Anybody know makes the best (or maybe near best) Kitchen Knives. I'm talking about high quality ones that will last for many years. I'm looking for a set.

How much and where can I buy them. Thanks,

Art

J.A. Henckels, just make sure they are the ones made in Solingen Germany, not some of the newer ones being made in Thailand. Although the Thai ones aren't all that bad either.

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Dick

The best if you have the money and time.

I still have the same Chicago Cutlery set that I received as a wedding gift 30 years ago. I've heard that their quality has declined of late. Cold Steel seems to make a pretty good set. I've used their steak knives, and they're pretty fine.

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Ed. Wusthof from Solingen, Germany probably has the best rep. They forge blades in one piece, unlike Henckels, which has some welded (?) blades. Not that Henckels aren't also considered very fine knives. I've had no trouble with mine.


Go to www.fallkniven.com and click on the info about the White Whale and the Blue Whale. Although best known for outdoors and combat knives, Fallkniven makes exceptional chef's knives.


BE WARNED: these kitchen knives are VERY sharp and I do not suggest letting the average housewife use them. Most are too careless. But those blades slice like giant piranha teeth. I was stunned to see how easily they cut.


Prices on the site are in Swedish kroner (crowns). US dealers vary some, so shop around. While you're in there, look at the hunting, survival, and pocket knives. Not cheap, but probably the best you can get without going to a custom maker and paying even more. And they're available for immediate delivery; no wait that may be measured in years.


YouTube has videos of the outdoors knives. May have some of the Blue Whale and the White Whale.


Check Online for US dealers.


Wusthof is a well known brand offered in many upscale dept. stores and probably, Online. I bought mine in a mall cutlery store that has nice knives, inc. some custom items.


I got a couple of Henckels knives at Target, one being Henckels International. That's made with German steel, to German standards, in China. Mine was on sale at Target and has been a bargain. I think I got it on sale at just $25. I thought it would cost at least twice that. It's an 8" chef's knife.


Less expensively, but VERY good on an everyday basis are Victorinox's kitchen knives. Mine are 5" bladed sandwich knives and four-inch parers. Some have serrated blades. Be advised that Grey Poupon Country Dijon mustard will tarnish the blades, but Simichrome polish will remedy that, if it bothers you. I've never seen rust, just a discoloring of the steel surface.


Randall Made Knives has the finest carving set I've seen. I think it's Model 6 in their catalog. See the Online site, too. Has a matching fork, both stag-handled. www.randallknives.com


I went to considerable effort to answer your question. I hope you'll at least check those sites and call up other images of the knives. I believe you'd be pleased.


I've found the Wusthof six-inch kitchen utility knife to be especially useful, as is the 8" Henckels chef's knife.


BTW, I'm not kidding about the sharpness of the Fallkniven items. If your lady is casual about handling knives, better buy some Band-Aids. But those big knives snick through meat like it was butter.

I love my German made J. A. Henckels, I've had them for 28 years.

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L'LS

Most of mine are old US made Chicago Cutlery. The Chinese made Chicago Cutlery are not as good. I have a wide array of blade styles and lengths, so I can usually find the right knife for a given job. Any of the brands mentioned should serve well. Be sure the set comes with a good 8" chef's knife, both stiff and flexible boning knives in the 6" to 7" range, a good paring knife. A 10" slicing knife and a bread knife would be good to have too. Do not forget a knife block and a sharpening steel.

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I have a set of J. A. Henckels Professional "S" knives, German-made forged steel, been using them for 20 years.
Expensive, yes. I keep them razor sharp, and expect many more years of use from them.

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John

My parents have had a set of CutCo knives that still have a great edge on them. They've probably had them for about 20 years.

Cutco Cutlery & Vector Marketing: Quality kitchen knives backed by Cutco's Forever Guarantee

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John 14:6, Luke 21:11

Equally as important as which knives to buy is what sharpener to buy. My favorite is the DMT W8F diamond stone. Great stone, very easy to put an edge on a knife quickly that'll shave hairs off your arm. You use water rather than oil so clean-up is quick & easy.

