Kitchen knife recommendations

I got one from JCK this Christmas for my wife. It is a nice laminated stainless, but if you're more excited about maintenance they have some impressive high-carbon alloys. By far it is the best made and sharpest knife I've encountered.

https://japanesechefsknife.com/collections/new-recommended

When I researching knives to build a BBQ set a couple years Victorinox was consistently rated high for quality and value. The majority of my purchases ended up being Victorinox.

Dexter-Russel knives also got recommended especially their filet and boning knives.

Benchmade has a 3-piece (chef / utility / paring) arrangement plus a cool all-rounder they call a Station Knife which might be a cool addition plus their very nice table knife 4-pack.

I am somewhat on-the-fence about a DLC coating (or any coating for that matter) around food. The black looks really slick and all…yet I cautiously wonder about so much as even a tiny fleck of DLC finding its way into food.

Am I totally overreacting because of how we are supposed to discard worn teflon pots and pans?

Blue Jays said:

Benchmade has a 3-piece (chef / utility / paring) arrangement plus a cool all-rounder they call a Station Knife which might be a cool addition plus their very nice table knife 4-pack.

I am somewhat on-the-fence about a DLC coating (or any coating for that matter) around food. The black looks really slick and all…yet I cautiously wonder about so much as even a tiny fleck of DLC finding its way into food.

Am I totally overreacting because of how we are supposed to discard worn teflon pots and pans?

Click to expand...

I don't think you're over-reacting. I feel like the DLC coating is either doing nothing or masking a poor choice of steel for this application. The fact that we have no idea how ingesting it over time does or doesn't affect us is just *bonus*

I have a 40 year old set of H. Zwilling that work fine except for the serrated bread knife -- no good way to resharpen it. I replaced it with a Tojiro which is fine enough since my family prefers to saw on poly cutting boards. With the unserrated knives, they push and bang down on the poly boards with the edge too. We have a Sani-Tuff rubber board, but it's "too heavy." So we just keep sharpening the Zwilling. They go in the dishwasher too.

I've bought a couple of Mercer that are similar quality to the Zwilling but much lower in price. They're made in Taiwan with x50 crmo v15 steel from Germany -- not a wunder steel, but not bad when a big Chef's knife is around the 50 dollar mark, and that's in the new money. I got them for ~30 before the helicopter drops. Considering how we use knives, they're appropriate.

The Mercer are popular in culinary school where students need a good tool but aren't served by luxury names. I think Chicago used to be like that, but the limited experience I've had with recently made Chicago has me unimpessed. I also had a Victorinox Fibrox handle knife recently. It was stamped, for the same price I can get Mercer forged.

I've bought Shun for gifts.

We have a mixture of the Wusthoff and Henckels Zwilling knives. Then one year my neighbors son was making extra money for college and was selling the Cutco brand knives and my wife bought them. They are a fantastic set of knives. What is even better is throughout the year the company sets up a kiosk at the PX on base and my wife takes them to get sharpened for free. She also bought me the filet fishing knife in which the blade recedes into the handle so that it extends from a 6" blade to a 9" blade.

We've had a variety from Chicago Cutlery, Wusthoff, Henckles and Shun. The Shun among them has performed well the past 17 years. For most users the Shun offerings are good for most users looking for a kitchen set.

Made this slightly larger kitchen utility in ATS-34 for a local user:

I like the Tojiro DP petty knife.

21H40 said:

"…I feel like the DLC coating is either doing nothing or masking a poor choice of steel for this application. The fact that we have no idea how ingesting it over time does or doesn't affect us is just *bonus*…"

Click to expand...

You make a very good point. There is no "disadvantage" to selecting an untreated plain steel blade that will touch food DAILY for a few decades. I guess that further applies to frequently slicing through acidic food like oranges, lemons, tomatoes, and similar. No sense having a DLC coating regularly touching food that often…when plain steel is so reliably proven over such a long time.

