The important thing to remember about Chicago Cutlery is that they make several lines. The stuff sold at K-Mart under the Chi Cut name is their low-end stuff. Their high end stuff is pretty good.
One of the best buys I ever made was two boxes of parring knives. Yes, boxes of. Twenty per box for $10 a box. That's right, fifty cents each. They say made in China right on 'em, "Good Cook" brand. Yes, they're cheap. But, they've held up for years. I've never sharpened any of 'em and they're still remarkably sharp (no, not shaving sharp, but remarkably sharp nonetheless). And I send 'em through the dishwasher every time.
That's really the joy of this $20 investment. Since there are fourty of 'em, I am never at a loss for a clean knife. If there's any question in my mind about what that knife was last used for, I just set it aside and pull out a clean one. This way, I don't end up chopping a bit of onion for the salad with the knife I just used to cut a bit of fat off the chicken. If it's got something on it that I don't want on the next thing I'm gonna cut, I just pull out a clean one. This way, I don't end up with horseradish in the strawberries.
They have brightly colored plastic handles so I can quickly look down the garbage disposal before running to make sure that there isn't a knife down there (which is very important as my disposal will throw those things out with remarkable force. There have been a couple of near misses.).
Take my advice: get yourself fourty cheap parring knives and a dozen nylon cutting boards.
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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 04-11-2001).]
