A couple years ago, I bought a set of Henckels knives on eBay. While the bread knife and steak knives are fair quality and do indeed serve their purpose, I cannot stand the Chef’s knife. It has those nasty little teeth (can’t remember the terminology) that shreds certain foods, as well as as my flesh should it get in the way. Plus, it just doesn’t feel right to me. I truly wish I had gone to a cutlery store and tried out several varieties before I committed to this set.
Anyhoo, I’m thinking about buying a Santoku knife. I had first seen one on 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray and was impressed with the control she seems to have (something I’m lacking). Then I read an excellent article on Santoku knives in a recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated and was convinced I should check it out for myself.
I’m interested in what you think. Do you use a Santoku? If not, tell me about your favorite all-purpose knife. Which knives are good quality, yet affordable?
I have two favourite kitchen knives. Both are J.A. Henckels with “drop points” (i.e., the top curves down) and both have curved cutting edges. One has an 8" blade, and the other has a 3" blade. They hold their edges very well, and I like the black bakelite handles. The reason I have two favourite kitchen knives is that sometimes I need a large knife, and sometimes I need a small one.
I also have a 7½" Victorinox/F.H. Forschner knife similar to the large Henckels. It used to be my favourite knife, but I just like the Henckels better.
I have some really top-notch Henckels knives, including a chef’s knife. I used to think they were the greatest until my husband brought home 3 kitchen knives from Spyderco. Spyderco is best known for folding and camping-type knives. I didn’t even know that they made kitchen knives.
It is absolutely wonderful. It’s light, but it acts like a heavy knife if you need it to. The handle is comfortable and has a fabulous grip. I use it for almost everything. And at $50, the price is right. We also have a couple of the serrated utility knives from Spyderco. They’re excellent for slicing tomatoes, making sandwiches, etc.
We also have a few knives from the Sani-Safe line from Dexter Russell. I like them as much as the Henckels knives, and they are so much cheaper. I don’t see that they make a Santoku, however.
A (8" I think) chef’s knife from Old Hickory (carbon steel and wood handles) and an their small paring knife that has more handle than the their paring knife with a clip blade.
I think I’m singing with the choir here: my favorite knife is my Wusthof 17cm Asian cook’s knife (which is what I gather a Santoku is). Beats a standard cook’s knife and a standard Asian cleaver into a cocked hat. Most “versatile” knives are the best of no worlds. This is good for heavy chopping, fairly fine slicing and even herb-shredding.
I cook quite a bit, and all of my knives are Henckels 4-Star (just a personal preference…I like the way the handles on those fit my hand).
I have:
the steak knives
a serrated knife
a flexible boning knife (highly recommended, BTW)
a paring knife
a 6"chef’s knife, no teeth (the 8 seemed a bit big for me…I have very small hands)
a Santoku with the Granton blade (my favorite!)
I started with the Henckels on the recommendation of a chef friend, and just sort of stuck with it. I hear though that the Wusthof knives are also very good (if you have a Williams-Sonoma near you, you can go and see/handle both and compare).
I have several but my favorite is the longest of the butcher knives. The blade of an Old Hickory bears the trademark “Ontario Knife Works”. Whatever substances are incorporated into the alloys of some of the other popular brands mentioned here to make them rustproof, or whatever processes they are subjected to, are not present in the blades of Old Hickory knives — I find them much easier to sharpen than Henckels and Wusthofs. My guess is that the metal is a bit softer, and it also seems to be less brittle. I use a small whetstone which I “comb” gently across the knife blade while running it under tap water.
I have the little paring knives and a mid-sized boning knife but I’ve got the butcher knife so exquisitely sharpened that I like it even for peeling vegetables and slicing tomatoes. I’ve had it since 1983 and over the course of years the sharpening process reshapes the knife metal to an ever more acute angle. Despite its heft, it’s very pleasant for peeling, especially tough-skinned things like butternut squash, with effortless control and very little waste. Whole chickens and thick steaks come apart with easy pulls, and it’s nice to never have to hack and whack with it like an axe or put pressure and tension on it to make it do its work.