My favorite is the DMT 8 inch red diamond stone. You don't need the fancy wood box they usually come in, the plastic packaged one is fine. Its model DMT W8FNB 8-Inch Bench Stone Fine

We love our Wusthof knives. They hold an edge almost magically and what an edge!
We got them as a wedding gift, so I can't say where or how much except for easy to find and expensive.
Sorry I have no more info, but I will recommend them!

Wusthof knives have served me exceptionally well for many years. They are well made, hold an edge, and balance like a ballarina in the hand. An old 8" chef's knife we received as a wedding present many years ago got a ton of use. One day the handle broke in two pieces and I thought "well, my bad". We used that knife with the broken handle for several years. On a whim, I recently boxed it up and mailed it off to Wusthof USA along with a note asking if they had any suggestions for fixing or repairing it. Wusthof sent me a brand new replacement knife with a note stating that their lifetime warranty covered the broken handle. Sure hope we get another 40 years out of the new one.
Dave
SWCA #2778

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mr mom
Fire Chief, Retired

Texas Star, thank you for your very well presented reply to my inquiry. I am going to research all of the suggestions from you and all the others that posted.


Thanks to all. I now have a much better idea of how to research the issue.


Art

I wouldn't mind finding a good carbon-steel knife. Carbon-steel usually holds an edge better than stainless does.

I have a medium-expensive set of Henchel. They seem ok, but I've never had a premium knife to compare it against.

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Common sense isn't so common.

The only stainless steel knife I've found that takes and keeps a good edge are MAC knives from Japan.

I use Sabatier carbon steel knives for most applications.

I keep my eyes open for carbon steel Sabatier knives on eBay and at collectable stores.

Man, those look fantastic! I checked out his website and saw no pricing Just a sign up for auctions, so I think I'll never own one, alas.

Ahhhh!!! Ye Old Kitchen Knife, Knifes, Knives topic

Plus you will need to learn the proper POLISHING technique!

It's a couple of older threads you would have to have been there. It's classic!!

But here is another one.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/firearm...Kitchen+knives

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Still Running Against the Wind

I agree with the recommendation of Wusthof (easy for me, because I bought all of mine in Europe in a miltary exchange). The best Henckels are just as good, but some are a bit clunky. When I was buying, the Wusthof were almost all classic French style, and a lot easier to get used to than the Henckels.

There are also some great Japanese knives around, but I don't know brands well. I have or had one or two really great ones, sort of Santoku style but not exactly.

That's all I know. Not much, but I'm pretty sure Wusthof is not a mistake.

Rule of Law in my house.

Tier Three knives:

Chicago Cutlery.
They are about 30 years old.
Full complement of blades including daily user bread knife.
Wife using them daily.
I sharpen them weekly. I don't sharpen the bread knife.
It is just for bread and nothing else.
NEVER put in the dishwasher.
ALLOWED to be laid in the sink. No harm, no foul.
Referred to as the 'Commoners' knives'.

Tier Two knives:

Wusthoff Cutlery.
Four knives, paring to chefs.
MY daily users.
I wipe clean and dry and immediately place back in the knife block from whence they came.
These knives aren't allowed to touch anything but food products and the cutting board.
Not available to the commoner's. House rule.

Tier One knives:

Shun Cutlery.
Santoku, 7" blade.
Nakiri, 6.5" blade.
Honesuku 4.5" blade.
Yanagiba 10.5" blade.

These Tier One knives are kept under lock and key in my Stickley hutch.
I, and only I, handle these knives. They are expensive, extremely sharp and have specialty grinds for the purposes intended.
Again, they are not for anything but food products and are used on a bamboo cutting board only.

