Who knows kitchen knives?

In my 20 years of professional cooking, the Wilkin's Ryback is the finest chef knife that I have EVER used.
$170.
 
If it was me, I'd list either the Shun Bob Kramer Euro's at Sur la Table, or the Shun Meiji (also Bob Kramer design) at Williams Sonoma. The Euro's seem perfect to me.
 
paul77 said:
Steer clear of blocks as I've read they can be a bacteria trap. You can get great knife magnets for $20 - $30 and hold your knives high up on a wall to prevent small hands getting at them.
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Only if you put dirty knives in them. The idea is to wash and dry the knife before putting it away.
 
The reason I went with Japanese carbon steel knives is that I have used wusthof knives for many years and some vg-10 japanese knives as well. I like my knives to be razor sharp. If they are not razor sharp why bother investing in a good set of knives. Although I could get the stainless knives razor sharp it just became a chore. Especially since I use these knives alot and some minor abuse my wife puts them through, sharpening more frequently was necessary.

I originally went with stainless steel because I did not want the maitnance of keeping a carbon steel knife from rusting. Well, the funny thing is I found the maintenance of keeping a razor edge was more troublesome than wiping a carbon steel knife dry.

Although I have to sharpen Carbon steel knives as well. They sharpen up very fast and can be done on the fly while cooking.

The funny thing is that it was Julia Child cook book that turned me on to carbon steel not a knife forum

I just thought I share my experience, take it for it's worth
 
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Knife Outlet said:
The Forschners have 1/2 the secret to high performance kitchen knives. That is thin blades. If they were as hard as the Japanese blades they would be something special. Personally, I think they are probably the best pure value in the industry. Nowhere else can you get that kind of performance for those prices. It is no surprise that Cook's Illustrated goes ga ga over them with every cutlery test. The steel they use is the same stuff used by the Wusthof/Henckels crowd. Decent but unspectacular.
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Victorinox is the best, or at least good, in all areas they compete.:thumbup:
 
From my standpoint your kitchen knives will often be your most used knives. The will meet all kinds of abuse from anyone who uses your kitchen. Ignorant house-mates or visitors will dump them in the sink with plates and cutlery , possibly pry with them , and use them for who knows what.( unless you keep em hidden away or something , which wouldn't be practical).
So what you want is some knives that are cheap , easy to replace , yet quality serviceable tools.
I went for - a large victorinox (forschner in US ?) same as chefs use in any kitchen Ive been in.
a set of Marttiini paring knives , all slightly different
a set of Tramontina knives in 3 sizes - these were like 10 $ and really good quality for the price. The smallest is perfect for making sandwiches cutting Turkish bread open etc ,
A supermarket asian chopper for fine dicing + supermarket bread knife for rye bread
and a set of old hickory for when I want a plain steel knife for something.
works for me , i dont need a showpiece knife set , just good tools .

just my opinion.
 
Dollar for dollar "Old Hickory" is the best kitchen knives on the planet, as far as I know. I pity those that don't know this. If any of you know of something better, please enlighten.
 
I like F.Dick or Misono, both are reasonably priced and good working knives. The kind you aren't afraid to drop on a tile floor, but will still shave the hair off your arm. I'm perfectly happy using the industrial Henkels or Victorinox knives too though.
 
ulgah said:
Dollar for dollar "Old Hickory" is the best kitchen knives on the planet, as far as I know. I pity those that don't know this. If any of you know of something better, please enlighten.
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Pity me. I consider them the worst piece of junk ever foisted on the cooking public.
 
Thanks for all the replies - I've done some more research and have narrowed my search:

Right now, I would like to get a set of Shun knives (who wouldn't I suppose) but they're out of my price range. Now in terms of appearance, I like damascus. I found a set of knives called the Calphalon Katana series that runs $300 for an 8 piece set w/ bamboo block. Does anyone have experience with these knives? I don't know anything about them other then they look nice when I saw them in a store. They were right next to the Shun/other pricey Japanese knives.

No, I won't buy knives because I like the way they look. But if its decent set vs. decent set, I may pay a few more bucks for the prettier knives. I've looked into them a little bit (the Calphalons) and have discovered that they are made in China. They are made of VG-1 steel, which I don't know anything about. So I suppose they're Japanese steel but made in China.

The other knives I'm considering are Forschner. From what I've heard, they cut well and are a great bargain.
 
Bad move. Forget the set. You'll just end up with knives you don't need and use. Get 2 or three of the Japanese knives. You'll be far better off in the long run - and the short run.
 
Update to my original post:

This thread inspired me to buy the F. Dick 1905 8' Chef's knife that I referred to in my earlier post. It just arrived and I put it through some paces today. The steel is listed as XCrMoVMn - which is most likely a variant of Krupp/Nirosta 1.4116.

http://www.nirosta.de/fileadmin/scripts/wbbreitband/en/main_anzeige.php?ID=4116

This steel is used in higher end knives from Wustoff, Henckels, Victorinox, Messermeister, and apparently some Cold Steel knives like the Kudu.

http://coldsteelforums.com/Basic-Info-on-4116-Krupp-m40845.aspx

Although the Krupp/Nirosta does not list Mn as one of the elements in their 4116 (the F. Dick 1905 does) so this might be a variant. HRc is rated between 55-60 depending on what source you read.

