Favorite (and best value) Kitchen Cutlery

[jifigz]

Hi all!

As I sit here and sharpen some of my mother's Wusthof kitchen knives for her on my SharpMaker I can't help but wonder what everyone here thinks is a great kitchen cutlery option. Her knives were in awful condition ( I should post a picture of the piece of **** that she uses to "touch up" these knives from time to time) but I know that Wusthof is a well known and respected (and expensive) brand of kitchen cutlery. I have always loved Victorinox products and I know that they offer a relatively inexpensive kitchen knives. I will be buying my first home soon and outfitting it. Since cooking and presenting food is one of my favorite hobbies, what kitchen cutlery does everyone here think is some of the best brands to check out?

[xceptnl]

I have used inexpensive brands with some success (Racheal Ray and Paula Dean) but their edge holding is lacking. They take a fine edge and are as stainless as they come. I have a Chicago cutlery 8" chef that I considered my "nice knife" before I bought this.

[Blerv]

I have a Spyderco 4" serrated utility knife which I absolutely adore (as does my wife). Similar to the above with the sermollan handle.

Waiting for Spyderco to re-release a set I bought a pack of Kai Pure's at Costco. A 6 blade, high carbon SS set with brightly colored handles. They are very thin and were sharp out of the box. For $30 you could certainly do far worse, in fact, I understand they keep up with some decently expensive offerings.

[Pinetreebbs]

BTW Spyderco just announced on their Facebook that kitchen cutlery is making a return to the catalog very soon!!!!

I read that, great news.

[SpyderNut]

My wife bought me a really nice set of Wusthof knives shortly after we got married. :) At the time, we had also considered J.A. Henckels. I would love to see Spyderco's new kitchen knife set offerings!

[Manchu]

Man, I didn't intend to ramble on with this, but after typing it all out…phewww!! Anyway...

I was looking for a set for the ol' lady for Christmas. I'd grown tired of seeing her fight with department store kitchen knives, as well as me spending the time to sharpen them just to turn around and become butter-knife-dull after a couple uses, rolled/bent edges, etc. So, I've just spent the last couple of months scouring the net searching for everything I could on kitchen cutlery - reviews, videos, tutorials, materials, manufacturing processes… It's almost a science unto it's own. Lots of differing philosophies and opinions. And one can spend a couple grand easily on a set.

Now, I realize there are quite a few smaller boutique operations out there and they definitely carry some proud price tags, but I chose to stick with major manufacturers - Henckels, Wusthof, Shun, etc. I really liked the Boker Saga series collaboration with Jens Anso - very reminiscent of my Pry, but it's only available as a three knife set (maybe four, can't remember) - very nice. However I thought a set with a broader variety would offer better versatility, so I eventually settled on a set of Wusthof Classics. I think what you get, as a complete package, with the Wusthof Classic line is far beyond everything else I looked at. Most manufacturers seem to offer a lot of different lines of varying quality - from low-budget packages made in China, on up to their premier line made in, say, Germany, or Japan, or whatever. One example I noticed (without mentioning any names) has an 11-piece set that they advertise as top-tier, forged steel, made in Germany, etc., but the four steak knives that come with that set are of a lower quality (stamped metal rather than forged).

Gotta say, though, that these knives are in a completely different universe from what she's been using. They feel great in the hand and just exude quality. Not to mention, should be a pleasure to throw on the Wicked Edge for quick touch ups.

[Prof68]

I love my Shuns, but they can admittedly be a little pricey. (Funny, though, how I won't hesitate to spend the same amount or more on a Spyderco folder.) Value-wise, I'll second Blerv's vote for Kai's Pure Komachi line: they're great knives, and the price can't be beat.

[ginsuwarrior]

I've been pretty happy with Victornox (previously labeled Forschner), mine have the black fibrox handles. I consider them a value at their price point. Plenty thin behind the edge for my purposes, steel on the soft side, easy to sharpen up quickly. BUT....this morning I just ordered a Richard Artifex gyuto made with AEB-L steel. A bit pricier than the Victornox, but cheaper than many of the other similar type gyuto's hopefully it works out for me. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/riar21.html

[Officer Gigglez]

I use Farberware. Nothing special about them. Just cheap kitchen knives used for kitchen stuff. They work, and that's all I care about. I sharpened them once, with a cheap Smith's pocket sharpener... got a rough edge that got the job done. Never had any fancy kitchen knives.