Sound a little over the top? I am good with that and so is my wife. She is never without a sharp knife and I do a lot of food preparation in our kitchen.

bdGreen

My mother worked at Chicago Cutlery...we knew that every birthday and Xmas gift was going to be a knife or a set of knifes my kitchen set is over 30 years old and still used every day I've got lock blade Chicago Cutlery knifes with my name engraved on the blade (thanks mom)

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk

Oddly enough, there's a kitchen knife thread in the Firearms & Knives - Other Brands area.

I'll move this to that sub-forum for you.

Link to the other thread: http://smith-wessonforum.com/firearm...hlight=kitchen

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"I also cook."

I use better quality German kitchen knives and scissors from Omega, Dreizack, Zwilling and WMF branded ones.

They keep their edge pretty well but to really be at their best they need frequent proper sharpening and good care.

What, no mention of Victorinox? I really like my Victorinox professional series knives, and love my 8" Global santoku.

Mac and Wustof were on my short list, but I just found much better deals on the above.

And keep an Arkansas stone handy, every few months i like a few minutes on each knife.

This is such a broad question and almost impossible to answer IMHO. People have made a lot of good suggestions. Texas Star made some great recommendations but focused mainly on European or French style kitchen knives which leaves out some of the best knives in the world. I am partial to Japanese steel.

Like guns there is no "best" kitchen knife. There are a lot of great knives but there is a ton of personal preference that goes into choosing the right one for you. What is right for me will not necessarily be right for you.

I suggest reading An Edge in the Kitchen before you buy anything. It is a great primer in how to choose, sharpen and care for a kitchen knife which is different than hunting, pocket or tactically knives. It is worth the $25 new or $17 used.


You do not mention a budget so I will ask. I could assemble a nice set of knives for as little as $200 or I could assemble a set costing $3000+. Once you establish a budget you need to think about what type of cooking do you do? What tasks do you need knives for and what kind of knives you want.

I have bought sets in the past. I have an 10 year old set of Henckels and they are great but if I am being honest I do not use the majority of knives that came in the set. I really only use the chef's, the paring, the serrated, the steak knives and the steel. Everything else stays in the block.

This is why I don't recommend sets. All you really need are a chef's, a paring and a serrated knife. These 3 are the holy trinity of the kitchen all others are a luxury. That is not to say I don't own a santoku, a carving knife and a cleaver but I really don't need them. Most of the time with sets some of the money you are spending are going into knifes you will almost never use. They look great on the counter but that's about it.

In the end knives like Shun, Mac, Global, Victorinox, Henckels, Wusthof etc can all serve you well. So I suggest you get the book I recommended read it and then go to a store like William and Sonomoa, Sur La Table, or even a Bed Bath and Beyond and hold some knives. They all will balance in the hand differently kind of like a pistol. Some will appeal to you others will not. Get yourself a nice block and a good steel a chefs knife, a paring knife and a serrated. If you serve a lot of roasted meat get a carving knife but then use them and add additional knives over time as your needs change. I like European knives for heavy work where a more rugged edge is required but I like Japanese steel like Shun for more detailed work. Think about it like the difference between butchering a chicken and slicing sashimi. Different tools for different tasks. That said my daily go to knife is a Shun 8" Chef. I keep it sharp using Japanese wet stones.

Another recommendation on a book is Jacques Pepin's La Technique. It will yeah you to do amazing things with a chef knife and a paring knife. Look at these videos. Watch Chef Jacques P'epin Demonstrate 7 Mesmerizing Knife Techniques | Bon Appetit

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Use should dictate gear!

Their chef knife is the Glock 19 of kitchen knifes. It is not as refined as some but it is cheap and it is a excellent tool.

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Use should dictate gear!

I have a set of J.A. Henckles steak knives Vier Sterne, 31090-120, that I have had for 10 years or more. Solingen Germany. Butter knives will retain an edge longer. Maybe I just got a bad set, but having to sharpen them constantly is a PITA.

I second the recommendation for this made-in-U.S.A. brand. I still have & use daily those I bought as a sales kit in my senior year of high school and that's been 57 years ago (& haven't had them sharpened yet)! They're pricey as all get-out, but quality & sharpness is excellent.

Hank M.

