Victorinox Kitchen Knives

J

jetsrb32

Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
553
Hi Everyone,

Does anyone have experience using Victorinox Kitchen Knives (chef knives,santukos, slicers etc)?
If so what are your thoughts (value, durability, comfort etc)?

Thanks :thumbup::thumbup:

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(These have Fibrox handles)
 
Great stuff, excellent value. Great geometry and profile, easy sharpening. Quite soft, so will need steeling with the finest steel you may find, or a fine ceramic rod. Sharpening with a medium coarse stone (J400-800), strop and deburr with ceramic rod or medium stone (J1000-2000).

Get the ones with rosewood handles.
 
Probably the best value for the money you can find. I found the blade on the chef knife to be thinner than most I am used to but it has held up fine.
 
They are ok :)
If you can, you should rehandle them:

http://darkhoek.blogspot.no/2011/05/pimp-my-knife-victorinox-refurbishment.html

I have rehandlet like 5 of them. For main knife however, I would go with a Gyuto. I prefer a 225 in length, but then you might need to go custom.
210 Torjo DP is a lof for the money. Its stainless, but you could choose to go for carbon or a sanmai with carbon core and stainless clad?

If you want to have one of the best knives you should try marko:
http://darkhoek.blogspot.no/2012/04/marko-tsourkan-designs-240-mm-wa-gyuto.html

Best bang for the bucks, if you want something really really great .)
 
gregorio said:
Probably the best value for the money you can find. I found the blade on the chef knife to be thinner than most I am used to but it has held up fine.
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Bingo. And one of the things I LOVE about the chef's knife is how thin it is. Glides right through carrots and other firm targets (cutting a watermelon is a breeze!)
 
You can't do better for $25. I doubt you'd find anything better under $100 unless you get something like a Shun on sale or a lucky score on the exchange. The 8'' chefs knife is easy to sharpen, holds its edge well enough, and it's pretty comfortable in hand. It doesn't weigh a lot and it's not super thick, but I dislike German style thick and heavy chefs knives, so that's personal preference. If you aren't a pro chef or don't have excellent knife handling skills I really doubt you'd gain much from more expensive kitchen knives. I use an Opinel paring knife in carbon steel and the 8'' Vic chefs knife. I like to cook and they're more than adequate for what I do.
 
I gave my 12" scimeter Forschner/Victorinox away and replaced with 14" Kin Lih R2 made in TW, cost me 10 usd in San Jose, CA. After freshly sharpened the R2 can slice newsprint cross grain, where the scimeter never able to do. I've no idea what steel the R2 uses but it seem harder and has better edge retention than the scimeter. R2 profile along the line of a super stretched nakiri (weird).

I bought this R2 out of curiousity, it became a surprise slicer, so I'll mod it into a 12" gyuto or tall suji.
 
Fanglekai said:
You can't do better for $25. I doubt you'd find anything better under $100 unless you get something like a Shun on sale or a lucky score on the exchange. The 8'' chefs knife is easy to sharpen, holds its edge well enough, and it's pretty comfortable in hand. It doesn't weigh a lot and it's not super thick, but I dislike German style thick and heavy chefs knives, so that's personal preference. If you aren't a pro chef or don't have excellent knife handling skills I really doubt you'd gain much from more expensive kitchen knives. I use an Opinel paring knife in carbon steel and the 8'' Vic chefs knife. I like to cook and they're more than adequate for what I do.
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Speaking of Opinel they also make a beautiful chef's knife with spot-on geometry and a full-height shallow convex grind. The thing's like a sharpened feather.
 
I think it's one of my favorite "budget" chef's knives now. I plan on getting my sister one--she's a culinary enthusiast and learned how to take care of knives from me growing up. Unfortunately my folks haven't learned in the same way so I always feel bad for her using kitchen knives with dulled edges. About time she has one to call her own.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I think it's one of my favorite "budget" chef's knives now. I plan on getting my sister one--she's a culinary enthusiast and learned how to take care of knives from me growing up. Unfortunately my folks haven't learned in the same way so I always feel bad for her using kitchen knives with dulled edges. About time she has one to call her own.
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It looks like it's just begging for a custom burl wood handle. 12c27 with a good heat treat in thin stock would make for a wicked chefs knife. That one is on my list now. I have no use for ridiculously expensive chefs knives, just budget, quality ones.
 
Fanglekai said:
It looks like it's just begging for a custom burl wood handle. 12c27 with a good heat treat in thin stock would make for a wicked chefs knife. That one is on my list now. I have no use for ridiculously expensive chefs knives, just budget, quality ones.
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Extend that statement to knives in general and that's my whole philosophy. With any quality good you reach a point of diminishing returns. Almost all of my purchases are in the "most bang for your buck" range of the curve.
 
I have that exact same set sitting on my kitchen counter. It's also the same brand most meat cutters use, including myself. For the price they are hard to beat. I love mine and if I had to buy again for some reason I would get the same thing.
 
My favorite kitchen knives...latest set for new house was 6 knives for $76 - 3 paring knives, 4 1/2" utility, 8" chef, and 10 1/4" bread.
They go toe to toe or often best competition costing 4-10x the price.

For all knives I look for great design with good enough materials over utmost edge retention.
Fibrox handles are very comfy and are more hygienic and safe (no slip with oil, blood, soapy water, etc.) than traditional Japanese or European handles.

Believe blade stock is the same as used in their folders and the $100++ Wusthof, Henckels, and Messermeister knives.
 
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Does $25 Victorinox 10 times better than a $2.5 Kiwi?
Does $500 Murray Carter 20x better than $25 Victorinox?
No and no.

It seems that performance is Logarithmic of price, so the bang/buck sweet range depend job function. Many pros/knuts spend their $ on high-end/custom knives because they know & expect alot more out of their knives.
 
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