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Posted: 4/3/2006 10:10:25 AM EDT
Cutting some veggies yesterday and realized that I have a $150 benchmade in my pocket and $1.50 knives in my kitchen drawer that don't hold an edge at all. I would like one for general chopping, cutting and slicing. Any ideas?
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wustoff santuka, the one with the scallops so stuff doesnt stick. I have the larger one but I could do all of my kitchen cutting with a larger one, a smaller one, and a paring knife. All of my other knives go unused, including my chefs knife.
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I like the Tridents from Germany. Consumers Reports gave Trident a check rating.
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www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005MEGX/qid=1144088383/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-2793772-7276645?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=284507 Wüsthof Classic 7-Inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife All my Wüsthof knives are excellent. Just make sure you don't buy the Emerel knives. |
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I have a Wusthof 6-inch chef's knife, and it's great (I'd recommend the 8" though). It was about $60. I also more recently bought a Farberware 7" santoku knife for $10. I love it too. I'm thinking I overpaid for the Wusthof, but time will tell.
If you need a general-use kitchen knife, a chef's knife or a santoku knife are what you need. Make sure you have a good paring knife too for smaller work. Also get a GOOD honing steel. A very long, thin-bladed granton-edged slicer is next on my shopping list. |
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What are you all freakin' chefs? Or metrosexuals? I dont even KNOW what kind of knives we have.That's the woman's area.(I do use the cheap Rapala filet knives from Wallyworld for fish and game).Our butchering knives are her Grandpas.Still getting it done.
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Sincerely: If one knows how to sharpen a knife, what does a $100 knife get one that a $15 (or whatever) doesn't?
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+1, and about 1/4 the cost of Wurstoff or Henkels. Get a chef's knife, carving knife, semi-flex boning knife, and a paring knife for the cost of one chef knife from Wurstoff or Henkels. Highly recommended by . . . Me. M.L. |
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forshners won't set you back too much as noted. 8" or 10" wustoff will knock you close to a c note retail, Messermeisters less and not bad.
Cutlery and more has a sale of french sabatiers right now-50% off. Its a dang good bargain for a knife, although french knifes don't have as much belly as german chef knifes. Look for the carbon steel vs stainless-little more work to them but worth it for the edge they take. |
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I used to sell cutlery at Cutlery World when they were in business years ago.
Forschner (good price point) and Wusthof-Trident (solid value) are top notch quality knives. The Henckels brand is good too, just a little bit more $$. Henckels' knives are harder to sharpen, but will keep their edge a bit longer as well. We had chefs come in all the time to pick up knives in all 3 brands when we had them on sale. |
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Globals are great, even with the slightly weird handle. I plan on getting more. The better Jap knives, Global, MAC, etc. have better (harder) steel than euro knives (Wustoff, Mesermeister, Forshner, Henkels, etc.).
I like MAC knives. They have good steel and edge geometry for a decent price. This is a real good one to get for the money, good source for kitchen knives too: www.premiumknives.com/ The best source of kitchen knife info. I've found is here: knifeforums.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/26/fp/4/ Lately the hot knife brand for the money is Tojiro: www.japanesechefsknife.com/DPSwdenSteelWoodenHandleSeries.html#WIDTH:%20367px;%20HEIGHT:%20174px I'd like to try some myself. I have a few MAC, one Global and a nice handmade Santoku by Watenabe of Japan. They're a real joy to use. |
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All steel does not sharpen the same, some cheap steel will not get sharp no matter how much you try because of the molecular characteristics. Some steels hold an edge better than other steels also. There's a lot of differences between a 15 dollar knife and a 100 dollar knife. Visit www.bladeforums.com sometime. |
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As mentioned above the Forschner's are cheap but VERY good. They run about $15 at knife shops and have a nice-feeling handle. They are highly consistent, take/hold an edge well, and are one of the best values out there. I have a number of them, and have bought them as gifts. The giftees have all asked for a source to get more. Every one.
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Believe it or not..the Kitchenaid set isn't bad. It has a slicer, sontoku, chef, paring, etc. It holds an edge pretty well. $100 bucks for the set of 9.
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I have no idea what knives we have. If the wife paid 5$ for any of them I'd be surprised.
I don't sharpen them either. Keeps the wife from bleeding herself out. |
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+1 Great knives. A buddy of mine has a Spyderco kitchen knife. That sucker is razor sharp! |
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ForgeCraft high-carbon. Possibly out of business now, but you might find them in an old hardware or variety store. They take a real nice edge.
