Wife Wants a New Set of Sharp Kitchen Knives...

Shun is made by Kai/Kershaw. So is their Wasabi brands. Great knives, and really a gateway drug. As far as a set though, I would rather recommend knives you'll use and spend the same amount of money, get more use, and have better quality. Keep a couple Henkels and supplement with a couple nice asian ones.
Try www.japanesechefsknife.com and stick to the Hattori or Hiromoto section if you want to keep it simple, or venture to all the makers if you want to scramble your brain.
One santoku and one good parer should get you started down a nice dark road :D The best parer out there is the Shun Elite parer. I always liked my Hattori santoku and so did the wife. Great feel in hand, good edge, and took kindly to a bit of abuse. A slightly more exotic santoku would be the hiromoto AS one. Another place to browse is www.chefknivestogo.com.
Then just grab a nice mag blok from http://www.benchcrafted.com/ordering.htm and call it good!
GOOD LUCK!

srmd22 said:
...and, actually, so do I. She has an old set of german knives, good brand, I think Henkels. I sharpened them up myself, and they are actually pretty good and pretty sharp (even though I fairly well suck at sharpening, but I used an electric sharpener, and it did a pretty good job-- I know I'm gonna catch some flack here for that, lol).

Anyway, they are ok, but it is time for a new set, according to the boss, and being a bit of a knife knut, I can't say I oppose.

So the question is, recommendations? I would like to keep it in the $3-400 range, and it needn't be more then four to six knives. I also am not averse to paying that much for a larger set, if the quality is good. Conversely, I would pay a bit more per knife, and build a set up over a couple of years, although my impulsive nature is not so much attracted to that plan. (Immediate gratification-- shopping is one of the few aspects of my life where I can practice it).

I have come across a few names other then Henckels, such as Wusthof and Forschner. I also hear Kershaw makes decent cutlery, and I like their folders. But having never shopped cutlery before, I am a bit of a noob.

Any advice to get me started will be much appreciated!
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Butch is right on, both with the recommendation to just get a knife or two at a time and "An Edge in the Kitchen".

Of course you could do much, much worse than just getting a knife from Butch :) I want to do that one of these days...
 
dan thanks for the thumbs up but i have had to close my orders since im so backlogged
now and then tho i might be able to post a piece for sale
 
jay2pointoh said:
What is it that bothers you about Cutco? Honest question. I have been using my set thoroughly for 2 years and have no problems whatsoever. In fact, I want more. I WILL agree that there are better sets out there like Shun, but that does not mean that Cutco is automatically bad. Plus their warranty is great. Just as good, if not better, as ESEE, Snap-on, etc.
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Sorry, they are automatically bad, theres no getting around that. Maybe a step above Ginsu, but still bad. Steel is lousy, geometry is lousy, HT is okay for 440a, but its still 440a. The warranty is horrible, if theres a defect, they replace it another horrible cheap to produce knife (you've probably payed for the equivalent of 10 at the prices you pay them). If you break it, you buy direct from them at full price, they just don't pay commission to the salesperson, meaning you don't pay double, giving the illusion of 50% off. Theres also their horrible and unethical marketing strategy.
 
Mr. Clean said:
Shun is made by Kai/Kershaw. So is their Wasabi brands. Great knives, and really a gateway drug. As far as a set though, I would rather recommend knives you'll use and spend the same amount of money, get more use, and have better quality. Keep a couple Henkels and supplement with a couple nice asian ones.
Try www.japanesechefsknife.com and stick to the Hattori or Hiromoto section if you want to keep it simple, or venture to all the makers if you want to scramble your brain.
One santoku and one good parer should get you started down a nice dark road :D The best parer out there is the Shun Elite parer. I always liked my Hattori santoku and so did the wife. Great feel in hand, good edge, and took kindly to a bit of abuse. A slightly more exotic santoku would be the hiromoto AS one. Another place to browse is www.chefknivestogo.com.
Then just grab a nice mag blok from http://www.benchcrafted.com/ordering.htm and call it good!
GOOD LUCK!
Click to expand...


Very cool, thanks for the advice! I sharpened the Henckels (on the electric sharpener....I know....aaaaagh!), and she is very happy with them now. So I will probably just get one really cool Shun or other Japenese Chef's knife. And we need some steak knive so that is my next, incoming thread.
 
butcher_block said:
dan thanks for the thumbs up but i have had to close my orders since im so backlogged
now and then tho i might be able to post a piece for sale
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Woot! I got the last Butch before the lock?
srmd22 said:
Very cool, thanks for the advice! I sharpened the Henckels (on the electric sharpener....I know....aaaaagh!), and she is very happy with them now. So I will probably just get one really cool Shun or other Japenese Chef's knife. And we need some steak knive so that is my next, incoming thread.
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Steak knives...I buy the cheapest Ginsu POS's I can find. The cut stuff on plates, plates are bad for edges, therefore any knife worth a poo isn't used on a plate, hence cheap steak knives!
 
Lots of different opinions and great suggestions. srmd22, let us know what you end up supplimenting your current line up with once you make a purchase.
 
If you want a knife that will actually stay sharp for a while then look at MAC. They harden to a RC that is higher than the typical kitchen knife. I love the shape and feel of my Wusthof chef knife but hate that the steel is so soft that it needs touch up after almost every use.
 
srmd22 said:
Very cool, thanks for the advice! I sharpened the Henckels (on the electric sharpener....I know....aaaaagh!), and she is very happy with them now. So I will probably just get one really cool Shun or other Japenese Chef's knife. And we need some steak knive so that is my next, incoming thread.
Click to expand...

I think you are making a good decision buying single knives that suit your needs rather than buying a "set." I never buy sets of any kitchenware - except steak knives.
 
butcher_block said:
keep the heavy western style blades and jsut add one or 2 nice thin Asian knives
that way you have knives for working around bone and also great veg. knife or 2
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I couldn't agree more. I have a ten year-old set if Henkels, but only really use the 8" chef and bread knife. I've since than added a heavy cleaver, Watanabe Gyuto and Murray Carter Kurouchi along a few others of my own make.

The Carter and Watanabe are both great, thin-edged blades - handmade by true craftsmen.
 
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