Kitchen Knives....

I am looking at buying a new set of knives for my wife. We have a $200 gift card to amazon.com, and she has been wanting a new set of knives forever.

I am wondering what you guys are using in your kitchens, and would you recommend them?

Thanks.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

I moved this over to non-Boating technical. See if we can get some good focus over here. Good luck.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

That's a nice idea.

Here is a recent discussion on the same subject and you might be able to extract ideas within..... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=525396

After watching that thread I might purchase a ceramic knife to try out in the kitchen.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

Buy a good knife sharpener and sharpen her old ones makes a hen of a differance. Can tell you what I use takes about 20 min to sharpen all the knives in the house, no skill reqired.

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I sure like our set of Cutco ... lifetime warranty (I inherited them from my Great Aunt ... about 40 year old knives). When I got them the handles were looking nasty and the knives were dull. Sent 4 of them in and paid $10. Got them all back sharp and with new handles. Hold an edge really well.

Next knives I use are my filet knives. I have 2 for kitchen use only. Sharpen them every time I pull them out with a couple strokes through the sharpener and they are great.

As Fsihing Dude said, if you keep an edge on the knife it is easy and they will work great. Lose the edge and it can be a pain to get it back. So my steel and sharpener get used every time a non-Cutco knife is used.

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have a mix of shun and wusthof just depends on the job but the shun are generally sharper just have a thinner and more delicate edge.

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I am very happy with my entry level set of Zwilling by Henckels. Had them about 30 years. Like any tool, maintenance is the key to great performance and durability.

LOML still has the set of Cutco we bought about 60 years ago, when I was selling Cutco.

Daughter #2 has a more modern set of Cutco that I got at a moving sale about 15 years ago.

With the best care, even cheap knives can do the job, but top quality knives, like top quality guns, just do it better.

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I was a chef for 15 year.. Wusthof and henkels were the knife of choice.. but for most home use it isn't needed to have a $500.00 set of knives. As stated above.. they are a tool.. keep them sharp and clean and you can get by with most brands.

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Will ask s I am not selling this but would endorce it a knife sharpener is it ok to post a link. Asking before I do, but think many wold find it helpful.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

canoemang said:

I was a chef for 15 year.. Wusthof and henkels were the knife of choice.. but for most home use it isn't needed to have a $500.00 set of knives. As stated above.. they are a tool.. keep them sharp and clean and you can get by with most brands.

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Completely agree, I bought my Henkels several years ago. I don't wash them in the dishwasher and I store them separately in a leather lined rack. I have never used any type of stone on them, only a rod to straighten the edge. I think I paid around 500.00 for the ones I bought and I only bought what I wanted instead of a boxed set. Didn't make sense to spend money on knives just to make the rack look full. One of the best investments I made was buying a decent cleaver so I don't get temped to do a lot of hard chopping with my knives. you can take a cleaver to a stone without much worry but if you mess up your knives on a stone you might as well throw them away. That's my take on it anyway.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

thanks guys for the input.

Our set of knives we have had for 4 years and they are falling apart. They are some cheap target brand we got at our wedding.

I have been reading a LOT of knives lately, and there are just so many choices.

I think i have found a set that we are going to get though.

Thanks again.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

Same discussion here recently
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=525396&highlight=knives

Re: Kitchen Knives....

From the makers of Drill Doctor http://www.worksharptools.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=90

Re: Kitchen Knives....

Best thing to do is determine how much you will use them and what knives you will use most. At one time I would have told you to buy the better grade of Chicago Cutlery knives. That suggestion went out the window when manufacturing left Wauconda, IL about 6 years ago and headed to China. Now the best Chicago Cutlery is just a pretty knife made from cheap chinese steel.

In my kitchen I do most of the cooking. I can tell you that I predominately use 3 knives. An 8 inch Santoku, a 12 inch bread knife, and a 3 inch paring knife. Along with that I have a good sharpening steel that is used every time I use the parer or santoku. The bread knife is a 20 year old Chicago Cutlery that has never been sharpened and still cuts through any loaf of bread without tearing. The Santoku and parer are both Calphalon.


A quick tip to you at no additional charge is on how to put your knives away. If your block has vertical slots put the knife into the block upside down so you aren't running the blade over the wood.

I probably have 30 knives in my kitchen. Most of them are very old Chicago Cutlery. I don't count in that number the too many crappy knife set my sister bought me from one of Popeil's infomercials. There is a curved and serrated knife in that set that my wife loves to use for cutting veggies. I hate that knife and am convinced I'll be taking her to the emergency room one of these days from that abomination.

If I were going to buy new knives I'd go with these if I had $200 to spend:

http://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Kat...1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1325383226&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Kat...9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1325383226&sr=1-9

http://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Kat...?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1325383226&sr=1-12

http://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Kat...?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1325383226&sr=1-11

You're actually at $245 or so plus shipping but these are the essentials and the diamond sharpening steel is the one I am buying next week.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

I forgot to add that Grandson Scott is a prize winning Master Chef. He uses 5 Henckels (What he used in Culinary Arts Academy) for everything but recommends not to buy a set of anything. Decide what you want and find the one knife that fits each task. He says it is merely coincidence that his favorites all turned out to be Henckels. Wustof and Cutco are also superior, along with Calphalon and others.

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Can't beat the Wustof Classic for value.

Stay away from the Henckels that are made in Spain.

Re: Kitchen Knives....

bruceb58 said:

Can't beat the Wustof Classic for value.

Stay away from the Henckels that are made in Spain.

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Bruce-
If you look at the stamp on the blade there are two differnt stamps, one's a single man imamge and thats not the German blade, the stamp with the dual figures (back to back) are the German blades.

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Would you GUYS like to talk about how to make cupcakes after this ??. .

Re: Kitchen Knives....

Summer Fun said:

Would you GUYS like to talk about how to make cupcakes after this ??. .

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Why am I not surprised that you made this comment!

Re: Kitchen Knives....

Summer Fun said:

Would you GUYS like to talk about how to make cupcakes after this ??. .

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Actually I make gourmet cupcakes and multi-layer cakes. I can sew up Jedi robes for my daughter for halloween, upholstery for my boat, and fleece pillows and beds for my dogs.

I can also rebuild any internal combustion engine, field strip a complex copier down to the bare frames and put it back together and have it operating perfectly on the first shot.

What happiness is depends on where you are. In the kitchen it's a full fridge, quality meat, and a set of good knives made from quality steel. In the garage it's a complete set of tools and a good piece of machinery on which to use them. In my workshop it's a nice assortment of carpentry tools and a stack of oak to make beautiful artisan furniture. All throughout my home and my life it's a loving and devoted wife to share all of the other things with as well as things I won't say.

A REAL man can do anything he wants or needs to do for fun OR profit and isn't embarrased to brag about any of it.