Kitchen knives

[kamagong]

A friend of mine is about to move into her first apartment. I would like to get her some kitchen knives as a housewarming present? What brand would you guys recommend? Forschner, Wusthof Trident, Messermeister, Spyderco? Any other brands that I should look at? Thanks for the help.

 

[clarkjd]

I have a set of the spyderco kitchen knives and am very happy with them. They are not that expensive, and perform very well. I think they rate very high in the "Bang for the Buck" catagory!

 

[RH]

This has been covered in great detail on a number of previous threads. Just do a search on "kitchen" here, and in the testing forum (and the archives).

 

[Sid Post]

What price range are you shopping in?

For about $200, you can get a George Tichbourne K6 and a K3. The first one is a big one great for chopping carrots, roll cutting softer things and, cleaving a little if required. The K3 is a really sweet "vegatable" knife that fills the roll of being an all round handy knife for normal cutting chores. If your friend isn't used to "good" cutlery and maintaining it, a german set or a custom pair is probably wasted.

Spyderco is really cheap but, they work very well. For someone on a limited budget in a first apartment, probably one of the better choices. You won't cry if/when it gets used as a screwdriver or a prybar.

In the intermediate range, I got a Henkel's Pro-S Chinese Cleaver ($40 retail) and find it to be a great all round knife in the kitchen.

Stay Sharp,
Sid

[This message has been edited by Sid Post (edited 04-25-2001).]

 

[kamagong]

Sid,

That's exactly what I was thinking. I want to get her a few good knives so that I can introduce her to the wonderful world of quality cutlery. She doesn't know how to take care of knives, since she's been exposed mostly to crap. Spyderco, although ugly, seems like the answer. It's cheap, and from what I've read, seems like a lot of bang for the buck. I don't know if I could live with myself if I gave her some really expensive knives only to find that she or her roommates had been abusing them.

Are the Spyderco's easily sharpened? Can you sharpen them using an Arkansas stone? I'm thinking of including a stone with the knives I buy her.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Knife Outlet]

Since opinions are what makes the world go round, I'll add mine. The Spyderco kitchen knives are pretty thin and light. They are overpriced for what they are in my opinion. this opinion is from a Spyderco dealer and collector, by the way. I'm a big fan of spyderco knives.

If you want to stay away from the high end stuff, look seriously at Forschner. These are light and thin also, but a little more substantial and, more importantly, aren't serrated. Serrations are an issue with kitchen knives if you like to keep them sharp. Plain edges are significantly cheaper and easier to keep sharp. I recommend serrations for bread knives only. There you go. Another opinion. Take care.



------------------
Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com

 

[Velitrius]

Fred, I just gotta disagree on a bunch of points here.

>Spyderco is not overpriced. Click on the "Store" icon above, and check out the prices at 1SKS. That's a steal. You want overpriced, look at Henckels.

>Spyderco kitchen stuff is plenty beefy to handle any kind of normal cutting tasks that you can find in any kitchen. They are just thin enough, and plenty tough. I'm trying to talk a chef buddy into using them at his restaurant to see how they stack up. I'm betting just fine.

>If you don't like serrations on your kitchen cutlery, Spyderco has plain edge versions too. Again, look at 1SKS, they have both varieties.

I was down at the Eugene show last weekend and saw a score deal.... 5 Spyderco kitchen knives and a Sharpmaker for $185. Wish I could remember what table that was on. So many damn tables though. Get the Spyderco stuff.