Of course you DO have to take care of them and not leave them laying around unwashed after cutting tomatos, or leave them for days in the sink. I seldom buy serrated knives, but keep one just for bread. |
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Seriously. I bought my father in law a matched set (one full size, one mini) as Christmas gifts because he has a whole kitchen drawer ful or beat up, worn out useless sticks. Everytime I tried to cook over there, I was fighting with those things. He says they're the best Xmas presents he's every gotten. He decided to grind down the crossguard on the full sized one's blade side so he could chop on a cutting board with it, but he uses them CONSTANTLY and babies them like crazy. $120-ish, you'll have two badass pieces of (very fashionable) steel that WILL NOT say 'uncle' to anything in a kitchen. Pommel's great for popping garlic, pistachios, etc as well. |
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Can't recommend any kitchen knives as they are banned here in England. We'll, soon anyway. Knives have sharp pointy bits and sharp edges, may hurt someone you know! The UK government will soon be introducing obligatory bubblewrap for all the subjects...
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Dull knives require more force to use, and actually lead to more accidents than sharp knives, or so I've heard. |
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Actually, dull knives are more dangerous than sharp ones. A dull knife requires more pressure to make the cut. If you apply more pressure and make a mistake, the insuing cut will be worse. |
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Go with Global Knives, they are worth it and what many of the pro's use. They used to be more inexpensive than they currently are, but they are good knives.
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If you let your knives get too dull you have to work a lot harder to get them sharp again. I have a spyderco sharpmaker to swipe mine on every now and then, they stay shaving sharp.
Stainless steel has come so far I don't see the point in using the carbon stuff. Sure it takes a nice edge but you can taste it on what you cut if you don't really keep them clean, and I mean wiping them down IMMEDIATLY after cutting a tomatoe. I do clean mine right after I use them and put them back in the block. They say wooden cutting boards are better for the knife edges as well. I got a set of chicago cutlery (before I knew better) and while it's not the best, it's useable. I've learned that you don't need a whole set of knives, just a few choice pieces that you take care of. For me that's a small paring knife, a knife a little larger than that, and a santuka. These are the ones I use the most. If I had a good filet knife I would use that as well. And DON'T THROW THEM IN A DRAWER!!! |
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Henckles Four Star 6" Chef's Knife -- I use this knife more than any other in my set.
www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=200 |
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Just my opinon:
I've used a lot of different brand names over the years when I worked in restaurants. The name can be an indicator of quality, but it is not necessary to go with a big name to get a good chef knife. I look for good heft, a high carbon forged blade w/ full tang & molded handles (hygiene factor) as opposed to riveted/bolstered whatever term you want to use. In order of usefulness: 1. 8" chef knife 2. Serrated bread knife / santoku - breads, fruits, vegetables 3. Paring knife - detail work -or 3. Fillet/boning knife - if you frequently disassemble meat/fish during prep I find that 1 & 2 handle 95% of my kitchen cutlery needs. Another name you might look at is Calpalon. I just checked out their knives the other day & I was pretty impressed. |
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Another vote for a Santoku knife. I've been giving them as presents the last few years and everyone loves thems. Mainly Wusthoff or however they are spelled. I'll let others recommend the brand but the shape of the Santoku knife is so useful.
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Are the Henkels sold at Target any good? They seem pretty inexpensive.
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I have a ful set of Henckels four star and they are good but I just recently bought a Calphalon Katana series slicer to replace one of my Henckels. This knife is awesome it was far sharper than any of my henckels and feels great in my hand. If you have a Linens and things near by they carry them and they are resonably priced,
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I second that, I pick an 8" chef knife before a santoku knife, especially for the harder and cristier root vegitables. As for Henckles, DO NOT / AVOID the Henckle International brand, they are stamp steel, not forged, the serrated ones are made in China, and the non-serrated blades are made in Spain. Always pick the 4 or 5 star, which are made in Germany and have forged blades. The 5 star have better steel. Wustof, Henckles, and Trident Germany blades are not cheap, but they will last forever, and I believe they offer life time warranty also. MAKE SURE the knives are made in Germany. There is a new knife, I think launched by Global, ceramic knives, which "does not require sharpening". I have yet tried one, but eventually break down and try one. |
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No, the ones sold at Target are not the foreged German knives. Just like the Calphalon sold at Target it is crap from China with a high end name. SBG |
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