I will be very anxious to read the results from your post. I am considering dropping $2400 on the 23 piece elite knife block set and I would love to hear that they are noticibly better before I do. Also, does anyone know if the complete knife block set is available without the steak knives? And, second question, is there any place that offers a discount on these?
Thanks.
Martha
Anything from Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma is going to be overpriced.
Look online at other outfitters.
Shun is top of the line in a lot of regards.
True, but they do have a few exclusives. You can only get an Elite 6" serrated tomato knive or 6" Chef knife from Sur La Table. And Williams-Sonoma is the exclusive carrier of the Shun Kaji line.
I'm a Shun fanboy, and they are great knives. I'm not absolutely positive I could call them the very top of the line, at least not until I get a chance to try a Hattori KD with Cowry X steel or a handmade Murray Carter. Certainly you'll have no trouble finding a knife ten times more expensive than a Shun Elite, but obviously it's not likely to be ten times better!
Btw, one knife I've been meaning to try is the Hattori KF. The blade are made completely of V-Gold 10 steel, not San Mai like most Japanese knives. They were designed my Ichiro Hattori in collaboration with some members of Knifeforums.com. They're a bit spendier than the Shun Elites but they look very good, and I've heard nothing but good things about them. Eventually there will even be an "upgraded" KF line utilizing Cowry X steel.
Normally, particular store exclusives, like specific celebrity chef designs, are inferior to the company's standard bearing product,
Btw, one knife I've been meaning to try is the Hattori KF. The blade are made completely of V-Gold 10 steel, not San Mai like most Japanese knives. They were designed my Ichiro Hattori in collaboration with some members of Knifeforums.com. They're a bit spendier than the Shun Elites but they look very good, and I've heard nothing but good things about them. Eventually there will even be an "upgraded" KF line utilizing Cowry X steel.
Au contraire, mon ami. I have a 6-inch ceramic chef's knife that I use to cut up lettuce and slice tomatoes, and I doubt very much if it will ever need to be sharpened in my lifetime.As WOW as some of the knives can be eventually they all need to be sharpend. I think that if you have a knife that has never needed to be sharpend then you really aren't using it that much.