You do have to dry the blades after washing them off, of course, and generally keep them dry except right as you’re using them or washing them.
There’s no doubt that Henckels and Wusthofs and other premium knives are excellent knives that can be made very very sharp, but it takes more patience and skill to keep them that way, and many folks just whack them upside of one of those rat-tail sharpeners and scrape down the burrs and leave it at that, leaving them with an expensive knife of mediocre sharpness. Old Hickory knives need attention more often, but it’s easier attention to give, and they get as sharp as you’ll ever need a blade to be.
Henckels 4-star 8" chef Great for damn near everything. Mine’s 15 years old, used daily, and, with a little care, is still hair-splitting sharp and unstained. It’s also a little longer/thinner looking than the picture http://www.restaurant-store.com/hk31071203.html. I think they’ve changed the style a bit over the years.
I wonder what serrated knife the OP is talking about? They do make a bread knife http://www.restaurant-store.com/hk31076203.html which is superb for that; if you’re using it on fruit, vegetables, or meat no wonder you’re having problems.
Hey now… I know better than to use a serrated blade for that type of work. I have a slicer for meat which is a cheapo, but it’s still a slicer. I use the chef’s knife for chopping veggies and fruits. It sucks for chopping fresh herbs because the tiny teeth don’t really chop anything quite that delicate, it just pierces and shreds the fine leaves. The whole dang set has very fine teeth. Even the bread knife, which has the normal scallop shaped serrated edge as well. I can’t find a pic that illustrates the teeth I’m talking about.
Thanks for your replies, everyone. I happen to live near an unclaimed freight type of store & they usually have a few professional grade cutlery for sale at good prices. I’ll let you know what I find.
Sounds like you have the Henckles International Eversharp set. Henckles International is a cheaper line of Henckles(One dude instead of two in the graphic) They have the microserrations, which make it work sharper longer, but are impossible to ever sharpen. I inherited a couple from a roommate who had to leave town, and while they are not horrible knives, there is much room for improvement.
My husband worked for Gerber Blades ( or I should say, Fiskars, because they owned Gerber) and we stocked up on kitchen knives during that time. Some of my favorites being an Italian imports that Fiscars owned. The knives were called Montanas and were made by Sanelli. I like these as well as any I have used with the exception of my all time favorite which is a Mac, from Japan. It has been the knife I grab first for years. Although, you have peaked my curiousity and I am going to have to check the Santoku out now.
It’s not too big - It fits well in my hand - and it’s just wonderful.
DeHusband likes the Wüsthof Classic 10-Inch Wide Cook’s Knife - and every time he uses it, he has to do the Crocodile Dundee impersonation. “Now *dis * is a knoif!”
My favorite knife is my 20cm Wusthoff Trident chef’s knife.
However, my first set of knives was a Henckels International set, including the 200mm chef’s knife with the serrated edge (about one notch per millimeter). I hated that thing until I took it to my whetstone and ground off the serrations. Took a long time, but definitely worth it.
As a rule of thumb, stainless steel is harder than carbon, which is why the Hickory Knives need more care.
Just as a point of reference on the Henckels blades - I have been told that the Pro-S, 4-Star and 5-Star lines all use the same blades - the difference is simply the handles. Pro-S is molded plastic in an “ergonomic” shape, the Star models are a more traditional riveted handle. The “4” handles are a tad smaller than the “5s” So, get whatever feels best in your hand.
Right now, my main blades are Henckels “Classic” - made in Spain, rather than Germany. They’re a nice mix of economy with performance - IIRC, I got the chef’s, slicer and parer at Target for $70. One of these days, I’ll break down and pay the $100 for a 5-Star chef’s. Every time I’m at Bed Bath and Beyond, the knives are calling me and taunting me for not buying them.
Old Hickory user here. I have one that belonged to my grandmother that’s got a handle worn just perfect for the shape of her hand - unfortunately, my hands too big.
