CUTCO knives opinions?

At the last gun show I was at there was a table with Cutco knives.




After years of having average sharp carving knives I would love to find a affordable carving knife that cuts better than average.
The 1723 carver would be my first purchase.

I like the idea they are lifetime no receipt warrantied and they sharpen them for shipping fee only.
I sharpen boning knives rather well but find I am not the best at thicker blades.

Being made in USA is also a plus for me.

The girl that cut a can in half with one was pretty impressive but I have no plans on eating a can.

Any opinions from Cutco owners would greatly be appreciated.

My Future Brother in Law sold a set to my Mom 30+ years ago
Mom passed last year and I got the knives
they still are sharp and very dependable

They looked to be quality knives and are sharp, but I don't think they're worth the $200 for the set of four steak knives and the $50 ice cream scoop my mom got talked into buying!

I own about 5 different models. They are quality kitchen knives and the warranty can’t be beat. Broke the tip off my carving knife and they sent me a new one.

I have a Cutco pocket knife. It’s okay I guess.

The Forever Guarantee is nice but not necessary as we take good care of our knives. One thing I don’t like is that their Double D edge must go back to the factory to be sharpened.

We use Wustof and Henckels knives which we are very pleased. The Cutco prices seem to be about the same as those.

Ματθιας;140221596 said:

They looked to be quality knives and are sharp, but I don't think they're worth the $200 for the set of four steak knives and the $50 ice cream scoop my mom got talked into buying!

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They did have a pretty heavy sales pitch.
I found that you can find new ones online much cheaper than the price I was given at the show.

paplinker said:

They did have a pretty heavy sales pitch.
I found that you can find new ones online much cheaper than the price I was given at the show.

Click to expand...

To me, the steak knife set is worth about $100, AT MOST.*

I think if you can find them at half the price they're giving you, it's probably a good deal.

*I'm cheap. I wouldn't pay for an ice cream scoop. My "scoop" is an old stamped stainless steel large USGI spoon.

I tried the sales bit back in the early '80s. You had to buy the set to be a salesman. I found out that I wasn't cut out (pun intended) to be a salesman. The knives are really great quality.

My ex wound up with them. I love to have another set. However, I usually just buy guns instead.

Rich,

We bought our Cutco knife set (steak knives, scissors, carving knife set, etc.) 49 years ago while I was in flight school at NAS Pensacola. They are still just as sharp and great today as they were when we bought them. Our salesman (also a flight student) cut through leather in his demonstration. Fortunately, my wife has never served a steak that tough.

The lifetime warranty, free knife sharpening, and "Made in the U S A" was definitely a selling point. Just like my Craftsman tools (bought in the early 1970s), I have no problem paying an additional premium for a very useful item that will last a long, long time. I have had more than one experience having to replace items several times that I bought to save $$$! That has never occurred with our Cutco knives.

We do wash them by hand to preserve the quality and luster of the handles. They look almost the same today as they did when we bought our set.

I have no affiliation or association with Cutco.

Bill

For Pete's sake DO NOT buy a set of knives. You need a chef knife, a slicing knife and a paring knife. Look for somebody selling Forcschner (Victorinox) kitchen knives and buy then individually.

Wustoff, made in Solingen, Germany is the only way to go.

My wife and I bought the Cutco steak knife set and scissors from a friend 30 years ago. Lots of people said we over paid, there were better brands, we paid too much, etc. Might be true, but we’ve used them almost daily for the last 30years. We wash them in dish washer. They’re still in great condition. No complaints on our part. I wish I’d gotten some other “bad deals” like that.

I suggest you start with 1 knife from Cutco (or any other manufacturer) before you go out and buy a whole set. Use it for a few months before you decide if you want to spend the money on a whole set of similar knives.

For the record, my favorite knife is an old stainless 8" Sabatier Professional in the classic French pattern (think Julia Childs). I really didn't want a French knife to be my favorite, but it beat out all the other knives I've also tried the past 20-30 years (Henkles, Wustoff, Cutco, etc.). It is durable and holds an edge better than any other knife I have owned.

I would like to try a couple more Japanese chef knives, especially one made by Mcusta, but I just don't need anything better than what I already have.

My Cousin's Grandson sells Cutco knives. I bought a cheese knife from him. Got a decent discount too.



I do have a set of Henckel knives also. Like them a lot.

My wife had a friend who (between jobs) did the Cutco sales thing. Gina bought a serrated knife from her that she just loves. Paid a lot for it, too. It's a good knife - and when I looked at it, I realized it's the same serrated Cutco knife that Mom bought in the early Seventies (and still uses all the time).



I think they're overpriced, but everyone I know who has them likes them. Oh, and I have a couple myself - bought on super-duper-duper clearance sale. One's a kitchen knife (a 5") that I got a year after my wife got her expensive serrated kitchen knife - I love reminding Gina of how little I paid for it (from one of the discount online outlets), and I have to say the little thing has been dandy - though I don't use it nearly as much as several other kitchen knives.



