Buying new set of knives

[ohiotigerlilly]

I'm planning on buying a new set of knives for myself. There are several different kinds of high quality knives. Which is the best? What do you use in your kitchen?

[sneezles]

After years of having a lo-end Henckels I bought myself the high-end about a year ago. It really makes a difference. I also own the Wüstohf Santouko knife that I love for slicing veggies. I still use my low-end knives and I'm sure if I had them sharpened it would make all the difference...

[tmsl]

I have the Wustohf Classic line in an oak knife block. It came with a paring, chef, serrated and boning knives. I love them and wouldn't want to go back to the cheaper ones I used to have.

[sdcook]

I have a hand-me-down set of Bachmayer knives (from my chef brother) that I like. He has sinced upgraded to a Wusthof-Trident line (not sure which one). He says they are great. I'm eagerly waiting for more hand-me-downs :D

[engineer]

Bought DH a set of Meridian Elite (several x-mas ago) and he loves them. But it really depends on what you like as far as what feels good in your hand. Try some and get an idea of what you like and then I suggest calling the Knife Merchant (I think that was the name) a former chef who now sells specialty knives. That's who I called and he recommeded these based on DH's preferences and like I said DH loves them.

[swquilts]

Henckel Pro S here. Now I just need to find someone to sharpen them once in awhile.....

[Kay Henderson]

I am very satisfied with my Henkels, which are from more than one line.

I believe that the key to effective knives is keeping them sharp. This is true whether you have the grocery story variety or the fanciest. My Chefs Choice electric knife sharpener is fast and easy to use.

[Lrimerman]

I have Cutco and I love them. However, the chef who did the cooking demo I went to recommended Global knives. My mom bought a couple of the Global knives on his recommendation and she loves them.


Lisa

[stacy7272]

Just wanted to remind you of the article CL had in the March issue on knives. They give some tips for picking out good knives.

[Lynn B]

I had Chicago cutlery for years, but upgraded to Wusthof Classic a few years ago. Whatta huge difference! I have quite a few knives, but honestly don't use them all. I think I could easily do 90% of all my cutting and chopping with just my Santoku, my parer, and my bread knife!

Lynn

[mbrogier]

My DH loves the Wustof classic. I just got him the Wustof classic Santuko for his birthday. It is really a versatil knife. We also have a Wustof Emerilware chef knife and a block of Chicago Cutlery with the bakelite handles. Eventually we will get more of the Wustof Classic. Since we both cook, we need a couple of chef's knives, etc. I thought the Emeril knife was a little lightweight. The Chicago Cutlery is nice and heavy, but it has to be sharpened a lot.

[gperls]

The blades of all the high quality, forged, knives will all serve you well (as people have mentioned), but the comfort of the knife depends on the hand/handle fit, and the only way to know how it will feel is to hold one and go through a few knife motions at the store. I'd recommend doing that before jumping into a purchase. If you have a Williams-Sonoma nearby, or BB&B, they have all the good ones for you to "try on."

[Cooky]

I have a full set and a half Wustof Grand Prix here at home and a smaller set of the Classics at our vacation home. I love Wustof. The only real difference between Grand Prix and Classic is the emblem, and I think Grand Prix offers more knives. I have had most of my knives for about 15 years now and they are still sharp.

But as someone suggested, go try them out. Start with what you might use most such as the Santoku and Chef Knife, utility knife and one of the paring knives. See which you like best between perhaps Wustof and Henkels and go from there.

[sfarler]

I have the Henckel Pro S also. And I love them, but the large chef's knife in the set broke. I wrote Henckel a month ago and have not received a reply yet. Now I'm wondering if they will stand behind their warranty. Anyone elso have this problem with Henckel?

[linsleyd]

We have the low end Henkels and they bite, but mainly because they need sharpened.:rolleyes: We do have one Global and it is excellent. When we upgrade, we'll definetly go with all Global!

[stacy7272]

I have Henkels and for a long while I wasn't using them. When I finally got into cooking mode, I find out the tip of my chefs knife actually was bent (it was stored in the knife block)!! Mostly it isn't a problem (I actually use it to pry the green things out of my garlic cloves) but sometimes it is so I'm looking forward to upgrading!

[Natasha]

Ditto those who have recommended trying them and seeing which ones feel good for you. That being said, I will say that we love our Grohmann knives from Nova Scotia:

http://www.grohmannknives.com/pages/kitchen.html

We have the chef's knife from the full tang line.

Natasha

[Gail]

We can all tell you what knives we like. However, just because I happen to like my Stone Age Henckels doesn't mean the same is right for you. There are a number of excellent products out there and I think that ultimately your choice should come down to what feels good in your own hand and what your wallet will bear. I'm all for buying knives one-by-one (starting with the all-important chef's knife) if buying all at once isn't feasible.

I would encourage you to read up on the subject on the web and magazine articles. If you have access to a good cooking store, speak to the personnel. Don't buy anything based upon anyone else's say so. Meet the knives in person. Feel the weight and the balance of different designs and manufacturers.

