Knife discussion here!

paqman

@Mickey‌ - I had a setup similar as yours before the kitchen reno but I noticed that it caused some nicks on the blades (where the two metal bands touch the blade). I also have a wooden knife block but it takes too much counter top realestate so I decided that the drawer block was the best option for be. The knives are stored blade side up.

HoosierEgg71

Invest in an Apex Edge Sharpener regardless of the knives you choose...hands down the best money I ever spent. I have a set of Henkels that I've used for over 15 years without complaint. Mine are the Professional S series. Not all Henkels are the same quality...be careful. Also just bought a Guy Fieri knife that I love so far...made by Ergo Chef I think. Seems pretty solid and I have it razor sharp. I will buy more of them.

Carolina Q

GeorgeS, you might want to check with Henckels about those handles. I know someone who had several Wusthofs replaced at no charge. Same problem as yours. Worth a phone call. As for the knife selection, I have a small collection of Wusthofs and am happy enough. The only problem is, I rarely use any of them except the 8" Chef's. If I had it to do again, that's all I would buy. Mom has a Wusthof Santuko that I use when I visit. Can't stand that knife! Give me a chefs any day. Make sure you hold the knife you are considering. I was drooling over a Ken Onion, but when I finally got to hold it in my hand, it simply wasn't comfortable.

Lockdownx99

Thanks for all the advice. I am intrigued in learning the fine art of sharpening. I have quite a few pocket knives and some pretty decent camp cooking knives and fire wood processing knives that I would like to learn how to sharpen. I have been looking at the spyderco stone kit to take care of those tasks for the cheaper blades. All my benchmades have the life sharp warranty or whatever its called. Also, Shun knives, from what I understand also have a free sharpening service. I didn't plan on trying to sharpen them myself. I might eventually try over the next few years if I can hone my sharpening skills, but for now I would just rely on the manufacturer to take care of it for me.

apfroggy0408

I have the cutco double d edge hunting knife that I got for my birthday from a buddy. I use this knife for everything haha but I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to life. I also have a cutco fisherman's solution filet knife that is awesome also from my buddy but don't really use it. I've got some hand made knives that just hang out but are my workhorse outside knives.

Grillin_beers

This might get me crucified but I have a set of the caphlon katana series that I got two years ago when I got married. I love them. They aren't crazy expensive but they are comfortable and stay sharp with consistent honing.

mslaw

I'll throw my lot with Wusthof. Close to Christmas they will go on sale. I bought a 16 knife set from Willam Sanoma for $799.00 last November . Included block. Have benn excellant knives and I use a lot.

yzzi

@paqman‌ I had the same issue with the metal dinging my blades. I bought some 30 pound cylinder magnets and a forstner bit and made these racks.

Lots of great advice her, and I'm going to second a lot of it. Start with one knife that will be used a majority of your cooks. For me I use a santoku mostly and I use the 6 inch utility for boning. My wife uses the santoku and the pairing a majority of the time. The others are ones I got on clearance and seldom used but all have they're purposes.



Just start with a good chef or santoku (or whatever you prefer) and then buy another someday which you would use the 2nd most. If this were me I would buy at minimum:

A quality general purpose knife (chef, santoku)
A honing steel to maintain your edge and use it every cook to minimize need for sharpening
A cheap ($10-15) clever that you can use for the bone splitting work. Don't use a nice knife on that.
A wood cutting board (end grain preferably). Avoid hard plastics or stone boards as they will dull your blade.

I've had some of my shuns for about 5 years and they have never been sharpened. Just make sure you hand wash and have a good place to store and use your honing rod. I would highly recommend not putting knives in the drawer unless you have something like @paqman‌ posted that protects the blades. It's terrible when people throw a knife in a drawer with a bunch of other utensils--that blade will be dull in no time.

4Runner

Thanks to @FanOfFanboys‌ I'm going custom. This is my hunting knife but kitchen to follow.

paqman

@4Runner‌ - That's one fine looking knife!

paqman

@yzzi‌ - Did you glue the magnets in the wood?

yzzi

Yeah, I wanted to reduce the pull force so the magnets didn't come ripping through the wood. I ground down the tip of the forstner bit so I could drill down as close as possible.

yzzi

Oh, I did it from behind so that the magnets aren't visible at all.