The other is a Ka-Bar clone of the Buck 110 (yes, CutCo makes those), also purchased on super-duper-duper clearance from some outlet, probably Smoky Mountain. That's one that I've had kicking around for 20 years but pretty much never used until I (recently) bought a little one-hand opener doo-dad on Amazon. Now the thing is a great knife to have around.





Anyhow - reliable knives. Weird marketing that can result in people paying a lot for them, but no one ever seems to mind the price forty years down the line when they're still using the knife. It's not something I'd ever think to recommend, but I have a begrudging respect for the brand.

I agree with the earlier comment about not buying a big block of knives. Every cooking and knife skills class I've ever taken has reinforced the idea that most people need only three knives: a chef's knife, a slicing knife (I use a small chef's knife for this), and a paring knife. A serrated bread knife (also useful for stringy veggies like artichokes) would be the fourth, and that should be the only serrated blade in the kitchen. Go into the kitchen of a serious cook and you will almost never find a big block of knives on the counter ... that is just sales theater to make people who don't cook feel like they're chefs. So regardless of whose knives you buy, please resist the urge to buy a set.

My go-to knife is my 6" carbon steel Moritaka (Japanese) chef's knife. It takes a frighteningly sharp edge with a light pass over the honing steel, but I do also have a larger Wusthof chef's knife that I use for heavier tasks like deboning a chicken. Except for my bread knife, all of my knifes have traditional (non-serrated) edges that I hone regularly with a honing steel, and sharpen occasionally with a stone.

As for Cutco: their "secret sauce" is the "Double D" serrated edge. In truth, every sharp knife has a serrated edge, but with most knives the serrations are microscopic and can be re-honed with a few passes over a honing steel. As some have noted, the cutting edge of a Cutco knife has a fine serration machined into it, which cannot be honed or sharpened at home. Whether this is better or worse than a more conventional edge is a matter of opinion, but I do bristle at the idea of not being able to sharpen it myself. That said, I would put my 8 year old 6" chef's knife against any new Cutco blade, and my blade will provide a lifetime of service without ever having to leave my kitchen. I think I paid about $75 for it ... a pittance for a tool that will outlast me (and especially knowing that it came from a company that has been making blades for over 700 years).

I think a lot of people get turned off by the idea of honing or sharpening a knife, and I'm guessing that this is the reason that Cutco has strong appeal for many. The aggressive sales techniques employed by Cutco's representatives really turn me off, but that doesn't make their blades any worse. I've used a few Cutco knives in my friends' kitchens, and they've always worked fine for me, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a knife that requires proprietary sharpening.

By the way, the best thing I ever did for my cooking skills was to take a knife skills class. That one day of instruction transformed my cooking, and it has provided me with a great foundation on which to develop other culinary skills. This is an investment that will make any kitchen knife purchase a more satisfying experience.

Mike

I LOVE to find old Cutco knives at any of my local area flea markets and yard sales, I can usually get them anywhere from a quarter all the way up to 2-3 whole dollars. I go home, give a quick polish and flog them on eBay, a set of four, common steak knives that I paid two bucks for brought me over a hundred clams!
Yes sir, go CUTCO!!!

If there IS a downside to this strategy, it's that occasionally, the wife reaches over and claims one or two for household use...

Thanks for all the thoughts given.

I really am only after a carving set as the holidays are coming and turkey,ham and especially rib roasts hopefully will cross my path

Seems if I take my time I could be in a new cutco set for around 100 bucks. Not too bad to give this company a try.

As I mentioned earlier I am great with a steel and my boning knives are downright impressively sharp,but really want to have a carver with the same quality edge. I have tried sharpening thicker blades and they do ok but I want WOW

Might try another brand if I am not impressed. There are a few places around here that offer Japanese and German lines. Some mentioned above.

I just worry I would ruin the blade.

Cutco knives are great for those who can't sharpen a knife.

They are very overpriced because you are paying dearly for the sharpening service up front. After awhile the postage to send them back starts to add up.

Paying someone to teach you how to sharpen a knife would be a much better value .

Actually sharpening a knife is easy, once you see it done and get some hands on instruction. A couple of sharpening stones and a sharpening steel is all that's needed. Like the local butcher ( my brother) I run my blade over a steel before each use. The stones I had used for years but my brother showed me how to use a steel to get a Quick razor edge right before cutting anything .
Ask your local butcher to give you a lesson....cutting is their profession and they have to have sharp knives .
Gary

For the little bit I cook, I would not consider myself a chef. The knives that I do use tend to be inexpensive. My Mora with the 6” blade does a lot of carving and chopping. The profile is not ideal, and the Scandi grind is not supposed to be well-suited to slicing, but I think it slices quite well.

Some Old Hickory butcher knives and a 5” Dexter-Russell Green River fish knife also do a bit of work, but for the most part, the Mora and whatever Opinel I have in my pocket get it done.