I’m in the market for a good cutlery set. Any recommendations? I have been doing a little research and it seems the best is a brand called Wüsthof Classic. However a few pages mentioned a much cheaper brand called RH Forschner by Victorinox Fibrox. These knives are about a third the price and the reviews have been nothing but positive. However they are stamped not forged. Is it worth the extra money to get a set of forged blades? Anybody have any experience with either brand? Or any recommendations that I have not listed? Thanks in advance.
I have multiple Wusthof Classic knives and they are fantastic. They are certainly not cheap but they are worth every penny spent. I don’t even know where to begin in comparing them to past stamped knives I’ve owned - it is quite literally night and day.
MeanJoe
Buy forged. Buy the best. Buy by the piece, not by the set. All you really need is a Chef’s knife and a paring knife. Those two will cover 95% of your usage. Fill as needed.
I would add - if you are looking at good knives you can certainly spend a fortune for a 10 knife set but I would recommend starting simple. Get a 8 inch chef and a 3 1/2 paring knife to start and then just add knives a bit at a time as you need them. Wusthoff has a 3 knife “starter set” out there that has a 6 inch chef, a 3 1/2 paring, bread knife and honing steel. I actually stated with this, added the 8 inch chef and a 5 inch utility knife. Steak knives are next for me!
MeanJoe
If you can, hold the knives before you buy them. If it’s unwieldy in your hand you won’t be at your best when using them.
I bought a Global paring knife that had a very narrow, almost symmetrical blade and almost no “lip” where the sharp edge of the blade extends past the handle. So I’d set it down on the cutting board, then pick it up and be holding it sharp-side-up, because I’d forget that I’d set it down with the top of the blade facing me, sharp side away, then grab it absentmindedly assuming that the sharp side faced me, and the shape of the handle and blade wouldn’t tip me off. I can’t even remember how many close calls I had before I ditched that knife and bought a replacement with a very distinct shape and almost curved handle, so that it would only fit in my hand one way.
You may discover other issues with a knife if you don’t get a chance to hold it and maybe try it out first. Is the balance off, the handle awkwardly shaped for your hand, something else?
Instead of a set, you might want to consider looking for knives individually. A set often has a lot of knives you aren’t ever going to need. A chef’s knife, paring knife, and bread knife should handle almost any situation. Maybe a cleaver if you plan on hacking up chicken or something.
From all I’ve read, Wusthof’s classics are great knives along with J.A. Henkels. They are probably the two best known knife manufacturers. There are several Japanese manufacturers as well that are at least comparable in quality. Global and Shun are two popular examples.
In general the German knives will be heavier, made out of a slightly softer steel that won’t hold an edge as long but is easier to sharpen. The Japanese knives are lighter and made from a harder steel that holds an edge longer but is harder to sharpen properly.
I have a Global 10" chef’s knife, and I absolutely love it. A lot of people hate them for their handle though, so you’d want to pick one up and get a feel for it before you buy. Which is true of any knife really, it won’t matter how sharp the blade is if you can’t stand using it.
Thank you all for your quick replies!
I have always heard that forged was always better than pressed, but when I stumbled across the pressed set I mentioned, the reviews were astounding. Its chef knife was the best one reviewed at Americastestkitchen.com and the Amazon user reviews were all extremely complimentary. I have seen it mentioned that these knives are an exception to normal stamped knives. I guess I will probably go with the forged, and I am sure that they are astounding knives, but I was hoping that someone could convince me that the Forschner knives were almost as good for much less.
Again, thanks for the quick replies.
Our Wusthof chef’s knife is the single best kitchen knife I’ve ever used. If you spend any substantial amount of time in the kitchen - that is, if you have an idea of cooking that goes beyond “make a slit in the plastic cover and microwave for five minutes” - a top-notch chef’s knife is worth every penny.
Silenus is right, though I like something a little larger than what I think of as a paring knife - I use what is generally called in sets a utility knife.
I have Henckels, which I really like, especially compared to the old Chicago Cutlery I had when I was poor. I would only add that you might want a bread knife if you buy whole loaves instead of sliced; otherwise, a couple of right-sized blades will do you. Also a fileting knife if you buy a lot of fish. And get yourself a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker to restore your blades when it’s needed.
