Kitchen knives

Yup, the OLD Chicago knives were very good. The current ones are Asian copies made from thinner, cheaper steel. I still have a few of the old ones.

Global Classic Collection. Pick and choose what you want.

Drail said:

Yup, the OLD Chicago knives were very good. The current ones are Asian copies made from thinner, cheaper steel. I still have a few of the old ones.

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I don't think any of the Chicago knives are from this century.

Boattale said:

I don't think any of the Chicago knives are from this century.

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Yep, mine are all the ones that my folks used. Mom had a catering business and my Dad took care of the roasts and such. He always used a carbon steel Sword and Shield knife to carve with. Still got it as well as some of his other knives one of which is a Gerber carving knife with a walnut case. It was a gift that we gave him but I don't think he ever used it.

I'm not sure what type of stainless was used in the old Chicago knives but that stuff seems to hold an edge very well. Good working knives.

We have been in the market for knives. While I am partial to German products, the Old Hickory knives are calling to me. I am a traditionalist at heart. Plus, I have an OKC pocket knife and a fixed blade that are both great quality. The fact that OKC makes Old Hickory is a plus. Thanks for bringing my attention to these!

Let's Focus on knives that are currently available, please.

It can be nice to reminisce about knives that used to be available from now defunct brands, or brands whose quality was better back when (or their manufacturing outsourced now). However, that doesn't help people who are looking for knives they actually find in stock to buy.

Also, snide comments such as telling people to learn to sharpen don't help, either. I can sharpen an entrenching tool to where it'll cut pretty well, but I'm not going to use one in my kitchen.

ugaarguy said:

Let's Focus on knives that are currently available, please.

It can be nice to reminisce about knives that used to be available from now defunct brands, or brands whose quality was better back when (or their manufacturing outsourced now). However, that doesn't help people who are looking for knives they actually find in stock to buy.

Also, snide comments such as telling people to learn to sharpen don't help, either. I can sharpen an entrenching tool to where it'll cut pretty well, but I'm not going to use one in my kitchen.

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In that case my suggestion is to get online and see what Dexter Russell has that you like. They're an excellent value and widely used by professional meat cutters.

I’m very happy with the Muteki line from the Carter cutlery apprentices. I use a Carter several times a day but the knives his apprentices make are damn near as good and cost about half.

Like hso I have a bunch of knives but mainly use 2 in the kitchen, a 7” santoku (or gyuto, or according to Carter who I’m sure knows better than I, a funayuki) and a paring knife.

Not sure about sharpening service, I run them across a steel and they can still shave; I sharpen most of my knives at home but I’ll likely send it back to Murray when it eventually needs a sharpening.

We have a number of WÜSTHOF knives but we have two of the 5" and one 7" of the CLASSIC IKON HOLLOW-EDGE SANTOKU KNIFE. They get used 80% of the time. This style is thinner than the non Japanese style blades so it cuts well and handles very well too. We cook most meals at home so I'm talking daily use.

Old USA made Chicagos, Lamson, Wusthof are in my home kitchen.
A pair of Green Rivers are in my camp kitchen.
An Opinel rides in the picnic basket,

I have a mixed set of Henckels and Cutco. I tend to grab the Cutco more often

Before my father in-law died, he gave me a full set of his 1930s wood handled carbon steel, Dexter Russell meat cutting knives, from his tool box, with a straightening steel. I bought a duplicate of his stand mounted, triangle oil bath stone for sharpening and shaping. You can easily shave with these knives. I keep them oiled with vegetable oil and in plastic clamp on blade sheaths, in a knife drawer. I have some new DR from the restaurant supply store, they are OK for the wife to abuse. They cut with a sharpening steel, like cutting the blade with a file.
When she gets them dull, I just resharpen them. I did get her to use a cutting board rather than the counter top.

I picked up an auction lot of used Dexter Russells for my own use and a cheap knife block set from WalMart for my sister.
She just won't take care of a good knife.

I buy knives based on the steel. I have a couple of Tojiro's with VG-10 steel and these are excellent knives. I also have a couple of Dexter-Russell carbon steel knives. The Dexter-Russell knives take more care because they will stain/corrode easily. The VG-10 is more easy to care for. For the money the Dexter-Russell carbon steel knives have the best edge holding steel that is out there. I highly recommend them.

