CHOOSE KITCHEN KNIVES WISELY!

[BillyKframe]

I never had a knife set that really suited me so I made my own. It has 3 Henkels, 2 Wustof, 2 Myabi, an old Rada and a10" steel. One I call Michael Myers is hidden in the back of the highest cabinet so family and guests can't find it. It was sharpened by the Knife Doctor in Atlanta.

 

[dipperdave]

Like myself, my lovely wife likes and appreciates quality knives in her kitchen. We have Wusthof and J.A. Henckels forged steel German made kitchen knives of various sizes and shapes along with a Wusthof 17-knife wooden block to keep the most used ones in.

Along with those are two larger Japanese kitchen knives, which were gifts from our son who is a confirmed bachelor and excellent cook. One is a Dalstrong Shogun Series made with AUS-10V Japanese Super Steel. The other is a Zelite Infinity made with Japanese AUS 10 Super Steel 45-Layer Damascus pattern. I know next to nothing about Japanese kitchen knives except that these two are what I consider exceptional.

Our son uses some diamond stones and Arkansas stones for sharpening but has recently been transitioning to Japanese water stones. I use mostly diamond stones and have Arkansas stones in Washita, Soft, Hard and Black Hard Arkansas which are used on kitchen and other non-kitchen knives. No motorized knife sharpener has ever touched any of my knives and never will. Hand sharpening knives is a skill that I developed as a young man and will practice until I am no longer able to do so.

I am not into knives like I was as a younger man. I still have several unsharpened custom and semi-custom knives from that younger time. That includes a Smith & Wesson Blackie Collins designed model 6060 folding knife which is unsharpened and in perfect condition. I honestly don't know how many non-kitchen knives I own, but it's several dozen.

I still have two of the knives I made in the 70's using English blades sold by (I don't know why I still remember this name) Indian Ridge Traders. My wife and I were just married and lived in a duplex apartment which had a full-length two-sided garage, so I had space to make a small work area where I had a cheap 1-inch belt sander, vise, cheap drill, files and a buffer made from an old washing machine motor. Most of all I had lots of youthful energy, patience and a deep interest in knifes. I made a couple dozen knives at that time for friends, family and one as a retirement gift for a co-worker. When we later bought a four-acre lot and built our house I never returned to knife making.

Unfortunately, I never did get one of the Randall knives I longed for. I did get a Ralph Bone copy of one of my favorite Randall models and it has a most lovely staghorn handle with a slight curve which fits my right hand perfectly. Nice knife, but the file and finish work on the silver solder at the brass handguard is not a perfect as on my own homemade knives nor is the brass guard itself as slim and refined as mine. Also, it's unfortunate that even though I am retired I will never again have the patience to make knives.

 

[Pisgah]

If you're buying knives based on brand name, there are no guarantees; even once highly-regarded German and /American brands are now turning out junk for the mass market. Learn what a "good knife" is, and stay away from those that aren't... regardless of brand name or country of origin.

 

[Glynn863]

FWIW, I have a set of "Rada" brand kitchen and table knives. Stainless steel with aluminum handles. Reasonably priced and MADE IN USA as well. They meet all of my amateur culinary needs.

Good luck.

 

[bdGreen]

Fifty plus years in the daily rotation.
Nary a problem and still going strong.
Of course these are for the 'commoners'.
My wife can do what she wants to them, except placing them in the dishwasher. Has never happened.
I always keep them sharp.
bdGreen



My daily users.
Just mine.

 

[Onomea]

My favorite:

 

[lihpster]

Been using the Victorinox since before they took the Forschner name off of them. They've performed all normal tasks and have butchered many deer with ease. By the way, my brother used to work as a meat cutter. Guess which brand he used?

 

[Phenix]

To heck with those Germans! I would rather help folks in Oregon than in Germany.

I bit the bullet and got the station knife, and the 3 knife set. I genuinely believe Benchmade is the Randall of today. Benchmadecutlery.com

Benchmadecutlery.com

A sleeper in the kitchen knife area is Tops knives with the the two knife set—Frog Market Special. I have the small one and find it to be my go-to kitchen knife much of the time.

Frog Market Special Combo Knife - TOPS Knives Tactical OPS USA

The Tops folks are in Idaho.

Why wouldn't the Benchmade Table Knife be the perfect hunting knife?

 

[STCM(SW)]

"Why wouldn't the Benchmade Table Knife be the perfect hunting knife?"
No gut hook.....

 

[chief38]

If you're buying knives based on brand name, there are no guarantees; even once highly-regarded German and /American brands are now turning out junk for the mass market. Learn what a "good knife" is, and stay away from those that aren't... regardless of brand name or country of origin.

I somewhat agree HOWEVER the better and more established brands with decades of an excellent reputation are much more likely to remain high quality than by just taking a shot. That said, sometimes you can buy a very expensive set that was not heat treated properly, rivets were put in poorly, handle material might be defective, grinds off, - whatever..... but they will always stand behind a defective knife and make good on it.

About 6 months ago I sent Wusthof a 30 year old pair of kitchen shears that came in my 23 piece set because the rivet had broken. They sent me a brand new pair plus a "sandwich spreader" knife for my troubles! They paid the return freight too! BTW, I had little use for the spreader knife so I ground it into a cheese knife myself. Works quite well! There is a picture below (before and after) of my new cheese knife and YES - I have polished the scratches out. The pictures I took above were a bit premature! lol.

 

[dipperdave]

Fifty plus years in the daily rotation.
Nary a problem and still going strong.
Of course these are for the 'commoners'.
My wife can do what she wants to them, except placing them in the dishwasher. Has never happened.
I always keep them sharp.
bdGreen



My daily users.
Just mine.

When we were first married in the early 70s we were poor and could only afford a few kitchen knives. We bought Chicago Cutlery knives like the three on the bottom of your photo. Later added the bread knife which is the top one in your photo. They were decent knives and easy to sharpen. Some years later we gave all but the bread knife to a younger couple just starting out and we started buying the J.A. Henckels knives and later the Wusthof knives a few at a time until we have now have a good collection of kitchen cutlery.

Still have and use the Chicago Cutlery bread knife and it is my favorite bread knife even though my wife has bought three others which were noticeably more expensive. The Chicago Cutlery bread knife has small thin teeth which does not tear my wife's homemade bread while the others are as good or better for hard French bread rolls but not softer breads.

We have each of the Wusthof knives in your photo except the second from the bottom. We do have that exact style except it is the Henckels version. Good knives all.