I was attracted to this knife because of its blade profile and brand name. I've always liked F. Dick and have preferred them to Henckels and other Euro brands. In my long professional cooking career as a chef I developed a preference for chef's knives with a deep belly. They were usually hard to find in lengths under 10". Santoku's have the depth but not the elevated tip that workes best for me with quick detail work like cutting out sinew. It also has a bit of upward slope near the ricasso so you can rock a bit when slicing.

I've included several pictures comparing the new knife to older 8" and 10" unused F. Dick knives. The difference is amazing. Thinner blade. Quillion is thinned down to facilitate sharpening. Note the big blade profile difference in the second picture where I've placed the older (unsharpened) 8" F. Dick chef's knife over the new 1905 blade. I haven't had time to run it through a lot of paces, but it came shaving sharp and slices soft, over ripe tomatoes wafer thin. The handle is larger (circumference) than most of my other knives and it gives good grip. Balance is neutral and makes for fast handling.

Price was $76. plus shipping.
 

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Knife Outlet said:
Bad move. Forget the set. You'll just end up with knives you don't need and use. Get 2 or three of the Japanese knives. You'll be far better off in the long run - and the short run.
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Ok - this is part of the reason I'm only considering the smaller set. The 8 pc set comes with a 3.5 inch parer, 5 inch santoku, 5.5 inch serrated utility (which I would ask if I could replace with another knife) 6 inch slicer, and 8 inch chef's. I would like to trade the serrated utility for another knife if possible as I said, possibly the 7 inch nakiri or santoku.

Thoughts?

But this is all assuming these knives aren't made to look like Shuns, but are actually garbage.
 
panella said:
Update to my original post:

This thread inspired me to buy the F. Dick 1905 8' Chef's knife that I referred to in my earlier post. It just arrived and I put it through some paces today. The steel is listed as XCrMoVMn - which is most likely a variant of Krupp/Nirosta 1.4116.

http://www.nirosta.de/fileadmin/scripts/wbbreitband/en/main_anzeige.php?ID=4116

This steel is used in higher end knives from Wustoff, Henckels, Victorinox, Messermeister, and apparently some Cold Steel knives like the Kudu.

http://coldsteelforums.com/Basic-Info-on-4116-Krupp-m40845.aspx

Although the Krupp/Nirosta does not list Mn as one of the elements in their 4116 (the F. Dick 1905 does) so this might be a variant. HRc is rated between 55-60 depending on what source you read.

I was attracted to this knife because of its blade profile and brand name. I've always liked F. Dick and have preferred them to Henckels and other Euro brands. In my long professional cooking career as a chef I developed a preference for chef's knives with a deep belly. They were usually hard to find in lengths under 10". Santoku's have the depth but not the elevated tip that workes best for me with quick detail work like cutting out sinew. It also has a bit of upward slope near the ricasso so you can rock a bit when slicing.

I've included several pictures comparing the new knife to older 8" and 10" unused F. Dick knives. The difference is amazing. Thinner blade. Quillion is thinned down to facilitate sharpening. I haven't had time to run it through a lot of paces, but it came shaving sharp and slices soft, over ripe tomatoes wafer thin. The handle is larger (circumference) than most of my other knives and it gives good grip. Balance is neutral and makes for fast handling.

Price was $76. plus shipping.
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You apparently know a lot more than me about knife steel - I will look into this knife. Thoughts on the Calphalons? VG-1 steel? I can look up the chemical make up all I want but I really don't know much about it.
 
paul77 said:
Hi all, I have been lurking on this forum for a bit and decided to finally chime in on this one. I am by no means a kitchen knife expert but have owned plenty and would like to offer some advice.

Most of what has already been said is very good advice. I am sure Japanese knives perform well and are very probably the best you can buy.

Question is - What are your needs? Would you use one of the higher ended knives to it's full capabilities? Ultra sharp knives can be dangerous, one slip and the end of your fingers off. IMO these knives are also very "showie". I owned a left handed Shun, Demascus bladed chefs knife which cost me over $200. I am 5'7" and found the knife too large to use due to the height of our kitchen counters. Sad because it was beautiful. The second problem with it (as some have mentioned)) is that harder blades can be brittle, which I found by accident one day when my depth perception went off and I stabbed the tip of my Shun into the sink. Snap went the tip. My mother-in-law now owns it! Unless you are a professional buying a custom Japanese knife might be pointless, just my 2 c.

I use Wusthof Classic and have found them to meet all my daily needs. They are affordable and seem to be well lasting (had them for 5 years or so). Easy to sharpen and are light and balanced in my hand. I'm sure they'll be critics this being my first post but you've mentioned Macy's and I think you will be able to purchase Solingen made Wusthofs from there. When I first started purchasing kitchen equipment I started by looking into what professional chefs use (not TV caterers who need to look good).

Steer clear of blocks as I've read they can be a bacteria trap. You can get great knife magnets for $20 - $30 and hold your knives high up on a wall to prevent small hands getting at them.

Sorry this has gone on so long. I guess what I'm trying to say is have a think about what you''ll realistically need on a daily basis. Like with anything, test it first. There is probably a high end kitchen wares outlet somewhere near you. Go and have a play around and see what feels best. You might make some mistakes with what you buy but that's all part of the fun! :)
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You put a nice kitchen knife in the sink? :eek:

For shame. :p
 
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