I don't know if they make them anymore but we've had a set of Buck kitchen knives for many years that we like a lot.

I acquired several Henckels in my bachelorhood that were great. Alas, somehow those didn't make it out of the knife drawer when my wife and I split up. Now I have a set of Chicago Cutlery.

I know this is not the freshest thread, but thought I would chime in anyway.

I had a similar question (pointed specifically at the foodservice industry) a while back and the experts on THR steered me toward Mundial, Victorinox, and Dexter Russel (along with mentioning some of the others like Wusthof and Henckles).

I've been VERY happy with the Mundial knives I've gotten. Victorinox is also very good, I got a three-knife paring/utility set from them. The six inch knife that came with that set is absolutely the most used knife in my rack. It is sharp, sure, but very thin, which helps with what seems like everything but raw veggies. I don't have an equivalent Mundial, but they've got good larger knives that you don't have to take out a loan to purchase. I'm less impressed with the Dexter Russel knives I've used, but they aren't really bad either. Just not really impressed.

TheWarhammer said:

Here's another tip (I picked it up from some TV chef, but I forget who) to keep your knives sharp: Never scrape things across your cutting board using the sharp edge of your knife. Flip the knife over and use the spine instead.

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ALWAYS! Or buy a scraper from Pampered Chef or use a dough knife

I just bought my wife a Victorinox kitchen knife about a month ago. 6.37" blade vegetable knife she really likes. Other than a couple of strokes with a ceramic stone, it stays good as new (and she's brutal on knives: chops, scrapes, throws it in the sink). I'm kind of a 1095 cheap knife guy for outdoors but I'm impressed with this ~$30 knife.

I own knives by Victorinox, Henckels, and one humble paring knife from Target made in Brazil. I have come to think a good sharpening steel is more significant than brand. The Target paring knife doesn't need sharpening much more than the good ones and I prefer it to the Victorinox... go figure.

I will say Henckels, but not from a great deal of variety testing. From durability testing, yes.

So way back in the eighties, I used to cook professionally. I went through a variety of restaurant-provided Syscos, Chicago, and occasionally a Gerber. Even with sharpening these knives were so-so for any serious cutting. Not that they wouldn't take an edge, but the general shape and balance were just not as good as what we are used to today. None of these had thick spines that tapered gradually to a point, and did not have smooth grind areas.

The first time I used a Henckels I fell in love. So much that I bought a Henckels Chef knife. Keep in mind that $8 an hour would have been a raise back then, and I had to drive an hour and a half to get to a store that sold exotic import knives. I paid $250 for it new. Not a set, not a collectors piece, but just a regular knife that looks and feels nearly the same as the $50 4-star you can buy today. Nobody out side of foodservice had heard of Henckels, Wustof, or any other high-quality imported cutlery back then. I later bought a boning knife and my girlfriend at the time bought me a $60 paring knife (yep, I married that.)

That was 32 Years ago, at least 5 involved cutting with that knife for hours a day. I took care of that knife to say the least. It got a few swipes of the steel before sheathing after each use. It has touched a stone maybe 10 times since bought it, and has been sharp enough to cut arm hair 100% of that time. The blade is about the same shape it was when I got it (although there are a few nicks in the blade, I may have to stone out.)

So If you take care of it, and treat it like a huge investment, yes I would recommend them. It is still my go-to knife even though I can't (accurately) slice a cucumber in less that 2 seconds anymore. That is where the balance and taper come in. The front-heavy weight helps cut better when speed cutting so you don't get a "bounce" which is what caused 90% of my cut injuries before I started cutting with a nice heavy razor sharp knife. Not sure if anyone needs that in a home kitchen, but it is nice to see what used to be Ferrari-grade knives in home kitchens.

Oh, and for scraping, feel free to use the blade of your knife, blade down. Just make sure it is at a VERY acute angle, with the blade trailing, and don't push down hard. Think using a steel, but in the opposite direction. You should not have to change your grip angle to clear a cutting board.