Kitchen knives

Hotshot10

Hotshot10

Joined
Dec 23, 2012
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341
So I (along with my mother and mother-in-law) are buying my wife some kitchen knives for her birthday. We're going to buy the knives individually, starting with a chef's knife, a paring knife, and a thin slicer. I was initially looking into Shun knives, but I read some pretty mixed reviews on here, and I'm kind of back where I started. We're looking to spend $100 to $200 per knife. Does anyone have some suggestions? Thanks!
 
For a commercial product, you might want to take a look at "A cut above cutlery." https://www.acutabovecutlery.com/ They are about half the price range you mentioned, but in my experience offer an exceptional value, very well made, nice grinds, substantial. So many less expensive French style knives, such as you find in department stores have such thin blades that they are limited in heavy use and wear down quickly from sharpening/steeling. I have their 10" chef's knife and use it for everything. And they are very pleasant people to deal with.
 
With Shun, you are paying a lot for marketing. If you are looking to buy in that price range, you can get really nice Japanese stuff, some of it directly from Japan and their post office ships stuff to the US for CHEAP!!!! With that said, there are guys like Korin in NYC and John Broida out in LA who import a Big varitty of knives. You can even get the bigger lines off of Amazon. You can get a lot of knife in that range. the top of the line Misono UX-10 in AEB-L/13C26 can be had for like $175 for the 210 gyuto. I bought one of JCK's house brand Kagayaki Carbo-next semi-stainless 240 gyutos and really like it. That one sells for $128 and the 210 goes for $105. I also bought a Hattori FH "forum knife" 270mm suji which now goes for $235 and was very pleased. By all accounts, Hattori nailed the HT for VG10 like nobody else.
 
Check out the Freidrich Dick line of knives: http://www.dick.de/en/tools-for-chefs-and-butchers/home/.
Several price levels, forged or stamped, poly or pinned scale. There are not only an incredible array of shapes and styles, but most come in several lengths for various sized hands. Once you find the numbers of the items, a quick search on Yahoo should find several restaurant supply places that carry much of the line, while still ordering in the U.S.A. :thumbup:
 
jdm61 said:
With Shun, you are paying a lot for marketing. If you are looking to buy in that price range, you can get really nice Japanese stuff, some of it directly from Japan and their post office ships stuff to the US for CHEAP!!!! With that said, there are guys like Korin in NYC and John Broida out in LA who import a Big varitty of knives. You can even get the bigger lines off of Amazon. You can get a lot of knife in that range. the top of the line Misono UX-10 in AEB-L/13C26 can be had for like $175 for the 210 gyuto. I bought one of JCK's house brand Kagayaki Carbo-next semi-stainless 240 gyutos and really like it. That one sells for $128 and the 210 goes for $105. I also bought a Hattori FH "forum knife" 270mm suji which now goes for $235 and was very pleased. By all accounts, Hattori nailed the HT for VG10 like nobody else.
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Thanks. I will have a look at those as well.
 
RSV2400 said:
Check out the Freidrich Dick line of knives: http://www.dick.de/en/tools-for-chefs-and-butchers/home/.
Several price levels, forged or stamped, poly or pinned scale. There are not only an incredible array of shapes and styles, but most come in several lengths for various sized hands. Once you find the numbers of the items, a quick search on Yahoo should find several restaurant supply places that carry much of the line, while still ordering in the U.S.A. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Are those German?
 
for $200 you can find a lot of good knives made here (hear!) in USA, some by companies, some by individuals. some suggestions
R. Murphy https://www.rmurphyknives.com/store/kitchen_home.html knives made from 1095 and X50CrMoV15
Warthercutlery http://www.warthercutlery.com/catalog/category/view/s/chef-knives/id/59/ knives of S35VN
Lamson & Goodnow http://www.lamsonsharp.com/products/cutlery knives of X50CrMoV15
New West Knife Works http://www.newwestknifeworks.com/catalog/kitchen-knives--fusionwood-20-line knives of S35VN
Calton Cutlery http://www.caltoncutlery.com/available-kitchen-knives22.html knives of 1095 and 440C
WR Case, the pocketknife folks http://www.wrcase.com/knives/view_all/household-cutlery/ knives of X50CrMoV15
Ontario Knife Company https://ontarioknife.com/cutlery/agilite-1 knives of 14C28N
a classic alternative
http://www.thebestthings.com/knives/sabatier.htm these are 4 star elephant kitchen knives, some of the ones listed are made from pre-WW2 blanks
for new and vintage
http://stores.ebay.com/ralph1396?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

happy shopping
scott
this should give you some interesting choices.
 
