I’ve taken to cooking lately. I cook almost every day. I make almost everything from scratch, including Tamales (which get rave reviews ) and I have a decent set of Chicago Cutlery knives, which are doing the job (cutting up veggies and meat). I sharpen once a quarter, (4 times a year) on a whetstone, and I clean them and use the steel with every use. I’m outgrowing these knives. I need something that holds its’ edge longer, doesn’t have food traps, and, most importantly, doesn’t have a wooden handle. After the research I’ve done, I’ve settled on Global I’ll be getting one knife at a time, over the next few months until I have a full collection. I’ll be starting with a Santoku (there’s a Rachel Ray model by Furi that has a shavable copper tail on it for precise balance, i’m interested, but I don’t like changing a knife permanently).
Any foodie dopers familiar with or use Global knives? Are they worth it? Is there a better brand? Cheaper?
Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential recommends Globals but also criticises the vast number of knives that people use. He recommends doing everything with a chef’s knife. He likes the Globals because they are relatively cheap and easy to sharpen. I have a 10" chef’s knife and a paring knife and they are great implements.
I don’t like the way on certain of the Global knives there is little protection to stop your fingers from sliding from the handle onto the blade.
I bought my boyf a Kasumi chef’s knife, it’s just beautiful (both looks and works).
But the best way to buy knives is go into a good shop, and try out all the brands you can find - there will be a certain one which just fits your hand and feels perfectly weighted. This differs for every person, and you can’t tell just by looking.
I got a Global 15cm flexible utility knife at Christmas and find it meets pretty much all my needs. It cuts bread and meat easily so I don’t need a serrated blade
I like the weight and balance, and the fact there is no seperate handle, so it’s easier to clean.
It’s too big as a paring knive, but I prefer a peeler/scaper anyway. I might get a boning knife at some point.
I think they’re worth the money as a multi-purpose type of knife, but why people would be prepared to pay all that money for a Global spatula, tomotao knife, carving fork and the like, I can’t fathom.
I much prefer Henckel Five Star knives. I like the ergonomic handles (full sized, even on the paring knife), the balance and the way they hold an edge.
A Henckels Pro-S fan checking in. (They’re the same blades as the 5-Star, but different handles.)
Knives are just about the most personal thing you’ll ever buy for the kitchen. For my hands, the Pro-S handles just feel right. The curvy 5-Stars felt weird and uncomfortable. IIRC, their 4-Star line is also the same blades, but on smaller Pro-S style riveted handles.
As the Girl From Mars suggests, go try them - get your hands on them and feel the differences in the handles, the overall balance and heft. The 10" chefs knife that I just adore might feel like a fireman’s axe in your hands, for example.
Global make fine knives, but I too prefer Henckel Professional “S” (I prefer the traditional style handle to the Henckel 5 star handle). For looks I prefer Shun knives.
I agree about the personal nature of knives. My collection of non-cooking knives shows that (it’s fairly extensive). I like Henckels, but haven’t laid my hands on a 5 star yet, and will have to. The Shun, at the Sur La Table I went to was a good $30 more than the global (although I do like damascus steel, several of my swords are made from it) not sure if it’s worth that.
I will check out the Henckels though, thanks for the input.
I did say Shun was for looks Still the Alton Brown Shun classic angled knives are useful and comfortable and being small not far too expensive. Though I’ve fallen in lust for thak Ken Onion knife on my link I can’t possibly justify getting one.
I will wholeheartedly second Girl From Mars comments regarding personally trying out the knives before buying. Like others, I found the Henckel’s Pro-S to be the most comfortable fit and for me the most used knifes are the 10" Chef, the Santoku (I believe it’s 8"), and a 5" paring knife. The other knives that I frequently use are a serrated bread/slicing knife and a long flexible blade boning knife (mine is 8") and they are both old Chicago Cutlery.
IMHO, Global deserves some credit for introducing Japanese style knives to a wider audience but their handle design is horribly flawed and I couldn’t imagine using one for any extended period of time. There are some much better japanese knife makers out there for a comparable price and some mind bogglingly good ones for a similarly mind bogglingly high price.
Have you actually gone into a store and handled a couple? Thats the most important part of knife buying, no amount of research is going to make up for physically feeling a knife because everyone’s hands are different.
If I may expound on my earlier posting, the three most critical things in regards to knives are (not necessarily in order of importance):
[ol]
[li]Purchase and use knives that are comfortable for your grip[/li][li]Keep your knives sharp using a steel on a daily basis and a good sharpener on a periodic basis to keep them sharp[/li][li]Good knives and knowing how to use them will greatly improve your culinary skill (the only equivalent to this is to purchase good quality cookware and keep good care of it).[/li][/ol]
This is what I have, plus a bread knife, which I use on more than just bread. For the longest time I acted like it was illegal to use it on anything else. Sheesh. Mine are Wusthoff and they’re quite comfortable, stay sharp, and are easy to clean. I hate knives that have nooks and crannies that catch all sorts of nasty.
Instead of that Rachel Ray knife, I believe I remember seeing some knives that use sand in the handles. So changing the weight/balance isn’t permanent.
Kitchen shears are very nice to have, though not vital.
1 badass chinese cleaver cheap from china town, perfect for hacking away at bones and gristle which would damage an ordinary knife
1 serrated bread knife
1 set of good kitchen shears (preferably the kind that comes apart for easy cleaning)
1 flexible boning knife for taking apart large cuts of meat (the savings for buying primal cuts rather than steaks pays for the knife after about 3 months)
I used to sell knives, Cutco to be specific. I use them, and would definately recommend them to anyone. You probably don’t need the whole set they try to sucker you into buying though.
I would also recommed Henckels. They are really great, well balanced knives.
The extra cost of a good set of knives is definately worth it if you spend any time at all in the kitchen.
) and I have a decent set of Chicago Cutlery knives, which are doing the job (cutting up veggies and meat). I sharpen once a quarter, (4 times a year) on a whetstone, and I clean them and use the steel with every use. I’m outgrowing these knives. I need something that holds its’ edge longer, doesn’t have food traps, and, most importantly, doesn’t have a wooden handle. After the research I’ve done, I’ve settled on Global I’ll be getting one knife at a time, over the next few months until I have a full collection. I’ll be starting with a Santoku (there’s a Rachel Ray model by Furi that has a shavable copper tail on it for precise balance, i’m interested, but I don’t like changing a knife permanently).
Still the Alton Brown Shun classic angled knives are useful and comfortable and being small not far too expensive. Though I’ve fallen in lust for thak Ken Onion knife on my link I can’t possibly justify getting one.