Knives

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Glad you like the new knife. Consider keeping the old one for a backup or to take on vacation.

That makes sense, but I am the polar opposite of a "hoarder." I hate having stuff around that I will not likely use.

CD
 
I've had a 7" Wusthof chef's knife for a few decades, and it's been my everyday knife. Also have a 9" knife, but it's too big for my liking. Amazon was selling the 8" Victorinox for $30, so I bit. The Victorinox does not have the heft that the Wusthof has, but picking one over the other is a personal preference. Although I'm accustomed to the Wusthof, I don't have any trouble switching between them. The new Victorinox was no sharper than the Wusthof that I sharpened a couple of months back with the Chef's Choice Trizor sharpener. So the bottom line is that either one is fine with me, as long as it's sharp. The Trizor wasn't cheap, but I think it will be worthwhile in the long haul.
 
I use used, food service , plastic handled ones I buy from our cutlery service. I get them for 10 bucks each. They are easy to sharpen, Dishwasher safe and I can toss them all in a drawer. I don’t have the discipline to own and maintain expensive knives. Occasionally, I will take them to work and swap them out with freshly sharpened ones. We get new ones every two weeks. 20 dollars for 8 sharp knives. Delivered. Pretty good deal...i have a couple of Henkels, but I never have time to keep them sharp. I always grab the cheapies..
 

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When we got married ( 100 years ago), someone bought us a nice expensive knife set ( to be honest I forgot which brand it was, but it was a good , well known one). I used them for years. It was the only knives I knew.

Fast forward to about 10 years ago ( maybe less), I went to a food/ wine show. Among the vendors were Gunter Wilhelm knives, a bunch of cutting boards with various veggies to try the knives out on. The second I picked one of the knives out, I knew it was for me. The size, weight, balance, grip. It just felt " Right" in my hands. Are the greatest, best quality knives? Im sure they are not, but the price was right and the comfort was there. They almost felt like they were custom made for me. ive been purchasing them ever since.

So basically, the right knife is most likely a personal thing. ID get a few recommendations from reliable sources. Go test them out yourself, and make a personal decision based on how they feel in your hands + Quality + Price + Maintenance.
 
I have a good collection of knives. All types and price points.

I usually buy them at the Goodwill or garage sales.

However, my most used knife is a Wolfgang Puck 7 or 8 inch Chefs knife that was left here when we moved in. It just works and is always in the knife block.

My favorite is an old Artifex 10 inch Chefs knife that is thick heavy and old school. It's a beast.
 
Its better to go out in the store and try out the knives which is of your comfort.

An experienced driver should test drive a car before buying. A person buying a car before learning to drive would find it less helpful. Another thing to consider: you can't test drive a car without going through an experienced, professional, commissioned salesperson. In such an encounter, most people will be very proud of themselves for making the choice that was in best interest of the salesman.

The video below touches on at least two sides of many different knife features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO35cdWL1MQ
 
I, and my pro-cook/chef love the Chroma 301 knives. I think my son has every knife they make. There are many bad reviews online. I've been using my ten inch Chef's knife since I got it in 2003. It fits my hand, and sharpens, and hols its edge. I just run it on my steel every tme before using. My other really good knife is a high carbon steel knife that was my Dads. It was found in my basemenyt, all rusty. I cleaned it up and oiled the blade. It's easy to sharpen, and really holds its edge. It's great for icin everythin from meat to watermellon.

The knife you choose must be comfortabe. So I agree with the others; take the knives you are interested in and test drive them.

