Need new kitchen knives

K

knifedaddy84

Joined
Oct 8, 2002
Messages
339
Let's face it, kitchen knives are the most commonly used blades in any household besides Freddy Krueger's.

I want to plant the seed for Christmas. I'm sure the sky is the limit with these things....but what is a reasonable set I should look into? How is the AG Russell kitchen knife set, for example?

Thanks!:cool:
 
look into kershaws, I havent used any, but they look like they might be worth looking into.
 
look at the Kershaw Kai knives at www.knifeoutlet.com

Incredible prices for outstanding kitchen knives. These are very thin stock which makes them great knives. They weigh less than half of a comparable Wusthof or Henckels knife.

Also look at Spyderco knives - less decorative, but basically, the same design as the Kershaw Kai knives.
 
I took a different approach and purchased various hunting and utility knives (fixed blade) primarily out of VG-10 and D-2 for kitchen use. I have been having a lot of fun because of that decision.
 
I must say that I'm not that impressed with them. They're nowhere near the Quality of my more recently aquired Sabatier Grand Chefs.

I have seen a limited edition set of kitchen knives recently released by Benchmade. I think they use 154CM with Cocobolo handles and G10 scales. They were very sweet and were a little over $300.00 for a 3 peice set. If I didn't already have the Sabatiers I'd have bought them. I'm pretty sure the wife would have thought me nuts if I came home with a third set of chef's knives. We still have the Kershaws (she gets to use them on ceramic tile without getting chewed out).

I recently saw (within the last week)a bunch of the Sabatier Grand Chef knives (equal to Henckels Pro S or Wusthoff/Trident) at the local Tuesday Morning store. Tuesday Morning is a liquidator that specializes in closeouts and overstock items from larger retailers. Besides the individually packaged knives, they had a ten piece set of the Grand Chefs marked down from $480.00 to $149.00! It's almost the same set that I paid over $400.00 for on sale at Macys! I almost bought them just because it was such a great deal, but I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to spend that much on for a gift who doesn't already have a decent set of kitchen knives. Tuesday Morning is a national chain, so checkout www.tuesdaymorning.com and see if there's a location near you.

Henckels makes several lines of kitchen knives with some made in China, Spain and Germany. The Pro S series is their best line and is German made. The same for Sabatier except their best line, the Grand Chefs are made in France. I have an 8" Chef's knife from both Henckels Pro S line and Sabatier's Grand Chef line and I like the Sabatiers the best.

One of the other guys here posted about Global. From what I hear they're top shelf as well, but you will pay plenty to get them. The Tuesday Morning prices on the Grand Chefs are the best deal around IMHO.

jmx
 
Another vote here for Global. Sharp as hell and very easy to sharpen. I'm not sure about dealers in the States or internet dealers but here in Canada they run cheaper than most of the Trident and Henckels stuff.
 
another vote for global, good stuff but kinda expensive, about 100 per knife
 
It depends on your taste and the number of knives you really need. The most ergonomic handles, the best steel, the sharpest thin blades out there go for Spyderco. The trouble with Spyderco is that they don't have as wide a variety of designs and those ergonomic handles may not appeal to your taste. For a broader selection, a bit nicer look, similar blades, and slightly less ergo handles go with the AG Russells. These are well priced and great performers. Another very high performance brand with modest prices, try the Japanese MAC knives. I like the original series with extremely thin edges the best. Again, these have alloys that take razor edges and good ergonomics. Look on the net for these.

All of the above are made in Japan with steel and designs that I like better than the German blades. The above models are all a lot lower in price than other Japanese brands with similar performance.
 
I don't believe you can beat Forschner, dollar for dollar. The rosewood handles look nicer but the Fibrox handles are very ergonomic and they don't slip. I have dozens of kitchen knives of every brand and description. I always find myself reaching for the Forschner 10" Chef with the Fibrox handle. My 2 cents. YMMV.