I've gone to the other end of the spectrum. Been using an Ontario slicer and Ontario boning knife the most in our kitchen lately. They work just fine for me.

rust collector said:

Cutco, a brand of Alcas cutlery (who owns Ka-bar too) uses good steel and makes a good knife, but charges 3 arms and a leg for a stamped knife that is not expensive to make. I suppose it is to pay the barkers who sell them.

Click to expand...

Yeah, Cutco has a booth at my local CostCo. We didn't see anything that convinced us to add to our Wusthofs and Zwilling Henckels.

In particular, the set of (I think) nine Henckels Professional (Solingen steel) that I bought the wife about thirty years ago is probably one of the best investments I ever made.

I note that now most of the Henckels in the department stores are all Chinese with their higher-end knives made in India.

Really like that custom kitchen knife (post #8...). In my house we have a set of Henckels professional series and they've provided good service..

We have a large set of Henckel Professional S, but I find I generally only use two or three on a regular basis, and could get along with just those. A boning knife, a chef’s knife, and a carver.

For small paring/vegetable knives, I use inexpensive Swiss made Victorinox, some straight edged, some serrated. They only cost a few bucks at a gun show decades ago and have held up well considering they go through the dish washer regularly.

I still have my Victorinox knives from when I was working in a small butcher shop that slaughtered. A ten inch large slicer, a thin flexible six inch, boning knife for joints and a six inch stiff boner. And away we go with the jokes!

Large sets are a money suck for me.

I have a good santoku, a good chefs, a good parer,

Cheapy bread knife because when they dull you are pooched unless you want to send it off.
Cheapy serrated steak knives for the table since they always be cutting on hard dinner plates.

Total investment in todays dollars would be around $225. $175 in just the first three.

Oddly, I haven’t had to replace either the bread knife or steak knives in 15 years and don’t think I will need to very soon.

Sure, there is not much pride of ownership for the cheapies but it works for me.

rust collector said:

There were inquiries in the sale price section, and we all want to have or give kitchen knives that make tedious work go quicker and better. Better to put those here and reserve the price drop section for that purpose.

I believe the Forschner or Victorinox flat fibrox lines have been often cited as excellent knives for the money. The older Wusthof, Henckels Zwilling and F Dick knives have always been well regarded, as has Kai's Shun line. Boker, Tramontina and Sabatier have crafted excellent knives in the past. Most of the big companies make or brand many lines with differing styles, price points, country of origin and quality.

Click to expand...

I’ll be honest with you. The knives themselves are not nearly as important as the sharpener.
You can find nice usable knives with decent steel at Goodwill for a couple bucks apiece. People get expensive knife sets and replace them instead of sharpening them. If you don’t believe me next time your wife drags you in to a thrift store check out the knife bin. You will be surprised and spend some small bills.
Getting a quality sharpener that will not overheat the blades and will allow different edge angles for different knife types is critically important. Be prepared to spend $100-$500 on the sharpener. I know there are people who swear by their $5 scraper style sharpeners but in the end they are so much work you will end up not sharpening often enough and will hate your expensive knife set.
I reserve my thinnest edge, about 22° (11° each side) for my slicing and paring knives. These knives are reserved for cutting soft foods and make easy work of slicing thawed meats, tomatoes, eggs and such paper thin. This edge requires polishing or stropping for maximum utility.
For general cutting knives I use a more durable 34° (17° each side). These include boning and chefs knives that will encounter bone surfaces and raw root vegetables.
Chopping knives and cleavers get a wider (40° or more) to make the edge durable.
No one non-adjustable sharpener will be suitable for every knife in the drawer.
For people with a medium budget I suggest the Chef’s Choice model 1500 which is easy to use and somewhat idiot proof. It lets you select either a 15° or 20° (per side) edge which will cover 90% of knives for most people. You can find them for about $150. It will turn Goodwill knives in to usable tools.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Tips-for-Selecting-the-Right-Bevel-Angle-W44.aspx
Type of Knife or Tool Recommended Angle

• Cleaver
• Machete

25 - 30 Degrees

• Hunting Knives
• Pocket Knives
• Survival Knives
• Sport Knives

22 - 25 Degrees

• Chef's Knives
• Kitchen Knives
• Smaller Knives
• Boning Knives
• Carving Knives

17 - 22 Degrees

• Fillet Knives
• Paring Knives
• Sushi Knives
• Most Japanese Cutlery

12 - 17 Degrees

• Straight Razors
• Razor Blades
• X-Acto Knives

7 to 12 Degrees

rust collector said:

Kitchen knife recommendations

Click to expand...