The following article, I think, is useful with regard to helping you recognize a quality knife. http://www.broadwaypanhandler.com/html/knifefactors.html

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Gail

I would encourage you to read up on the subject on the web and magazine articles. If you have access to a good cooking store, speak to the personnel. Don't buy anything based upon anyone else's say so. Meet the knives in person. Feel the weight and the balance of different designs and manufacturers.


I'd second this about speaking to the personnel. We had a good saleswoman who probably talked with us for 30 minutes about Henckels, Wusthof, Grohmann, etc., and let us try all of them before deciding. It did make a difference.

And Gail, HELLO. I am starting to crawl out of busy season (yay) so will write soon. Take care. :)

Natasha

[anneg]

I'll argree with everyone else that you should:

a. Do your research and
b. Get the knives that feel best in your hand...thats' the one you'll use!

However, I'll agree with Kay that the sharpness is the thing. I just got a Chefs Choice sharpener and it's fantastic!!! I looked all over my area for someone who would sharpen my knives, and couldn't find anyone. Alton Brown sez no electric sharpeners, but he's got that cool guy who comes to his house and sharpens knives (can't recall which episode that was!). I read excellent reviews of the Chef's Choice 110 from Christopher Kimball (America's Test Kitchen guy) as well as a local food editor. Except for the fact that it scares the cats to death, it's great! :D

Be careful, though the knives are SHARP! :eek:

Anne

[amues]

I have had a set of Cutco knives since 1961. I love them! However...they are pretty expensive now. You can find Cutco knives on eBay. I recently bid on and won a Cutco Petite Chef's knife. I got it for about half the price it would have cost to purchase from a dealer. The Petite Chef and Boning knives are the two I use the most. Cutco products are guaranteed for life and you can send them to the company for sharpening if you wish.

Arline

[ssusan]

I love my Henckle Pro S set. The Henckle sharpener is a must for me. Have a Wustof bread knife that is fab as well.


I'll add to the 'it's gotta feel good in the hand' club

-Susan (who is procrastinating on actually cooking dinner ;)

[cai]

I have Wusthof Classic and I love them. I acquired them gradually rather than as a set. I managed to find a knife block at a really great price in a department store. I highly recommend getting a sharpening steel and a knife block. The sharpening steel is easy to use and really makes a difference. The knife block protects the blades and keeps the knives handy.

[brykate]

A good set of SHARP knives is sooo nice to have. Got myself a set of Miracle Blade knives last year and love them. But it's true what others have said about weights and balances in different kinds. Try different ones out and see what your hand likes.

[dlaboriel]

Originally posted by Gail
We can all tell you what knives we like. However, just because I happen to like my Stone Age Henckels doesn't mean the same is right for you. There are a number of excellent products out there and I think that ultimately your choice should come down to what feels good in your own hand and what your wallet will bear. I'm all for buying knives one-by-one (starting with the all-important chef's knife) if buying all at once isn't feasible.

I would encourage you to read up on the subject on the web and magazine articles. If you have access to a good cooking store, speak to the personnel. Don't buy anything based upon anyone else's say so. Meet the knives in person. Feel the weight and the balance of different designs and manufacturers.

The following article, I think, is useful with regard to helping you recognize a quality knife. http://www.broadwaypanhandler.com/html/knifefactors.html

Gail, thanks for posting the site. I too, am in the market for new knives so this was very valuable research information for me. Now I will know what to look for when I go shopping.

[DanaSD]

Wustof! Henkels and Wustof used to be the same quality but the cooking store near me stopped carrying Henkels - they said the quality has gone down since they've stopped manufactuiring in Germany and have started mass producing. I have mostly Henkels but whenever I buy a new knife I've bought Wustof.

Good quality knives and pans are the 2 most important tools for a cook - this is one area not to cheap out on. They will last forever if you take care of them.

I also have a Henkels knife that broke but I haven't yet tried to get it replaced - it was suggested on the board that I just take it to Macys and they'll replace it but I haven't tried that. It broke when cutting an icecream cake - tip snapped off.

[palomalou]

I have mostly Henkels, both Pro-S and 4-star: much prefer the 4 star because of molded handle. But I just got the Wusthof Grand Prix santuko and it's fabulous! My hands are little.

[scrappycat]

I've found that I can't really tell if I like a knife until I actually try it. I have the Wusthof Santuko, which I thought that I would just love, but it turns out that I really don't like the light weight. I prefer my older, heavier set of Sabatier knives.

A fun way to experiment and get to know what kind of styles feel good in your hands is to go to TJ Maxx, Marshall's or Home Goods. In their kitchen section they always have some misc. Henckles, Wusthofs, Sabateirs and more. They're individual knives and even though most of them are the lower end knives of the brands, it still helps give you a good idea of what you like in a knife. My favorite knife a Sabateir Pro-Steel (looks like a Global sort of), was only $14.99!

Pam

[sfarler]

Bumping to follow up on my March 30th post.

I had a Henckel knife break and when I wrote the company, I got no reply. After my post, I sent another letter to Henckel, but I addressed this one to the president of the company. I immediately got an email and then a letter with instructions to mail my broken knife to them.

I just got my replacement knife in the mail and am now a satisfied customer!