John in
Boise
 
Originally posted by Practical Use
I took a different approach and purchased various hunting and utility knives (fixed blade) primarily out of VG-10 and D-2 for kitchen use. I have been having a lot of fun because of that decision.
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Same here. My "kitchen knives" are from Newt Livesay, Buck, and Cold Steel. For some reason they do seem to cut better than real kitchen knives, but then again I only have Chicago Cutlery, Cutco, and whatever brand Fry's sells to compare them to. The Recon Tanto seems to work the best (it is the biggest one I use), though I normally use the Buck Special since it is stainless.:D
 
I don't think you can go wrong with a set Wusthof's or Sabatier Grand Chef's. Like was mentioned earlier, there are some good deals to be had on the Sabatier Grand Chef line of knives. I have a partial set of Wusthof's, but I recently picked up a Sabatier 6 inch Grand Chef chef's knife. It is the most used knife in the kitchen at the moment.
The Sabatier Grand Chef's are designed like their German competitors such as Wusthof and Henckel's. As a matter of fact, the 6 inch Sabatier chef knife has a thicker spine than my Wusthof Trident 8 inch chef's knife, but the Sabatier does thin out very nicely toward the cutting edge. Check Ebay for a set of the Sabatiers. Just make sure that you ask if they are seconds or not, or you could look for them locally as suggested. I have not tried the Global line yet, but I will buy the 5 inch chef utility in the near future. I know they offer thin stock and 20 degree total sharpened edges, but I just like a kitchen knife better that has a little heft to it. Wusthof and Sabatier does this for me. Big D1
 
I have used just about every main brand of kitchen knife, for me what it comes down to is comfort if your going to be cuting all day and the grip on the handle I hate a slippery handle...after using all those different brands and they are all good...I now like my kitchen knives to not only cut good but to look different too
my Kansui Ink Pattern
sweet-121.jpg

and my kickarse Bill Buxton cleaver
sweet-105.jpg
 
You have a lot of good suggestions and it goes to show you how much preferences differ from person to person. Basically, you can choose between Japanese knives (hard thin bladed, acute angled and very sharp) and Western knives (soft thick bladed, obtusely angled and very easy to maintain.) In the Western knife area you can choose between heavy, bolstered European style knives (someone above mentioned Sabatier Grand Chef as an example) and lighter knives like the inexpensive Forschner.

Reality is that, with a good edge, any of them will cut competently. It is the maintenance of that edge that is the issue. http://www.knifeoutlet.com/kitchenguide.htm is brief dissertation on the subject. Personally I use both the Japanese and western style depending on what I'm doing. I have the luxury of having a huge collection of knives in my kitchen, having tested nearly every brand and type. I really appreciate the slicing ability of a Global, as an example, and the chopping ability of a heavy bolstered European knife like a Sabatier. My Kai Shun Japanese 10" chef knife does a better job on bread than a serrated bread knife so I don't use the bread knife much any more. I don't like to chop with it, though, because of the balance. I'd suggest doing a little reading and buying a couple of different style knives (they'll all be useful.) Then you can develop your own preferences and follow those. I can assure you, a matching set of knives from a single manufacturer probably won't get you the best of all worlds. Take care.
 
Originally posted by Texas_Zeke
Woo Hoo! Newbie's first post.

Anyway..

The one knife I have forsaken all others for in the kitchen would have to be my Wüsthof santoku knife.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005MEGX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

For slicing veggies or meats it is the best balanced knife I have worked with.
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Hey, Zeke--welcome to the forums.

Do the scallops in your Wusthof santoku actually help prevent food from sticking to the blade, or are they pretty much just superficial?
 
Fred seems to have the best advice.

While I love my Grand Chefs, my best buddy has almost all asian style knives. I think the only western made knife he has is a santoku style Sabatier, so even it is asian influenced. We've gone to a couple knofe shows together this year and he's started getting me into the asian designs. I almost bought a 6" stainless damascus chef's knife from the folks at the table with all the Seki Cut knives at the recent Blade West show.

I'm starting to think that one of those might be unavoidable in the near future. But I'm a bit torn as I've also been considering a similarly sized Kyocera ceramic for it's edge holding and non reactive properties when prepping veggies (won't turn lettuce brown).

So many knives, so little money.

jmx
 
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