If you have a Sur La Tab in your area check out their knife skills class. It is a great way to 1.) learn some basic knife skills in the kitchen and 2.) try out a lot of different sizes and styles of chef knives. When I took the class they had german and japanese steel, different sizes, and even a couple ceramic blades.
As a follow-up on my previous:
We also have a utility knife and a bread knife that get some use. The rest of the collection mainly just sits there.
I have a 22 pc. Wusthoff classic set with block. I’ve had Henckels in the past and there is no comparison–Wusthoff is much better. My set came with the kitchen shears, and I use them every single day. The chef’s knife is wonderful, as is the bird beak parer. Love them!
This, this, and this.
My knives:
One small parer
One medium utility carver
One long granton slicer
One eight-inch santoku
Two eight-inch chef’s
Two ten-inch chef’s
All bought individually after careful handling at the point of purchase. All hand washed and regularly honed.
Everything else is extraneous.
Any comments on this article? This particular authors conclusions were interesting. The Wusthof Classic was consistantly near the bottom, with 3 stamped knives leading the pack.
Not a bad article, with a reasonable recommendation at the end.
Two problems with it:
The implied suggestion that one’s knife should be stored in a wooden block. This is not ideal because part or all of the cutting edge will usually rest against the block. If you’re serious about your knives, you use a magnetic strip, or hang them vertically in a slot, like alongside the butcherblock top of a kitchen island.
Major oversight: The article talks about handle comfort, in terms of grip shape, but doesn’t say anything at all about how safe the handle is in everyday use. When you’re cooking, your hands get wet and/or oily, and this greatly affects how you are able to manipulate the knife. The writer says he wound up disliking the otherwise-highly-rated Global knife because of how it sits in his hand, but a much larger problem with it is the material of the handle, which becomes ridiculously slippery during real-world use. The Fibrox handle of the Forschner knife is a significant reason the Cook’s Illustrated people give it such a high rating.
Do you have any experience with the Forschner brand? It is stamped, and the price is low, but it seems to be getting a lot of recommendations. I am willing to pay high end prices on a knife if it is worth it, but I am also willing to sacrifice a little quality to spend a lot less. The consensus seems to be that Wuthof knives are the best, but is it worth it to spend $97 more for a chef’s knife?
Go to a store that carries both and handle them. Nothing beats a hands-on try-out. Check balance. See whether or not they fit your hand. Do your knuckles hit the cutting board? Where do your fingers sit on the handle? Can you still hold it securely when your hands are covered with ook? These are questions that you have to answer yourself.
Yes, go to a store that will let you try them out. And get ook on them.
I bought a set of Henckels’s budget line years and years ago. It came with a 10" chef’s knife, a 3" paring knife, and an 6" carving knife. Around the same time I bought a set of their steak knives. I foolishly broke one of the steak knives, and BB&B replaced it even though I’d had the set for the better part of a decade.
I ended up buying more knives one at a time, opting for the heavier Professional ‘S’ line. I got another 10" chef’s knife with the hollows ground into it, a 6" chef’s knife that is the one that gets the most use, a 5-1/2" Santoku knife, a 4" paring knife, a cleaver, utility scissors (these also get a lot of use) and a block to keep them in. There’s room in the block for the old carving knife and the old paring knife as well. The four steak knives fit into two slots intended for larger single knives. The old 10" chef’s knife won’t fit, as there’s only one slot in the block that wide.
As I said, the 6" chef’s knife and the scissors get the most use. The carving knife is handy when I make a roast, and it also sees it’s share of bread-slicing. Least-used is the cleaver, as I only have to use it once or twice a year.
Yes, the long slicer I mentioned above is the Forschner with the fibrox handle. Since it’s for cutting roasts, shoulders, hams, etc, it will frequently pick up a bit of grease in real-world use, and since the point of a slicer is to get a nice long draw to produce an elegantly even slice of meat (no sawing), you want as much control as possible, without worrying about slippage. And for me, this knife cuts like a freakin’ dream. But again, you’ll want to hold it to see.
I don’t have the Forschner chef’s knife, because it doesn’t fit my hand as cleanly as the ones I wound up choosing. But again, the handle material is top-notch. And further again, as noted, you’ll need to decide for yourself which one most closely matches your grip.