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Best chefs knife in the $75 and under range

FxLynch
FxLynch Posts: 433
edited May 2012 in EggHead Forum
I've always used just a Chinese kitchen knife (small cleaver) and a small paring knife for all of my cooking.  Recently though, cooking BBQ and more American food, I've found that a middle ground knife would be nice, so I'm thinking maybe an 8" chefs knife.

However, I'm not looking to spend a whole lot, but also would like something that won't disappoint.  I currently use a Messermeister brand Chinese kitchen knife, and find it pretty easy to keep sharp with my Spyderco sharpener. I use cheap Kuhn Rikon paring knives, which I keep razor sharp, although I sharpen weekly or so. 

I'm a "gun guy" and I know how easy it is to recommend things out of a set price range to new shooters because you believe they are best.  I'm also good at recommending things in any given persons range.  So I'm hoping from some input from a "knife guy" that know the lower end of the market in addition to the higher end.

Thanks in advance,
Frank
«1

Comments

  • Sorry, as it may be out of range, but you might find a deal on ebay. Look up Shun classic. Lifetime warranty is a great sell for me.

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    I don't use one, but cooks illustrated has raved about the victorinox fibrox 8" chef knife for years as a good, affordable all purpose knife.
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    I have several forschner, victorinox and cozzini  8" 6".  These knives have been given to me over the last 5 years by a butcher friend at a major grocery chains and they have been WELL used and resharpened and they still hold an edge.  I prefer the black handle as it does not show the wear.
    Have not ordered from CAD, but found the site several years ago when I also was doing a knife search.

    http://www.cadcutlery.com/cooks.htm

    http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatalog/Knife_Guide.html

    [IMG]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk35/woodmonkey-riri/KNIVESKITCHENDSCN0788.jpg[/IMG]


  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    A while back, Lit put us on to a great carbon steel (not stainless) Japanese knife for $60.  I now have two of them.  I also own several Shuns and Wusthofs, but I prefer the Tojiro ITK Shirogami Wa-Gyoto 210 mm to the others.  As you know, carbon steel doesn't hold an edge as long as stainless, but it sharpens up a lot quicker too.

    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    I don't agree w. everything Cook's recommends (they thought the Egg was too heavy) but the Victorinox Fibrox has very good performance for the price. And at that price, you could also get one of their boning knives.

    I'll make a couple of suggestions. Tojiro also has a "Zen" line with a chef's knife in your range. The blade is clad in stainless, so will require less care than a solid carbon steel. I have a lifetime of poor knife care habits, and find that I don't clean my carbon blades quickly enough after use, and so get corrosion.

    I have a knife from an earlier run of the Kai "Wasabi" line. The blade is very nice, and the price low. Assuming the steel has not been changed, it should offer good performance and low maintainance.

    FWIW, be careful. Using a really good knife can make using average knives seem a chore.
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited May 2012

    FWIW, be careful. Using a really good knife can make using average knives seem a chore.
    Sharp knives are also a lot more dangerous.  We have made one trip to the ER after my wife cut her finger to the bone, and several other deep cuts.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
    Pretty happy with Wusthof.

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    FWIW, be careful. Using a really good knife can make using average knives seem a chore.
    Sharp knives are also a lot more dangerous.  We have made one trip to the ER after my wife cut her finger to the bone, and several other deep cuts.
    Yes, there is an immense difference between a standard sharp knife, and a knife that is scary sharp. The slightest brush will draw blood. I once read someone saying that in the presence of their best knife, food fell apart of its own accord.


  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    This is test to see if photobucket will show the pic after there have been a few posts.

    [IMG]http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk35/woodmonkey-riri/KNIVESDSCN2253.jpg[/IMG]
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited May 2012



    Why don't you use the picture icon at the top instead?  It works fine.
    image
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    I copy the HTML code from the photobucket pic and paste it right in the comment box....works every time. I don't have any knife pics so I won't put an image here that strays too far from OP, but that's how I do it an have never had a problem posting pics.
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    VI thanks, but where is the pic icon?  The insert image one?

    PS what to you use to sharpen those wonderful blood letting knives?
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    VI thanks, but where is the pic icon?  The insert image one?

    PS what to you use to sharpen those wonderful blood letting knives?
    Yes, the insert image one.

    I sharpen my knives with Bob Kramer's Sharpening Kit.  It has 3 stones (400, 1000, 5000) and a great holder that you can put in your sink and it won't move.  After sharpening, I take it to my barber's razor strop in my office for polishing off.

    Click here.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • FxLynch
    FxLynch Posts: 433
    Wow thanks for all the recommendations guys, I'll start looking at these options.  Glad to have a place to start.

