Kitchen knife recommendations

13bullets

13bullets

Chris
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Location
Lincolnton
I'm wanting to upgrade our kitchen knives, our current set is getting old and worn. Anyone here that can point me in the right direction? I'm not talking super expensive, top of the line knives, but I want good quality, full tang, well balanced knives. Preferably in the sub $300 range.
 
I suckered myself into buying a set of RONCO knives a couple of years ago. They are pretty nice and haven't needed to sharpen them yet. The steak knives are awesome also.
 
Jason Ramirez said:
I suckered myself into buying a set of RONCO knives a couple of years ago. They are pretty nice and haven't needed to sharpen them yet. The steak knives are awesome also.
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Ronco or Cutco? Cutco makes a decent knife for the door-to-door crowd. I like Henkels, personally. I've got a J.A. Henkels 10" chef's knife that I've abused for close to 15 years now. Every few years, I get it dressed up by a pro sharpener, and it keeps on working like new. Good steel. They have cheaper lines now than they did when I got mine, but they're probably still very good quality. Oddly, though, the other knife I go for as much, if not more is my Santoku. Until recently, it was a Farberware I picked up at Walmart for under $10 just to see if I liked it. Worked great and takes an edge nicely.
 
catfishblues said:
Oddly, though, the other knife I go for as much, if not more is my Santoku. Until recently, it was a Farberware I picked up at Walmart for under $10 just to see if I liked it. Worked great and takes an edge nicely.
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I pretty much only use my Santoku. Mine's also a Farberware, came with a knife block I got some time ago.

That said, the Knife Blocks are kind of worthless. I've only used two of the knives that it came with, the rest don't really serve a purpose in my house. IMO, its better to buy a single 6" chefs knife that can be used for anything. I bought my dad a 6" Wusthof several Christmas's ago, ran about 90 bucks, but well worth it.
 
13bullets said:
I'm wanting to upgrade our kitchen knives, our current set is getting old and worn. Anyone here that can point me in the right direction? I'm not talking super expensive, top of the line knives, but I want good quality, full tang, well balanced knives. Preferably in the sub $300 range.
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5 years ago we bought exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.chefsresource.com/calpha...ock-set.html?gclid=CPiO66Xro7cCFYLm7Aod7SgAYA
Not sure if that ^ is the best price, just the first link I saw. We got our from Bed, Bath, & Beyond as part of our wedding registry. They are still very sharp, and we use them pretty much daily. I really like the feel better than some of the more expensive brands, and the quality is leaps and bounds better than the cheap stuff. Whenever we travel or go to a friends house where we will be carving or doing a lot of chopping, we take 1 with us because you really get spoiled and its hard to use mediocre knives. In the five years we've had them, I've hit them with the honing steel about once a month, and they are still as good as new. The thing that has impressed me most is that the finish is still nice (no weird staining or peeling) and the rubber on the grips is still perfect, not drawn up or gapping or anything. They are made in China, but supposedly have German steel, so the only difference is the quality of the finishing. I was a bit skeptical about it, but 5 years later I'm still quite pleased. And you can't beat the price!
 
I've been looking into Henkles, Wusthof's, Globals, or Shuns. The Globals and Shuns, being Japanese, are supposed to be made out of superior metals, but are thinner and sometimes vied as flimsy. The Henkles and Wusthof's are German and heavier, and I tend to lean more towards the Wusthof's. I wish there were a place I could go to see and hold them all at once. I've read the Henkles aren't what they used to be, and are now made of two different metals joined near the handle, with a higher quality metal being used in the blade fused with a cheaper metal for the handle. That definitely isn't what I want. Who would've thought buying some kitchen knives would be so hard.
 
13bullets said:
I wish there were a place I could go to see and hold them all at once.
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You can probably do that at Williams-Sonoma in the Hanes Mall in Winston. I know they carried Wusthof's for sure. Looking at their website, it appears they also carry Shun, Global, and Henckles, so I would assume they'd have those on display as well.

