Kitchen knives

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bikerdoc

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(Posted in another thread By Kleanbore and thought it would get better and more answers with its own thread)

My main interest is in kitchen cutlery, and I only want good knives

If anyone has any recommendations, shoot, and thanks in advance.
 
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We have a mixed bag of: Chicago Cutlery, Wusthof, Zhen, and others. My wife prefers the Zhen’s as they fit better. Think of Zhen as a poor man’s Shun. Wusthof is decent steel, and classic kitchen cutlery. If you go top shelf think Kramer, but a bit out of my league....

Shape, fit, and sharpness are much more important than the brand :)

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Zhen+japanese+damascus&i=garden&ref=nb_sb_noss

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wusthof+...fix=Wust,garden,228&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_4

https://kramerknives.com/
 
I lived in Westchester Co, NY, just north of NYC, and two German knife manufacturers had their headquarters there at the time, Wusthof and Henckels.

Both had annual factory showroom sales, and there were often great buys. Henckels is still there.

One year I go to the Wusthof sale and there are outdoor tables filled with.... Henckels knives. OK, what's going on I ask? Turns out Wusthof wanted to get sales space in one of the big chains and the chain told them not until they sold off their supply of Henckels. So Wusthof bought all the store's Henckels stock and was blowing it out at this sale.

Long knives were $10, short knives were $5, knife blocks $5. I bought about 40 knives and blocks, sold what I didn't want at half street price. I made a nice bit of money and got what I kept free. Should have bought it all.

Long story, but bottom line, Henckels top knives, the German made Professional series which I bought, are excellent knives in all sizes, and I would recommend them.
 
I bought a Dalstrong kitchen knife, but find myself using the Victorinox 10" chef because the Asian is just too pretty to mess up? Sorry, I can't give a user report as it sits in its case. https://smile.amazon.com/DALSTRONG-...2824493&sprefix=dalstrong+chef,aps,203&sr=8-6
Henckels, Wusthof and F. Dick are the classic Germans. There are some amazing Japanese knives besides Shun, including Korin, MAC and Global, but they are thinner than the Germans and some have a single bevel. Most have several lines aimed at pros, prosumers and the masses. Some, such as Sabatier, were once great but the brand has been copied and the genuine article doesn't seem to be widely distributed. Good luck!
 
I only want good knives

It all depends upon what you want to spend to discuss what is a good knife in a specific price range.

Another issue is that generally you only need 3 knives to work with in the kitchen (I really only use two).

I have custom and handmade kitchen knives, but the things I use the most are a santoku from Ethan Becker's Joy Of Cooking set and a Victorinox paring knife. They steel easily and are easy to sharpen.
 
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I have a full set of Shun knives and they are fantastic. They were a gift from my parents when we bought our first house. 17 years and going strong. I've never had to take them in to be sharpened. I sharpen them myself before and after use on a sharpening rod and clean them immediately after use. Never in this dishwasher. Always by hand.
 
Ok, this is gonna sound like way out of left field -

https://www.grohmannknives.com/index.php

I spent a year in this little town in Nova Scotia over 20 years ago. I picked up quite a few Grohmann knives, many were factory 2nds. I still use them on a daily basis and have never had the need to look for anything better. You probably know knives better than I do but have a look anyway. Website prices may be quoted in Canadian dollars, not sure.

—Claus
 
My wife likes j.a. henckels knives and bought a whole set. Sharpen quickly on a whetstone and easy to maintain an edge while using them by running them through a ceramic or steel rod.
 
I've used friends' Shuns (and sharpened them for said friends), and I've been quite impressed by them. However, Tojiro offers some excellent Japanese made knives at quite reasonable prices. Tojiro has everything from blanked and forged (two separate lines) VG-10 blade western style knives, to stainless and carbon steel blades in traditional Japanese shapes and handles.

Spyderco's kitchen classics are low priced utilitarian knives with molded plastic handles that most people find comfortable. The blades are MBS-26, which a less complex stainless alloy that's fairly similar to VG-10.

Victorinox seems to always win the comfort in use tests that America's Test Kitchen does. They're widely available, but the 4116 steel blades don't hold an edge like MBS-26, VG-10, and better steels. 4116 is easy to hone and sharpen, but I've always been able to put better edges on steels like VG-10 rather easily.

Like hso said, we really need to know a budget and what attributes are important to you.
 
However, Tojiro offers some excellent Japanese made knives at quite reasonable prices. Tojiro has everything from blanked and forged (two separate lines) VG-10 blade western style knives, to stainless and carbon steel blades in traditional Japanese shapes and handles.

Those are very nice! What sold me on the Shun was how amazingly well they were balanced. But yeah, Tojiro are also extremely well made.
 
Old Hickory 1095 knives are still being produced. While not quite as heavy as the ones your grandparents used they're still GREAT blades for the kitchen. There's 4 or 5 in my knife drawer. They'll take a truly scary edge easily.
There is a degree of satisfaction to be had from the old ways. My problem is that no one else in the household can be bothered to understand the ways of high carbon steel. Classic steel and walnut was run out of the kitchen by nasty Ekco serrated stainless, because they required no thought. What does that say about our culture?
 
Cutco Cutlery, proudly made in NY...They also manufacture K Bar. Primarily sold by college students working on commission only.....I made a bunch of $$$ in the 80’s as a college junior cold calling and setting up in home demos.

Still have my same set, good as new. Son #1 did well and Vector Marketing on his resume got him a Deloitte internship the following year.
 
For our kitchen we have a set of Henckels professionals and the block they came with... For my own fish cutting (I'm a full time sattwater guide that cuts fish for his customers when they're being kept for the table) purposes I'm still using Forschners (Victorinox) stainless butcher blades - and have for many years...
 
Don't mind me. I'm just posting so that I can easily find this thread again. It's about time for a new knife or two for the McGee kitchen. We've got a mish-mash of Henckels, Wusthofs and I think one Calphalon.
 
It's amazing how many people trash their blades by scraping with the honed edge. I know my beloved wife can't seem to grasp the concept. But at least she did learn not to put knives in the dishwasher or leave them in the sink.
 
my son is into cooking and BBQ lately. We bought him a nice Victorinox set from Amazon, complete with carrying case. He says its great. He liked it so well that we bought a set for my inlaws who snowbird in Florida for a few months every winter. They rave about them too.
 
Mostly Chicago Cutlery here, A forged boning knife, two Chef's knives one medium black handle and one small cherry handle, three black handle paring and one straight paring with walnut handles. One of the features that all the Chicago knives share is full tang construction. One largish Forshner chef knife, a Sam's club boning knife, two Paula Deen santokus (rarely used) and a set of four AG Russell steak knives forged in Italy.

In order of frequency of use, it's boning knives - either a forged Chicago Cutlery one or the cheapo Sam's Club, Chicago Cutlery paring knife, and then the chef's knife. There are three of those - the large Forshner, a medium Chicago Cutlery and a small Chicago Cutlery.

I also use the steak knives on occasion - they are great slicers. And very well made too IMHO.

I keep them all very sharp with a Chef's Choice 1520. Only ever use the 20 degree slots and the "strop/polish" slots.
 
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