We have been happy Henckels owners for the past 6 years. Wustof is also excellent. Be aware that you can get a cheaper, made in Spain version of the Henckels at some stores. This Spanish version is inferior.
We have also owned a full set of Cutco knives for the past 25 years. They are OK–especially the serrated knives, but the non-serrated blades never get as sharp as the Henckels do. That is why we eventually purchased a few key Henckels.
If you budget is tight, also consider Gerber, an Oregon-made line that is quite good. I love their fish deboning knife.
I would like to take the time to thank everyone who posted their advice to this thread- you all have been very helpful. There has been some very good information here- a few things which I did not see elsewhere.
Currently I am leaning towards either the Wustoff Classic or Grand Prix lines, with one of the 6-7 piece starter kits. We have a local B, B & B so I will stop in and check out the feel (I think I have one of those coupons as well).
According to the sales guy where I bought my Henckels (4 star series), the easy way to tell (aside from the price) is the the good knives have two men on the logo (little red stickmen holding a staff) where the cheapo knives only have 1 man.
The Henckel 4 star series is nice and heavy. I like them a lot.
Chicago Cutlery, IMO, makes a nice knife - if you buy their better stuff. The have a cheapo line that’s awful.
My knives are Farberware and I think they’re great. I always check two knives, the vegetable chopper ( the big one that looks good for murder ) and the carving knife. If they’re nice & stiff it’s good. If you can flex either one, they’re cheap.
In the past nine months I’ve gotten pretty damn serious about sharpening knives — having always been devoted to using good quality stuff in my kitchen.
I have three Wusthof Tridents in my kitchen- a paring knife, a 9" chef’s knife, and a 6" thinner knife (called either a slicer, a carver, or a utility knife depending on who’s talking). That’s really all you need for anything you’ll be doing.
But nowadays, all name brand knives are fairly good. It doesn’t matter if you go with Henckels, Wusthof, or Hickory. Just get a stainless steel knife with good balance, that feels comfortable in your hand. Carbon steel will rust, and ceramics, while fancy, can be shattered with one accident.
Do not get a serrated edge unless you like slicing all your food. If you want to chop, you need a straight blade. (I had a Henckels with a serrated edge-- in December I ground the serrations away, and it’s now a pretty good knife. )
I’ve found that most steels are crap, and they’re always used incorrectly. A steel is for unfolding the edge on your blade-- so get one that’s smooth as a baby’s bottom. If it’s got any ridging on it, and looks like a file, don’t use it on your knife.
Sharpening a knife is actually fairly simple, if you get good instruction, have a proper whetstone or two or three, and some guides. I recommend the Razor’s Edge. It needs a good editing job, but it has some solid advice.
Another vote for Henkles here, I have a “Professional-S” 8 piece block set (8" Chef’s, 8" carving, 6" carving, bread knife, paring knife, 6" serrated misc use knife, kitchen scissors and steel. Yes the block itself counts as the 8th piece) When I bought them I spent a couple weeks reading reviews and playing with knives in stores, it was a close call between the Henkles and the Wushtoffs ultimately I just like the way the Henkles felt in my hand a little better. Then I did the bastard thing and instead of buying from the store I did most of my comparison shopping at I ordered my set off of Ebay for about half of what it was going for locally. About $250 IIRC.
For all the Wustof and Heinkles fans out there: Why is it that if these knives are so good ( and I agree that they are good knives ), flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales are lousy with them? Zenster’s buying them for 10 cents on the dollar, for Gods sake, and I see them all the time as well. I have never seen Cutco knives at the local Goodwill. ( although I wish I would, I want a deal too! Wahh! )
I think it has to do with how long they have been for sale in this country (a very long time), combined with the fact that they are often a wedding gift for some people that do not know how lucky they are. Also they knives do hold up easily over 20 years with decent care which means old knives are still good with a proper sharpening. Unlike my current set of knives which are junk after a few years.
Cutco may be like this in another 20 years depending on their total volumes of sales. I have heard lots of nice things about them, in 20 years maybe people will be bragging about their Cutco flea market finds.
BTW: I was impressed with Zenster’s finds as well- nicely done!
Weirddave, Wutshof and Henkel show up in flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales for a few reasons.
People replace their knife sets way way more often than neccesary. If people knew how to sharpen and hone knives, then they would have no need to buy as many sets.
There are forgeries out there of both wusthoff and henkel knives. Not as many as say, rolex watches, but some.
Lots and lots of people buy a set of good knives to show off, and they go unused. These sets often get sold when the person realizes that they wasted their money.
I can’t beleive that I’m the only person here singing the praises of the Kyocera ceramic knives- they cut like a dream! a SHARP dream!
I have never had to do this. Maybe because I steel them everytime I use them, as you should be told prior to purchasing them.