Seeeya ; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Fast forward to about 10 years ago ( maybe less), I went to a food/ wine show. Among the vendors were Gunter Wilhelm knives, a bunch of cutting boards with various veggies to try the knives out on. The second I picked one of the knives out, I knew it was for me. The size, weight, balance, grip. It just felt " Right" in my hands. Are the greatest, best quality knives? Im sure they are not, but the price was right and the comfort was there. They almost felt like they were custom made for me. ive been purchasing them ever since.
I originally had a 10-inch F. Dick chef's knife that I picked up at a thrift store, along with some other no-name brand knives. When my insignificant other moved out, she took my 10-inch Dick with her. So I bought a nice set of Henckels in a block on sale at Macy's for about 150 bucks, and I used those for a couple of years. They were adequate, but nothing special. Then I, too discovered the Gunter Wilhelm knives. I bought the 12 piece block set with pakka wood handles, no steak knives. It cost me over $500.00, and that was back in 2002. Not only are they visibly and ergonomically pleasing, they are made with good quality German steel that holds an edge forever, and if anything goes wrong, they will replace the knife, without questions, songs, or dances. My 8-inch chef's knife popped a rivet, they replaced it. My paring knife blade became discoloured, they replaced it. Then, three years ago an unscrupulous moving company stole all my belongings, took them to New Jersey instead of Niagara Falls, and held them for ransom, which I couldn't afford to pay. So now I am using restaurant supply knives until I can save up enough money to buy a new set of Gunter Willhelm's.
 
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I collect working knives as a hobby. At one point I reached my saturation level and I don't buy anymore. However, I have over 60yrs of using knives for work.

Same principles apply to kitchen knives except they use a different cutting blade angle over an all purpose working knife.

However, I see people trying to sharpen kitchen knives in various ways that would be counter-intuitive to sharpening knives correctly....lot's of gimmicks out there and some very expensive ones at that.

Then you have to choose whether or not you want to preserve most of your blade or sacrifice steel for a quicker sharpening session. Bearing in mind that every time you sharpen any knife you lose material working towards the end life of a blade.

If I was gonna recommend one sharpening procedure, it would be the Lansky system....I've come back to them every time since the 70's. I don't use their newer holder because I think the older one was better. Their stones are still good and even more choices than when the system came out.

One guy set out to make the best sharpener money could buy... and it is $$$. But against the Lansky for a finished result, it does not justify its cost. His sharpener is on YouTube.

If you don't care about the life of your blade, my second choice would be the Work Sharp system. It's results are amazing....so is the amount of metal it removes from the life of your blade.

Also, keep in mind that there is really nothing new or 'innovative' in knife sharpening; it's all been done & tried before. So if you see a demonstration of knife sharpening (even if it's a knife you brought and offered up)....and the results seem amazing, it's because the process is removing LOTS of your blade metal.


In summary, I think a lot of you get hung up on knife brands and the cost of cutlery. What you should really be concerned with is HOW are you going to sharpen your knives correctly?







Kevin
 
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I originally had a 10-inch F. Dick chef's knife that I picked up at a thrift store, along with some other no-name brand knives. When my insignificant other moved out, she took my 10-inch Dick with her. So I bought a nice set of Henckels in a block on sale at Macy's for about 150 bucks, and I used those for a couple of years. They were adequate, but nothing special. Then I, too discovered the Gunter Wilhelm knives. I bought the 12 piece block set with pakka wood handles, no steak knives. It cost me over $500.00, and that was back in 2002. Not only are they visibly and ergonomically pleasing, they are made with good quality German steel that holds an edge forever, and if anything goes wrong, they will replace the knife, without questions, songs, or dances. My 8-inch chef's knife popped a rivet, they replaced it. My paring knife blade became discoloured, they replaced it. Then, three years ago an unscrupulous moving company stole all my belongings, took them to New Jersey instead of Niagara Falls, and held them for ransom, which I couldn't afford to pay. So now I am using restaurant supply knives until I can save up enough money to buy a new set of Gunter Willhelm's.

No steel knife will hold an edge forever. I would wager that you've gotten use to a progressively duller blade. It's only the hardness of the steel that keeps an edge longest. Too hard and they'd break like glass if you dropped them or tried to flex the blade. Too soft and you're always sharpening them. Also, the harder the steel, the harder they are to resharpen.

So there's a balance there of a good, usable knife that holds an edge, but still sharpens relatively easily. What is truly wasteful is to buy a knife set that is super hardened steel and then discard it when it gets dull. Master Chefs want an edge they can work with and touch up when necessary to do their work.....not exotica steels.

Don't be afraid to learn to sharpen your knives properly and think to chef you have to buy uber expensive knives.



Kevin
 
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