By: Visor

Visor — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:58:01 +0000

There is no “best” brand Whatever will fit your needs and your taste the best that’s the one. There are many very good chef’s knives out there, you just have to pick one.
1) Contrary to their marketing claims neither Cutco, nor Furi make the best kitchen knives. Both are very mediocre knives at best, Furi being worse out of two.
2) Don’t look at pro chefs. Very few of them use really good knives. Just because they’re chef’s doesn’t mean they’re knife experts. Celebrity chef’s are worse. For one, most of the time they use sponsor’s knives, which most likely isn’t the best or even good. Alternatively, they might have vested interest in promoting particular brand. Rachel Ray, who’s a fine cook, uses really crappy Furi knives nevertheless. They carry her name, she gets her royalties. I’d bet 100$ that half of your 20$ knives will outperform those Furis.
Another example, Stefan R. lost top chef this year, because he didn’t have sharp/good enough knife to cut raw fish thinly, so he froze it,to be able to cut it thin. Cost him his1st place and prize 100K money.
For more on why chef’s aren’t the best knife choosers, if you are interested – http://www.zknives.com/knives/kitchen/mi…
3) Ignore marketing BS that good kitchen knife must be fully-forged-full-tang-bolstered. NONE of that is required for a good kitchen knife. If you like something with bolster or tang,that’s fine. Don’t pass on the knife because it doesn’t have those attributes. In fact the top-end Japanese knives pretty much never have full tang or bolster. More on marketing stuff here – http://www.zknives.com/knives/kitchen/mi…
Although, some of chefs do have nice pieces. Iron chef Morimoto, his challenger Cimarusti, Matsuhisa, and few others use high-end Japanese knives, more often – Nenohi nenox. However, because of the celebrity factor those knives are so severely overpriced it’s ridiculous. 8-10 chef’s knife will cost 600$ or more depending on the dealer.
You can get better knives for a lot less from other Japanese makers, who are just as good, but not so hyped up in US, and more respected in Japan too.
BTW, the same Morimoto uses Nenoxes only on the show, in his restaurant he has nice selection of other knives, including Aritsugu, Masamoto and others. I guess he can’t take them all to the show.
Given your requirement for sharp knife and edge holding, I’d say you need to go with Japanese knife. As far as cutting goes they’re much better performers than western counterparts.
Just a few facts:
a) Western knives edges typically are ground to 45-50 degree edge, while typical Japanese chef’s knife is 20-30 degrees. And that’s not the lowest. I have a few chef’s knives sharpened at 8-12 degree. Thinner edge than on a razor.
b) Western knives steel tends to be considerably softer than Japanese. 54-56HRC on Rockwell scale compared to 60-62 on low/mid range and 63-67HRC on high end Japanese knives.
harder knives mean you can have a thinner edge and that edge will last a lot longer compared to western knives.
3) Japanese knives are lighter, as usual 1:2 compared to western knives of the same length. I know, the myth says good kitchen knife has to be heavy, let the knife do cutting and all that. The truth it it’s all BS. 200g difference in weight will do next nothing to increase cutting ability of your knife compared to the edge thickness and sharpness. Resting weight of a human hand is few lbs. How much few oz. will add to that % wise? You’ll be lifting extra weight for prolonged time for no reason, plus heavier knives are less nimble.
Also, contrary to the popular opinion, good Japanese knives aren’t that expensive. You can find one fro pretty much any reasonable budget.
Starter knives, still few times better cutters than western knives are around 80-100$ – Togiharu, Tojiro, Misono. Around 200$ there are several stellar performers including Akifusa, Aritsugu, Watanabe, Tadatsuna, Tojiro and others.
As for the knife types, chef’s knives go from 6″- 12″. I’d stay away from utility knives, despite of their seemingly multipurpose name they’re pretty much useless,too long for paring/peeling ad too short and narrow for vegetables, be it rocking or slicing motion.
Couple more tips: Stay away from any mass produced kitchen knife that doesn’t state explicitly what steel was used.Generic “stainless” whether it’s “rugged stainless” or “surgical stainless” in all cases means crappy steel, 420J or worse. It won’t hold any edge and they’re so soft you can’t sharpen them to anything kitchen worthy.
Don’t buy a set. It’s like buying a CD that someone else mixed. Very unlikely that you will get exactly what you want, most likely you’re getting one or more knives that you will never use. You’ll be a lot better on both, money and knife quality going by individual knives.
Read the linked article, it covers a lot of questions you’ll need to answer before picking your knife and has overview of better brands and knives as well.

By: Jessica M

Jessica M — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:39:04 +0000

Cutco. You will love them.

By: Tim L

*Tim L* — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:30:42 +0000

pampered chef maybe

By: merlehir

merlehir — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:10:35 +0000

Most people know the government supplies knives to famous chefs. They are gas powered and effective

By: Ethan

Ethan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:01:35 +0000

Try this website: http://www.consumersearch.com/kitchen-kn…
Hope it works for you!

By: Capt. CB; seguidor de Cristo!

Capt. CB; seguidor de Cristo! — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:19:47 +0000

For me I prefer “Henckels” knives. They are expensive but with proper care they will last you a lifetime. I even have a set of Henckel steak knives ($10.00/knife) and they are far better than any I have ever used.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:46:04 +0000

Try “Chicago Cutlery” or if it’s still made “Santa Fe”.
I don’t know how much they are running now, but you can expect to pay about double for good knives.
When you get them have them professionally sharpened.

By: Jaim Jaim

Jaim Jaim — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:18:31 +0000

I personally love my KitchenAid stainless steel knives. They’re great plus they look nice too…all one solid piece. My set is 14 pieces and was about $90 and it was well worth the price, the chefs knife is awesome!! These are a lot less expensive than other sets but I’ll bet they’re just as good.

By: Black Sal

Black Sal — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:18:56 +0000

You can pay a lot of money for a knife and you’ll be paying for the name. Try ebay and first do some research on what kind of steel goes into the knives. Sheffield, Swiss and German knives have a good reputation. It’s all about the steel. The best knife I have, that holds a very good edge, is one I bought for $5 dollars at a second hand store.

By: lovetole

lovetole — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:27:00 +0000

If you want to keep your knives sharp for cheap the simple answer is to buy a “steel” Invest in a “smooth” steel or a “fine grit ceramic” steel and learn how to use it. “Steel” your knives before/after every half hour of usage. Have your knives professionally sharpened once or twice a year. Get a recommendation from a friend as you will want a real professional to do the job.

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