Retired since 2019, I do 100% of cooking and I am brutal on kitchen knives using hard poly cutting boards. We have multiple knife sets and individual pieces including Wüsthof, Victorinox, KitchenAid, Cuisinart, Kuma, Chicago Cutlery and cheap white handle NSF restaurant supply knives.

Knives are sharpened using the method outlined by Burrfection channel with 600/1000 grit whetstone bought off Amazon on a Lighting Deal sale (I think I paid like $7) and of course, they are hand washed only and never put in the dishwasher.


Knife Set - Daily hard use workhorse has been the all stainless German steel with textured handle Cuisinart knife set from Costco for $22. Even with abusive daily pounding/chopping on poly cutting boards, Chef knife still only requires 2-3 sharpening a year and daily honing with Henckels sharpening steel. I am truly surprised by this cheap knife set's performance now going on over 5 years. Hands down, I definitely recommend this knife set for hard kitchen use.

Wife's KitchenAid knife set continues to perform well and Chef knife only requires once a year sharpening but it is not used as often and since it's wife's set, I am more careful when using it (I use the KitchenAid Chef knife as a backup when Cuisinart Chef knife is not sharp and don't have time for sharpening). It is heavier than Cuisinart knifes but well balanced in my hand - https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KKFTR14SL-Cutlery-Classic-Forged/dp/B01LN5CJY0/ref=sr_1_6?


Chef knife - If you are looking for one knife for kitchen use like Chef knife, my recommendation is 8" Kuma with 3Cr13 steel. It is lighter in weight than Cuisinart Chef knife with slimmer Japanese profile and comfortable rounded handle. It is a dream to cut with this knife and I reserve Kuma for delicate cutting tasks like slicing sushi rolls but it has done very well cutting through hard vegetables and meats.

I bought one to try after watching Kuma win Burrfection "Best $20 knife" out of the box sharpness comparison when introduced 5 years ago (Jump to 6:30 minute of video) and beating $160 Wüsthof Chef knife in sharpness test using different whetstone. I was so impressed with this "cheap" knife, bought several more at $15 to gift (Now $34 but if you get on email list, you will get annual Black Friday 50% off deal on two knives and other discount offers) - https://www.amazon.com/Kuma-Multi-Purpose-Chef-Knife/dp/B01ERJTK1E/ref=sr_1_7?

Burrfection again did "Best of $20" out of the box sharpness knife challenge in 2022 and Kuma once again came out on top on rope cutting torture test with 92 cuts beating out Mercer Millennia with 80 cuts (28:50 minute of video) - https://www.burrfection.com/videos/v/20buckknives


Boning/Fillet knife - My favorite boning and fillet knife is the cheap $7 white handle NSF knife I bought at a kitchen supply outlet store like this - https://www.restaurantsupply.com/de...steel-fillet-knife-with-textured-white-handle

It is my go-to knife for all the meat cutting/trimming tasks and is particularly well suited for slicing off silver skin from chuck roast that my wife despise for making ground beef and trimming tri tip/pork shoulder roasts. It is also great for filleting ocean caught fish like Ling cod/Rock cod and butchering through hard to cut chicken throat only bested by Victorinox (Wife's favorite) which I never need to sharpen for this single task. The cheap white handle NSF knife gets sharpened about twice a year and honed the rest of time and I recommend it.


Chinese cleaver - Back when I lived in Visalia, CA as a bachelor in my 20s, I did some carpentry/wood work for Chinese take out (including reshaping the round tree trunk cutting boards concave) where I liked to eat. When the owner offered to pay for my work, I declined instead and asked him to teach me to cook. Apparently he was a graduate of Imperial cooking school in Canton, China and meticulous with his cooking (Kitchen set up was open/visible from dining area with wok stations near the counter so customers got to see everything he did).