Lit

They sell wood knife strips with a magnet built in. I got one from William Sonoma and got a friend the one off chefknivestogo.com and they both work great.

rsterman

I have a Shun Premier 81/2 chef, 71/2 deba, 4.5 Honesuki, 4.5 paring, and a 6" utility knife.....I really enjoy using all of them.....I keep them ridiculously sharp......one of my workhorse knives however, is an 8" Chicago Cutlery chef's knife I bought from the evil empire years ago for $14.....a real brute and easy to keep sharp......does lots of onerous kitchen tasks with ease.......I also use an antique set of Ontario Knife Company's Old Hickory line when I do most of my eggin'.......really high carbon steel that are easy to get razor sharp.....like them a lot also.....also have some antique knives made by great uncle using old bandsaw blades from a sawmill he used to own and some he made from old files....great care must be taken to keep them rust-free, but really easy to keep sharp.....as you can guess, I really like my knives........the Shun 8.5 " chef's knife gets the most overall use ......I can do most anything with it....

4Runner

paqman said:

@4Runner‌ - That's one fine looking knife!

Pictures don't do it justice. The guy who made it is very skilled and dedicated to his craft. Can't wait to use it.

Gman2

Can't go wrong with Henckels

paqman

Gman2 said:

Can't go wrong with Henckels

They have different series. Not all of them are good.

texaswig

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/videos/2729-chefs-knives

apfroggy0408

I think I'm getting tired of using the small cutco hunting knife as the blade is too small for a lot of my cutting and I've just been dealing with it.

Victorinox looks like such a good value that if I decide not to get a custom handmade knife I'll probably give one of those a shot.

Mickey

Friend is building three of these in my knife making class. Was thinking of building one with off-setting the handle (good heavy handle) and doing a 11 inch straight blade for carving hams, brisket, etc. or just very slight curve. Also will round off the point (I am prone to stick myself) as I see no need for it. Thoughts?

yzzi

I'll PM you my address so you can ship me one to test. I'll ship it back, I promise.

Eggcelsior

@Mickey

Ah ha! Now we know why you've never cooked brisket!

gdenby

Mickey said:

Friend is building three of these in my knife making class. Was thinking of building one with off-setting the handle (good heavy handle) and doing a 11 inch straight blade for carving hams, brisket, etc. or just very slight curve. Also will round off the point (I am prone to stick myself) as I see no need for it. Thoughts?

The finished one looks great. Not certain why the handle needs to be down curved, 'specially with the indent for forefinger.

I agree, points aren't very useful if not stabbing into something hard and tough. But they look cool. What if you want to sign each slice of brisket with "M", the mark if Mickey!?

GalanteNate_OneEa

Well that pic sure makes me feel self-conscious about my knives…

These were the only pics I on my phone.

apfroggy0408

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkshwa21.html

I'm really liking this knife for the aesthetics and price, anyone got any beef with it?

Lit

@apfroggy0408 many people on this forum have that knife. You will need to get some wet sand paper and get the black off the sides because it causes drag but I believe I used 320 wet and like 600 wet sandpaper and it was shiny in like 15 minutes. Its an amazing knife.

Here is a post right after I got it with a little sharpening. The knife sharpens easily and holds a good edge for a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D7_10cIY7w

Lit

Here are a couple pics of it after the blade was polished.

apfroggy0408

It looks like quite the bargain for my journey into cutlery. @Lit

I also found this set that's reasonably price and has good reviews on the blade.

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/cuscknset.html

And this guy that I can have in my hands tomorrow lol.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UAQOUA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000UAQOUA&linkCode=as2&tag=patsplac-20

jaydub58

I appreciate the ;comments on the longevity of several brands and types of knives here.
However, I have a set of three Mac knives that we have owned and used almost daily for just about 40 years.
They have a fairly thin, but rigid blade, that is super easy to resharpen..
They are currently listed on Amazon.com
Hands down, the best knife I have ever owned (actually, just ordered a new set off Amazon).