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Kitchen knives

Brokenlink

Brokenlink

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2004
Location
hangtown
Moto(s)
FZ-09

DRZ400SM
Name
Mike
So my knives have gotten trashed pretty good by being dishwashed and used like ginsu knives.

I am thinking of buying one or two decent knives that are off limits to everyone and that I can take care of. That said, I'm not spending 200 bucks on a knife because quite frankly, I can't spend that much right now.

Basically i am looking for a good functional knife or two for cooking without being ridiculous. I am not a professional chef. What type of knife would you choose? Those types of questions, etc.

Gracias.
 
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Just got the Henkel set from costco for like $150. They are amazing, my wife cooks better now and is much happier using them. Best investment I've made in a while! :laughing
 
m_asim said:
Henckels International (the one made in Asia; NOT the ones made in Germany) are decent enough.
Click to expand...

What's up with the German made? Are you saying they're not as good or just more expensive than the Asian ones?
 
For average home use, they are fine. If you are a professional in the business, you will want the German made.

I believe it comes down to forged vs pressed steel.
 
Back in the '80's "Yan can Cook" was selling his trademark knife, think lightweight cleaver. You can chop fast because the hight of the blade you can use your knuckles to hold the blade off your fingers.
Still my fave.
 
i dont like heavy knives, so i much prefer Japanese knives over German ones. an 8" MAC Chefs Knife will only set u back ~$70.
 
Another vote for Wusthof Classic. I have an 8" chef's and a 3" paring that I use for everything.
 
For light work, the Kyocera ceramics are cheap and wicked sharp

I’ve broken one trimming the tail off a head of garlic. They don’t like torsional or horizontal forces being applied
 
Learn how to care for knife and it'll keep it's edge.
Store it so it the edge doesn't get banged around.
Don't wash it in the dishwasher.
Don't scrape the cutting board with the edge, use the spine of the knife.
Get a good steel and use it every time you use the knife.
I rarely send my knives out to be sharpened. Maybe once every couple of years and they all have keen edges.
I have a set of Miyabe's that I really love.
 
The post above is good advice.

IMO you only really need two knives: a chefs knife and a bread knife. Paring/petty knife, cleaver, and vegetable knife are useful but not necessary.

I’d strongly suggest you avoid buying a set for this reason. Use the money to buy a higher quality chefs knife and a way to sharpen it.

Regarding the brands, the big names like Zwilling/Henkels, Wustof, and Sabatier really don’t make them like they used to. A possible exception is the Japanese-made Zwilling-Kramer line, but I went through two ZK gyutos, each with serious quality issues, before I got one that was acceptable. It is an good knife, but it’s unbelievably overhyped, and is inferior to my Mac gyuto that costs half as much. Of the big brands, only Shun and Mac provide decent performance for the money, and Shun is borderline not worth the cash. Strongly suggest you look into Mac knives. Mac makes a great bread knife as well. If you are open to non-stainless knives, there are Japanese brands that would give you the best performance for the money.

If you need a paring knife, get a $12 Opinel or a Victorinox or something, or preferably have your existing knives professionally sharpened. If you can get a brand new bevel on them, it will be much easier to keep them sharp.

If you never want to sharpen knives, then I second the Kyocera suggestion, but having been frustrated by ceramic blades in the past, I think it is still much inferior to steel overall.

Get a Sharpmaker or preferably a 1000 grit whetstone to keep your edges sharp. You can get high quality 1000/6000 combo stones for about $75.

Edit: Here’s a good price on a Mac gyuto: https://www.knifemerchant.com/product.asp?productID=6312

I’ve had the 240mm version of that knife for about 15 years and it’s better than my ZK which has a list price of $199.
 
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Totally disagreed. German steel and blade profiles are vastly inferior to Japanese. The only thing German knives do better is rock chopping and walking cuts.

Some stainless that the German knives use is good, but you pay a huge price for it. Japanese run of the mill stainless is usually VG10, which performs better than the steels you’ll find on German knives with a few exceptions.
 
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I got a Shun chef’s knife a year or two ago. Looks pretty, but I should have stuck with what I really wanted and got a full Global set.
 
You did better with Shun. Global workmanship isn’t what it used to be and their steel has always been subpar, except when comparing it to the German brands, where it is comparable
 
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