After learning the basic prep work, he taught me to cook typical dishes I ordered including Garlic chicken, Kung Pao chicken, Sweet and sour pork, wife's (then girlfriend) favorite Tomato curry beef along with Chow Mein and fried rice. Afterwards, when I stopped by to place my order, if no customer was present, he would invite me to cook my order which was neat.

When he was getting ready to retire, he gifted me with one of new Chicago Cutlery Chinese cleavers he kept as spares that I have used for the past 30 years. I thought about getting an all stainless steel Chinese cleaver but the Chicago Cutlery with wooden handle has worked well and happy memories from decades past.

2 knives I use all the time, a Dexter Russell 4.5 paring knife, for me it works like a very small french knife.
The other is an Opinel #112
Opinel No. 112 Paring Knives 2 Piece Set, High Carbon Steel Everyday Use Prep Knives for Chopping, Peeling, Slicing, Trimming, Stabilized Sustainably Harvested Beechwood Handles, Made in France https://a.co/d/4JTWHaM

I use.use some old hickory knives, 6" butcher and some.paring knives.

Atavar said:

I’ll be honest with you. The knives themselves are not nearly as important as the sharpener.
You can find nice usable knives with decent steel at Goodwill for a couple bucks apiece. People get expensive knife sets and replace them instead of sharpening them. If you don’t believe me next time your wife drags you in to a thrift store check out the knife bin. You will be surprised and spend some small bills.
Getting a quality sharpener that will not overheat the blades and will allow different edge angles for different knife types is critically important. Be prepared to spend $100-$500 on the sharpener. I know there are people who swear by their $5 scraper style sharpeners but in the end they are so much work you will end up not sharpening often enough and will hate your expensive knife set.
I reserve my thinnest edge, about 22° (11° each side) for my slicing and paring knives. These knives are reserved for cutting soft foods and make easy work of slicing thawed meats, tomatoes, eggs and such paper thin. This edge requires polishing or stropping for maximum utility.
For general cutting knives I use a more durable 34° (17° each side). These include boning and chefs knives that will encounter bone surfaces and raw root vegetables.
Chopping knives and cleavers get a wider (40° or more) to make the edge durable.
No one non-adjustable sharpener will be suitable for every knife in the drawer.
For people with a medium budget I suggest the Chef’s Choice model 1500 which is easy to use and somewhat idiot proof. It lets you select either a 15° or 20° (per side) edge which will cover 90% of knives for most people. You can find them for about $150. It will turn Goodwill knives in to usable tools.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Tips-for-Selecting-the-Right-Bevel-Angle-W44.aspx
Type of Knife or Tool Recommended Angle

• Cleaver
• Machete

25 - 30 Degrees

• Hunting Knives
• Pocket Knives
• Survival Knives
• Sport Knives

22 - 25 Degrees

• Chef's Knives
• Kitchen Knives
• Smaller Knives
• Boning Knives
• Carving Knives

17 - 22 Degrees

• Fillet Knives
• Paring Knives
• Sushi Knives
• Most Japanese Cutlery

12 - 17 Degrees

• Straight Razors
• Razor Blades
• X-Acto Knives

7 to 12 Degrees

Click to expand...

I agree, consistent sharpening and maintaining the edge is key . I got into the habit of running the blade to my whetstone before and after each use. Does not take long just a few swipes on each side and using the steel rod while frequently while using it to straighten out the edge. Learned this from my two uncles who were butchers . They recommend to me the Dexter brand and I used them for years, than I got married and wife wanted the Zwilling, now my Dexters are my hunting, camping and fishing knives.

I have tried a bunch all our serious kitchen knives are Tojiro DP with VG-10 steel. They can be sharpened to a razor edge with diamond stones and hold and edge for a long time.

I buy miscellaneous lots of used quality knives, sharpen them and use them.
I got out of the habit of buying expensive quality items back when my family was moving three or more times per year and leaving almost everything behind.