[blip]

Well the time has come, one of my old college era kitchen knives snapped apart in my hand today. It was a cheapy, so no big loss... but looking at the others, my guess is that none of my kitchen knives are long for this world.

So it's time to buy something better... but I have no idea what! I use the knives for generic cooking duties... mostly chopping veggies and cutting cheese. So what kind(s) of knife(knives) should I get? What features (type of steel, handle etc.) are important? Any other advice?

Though cheap is always nice, I'd rather get something that will last... So suggest away!

 

[stevesurf]

Something different by Kyocera here.

or

Anything by Cutco

FAB!

 

[KYTGuy]

My set of R.H. Forschner (Victorinox) knives has served me well - they are for the most part, in service over Thirty years. Some F. Dick and Henkels stuff scattered in.

Recently dipped my toe in Ceramic knives (Boker and Kyocera), still love my Forschners. The set I have is all with the Rosewood handles - takes a bit of care to keep pretty.

I always give a Cutco sandwich knife with a modest set of the new design (dishwasher safe molded plastic handles) Forschners as a wedding gift.

The sandwich spreader knife from Cutco is the absolute best of its type - my mother has a set of Cutco that has been in service for over Fifty years. I dislike the feel of the other Cutcos in my hand, but then I have a really large hand. YMMV I think that the Cutco line is overpriced for what you get, but they do honor the Lifetime and Lifetime sharp warranties, and they do last.

 

[musicmonkey]

The knife i reach for most often in the kitchen is the Global G-16 Cooks Knife, if they're good enough for "Anthony Bourdain" then they're good enough for me.

 

[ls20]

you only "need" 2 knives - a big chef's knife and a small paring/utility knife.

specialty knives (bread knife, boning knife, etc) should be bought as-needed.


look for forged knives instead of stamped; maintain their edge with a honing steel; sharpen once or twice a year by sending back to manufacturer or local expert; store them in safe sheaths or on magnet block


my set of choice was the Messermeister set from cutleryandmore.com that came to 100$ shipped. it is sharper and harder than most german knives (henckels, wustoff), yet more durable than japanese ones.

Friedrick Dick are nice. There are tons and tons of small Japanese boutique manufacturers, too, if youre interested in those. (masamoto and hiromoto are nice)

 

[guzziguy]

For years I used various German knives from Solingen (Wusthof, Henkels, etc.). Last year I tried a Shun knife for the first time. I now have two and will get a third soon. I never touch my German knives anymore. Shun are the best kitchen knives that I've seen or used. They are pretty expensive however.

Also, my wife and I have a student living with us. Among other things, she's doing the Cutco sales thing. I got two Cutco knives from her for Xmas. I'll try to find a use for them, but they compare poorly to my old German knives much less the Shun knives that I have. Another problem with most Cutco knives (the ones with the D edge) is that only Cutco or their agents can sharpen them. That alone would have been a deal killer for me.

 

[hubcaps]

i second the forschner fibrox. they are amazing for the price ($20-25 for an 8 inch chef knife).

 

[Uncle Erik]

My cousin is a professional chef- he swears by Wusthof Trident, though also has a few by J.A. Henckles, F. Dick and Sabatier. Those are all good knives, but the Tridents strike a good balance between hardness and ease of sharpening. Thanks to him, I've owned Tridents for the past 15 years or so and am completely happy with them. Also, I've seen ones that have been used hard in professional kitchens. They hold up great, even after multiple resharpenings. The only ones that get retired are ones that have been abused.

Thing about these knives is that you need to steel them every 2-3 times you use them and have them professionally sharpened every few years, or as needed. Most who become unhappy with them don't sharpen them.

As for what you need, just pick up the steel, a 5" to 8" chef's knife (choose what feels good to you) and a paring knife. After that, look into the specialty knives that you might use. I love having a good bread knife around, and some of the filet/boning knives are nice to have, as well. My personal favorite is their Classic 5" chef's knife. It might seem a little small, but it is perfectly balanced and very useful. I use it just about every time I cook. I had to buy a second one since Mom absconded with the original. Well, she threw down a guilt trip and I gave it to her. It's a great knife.

There are others out there you might be interested in, but generally, you want a fully forged knife with a full tang. Stamped knives are OK, but there are those who make them out to be equal to forged ones, both in performance and price. Don't buy it. The forged ones are always better. Expect to pay $50 and up per knife. But keep in mind that you'll only have to pay that once in your life and that your grandchildren will be happy to get them some day.

 

[SiBurning]

All good advice.

Knives are a personal thing, so try some out before you buy. At least hold them in your hands to see if they fit and are comfortable. They need to fit your hands, feel secure and balanced, help your style of working, and not exceed your tolerance for maintenance. Some of those thing may change if you use a new knife you really like. There's a whole lot of choices.

Besides the chef's knife and paring knife, the other knife I use all the time is a butcher's knife or chinese cleaver. Maybe I'm so fond of it because my hands are big, especially my fingers, and my chef's knife doesn't have enough clearance to do a lot of quick, coarse chopping. Like I said, it's personal.

Do yourself a favor and get a decent cutting board to save those edges. Also get a cheap pastry scraper. Scraping up food off a cutting board with the knife just dulls the blade.

 

[Usagi]

I purchased a Kershaw Shun Santoku many months ago, and have been pleased with the results.

 

[chef8489]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevesurf /img/forum/go_quote.gif Something different by Kyocera [ Anything by Cutco FAB!

Cutco are not that great knife. Cheap steal and all are serrated. Can not sharpen yourself or you void the warrenty. Only stay sharp for as long as they do because they are serrated.
As a professional Chef I have used many knives in my life and I find Japanese forged (Hattori, Tojiro, Hiromoto)knives to be some of the best and would put German ( Wusthof, Henckle) forged as second.

As far as what you need, a chef knife, a parer, bread knife would be a great start.

I have my Wusthof Classic 9 piece chef kit I am looking to get rid of and replace with Hattori. PM me if interested.

 

[ls20]

another thing: if you hold knives with the proper technique - by its bolster - it would be uncomfortable on stamped knives with the thin blades. i dislike the heavy, thick bolsters/finger guard on most forged knives so i went with messermeister - full edge all the way to the bolster!

 

[pezzy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Usagi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I purchased a Kershaw Shun Santoku many months ago, and have been pleased with the results.

I bought the same one recently, and i use it to slice everything

.

chef/santoku knives are probably the best general purpose cutting kitchen knife.

I however prefer cleavers to do most of my cutting. You can check this website for some nice japanese cleavers/knives.

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com

 

[blip]

Wow! I didn't expect so many great and interesting responses. Head-fi remains one of the better places around for totally random questions.

Anyway, I'm digging through the various suggestions now, but I think that I'm going to take SIBurning's advice and try to find a store with a good selection so that I can at least get a feel for handle size/shape and length. I think I'm in the market for a good chef's knife first, but I think all of my knives could use an upgrade in the long run.

Anyway, thanks again for all of the great info.

Edit: Wow! Those Japanese knives are beautiful! So tempting....

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blip /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use the knives for generic cooking duties... mostly chopping veggies and cutting cheese. Though cheap is always nice, I'd rather get something that will last... So suggest away!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chef8489 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cutco are not that great knife.

I'm not sure, but I believe the OP is not a chef

For his purposes, Cutco can be very good; obviously, if you like to periodically sharpen them, then it's a different knife entirely. Also, there's Cutco's warranty...

Sharpening knives takes practice...