Whats a good affordable kitchen knife?

J_Curd

J_Curd

Joined
Jul 26, 2006
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Before I became more "enlightened" I bought a bunch of Henkels kitchen knives. I own a set and an additional "japanese vegtable knife" style. I like the style of the later more than anything, as I usually cut thin tomatoes and the thin veggies, but my current cutlery requires sharpening each and every time I go to cut a tomato.

Im looking for a mid-sized chef's knife. I want thin blade, super hard steel, and something that wont chip or roll on a pyrex cutting board.

To futher add to the complications, I dont want a "Shun" price knife...Id love to have one, but its a bit out of budget atm.

Any suggestions?
 
kershaw makes a shun wasabi that is nice and only about $30. i also hae some of cold steels and like them as well.
 
If you're looking for some good, reasonably priced kitchen knives it's hard to beat Forschner or Dexter Russell. There is a reason you'll usually find one of these brands on most commercial kitchens and fishing docks - They're tough, durable and get the job done. (easy to keep razor sharp, as well)
 
My vote goes for Victorinox (Forschner) too.
I have many of them in different styles and sizes. Have some a year old, others
more than 12-15 yrs. I can slice through the softest tomato with any of them.

I also have a set of Cutco (much more $$ than the Vic/For though)
which are wonderful, but I find myself using the Vic/For more often.

Overall the Forschner have outlasted any Henkels or Mundial I've had.

Wustoff makes some great cutlery too. Some of it can be kinda
pricey though compared to Vic/For

mike
 
Whatever you choose, IMO do yourself a favor and get yourself a different cutting board. By Pyrex I assume you mean glass and the thought of a quality chef's knife cutting on glass makes me cringe. Those things are knife killers.
 
Blue Sky said:
Whatever you choose, IMO do yourself a favor and get yourself a different cutting board. By Pyrex I assume you mean glass and the thought of a quality chef's knife cutting on glass makes me cringe. Those things are knife killers.
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That's an excellent idea. I have a half dozen 18x24 anti-microbial boards
and maybe 12 or so individual chopping mats. All color coded for each
food item. Keeps from dulling my knives after one use and I'm not
prepping cucumbers on the chicken mat. :D
I use the sticky/spongy drawer liner on my stainless table to keep them from
moving around.

mike
 
My Bark River Classic Lite Hunter cuts tomatoes thinner than anything on earth, keeps an edge and is stainless.Looks kool walking out of the kitchen with it on your belt too...
 
If "plastic" cutting boards are not your thing, and you can see stepping away from pyrex, you might want to look into bamboo cutting boards. Wal-Mart now carries a few styles, for less than $20. Switching to wood will save you countless hours of sharpening. I believe bamboo holds up a little better than other woods, to high temp washes, if sanitizing is your main concern. Or, go with the multi-color plastic boards out there. That's my choice.

DD
 
Your edge could be rolling because you're scraping the cutting board after each cut. Do you lift your knife straight up or do you push the tomatos to the side after each cut?
 
Someone here on BladeForums recommended a knife called a Tosagata Santoku Hocho, which I was able to get via a seller called something like Japan Woodworker for maybe--I forget the exact price, but I think it was about 30 bucks. Punch a few of the above terms into Google and you'll find it pretty quickly, I bet. For the money, it might be just what you're after. It's got an extremely-thin hand-forged blade made of super-hard high-carbon steel sandwiched between 2 layers of wrought iron. Just soak the wood handle in linseed oil overnight, dry it off (being careful what you do with the oil-soaked rags), and you're in business. Only downside is you must not let your less-knife-savvy family members put it in the dishwasher or leave it in the sink. They hold an edge like you would not believe. This is my go-to kitchen knife. Oh, one more caution: the point at the heel of the blade is easy to nick yourself with, so take care.
 
I also agree with Forschner - excellent knives and I have quite a few in my kitchen. Even though I have a nice Wusthof set that was a wedding gift, I reach for my Victorinox/Forschner knives first.

That said, does anyone have any experience with the Kershaw KAI Pure Komachi knives? (They're very colorful, but do they work as pretty as they look?)
Prices are only ~$20 each.

Regards,
Mike
 
Return of the J.D. said:
Someone here on BladeForums recommended a knife called a Tosagata Santoku Hocho, which I was able to get via a seller called something like Japan Woodworker for maybe--I forget the exact price, but I think it was about 30 bucks. Punch a few of the above terms into Google and you'll find it pretty quickly, I bet. For the money, it might be just what you're after. It's got an extremely-thin hand-forged blade made of super-hard high-carbon steel sandwiched between 2 layers of wrought iron. Just soak the wood handle in linseed oil overnight, dry it off (being careful what you do with the oil-soaked rags), and you're in business. Only downside is you must not let your less-knife-savvy family members put it in the dishwasher or leave it in the sink. They hold an edge like you would not believe. This is my go-to kitchen knife. Oh, one more caution: the point at the heel of the blade is easy to nick yourself with, so take care.
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I too have a couple kitchen knives from Japan Woodworker. They are super sharp and stay that way. The ones in the $30 range are great deals. They just look a bit rustic, but they cut like mad. One of the knives I have (the vegetable knife) which looks like an ultrathin cleaver is not intended for tough kitchen work, but when slicing vegetables, it performs and then some.
 
J_Curd said:
Before I became more "enlightened" I bought a bunch of Henkels kitchen knives.
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I spent a number of years in various professional kitchens prior to my current career, so I have some experience with "decent" as well as "good" knives. When my wife and I got married we bought a set of Henckel's from Macy's open stock over a period of about a year. We have mostly the 4-star series, but my 8" and 10" chefs are Pro-S. Absolutely none of that ever-sharp stuff here. Even the steak knives are 4-star.

After almost 10 years of moderate use, they are all still holding up well. I've had to sharpen the 8" chef a few times, the others I still get away with steeling before cutting something like a tomato. We have one glass cutting board that I never use, three plastic professional style ones that are used occasionally, and a wooden one we use daily.

The 8" chef I originally sharpened with the Henckel sharpener - the one you hold against the counter and draw the knife through. Crap. But if you are reading this, you probably know that. Now that I know better I use my DMT coarse and fine on it and that blade is good as new.

Sure, there are better knives out there. I'm not doing competition quality cuts here, and I use my knives probably once a day on average. For the cost, the availability (replacing one in the set if it breaks, which none have, is easy), and what I need I have been happy with the Henckels.

Just my two cents.
 
There was a professional chef who used to post here a lot. His nom de guerre was "theChef". He highly recommended Victorinox Forschner knives repeatedly as the best bang for the buck.

I have had a Vic Forschner 8" Chef knife for some 25 years. It has always been a pleasure to use. Plastic board, wood board, no problems. Sharpens easily too.

I have been told that the quality of Henkels offerings has dropped in the last few years.
 
i hae that knife and it works great.

my key board is messed up so no caps and missing some letters.
 
No knife, no matter how hard will stand up to a glass cutting board. Use wood, they are basically self-sanitising (do a google search for cutting boards and microbial action) and are much kinder to thin edges.
I like the handles on my Furi blades--they aren't the hardest or thinest blades but they suit my hand.
Greg
 
Greg said:
No knife, no matter how hard will stand up to a glass cutting board. Use wood, they are basically self-sanitising (do a google search for cutting boards and microbial action) and are much kinder to thin edges.
I like the handles on my Furi blades--they aren't the hardest or thinest blades but they suit my hand.
Greg
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I agree. Studies show that wood cutting boards are far more anti-microbial than any polymers because the cuts in the latter preserve bacteria. Wood washes off quickly and cleans quickly. I know, counterintutive.
 
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