  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    I have to agree with village idiot on the Tojiro 210 wa-gyuto. Its an amazing knife for the price and if you let it sit out for 10 or 20 minutes without drying it and it gets corrosion all you have to do is scrub it with the green side of a kitchen spunge to get it off. As others did when the knife came in it was black and unfinished on the sides which cause a little drag in my opinion so I hit it with some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper from home depot and polished it up nice. My Tojiro sites between my Shun Bob Kramer 6' chef and my Takeda 240mm Gyuto and I would buy the $60 Tojiro before I would drop the $250 on the Bob Kramer again. The Takeda is nicer than the Tojiro but that was $350. I recently got a cool addition to my 1000/6000 stone the Hone American strop system with a Bovine pad loaded with 1 micron paste (16,000 grit), a Balsa pad loaded with .5 micron paste (60,000 grit), and a horse leather pad for the final strop. The system isn't cheap but at 6000 grit before I could get the knives to shave my arm but at 60000 grit and a strop its a whole new game.
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    edited May 2012
    I don't use one, but cooks illustrated has raved about the victorinox fibrox 8" chef knife for years as a good, affordable all purpose knife.
    Very good knife. And good price on Amazon.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • ShadowNick
    ShadowNick Posts: 533
    I have a $25 dollar  8" Chicago Cutlery knife that i like better than my $85 Santoku.  Living alone, the CC knife prepares my food beautifully, although i don't get too fancy, then gets rinsed during cooking and becomes my eating knife :)
    Pentwater, MI
  • I've used Henckles (twin signature) knives for years.  The knives hold an edge very well and edges freshen easily with a ceramic sharpening system.  Regardless, go for forged carbon steel.
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,429
    I've used Henckles (twin signature) knives for years.  The knives hold an edge very well and edges freshen easily with a ceramic sharpening system.  Regardless, go for forged carbon steel.
    My favorite too.  As mentioned above Victorinox Fibrox is always rated very highly by CI,but the handle is too small for my big mitts.  You really should try the knives in your own hand before purchasing.  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • Newportlocal
    Newportlocal Posts: 474
    A Tojiro DP gyuto would do well in that price range. If you post this question on KItchen Knife Forum. You will get a lot of good advice. 210mm is the 8in you are looking for, most prefer 240mm in a gyuto, I prefer 270-300mm
  • Newportlocal
    Newportlocal Posts: 474
    Sorry didn't see higher end. I am having a custom Gyuto made my Pierre Rodrigue in 270mm with blue mammoth spacer in SV35 for $650. Pierre makes knives with a really great profile and edge. Even higher end and on my list Devin Thomas in feather Damascus would be mind blowing. Carter also makes great sharp workhorse knives. Gesshin, konosuke, massamoto, and many others make good mass produced knives.
    For cheap mass produced sakai yusuke wa gyuto in stainless is hard to beat from blue way Japan on eBay.
    Higher end mass produced go to Korin or Japanese Knife Imports Jon's place he is very helpful. If you are new to this stainless is easier than carbon, but that's a whole different discussion as are water stones for sharpening.
  • +1 for Forschner/Victorinox. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. Great knives.

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • Newportlocal
    Newportlocal Posts: 474
    I do have a Forshner 40455 I use for filleting big tuna and sharks. Does well for that.
  • Austin Smoker
    Austin Smoker Posts: 1,467
    I don't use one, but cooks illustrated has raved about the victorinox fibrox 8" chef knife for years as a good, affordable all purpose knife.
    Have a couple of these at the Duck Club that I use and don't worry about someone breaking. Good compromise of quality and price
  • spotco2
    spotco2 Posts: 61
    All of mine are Henckles and Wusthofs. I've been very happy with them.
  • Austin  Egghead
    Austin Egghead Posts: 3,966
    I did not want to take my good knives to eggfest, so I asked a chef friend what was the best knife and he said the Forshener 8 inch chef was the best. It is priced right sharpens well holds the edge and if lost or damaged it is cheap to replace.(another plus: good balance too) That was a year ago and this knife has become one of my favorites.
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
  • milkman5083
    milkman5083 Posts: 100
    Cutco has great cutlery. They have a lifetime warranty. You might be able to find a good deal on ebay. My wife sold them for a few months so we could have the whole set and buy at a 50% off price.
  • Newportlocal
    Newportlocal Posts: 474
    No harm intended to those interested in less expensive knives, but if it has a bolster that will effect your ability to sharpen the blade by the heel of the knife. Over time this will effect blade performance and profile of the blade. For anyone truly interested Chad Ward wrote a great book on kitchen knives. Back when I cooked for restaurants I didn't think much about work knives. Now that I have a wa handled gyuto it is like the skies have parted and I could never go back. I am always looking forward to the next thing i have to prep, and look for recipes with more to cut. Same with my Kanasaki deba for King crab. I have so much fun eating my crab totally effortlessly now. And yes for most people doing general use a standard knife will get the job done.
  • Newportlocal
    Newportlocal Posts: 474
    Now that I am really getting into my BBQ to a whole different level thanks to you guys. I will be getting a sujihiki and a warther cleaver. Any tool can get the job done, but I like nice tools and looking forward to using them.
  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487

    FWIW, be careful. Using a really good knife can make using average knives seem a chore.
    Sharp knives are also a lot more dangerous.  We have made one trip to the ER after my wife cut her finger to the bone, and several other deep cuts.
    Agreed.  8" Wusthof chefs, clear to the bone.

    image

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE