Knives - Need advice

W

wheelhorn

< 25 Posts
Hey all,

Just married and, of course, the one thing that I really wanted from our registry was not received...that being a 9-piece set of Henckel twin Cuisine Knives.

Now trust me, I am not bitchin, because we got so much other stuff that we'll have enough returns to get them if we want.

My question to you all is what you would recommend if you had $300-$400 to spend on a new set. Would you stick with the Henckel Twin Cuisine, or go with something else.

You are all gracious and wise.
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We got a set of the Henckel Pro S knives with our registry returns about 2 years ago. Great knives. Now if I could only figure out how to train my wife on proper care, cleaning and edge maintenance, I'd be set.
 
Seriously
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I've never heard that. I would have considered it great luck.

But still... I wan't something that is really going to last (and I will take very good care). Would anyone recommend going away from Henckels?
 
It's considered bad luck to "give" knives. You're supposed to only "sell" them, so if you "give" a knife, the recipient is supposed to "give" you a token sum in return, (say $1).

I love my Wusthof Classics. I have several but I bought them individually as most sets contain any number of knives that no one would ever use.

I have a chefs, santuko, bread, boning, mini chefs, paring, sheeps foot, and utility. Acquired over a period of a couple of years.

(Next up: a set steak knives!)








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Mercer Genesis professional knives, not your henkel/whustof deeeepartment store knives, get 'em at a restaurant supply, Ace Mart has 'em, you won't regrest it, and get a good steel too, Mercers ain't Dick knives but they are better than them department store knives. Check it out, you won't regret it.
 
I looked up your Mercer Genesis suggestion. It appears from the picture that there is not a full tang on that knive. It is also about half the price of a Wusthof Classic. I am not saying that price alone determines quality, but it normally does. Also, Wusthof has been along MUCH longer than you imply with your department store quip. They also sell them at places like William Sonoma which is not exactly crap. The 10" chef's knife in the Mercer Genesis looked like it really was lacking in weight due to the lack of said full tang.
 
Do not waste money on a full set. Think quality over quantity. Besides, you only really need 3 to 4 knives as a foundation. I would choose a large chef's knife, a mid-size santoku, a paring knife and a slicing and/or bread knife.

Shun knives are quality, and they do have the Alton Brown seal of approval:

Shun Knives

After years with Shuns, I have now moved on to Globals:

Global Knives

After recommending Globals to a friend recently, she sent me this link to a review which really echoed my thoughts. It's the first review by Todd March:

Amazon.com User Review

The Shun Elite I still have is gorgeous and gets the attention from visitors, but I find myself using my Globals all the time.

Also, don't get a knife block. Who knows what will get in those thin spaces over the years. Stick with a wall mounted magnet strip.
 
Globals are the **** and you can buy a $40 water sharpener that will keep them razor sharp without ever leaving your kitchen.
 
Here's a guy that tested the **** out of a bunch of knives:

The Link

The Global tested really well, but I tried to hold one in the store and it felt too light and didn't fit my hand right. I want to try those MAC knives out. They look pretty sweet, but they're stamped knives, which I always understood to be less sought after than the forged ones.

Going the restaurant supply route and getting Forschner or Dexter-Russell is a good idea if you're on a budget as they are both extremely serviceable and widely used by chefs everywhere. But I don't think you're on much of a budget, so you should get something fancy and cool-looking, without a plastic handle.

You really have to go to Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table or somewhere like that and try these knives on. It's all about what feels best in your hand, ie the handle shape and weight of the blade. For example, my dad has the Ken Onion chef's hunting knife pictured in an above post, and it is a beautiful knife. By beautiful, I mean it makes me feel like cutting some people up. But it just doesn't feel that great it my hand. I love the way the Shun Classic feels as it has a straight roundish handle that just feels wonderful, and it is made by the same company. I'm saving up for it.

As far as the European knives go, if that's what you prefer, a lot of people say they like the Wusthoff over the Henckels, mostly because the handle is slightly bigger and the blade is heavier. They both feel the same to me.

And if you buy a set, you will end up paying for something that you don't need at all. I've never used a filet knife, and boning knives work about as good for that anyway.

Does anybody know of an asian restaurant supply store in austin? I want to see if they have the Chan Chan Kee slicer that's supposedly badass.


Here's another thread for you.

The Link
 
I'm also a fan of building your own knife set. I would suggest that you consider you and your spouse's cooking style and make a list of what your needs and wants are. Then go out and feel the different knifes in your own hands.

My wife and I hardly ever use the same knives in our collection. She mostly uses a 5" Chef, 4" Santoku, 3.5" parer, and a birds beak parer all with small handles because she is petite, has small hands and is scared of big blades. I tend to wield my 8" or 10" Chef, 7" Santoku, 10" Butcher, 10" Slicer and, or course, my rigid boner all with larger handles. There is no packaged knife set or even product line of knives, that could meet our individual needs and very likely there is not one that fully meets your needs. The mixture of quality knifes ads a commercial kitchen feel to your home kitchen if they are on display in a block or wall magnet. If you don't like the look you can just keep them in a drawer block or plastic guard out of view. Forschner makes a product called BladeSafe that is the best that I've seen.

FWIW, I have found that many women tend to like the Furi knifes hawked by Rachel Ray as well as many of the Japanese knifes like Global which tend to be lighter, sleeker in looks and have smaller handles.
 
Dick makes a killer rigid boner, and a killer flexible boner, but Dick is expensive, I do have a Dick steel as the price on it was quite reasonable and it being 12" long was long enough for my needs, shorter steels just don't get the job done.
 
Got the Mrs a small Wusthof Classic set in 1972. We have added a lot to this set over the years including 8 steak knives, a cleaver, two Santokus and several paring and specialty knives. Henckels are probably just as good, both are priced about the same and made in Solingen. Those we got in '72 are holding up very, very well.
 
I wouldn't trade my Cutco set for anything. Started by building a $300-400 set and have expanded from there. They're good looking, full-tanged, and come with a lifetime warranty

TryThe Link as they're not sold in stores -- only via distributors and their website.
 
This is a video from The FOOD Network about Knives & sharpening knives.

The Link

The sharpener guy has a little advice on which knives to buy, but not much. Mostly it is very important knife maintenance & resharpening advice. EVERYONE should watch it.

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Hey everyone... Thanks for the help. Well, We made a decision that I am pretty happy with, I think. We went for a 6 piece Shun set and added a shun 7-inch hollow ground Santoku.
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The one thing we didn't get this round is a good boning knife, but that can be something to add soon. Also, no steak knives, but I don't think it is really critical to have your steak knives match your Kitchen cutlery.

Anyway... I'll be sure to post if I run into any problems, but I'm pretty sure these Shuns are going to be what I need for quite a long time.
 
Congratulations. You're going to want to cook things a whole lot more now that slicing and chopping is such a pleasure.

Also, try and cut a boot in half.
 
Now all you need is a TEXAS cutting board to go with your great knives.

I just had a Texas mesquite end grain board custom made by a great wood worker up in North Texas, and nothing says Texas in my book more than slicing up some brisket on a mesquite board while getting ready to watch a UT football game.

Vaughn, the woodworker, currently has a board on sale on Ebay, but he will custom make you a board of ANY size. Mine is 22"X37"X5" and is more of a chopping block. It's the most gorgeous hunk of wood I've ever seen.

Mesquite Cutting Board Ebay Auction

PM me if you want his email address.
 
When it comes to cooking a good set of knives is a must, out of all the knives I've used by far my favorite is Wusthof, Hinckle are also good but I find that Wusthof keeps a better blade.

Which ever set you get, don't put them in the dish washer, hand wash only, the dishwashing soap on the whole is to strong for knives and will dull the blades.
 
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