We've got Zwilling J.A Henkels Professional "S" Friodur Ice Hardened No stain Made in Germany knives. Yawn...

They still require sharpening.

All kitchen knives will need sharpening but I think you know that. IMHO there is sharpening and then there is sharpening.

Most European knives will come from a the factory with 20 degree angles which is too thick but will serve most people leaves the knife less vulnerable to abuse. The Henckels above come with a 15 degree angle which is better. If you are skilled with a wet stone you can get to a 10/15 degree angle which will give you a sharper more precise knife. The knife however will be more susceptible to damage because it will be thinner.

Not all knives can take a 10/15 edge and hold it. Shun, Global & Mac , some of the more common Japanese name plates, will all hold these angles. Some of the better european knives will too but some of the lower end ones will not.

If you buy high end knives it is worth learning how to sharpen them at home. It is a simple process and does not require expensive tools only a few wetstones, a guide in the beginning and a good strop which can be made from a leather belt. Honing a quality kitchen knife at home by hand and then putting it to work brings me a lot of satisfaction and pride to my cooking.

Check out this video

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Use should dictate gear!

All knives will eventually need sharpening. Super sharp requires several things. A very fine stone and a extremely fine grained steel. This is where the straight high carbon steels really shine, because they can be heat treated to have super fine grain. Another important factor in sharp is of course a very acute CONSISTENT angle on a steel that will not chip out or roll over. A high carbon steel like W2 or 1095 correctly HT to about 58-59 Rockwell C. Even incorrectly stropping a blade will cause a loss of sharpness.

The statement that Stainless blades will not hold an edge with carbon steel is incorrect. Some of the modern stainess steels like CPM154 are excellent steels (and expensive),They will not get as quite as extremely super fine as edge as a straight high carbon steel, but they will hold an excellent edge. But, a stainless steel with an excess of carbon and something like vanadium or tungsten that binds with the excess carbon to form carbides will hold an decent edge (but not extremly fine edge) far longer than any simple high carbons. The carbides are extremely wear resistant. They can be kept to a small size during HT they can achieve good sharpness, but carbides are never as fine as simple high carbon martensite. Hense they will not be able to achieve an extremely fine edge (no finer than the larger carbide size) and are subject to micro chipping as they are both sharpened and used, but this isn't necessarily all bad (think of super fine serrations) I have made some D2 blades that I can get very sharp. Hair shaving sharp. Drop a tomato on them from a few inches and it will slice itself in half sharp. They stay sharp and cut well a long time. But, they will never get as sharp as a straight high carbon blade. Carbide size limits the edge. I have seen W2 blades that are hair topping sharp. Hold them an 1/8 off your arm and they will cut the hair to 1/8". THAT is sharp. But, anything harder than flesh will cause that to disappear immediately.

Another thing. Although things like the power sharpener above are fine for getting edges are heavier working edges, they are not for things like chef knives, straight razors etc. I don't care if you dunk the blade in cold water every pass it has been shown that when an edge gets real fine that the edge itself is being heated well above the 400-450f range and is losing some of its hardness and is far more prone to roll over. Friction causes heat, the faster the movement the faster the heat build up. You might not see it 1/8" up from the edge, but that last tiny bit of edge that actually cuts is suffering. It may get real sharp, but it will NOT hold it as long as a hand sharpened blade because that critical .0001-.001 right at the edge has lost its temper.

If you turn an edge blue it is ruined, except for steels with a lot of tungsten carbides like the M series steels. But, the blue color doesn't show up till above 750f well above the low 400f that simple high carbons are tempered to. You can easily ruin the edge temper and never see any color change except maybe a real faint yellow in the right light conditions.

Buck makes kitchen knives. They're made in the USA and if you have the money you can even get them in Elk scales.
Buck Cutlery & Kitchen Knives - Buck(R) Knives OFFICIAL SITE

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Ephesians 6 (Armor of God)

Do they? On Henkels website they instruct to maintain sharpening at 20 degrees just like I do.

