has them, and Arizona Custom Knives has them as well. They are Japanese Hitachi White Steel. I do alot of cooking in my kitchen and I want nothing but the best. Julia Child had some of Carters knives. You will always be proud of these pieces, I can assure you.
 
Jeff Clark said:
For around the price of a single large Shun knife you could get a whole set of AG Russell kitchen knives. Here is one that is well designed and made with great material. I picked the set of seven since it includes several small knives that are very handy for different tasks and a variety of large ones that will be very productive. Whatever you pick in the end be sure she has a soft cutting board (not glass or ceramic). Nothing will ruin a good knife faster than cutting on a counter top or a plate. http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_...lock/a_g_russell_set_of_7_kitchen_knives.html
Click to expand...

These are another very good choice as well. I got my Shun Pro knives when Kitghens Etc. was going out of business and they were selling their stock at large discounts.
 
The indentations on the side of blades are technically called cullens. The primary company that sold them for years was the Brittish company Granton. A blade with cullens is commonly said to have a granton edge. For years you would primarily see these on long carving knives in a fancy restaurant. They are primarily intended to let meat slide off the blade, not vegetables. They don't work very well. They also make a blade thicker so that they don't work well on vegetables. They make you push harder to get through. Unfortunately they are often used by TV chefs.
 
There are so many good kitchen Knives out there that its hard to recommend just one. I don't need a Bread knife at this time but a good Chefs Knife, a good slicer and a paring knife will do very well . If you cut up Chickens or anything where contact with Bone occurs, then a heavy German steel knife or cleaver would be a good idea. When it come down to it, Wusthof knives are hard to beat. Shun are great knives but run into a lot more money and are maybe more knife than needed for home cooking. IMO you can't go wrong with any of the good name brands.
 
BRKT is issuing some very nice kitchen knives - they currently have a parer and a utility knife out, with a santuko (sp?) and chef's knives to come before too long.
 
LedSled said:
Oh, those little indentations are called a Granton edge. IMO, just a gimmick.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I bought 4-5 different knives over a period of two years with this type of edge, and food stuck to them just as much as it did to the old Chicago Chef's knife we still have. I even looked up the proper technique on how to cut with them, and got the same result. I got rid of the Granton edge knives, and we still use the old Chicago set.

thx - cpr
 
thought I'd add a question here, whats the opinion of Wüsthofs? I like them quite well, but I may not have used anything much better.
 
Jeff Clark said:
Cleavers can serve two purposes. The thinner chinese cleavers can be used like a heavy chefs knife for slicing and dicing. It gives you some weight in a blade that is not too long or too thick. A traditional western cleaver is used like a hatchet to chop through bones or frozen food. I like a sort of compromise that can do some of both. The Joyce Chen multipurpose cleaver doesn't match a set, but is attractive and practical. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=9925
9925.jpg
Click to expand...

I like Chinese cleavers a lot. They may not be as popular with the celebrity chef crowd, but the wide surface of the blade makes for a great spatula to help move the food that was just chopped up.

Traditional chef's knives, and even santokus just don't have that wide surface to work with.

In addition to a cleaver, a paring knife, a meat boning knife and a bread knife would see you through most cooking work.
 
Wusthoffs are great knives. I gravitate to the Japanese knives lately, but Wusthoffs do a good job. Sometimes they are more expensive than I think they should be.
 
My wife has confiscated my A.G Russell WoodsWalker as her 'perfect' peeling knife (I'm going to order a new one just for myself!) Also the Honcho I bought her for travel has become a mainstay for her use even at home - it's handle is not what you would call comfortable, but her answer is that the blade is such a slicing/dicinig wonder that our 8" Henkel chef's knife is rarely pulled out anymore!
 
Get one basic kitchen user. Boker's Yadama. The design is part traditional French knife and part santoku-a perfect combo. It is light weight and razor sharp. YOU WILL LOVE IT!
Lycosa
 
I've got Wusthoff's, Henckel's, Dick's, Sabatier's, and Victorinox's. I keep coming back to the (all metal) Furi's because of the handle shape.
Greg
 
Grampa said:
BRKT is issuing some very nice kitchen knives - they currently have a parer and a utility knife out, with a santuko (sp?) and chef's knives to come before too long.
Click to expand...

I saw the blanks, Id say soon!:thumbup:
 
Hoser,
The Yadama comes in three different blade lengths. Go to their web-site and check them out. Boker.com
Lycosa
 
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