I need new knives - any recommendations?
Sadly, my knives - my friends, my stalwart companions - have been honed by me and professionally sharpened to the point of no return.
I am looking for 3 basic knives, at least an 8" (preferrable 10") chef knife, a 6-8" utility knife, and paring knife. I am willing to spend some money for quality knifes! Any recommedations?
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13 Comments:
I know this is going to sound odd... but the knife i currently use and absolutely love is a 7" chefs knife that I picked up at my local Sam's Club. They were in the restaurant supply area and they were 2 for 13 bucks. It's been over 2 years and I still have the 2nd one in my drawer that I haven't even used yet.
Description From Sams Club's Website....
Constructed of stain-free, high-carbon German steel, Tramontina's professional 2 pk. 7" Santoku Knives are perfect for your commercial and home kitchens.
barbigirl8 at 2:17AM on 09/01/07
I'm sure that you will get opinions for the big 3, Wusthof (I own), Henkels and Global. All are good and expensive. I do own one F. Dick knife and if I hadn't bought this knife after I bought all of my other knives, I probably would have bought more of them, because they are very good quality and less expensive than the others.
jonfoxx at 6:30AM on 09/01/07
Global knives are a bit pricey but I really love the ones that I have. The handles are comfortable & rounded (which is a big thing for me), light and cuts extremely well.
breukelencook at 11:16AM on 09/01/07
I would recommend Misono - either the standard, 440 or UX-10 line depending on budget. They are available at www.jbprince.com. I have Misono, Shun, Wusthoff, Mac, Lamson and Messermeister, and for everyday use, I always seem to grab my Misono knives.
zapatista at 3:13PM on 09/01/07
If you don't mind spending money on them, try the Shun line. I really love their 8" chef's knife. But if you like a bolster on your knives, you'd be disappointed in them.
For those on a budget, the Forschner Fibrox series of knives is great. You can pick up a chef's knife for under $30 and it is really sharp. Lighter than I normally like, but it feels good in the hand nonetheless.
If you want to blow a big wad of cash on a knife, look for Hattori knives out of Japan. Made of real Damascus steel, they are super sharp and almost too pretty to use! You can sometimes find them for a decent price on eBay -- the KD Series is more expensive than the HD series.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 3:50PM on 09/01/07
I use my Global 7-inch chef's knife every day. It has a wonderful grip that makes it really feel like an extension of my hand.
Tom Steele at 3:56PM on 09/01/07
Like the others mentioned Henkels are always a good choice.
However per America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated top recommendations 2 months ago I purchased Forschner Fibrox 8-inch chefs, 10 1/4 bread, Santoku, and paring. The paring knife was less than $5 on Amazon (I bought them all on Amazon) and is the sharpest I've ever used.
I almost bought Wustof which also felt better in my hand, but since I got all 4 knives for less than $100 I figured if they don't last, I won't mind replacing them with the more expensive Wustof. I am, however, happy with every single knife and haven't used a Henckels since!
As a thin woman with muscular dystrophy that affects my hands, I actually prefer a lighter knife, and in that case I HIGHLY recommend the Forschner Fibrox, as well as Wustof Grand Prix series. If you like more weight I would go with Global or Henckels.
One trip I definitely suggest you make is to your local Williams Sonoma to try these knives out, they are very helpful and I would have ended up with the wrong fit for me had I not been there (as I found out what knives were too heavy and unbalanced for me). I couldn't find anywhere local to try the Forschner, just was going to return them if I didn't like, but fortunately they aren't going anywhere!
bobcatsteph3 at 11:25PM on 09/01/07
I recommend Shun 100%. The handle is really comfortable, and the weight is balanced really nicely so that slicing through food is practically effortless. I have the santoku, paring knife, and Chinese chef's knife (cleaver). The santoku is a good all purpose knife, and is the one I use the most. I absolutely love my knives, I will never use another brand again.
You can find Shun at Williams Sonoma.
Chau at 12:30PM on 09/02/07
We love our Global knives: 1 8 inch chef's knife, 1 8 inch santuko, and two utility knives (7 and 6 inch, respectively). We've had 'em since we were engaged nearly 2 years ago and haven't had to sharpen them yet!!
hereandthe at 1:28PM on 09/02/07
I love my Henckels 4-Star knives. 10 inch chef's, 6 inch utility, 3 and 4 inch paring knives, among others.
ccbweb at 12:07PM on 09/04/07
The Amateur Gourmet book has a whole chapter on knives. There is a person called the Knife Master that can restore your knives - sounds crazy but just read his book and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:26PM on 09/04/07
I love my Global so much. I'm short and have small hands so sometimes I feel really awkward with some knives, but with my tapered Global handle I don't even notice it. And my brother who is tall and has much bigger hands than me is also comfortable with my Global (and jealous).
I actually just got some Globals for my mom for her birthday (and by I, I mean me, two of my siblings and my dad), and she loves them.
lola27 at 4:57AM on 09/06/07
I love my global's too. They look slick and are sharper than all get out. I think they are perfectly balanced and my small hands enjoy the curved triangular handles, i'd never think about buying any other brand. The Shun's are fancy lookin but far too expensive for what they're worth, global is just as good and in my opinion looks better.
kitchenlove at 4:05PM on 09/07/07