I do enjoy sharpening a pocket and hunting knife with a natural whetstone sometimes.... it's relaxing. But to slap a good edge on kitchen knives... no thanks. Just a few quick passes with the Work Sharp and they're good to go. Does a great job. Once I used it there's no going back.

Yes the knife you own came with a 15 degree angle. "S" series come with a 15 degree angle.

ZWILLING J.A. Henckels Professional "S"10" Chef's Knife

If you want to use that machine to put a 20 degree edge on your kitchen knives more power to you but it is not the best way or the best angle for your knives. You paid for a better set of Henkels but don't seem interested or willing to make full use of them.

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Use should dictate gear!

Here's a Henckels vid on knife sharpening. Seems like a lot of folks, including this young lady, aren't interested in the "best angle". They keep saying sharpen at 20 degrees.

In any event, after sharpening they work real well. While it might not be the best, whatever that is, I'm probably not a good candidate to inspire overthink on this subject.

Yes a lot of people will tell you to sharpen to 20 degrees including Henkel but its odd that they would ship you a knife with 15 or even 10 with a Santoku.

They tell you 20 because the knife will last longer with a 20 degree blade. If you sharpen to 15 and don't know what you are doing the chances of damaging the knife goes up.

Also as I state 20 is a traditional european degree. It is fine for many applications but depending on the knife you can do better. That video is a generic video for Henckel International. The majority of their knives will not hold a 15 degree edge as well as many of the Japanese makers. Henckels in the past 10 years has really expanded their lower cost options. That is who that video is talking to. You have a nicer set. Why not just admit you were wrong for once instead of deflecting?

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Use should dictate gear!

Deflecting what?
What was I wrong about?

Henckels are cheap ****, Shun are exceptional, but very expensive. Wusthoff (what I have) are affordable and great knives. NEVER put a good knife in the dishwasher, always wash by hand and dry immediately. Forbid the wife from touching them.

The angle of your knifes and the angle they should be sharpened to. If factory shipped them with a 15 degree angle then you should sharpen them to a 15 degree and or even a bit steeper but no more than 10.

That is what you are wrong about. It is the fact you attempt to correct me on in your previous post.

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Use should dictate gear!

A lot depends on which Henckels you are purchasing. The stuff sold at Target sucks. Stuff sold at other retailers is decent. I have a 10+ old set made in Spain and with proper technique my knives hold nice 15 degree edges. I still use my Shuns for most work but the Henckels are good knives.

In my house the wife is as good a cool as I am and her knife skills are on point so she can use whatever she wants. One of her favorites is a Global Cleaver.

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Use should dictate gear!

Really? Relax, no one tried to correct you. In that post I simply asked if it was 15 since Henckels advertises right on their website to sharpen at 20 degrees. Geeeesh...
J.A. HENCKELS INTERNATIONAL :: Product Range :: Cutlery :: How to sharpen a knife? :: Page

Petty bickering is a waste on the Forum. Move along.

I buy people knife sets when I get invited to weddings. Anyways, when my younger sister got married, I went to a local cutlery shop and when the gentleman behind the counter asked how he could help me, I said my sister is getting married and I want to gift her a set of kitchen knives, what are the best knives money can buy, he said you want Messermiester, so thats what she got. She loves them.

I got a set of of Wustof knives for our wedding, I had to buy them myself the steel on them is good but I had to send a few back because the black plastic handle material crack around the pins that hold them in place. That was a few years ago, now I notice most of them are cracked to some degree. So if I were going to buy another set, I would get knives that have the handle molded or formed around the blade.

The Victorinox professional series with the fibrox handle is a best buy for kitchen knives. Very sharp, high quality, and inexpessive compared to other top quality knives. They were rated as a best buy from Cook's Country American Test Kitchen. They don't come in a block set, you have to buy the individual knives you need or want.

And remember, don't ruin the edge on your perfectly honed knives by cutting on a plate or other inappropriate surface when you're carving a nice piece of meat. A cutting board will help keep that edge. Of course steak knives or those you eat with are the exception.