Yes FDick is a very fine German manufacturer that has been in business for about 100 years. I've been in a cooking school here in Chicago and one in Napa, plus in the kitchen of several large restaurants. The majority of the knive sets I saw in use were either German or Japanese made. One of the reasons, I believe, is that these larger manufacturers keep the same handle designs for 8 or 10 years. Holidays roll around and you or the family want to add to wife's set, you'll still be able to do that without mismatched pieces. We have a very large collection of FDick Premier Plus knives in our kitchen because I was able to add 1 or 2 knives each year, for 10 years before style changed. That's an important point to consider, along with quality for the dollar level you want to buy in at. Steels are clearly identified for each line of knives and tools they make.
 
RSV2400 said:
Holidays roll around and you or the family want to add to wife's set, you'll still be able to do that without mismatched pieces. We have a very large collection of FDick Premier Plus knives in our kitchen because I was able to add 1 or 2 knives each year, for 10 years before style changed. That's an important point to consider, along with quality for the dollar level you want to buy in at. Steels are clearly identified for each line of knives and tools they make.
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You read my mind, actually. I'm figuring that I may be able to get another three or four gifts from this. :D

Do they have someone on this side of the ocean who handles resharpening?
 
Miyabi 5000 series.
Miyabi-5000DP-ENCART.jpg


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
tamahagane you ask? check out this is a video of some being made, its a traditional method, its very cool if thats the kind of thing that appeals to you.
https://youtu.be/5OIjcka9BoM
 
Tim, I think he is asking about the brand, not the traditional steel. The Tamhagane brand knives are typical stainless low layer damascus clad VG-10 core Japanese blades as best as I can tell.
timos- said:
tamahagane you ask? check out this is a video of some being made, its a traditional method, its very cool if thats the kind of thing that appeals to you.
https://youtu.be/5OIjcka9BoM
Click to expand...
 
ahhh, that makes more sense, i didnt know there was a actual brand named that
 
I does make you wonder if they would be permitted to sell under that brand name in the Japanese home market or if it would be a "protected" mark like champagne in France or prosciutto in Italy?
timos- said:
ahhh, that makes more sense, i didnt know there was a actual brand named that
Click to expand...
 
Hotshot10 said:
So I (along with my mother and mother-in-law) are buying my wife some kitchen knives for her birthday. We're going to buy the knives individually, starting with a chef's knife, a paring knife, and a thin slicer. I was initially looking into Shun knives, but I read some pretty mixed reviews on here, and I'm kind of back where I started. We're looking to spend $100 to $200 per knife. Does anyone have some suggestions? Thanks!
Click to expand...

A popular publication for serious chefs is Cooking Illustrated Magazine. Knives, their staff and readers use them all, every hour of every day, everywhere. Here is what their staff tested and what they liked best for actual tasks.


Chef Knife Test - click the little "how we tested" box

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1433-chefs-knives?ref=EquipmentReview_browse_8

All kinds of knives by category tests

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/browse/knives

I bought the Fibrox Forschner knives individually for my kitchen, 8"chef, boning, filet, carving and paring. The ergonomics are great and the quality and price are fantastic. These Fibrox brand knives are made by Forschner, the Swiss Army Knife folks who sell to the European restaurants and kitchens as well as those in the US. Listen to what the reviewing chef says about the various knives in each category. These are people who's livelihoods depend on how good their knives work in the kitchen.

You can check out the very positive user reviews on Amazon, etc.

http://www.bestkitchenknivesreviewed.com/victorinox-kitchen-knives
 
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