Silver
Senior Cook
Hey guys and gals,
Did some post-holiday shopping today and decided to expand my
knife collection a bit. I currently have 7" (I think) Santoku that I got for my birthday and two old blocks of "Laser" knives. The blocks of knives are basically garbage, they aren't sharp and do more tearing than cutting. Bad news. The Santoku is nice, but I thought a nice addition of a chef's knife would be good for when my gf and I are both at work in the kitchen.
I hit my local store and they had a couple of knives on clearance that felt good in my hand, have a nice thin blade and looked sharp, so I picked up a chef's and a boning knife for $9 and $6 respectively. Then, while perusing the shelves I came across this briefcase full of knives without a tag on it. They guesstimated a price on it at $50 and the knives look and feel great. They're nice and heavy with a fairly thick blade. I couldn't resist, so I picked that up, too. The kit seems to have:
1 9" Chef's
1 9" Carving
1 7" Cleaver
1 7" Bread
1 7" (??Utility??)
1 6" Boning
1 4" Offset serrated (for purposes I'm unaware of)
1 3.5" Paring
12 Steak
1 Fork
1 Kitchen shears
1 Spring loaded shears (poultry maybe? - serrated on one blade and flat on the other)
1 Steel
1 Briefcase (nerdy)
___
25 pieces = $2/piece
The brand appears to be "Couteau du Chef" (labelled on the knives and the briefcase) and they're stainless steel (also labelled in French), but I can't find anything more about them anywhere.
This may seem a bit extreme considering I'm most often cooking for one or two, although sometimes 4 - 8.
Or I could get the clearance knives (limited selection - Charles Meniere brand) and get 1 Chef's, Boning, and Carving for a total of $24, I think.
The last time I tried to bone a chicken breast with my piece of junk "Laser" boning knife, I decided that those breasts would have to be on sale REAL cheap for it to be worth it, but I'd like to have a .
The "Laser" bread knives generally do the trick because...really...it's bread.
The chef, carving and cleaver sure are nice and heavy and the handles feel good. I could add a carving knife from the clearance rack where I found the other chef's knife, though too (also $9).
I'd have to buy a cleaver somewhere else, as they didn't have one, and I'd like one for separating poultry, but I wouldn't be rushing and don't find it to be necessary but would still be nice.
I have a decent Henckels paring knife (just a cheapy, but sharp) and a 7" or so "Forever Sharp" serrated knife with a forked tip that has worked well for carving before.
I would still want to get a good utility knife in the 6" range for general stuff. I don't think they had any on the clearance rack, although I'd have to double check.
I also want a steel as I don't have one now.
The only "problem" with the Couteau du Chef knives is the storage. They don't fit in the current block that I have because the blades are that much thicker and the briefcase isn't sightly and/or practical in the kitchen AND there are a lot more knives there than I'm used to. I guess I could just buy a block or a drawer organizer somewhere.
I'm not super concerned about warranty on these, considering the price. I just want something that feels good can be sharpened.
Long post, sorry about that...I dunno...any thoughts? Overkill on the briefcase set? Too good a deal to pass up? Here are some shots of my various knives and the Couteau du Chef set:
Did some post-holiday shopping today and decided to expand my
knife collection a bit. I currently have 7" (I think) Santoku that I got for my birthday and two old blocks of "Laser" knives. The blocks of knives are basically garbage, they aren't sharp and do more tearing than cutting. Bad news. The Santoku is nice, but I thought a nice addition of a chef's knife would be good for when my gf and I are both at work in the kitchen.
I hit my local store and they had a couple of knives on clearance that felt good in my hand, have a nice thin blade and looked sharp, so I picked up a chef's and a boning knife for $9 and $6 respectively. Then, while perusing the shelves I came across this briefcase full of knives without a tag on it. They guesstimated a price on it at $50 and the knives look and feel great. They're nice and heavy with a fairly thick blade. I couldn't resist, so I picked that up, too. The kit seems to have:
1 9" Chef's
1 9" Carving
1 7" Cleaver
1 7" Bread
1 7" (??Utility??)
1 6" Boning
1 4" Offset serrated (for purposes I'm unaware of)
1 3.5" Paring
12 Steak
1 Fork
1 Kitchen shears
1 Spring loaded shears (poultry maybe? - serrated on one blade and flat on the other)
1 Steel
1 Briefcase (nerdy)
___
25 pieces = $2/piece
The brand appears to be "Couteau du Chef" (labelled on the knives and the briefcase) and they're stainless steel (also labelled in French), but I can't find anything more about them anywhere.
This may seem a bit extreme considering I'm most often cooking for one or two, although sometimes 4 - 8.
Or I could get the clearance knives (limited selection - Charles Meniere brand) and get 1 Chef's, Boning, and Carving for a total of $24, I think.
The last time I tried to bone a chicken breast with my piece of junk "Laser" boning knife, I decided that those breasts would have to be on sale REAL cheap for it to be worth it, but I'd like to have a .
The "Laser" bread knives generally do the trick because...really...it's bread.
The chef, carving and cleaver sure are nice and heavy and the handles feel good. I could add a carving knife from the clearance rack where I found the other chef's knife, though too (also $9).
I'd have to buy a cleaver somewhere else, as they didn't have one, and I'd like one for separating poultry, but I wouldn't be rushing and don't find it to be necessary but would still be nice.
I have a decent Henckels paring knife (just a cheapy, but sharp) and a 7" or so "Forever Sharp" serrated knife with a forked tip that has worked well for carving before.
I would still want to get a good utility knife in the 6" range for general stuff. I don't think they had any on the clearance rack, although I'd have to double check.
I also want a steel as I don't have one now.
The only "problem" with the Couteau du Chef knives is the storage. They don't fit in the current block that I have because the blades are that much thicker and the briefcase isn't sightly and/or practical in the kitchen AND there are a lot more knives there than I'm used to. I guess I could just buy a block or a drawer organizer somewhere.
I'm not super concerned about warranty on these, considering the price. I just want something that feels good can be sharpened.
Long post, sorry about that...I dunno...any thoughts? Overkill on the briefcase set? Too good a deal to pass up? Here are some shots of my various knives and the Couteau du Chef set:
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