Use the steel that comes with your knife set OR at least of the same manufacturer line. Do NOT use a Trident steel on a Chicago knife, as the steel used in Chicago knives is much softer. A Trident steel would end up actually sharpening the blade.
I have never used a flat finished steel, it doesn’t do much. You need some amount of ridging to bring the edges back up. The biggest mistake I have seen are people going the wrong direction and/or at the wrong angle. You go AGAINST the steel at about a 20 degree angle.
And yeah, ceramic blades are cool. I have two ceramic bladed pockets knives (Boker) that I adore. We used to have a few ceramic kitchen knives, labeled as “Sushi” knives. Why? The only people that purchased them were the sushi cooks in town.
I like my new Henkel, but I have an old set of Gerbers that are still great. I would also recommend a Chinese style cleaver knife. I got one for X-mas and now it’s about the only thing I use. Just fantastic.
Beware the Jabbercoupon my friend, the clause(s) that catch … Oh well, it was worth a try. Check your B, B & B coupon carefully. The ‘mouse print’ usually disqualifies it from being used on Henckles, Wusthof, Nausica and Tommy Nozfinger.
As Tom Waites sez:
“The big print giveth and the fine print taketh away.”
I’d like to see these “lousy with them” flea markets and thrift stores you are alluding to. I never see Wusthof knives in any thrift shops, ever. My finds at the flea market were the only pieces I’ve ever seen there. Fortunately, I knew what they were and the seller did not. That said, look on eBay, there are some spectacular bargains to be had.
What makes these knives so good is a unique combination of stainless steel’s corrosion resistance with soft steel’s ability to be sharpened. It is some whup-tee-doo highfalutin’ alloy, commonly referred to as Solingen steel. Legend has it that the precise alloy recipe has never been patented (like Coca Cola) so that it cannot be copied. Anyhoo, you get a blade that does not rust yet still can be sharpened. In addition, the blade retains its edge extremely well. Soft steel sharpens easily but loses its edge immediately and corrodes rather quickly. Pure stainless steel is very difficult to sharpen and does not hold an edge particularly well either, despite its corrosion resistance. I will say that the edge a stainless steel blade fades to does last for an extremely long time. My Gerber folding hunting knife was testimony to that. Soligen steel is the happy medium. German metallurgists have coasted for decades on the fame of this one product alone.
To get all of you hot and bothered, here’s a picture of my latest blade. Recently acquired on eBay in mint condition for less than its original sale price. There was one factory blemish that I had the American representatives rework for free. It is a March 1975 vintage Puma 972 Game Warden folding hunter with Jacaranda wood scales. Look for a knife thread about it in the near future. This one’s a keeper. I’ve only been searching after this blade for over 20 years.
I,too, vote for Henkles.
I also use “Professional-S”.
I think that the top of the line henkles and the top of the line Wusthof are comperable in quality. You do need to hold them and see which is best for you.
Another thing to note is that you don’t have to have one brand exclusively.
You could have a henkles kitchen knife and a wustof paring knive.
As for Costco, I am sure they are very good, but I just don’t want to bother with the sales pitch.
I went to the locally owned cooking store (same open mall as the B, B & B) and played with the Wustoffs (saw the Henkels at B, B & B and they were not for me). I loved the feel of the Grand Prix series knives.
The store did not do sets. Instead they put together a open set of knives for me. I really liked this as I was able to get the knives that I liked and which matched my cooking needs.
The sales person was really helpful, and it was nice to spend my money with a local company (who as a official dealer can take take of any issues for me). Cost wise, it was a bit more, but I got exactly what I wanted.
Now I can add more knives as needed, as I got the bigger nicer block (some of the sets came with a rather small block).
I know some bell peppers that are getting the hell sliced out of them tonight!
Congratulations upon your acquisition! I can confidently say this is one purchase you will not regret at any time in the future. Cooking will become even more fun than it was before and you will feel more confident tackling new challenges. Think of them as power tools for the kitchen. You will have lots of fun rounding out your collection. Here’s a cute project for breaking in your bird’s beak.
Buy a tray of chicken drumsticks. Skin all of them first and then make a cut on each one around the skinny end just below the knuckle where the bone assumes a cylindrical shape. Be sure to cut cleanly through all the tendons and meat. Holding the skinny end’s knuckle in one hand, use your other hand to grasp the meat and pull it down the length of the bone. Pull the meat nearly all the way free of the bone until it is inverted like an odd flower but still attached at the larger end’s knuckle. Use your bird’s beak to trim loose or free up any meat that clings to the bone as you are inverting it. Cut out any tendons or sinew exposed during preparation and remove the smaller bone that runs the length of the main one.
You can now marinate the vivisected drumsticks or sprinkle them with dry rub. By the time you are finished prepping the entire tray, your barbecue should have had time to heat up. What you have are splendid little chicken morsels, each with its own exposed bone handle. These are great for outdoor parties and a lower calorie (no skin) alternative to standard barbecued chicken recipes.
)