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Back to back World War Champs.

Henckels Twins, I've had mine for 45 years.
Only have two 8" and 12" French Chef Knives.
Bought when I was a broke college student.

The only other knife I have and need is a discount store Bread Knife.

Bekeart

What about a Calphalon Self-Sharpening Knife Set? the storage block that the knives sit in has some sort of sharpening system built into it so when you get done using one of the knives and put it back into the block it gets sharpened.

So when you need one or more of the knives they are already sharp and ready to use.

If I had it to do over again, I'd buy Dexter Russel knives. Good American made quality knives, without the fancy handles and names.

Specifically I'd buy Dexter sani knives,. Inexpensive, dishwasher safe, hold a nice sharp edge.

I have 2 Shun Ken Onion Santokus and 1 Shun Ken Onion small chef knife. They are fantastic knives. I did a lot of research before buying them. I wish they still made the Ken Onion line, but I have used some of their other knives and had good experiences with them as well.

I use a pair of leather strops for touching up the edge. One is smooth side and the other is rough side.

Cooks and Chefs Knives- Sani-Safe(R) - Dexter Russell, Inc.

I have quite a few Sabatier bought in the 8os and well used, the blades are fine but most of the plastic handles have cracks though the pieces don't fall off.
The Dexter Russel are great too I think the handles on most are too big for most kitchen work, but, they sure are the best, IMHO, for fish cleaning.
Steve W

If you enjoy cooking and don't mind sharpening the knives occasionally and making sure they are dry, try some Japanese knives. They are thinner, lighter, harder/finer grained steel that will hold their edge longer than the typical German/Western style knives other than high end customs. You can't use them to hack frozen food, bones, lobster shells and you really need a decent wood cutting board for them (or plastic or bamboo, but no glass), but they will outperform their Western style counter parts.

Chefknivestogo.com has a great selection and a forum to help you with questions and stuff. I used to do custom handles for the store and it's customers and I've gotten to handle a lot of Japanese blades. Japanese knives are a bit more expensive than Western stuff ($80 starts a 240mm blade up to over $1000, depending on how fancy you go), but the performance is there to justify the price.

I made the switch many years ago. I got a nakiri (veggie knife, looks like a small cleaver, but it's for slicing, not hacking!) and cut an big raw carrot (over 1" in diameter) like it was cooked. No cracking, no wedging and the carrot felt soft as I was cutting it. Even sweet potatoes are easier to cut with a good blade!

Most people like a 210mm/8" gyuto (chefs knife) or 180mm Santoku, 150mm petty (6" paring knife) and either a bread knife if they do a lot with bread or a longer slicing knife called a sujihiki (270-300mm) if you do a lot of meat slicing (also great on watermelons, too!) Most knife sets have a ton of knives that most people never use. My recommendation is to buy the knives that you will use individually instead of a set.

Also, get some water stones (1000, 4000 grit) to sharpen the knives. You can get even finer stones, but a 1K and 4K are good to start and learn on. A 4K edge will be stupidly sharp and work very well on pretty much everything food wise.

Performance wise, I would say the grinds help the knife go thru the ingredient to be cut with less wedging and sticking than a western style knife and with less effort. Also, edge holding is ridiculous. As a home cook, I used a carbon chefs knife for 8 months. I sharpened it fully at the start and every two months, I stropped it a couple of times. After each stropping, the blade would stick into my edge grain cutting board for a few days. At the end of two months, I barely noticed any edge degradation, but the strop brought it right back like it was fresh off the stones. I only had to resharpen it after 8 months because I acid etched the blade, which killed the edge. In a typical home, the blades may need a full sharpening once or twice a year, depending on how much you use them and how well stropping keeps the edges up.

Chef Knives To Go • Index page has lots of other info, including some stuff I wrote for the board. I am Taz575 over there, if you have any questions, ask away! I love talking knives, but have been out of the handle game for a couple of years due to epoxy and wood dust allergies