Looks like there is also a store in Charlotte and one in Huntersville, those are probably closer for you.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
You can probably do that at Williams-Sonoma in the Hanes Mall in Winston. I know they carried Wusthof's for sure. Looking at their website, it appears they also carry Shun, Global, and Henckles, so I would assume they'd have those on display as well.

Looks like there is also a store in Charlotte and one in Huntersville, those are probably closer for you.
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Awesome. Thanks!
 
JoshRountree said:
I can tell you that learning to sharpen your knives will last you longer than an expensive knife.
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This. My brother is a chef and showed me how to properly use the wand style sharpener (I think it came from Bed, Bath, & Beyond).

I consistently hear good things about the 7" Wusthof Classic Hollow Ground Santoku. The bigger knives are also supposed to be great, once you get used to handling them or if you do enough to need them. I really like my Calphalon 7" Katana Series Santoku and I have a matching 3-1/2" paring knife.

My opinion, the knife block sets are mostly useless... and the knife block is kind of a nasty thing. I'm not big on counter clutter anyway, so when we moved back into our kitchen, I ordered an in-drawer block just to keep the bread knife and the small/cheap serrated knives I use for slicing stuff in-hand (a terrible habit, but oh well) organized.
 
jeepinmatt said:
5 years ago we bought exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.chefsresource.com/calpha...ock-set.html?gclid=CPiO66Xro7cCFYLm7Aod7SgAYA
Not sure if that ^ is the best price, just the first link I saw. We got our from Bed, Bath, & Beyond as part of our wedding registry. They are still very sharp, and we use them pretty much daily. I really like the feel better than some of the more expensive brands, and the quality is leaps and bounds better than the cheap stuff. Whenever we travel or go to a friends house where we will be carving or doing a lot of chopping, we take 1 with us because you really get spoiled and its hard to use mediocre knives. In the five years we've had them, I've hit them with the honing steel about once a month, and they are still as good as new. The thing that has impressed me most is that the finish is still nice (no weird staining or peeling) and the rubber on the grips is still perfect, not drawn up or gapping or anything. They are made in China, but supposedly have German steel, so the only difference is the quality of the finishing. I was a bit skeptical about it, but 5 years later I'm still quite pleased. And you can't beat the price!
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I have this same set from BBB and have been nothing but happy with it. Pretty much everything that Matt said.
 
If you have a Costco membership they have a 9 piece Henkel set for like $125-$150 range.

I actually looked at them because of this thread, they had the one set open os you could hold and its definitely a solid one piece steel.
 
jeepinmatt said:
5 years ago we bought exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.chefsresource.com/calpha...ock-set.html?gclid=CPiO66Xro7cCFYLm7Aod7SgAYA
Not sure if that ^ is the best price, just the first link I saw. We got our from Bed, Bath, & Beyond as part of our wedding registry. They are still very sharp, and we use them pretty much daily. I really like the feel better than some of the more expensive brands, and the quality is leaps and bounds better than the cheap stuff. Whenever we travel or go to a friends house where we will be carving or doing a lot of chopping, we take 1 with us because you really get spoiled and its hard to use mediocre knives. In the five years we've had them, I've hit them with the honing steel about once a month, and they are still as good as new. The thing that has impressed me most is that the finish is still nice (no weird staining or peeling) and the rubber on the grips is still perfect, not drawn up or gapping or anything. They are made in China, but supposedly have German steel, so the only difference is the quality of the finishing. I was a bit skeptical about it, but 5 years later I'm still quite pleased. And you can't beat the price!
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We made it to BB&B today, and they had Wusthof, Henckels, and these Calphalons. As much as I liked the feel of the lighter Henckels and Wusthofs, I couldn't justify the cost difference no more than we really use the knives. We bought the Calphalons. Had I known the block left 2 empty slots, I would have gone ahead and bought the 5" Santoku also, because my wife will use a smaller knife much more than the larger ones.
 
^^^ That's the same set I bought about 6 years ago after trying all the others. I use every knife in it depending on what I am doing. I added a 4 1/2" paring knife and need a new pair of scissors because the dog chewed the handle. I also added a second 6" utility knife.
 
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