Cook''s Knives...

[Maisie]

Can anyone recommend a brand of knives for my new hobby... trying to cook

 

[elrohwen]

I have a Wusthof chef''s knife in the Santoku style (looks like a Japanese chef''s knife). I love it! Though I can''t say I wouldn''t love other knives too. I found a store that specializes in knives and had them show me a bunch in my price range. Then I held them all and tried to find the one that would be most comfortable for me and my hand. I think that''s the best way to find a knife that you''ll really love to use.

And avoid knife sets: you really only need a great chef''s knife and maybe a serrated knife too. My serrated is just a cheap one I got from Target I think. I make sure to keep it sharp and it works pretty well for me. If you have a nice chef''s knife, you won''t want to use any other knives anyway!

Good luck on your search.

 

[Pandora II]

I have Sabatier as my normal kitchen knives and a couple of special ones from the Japanese Knife Company in London - you are looking at £100 GBP plus for each of those though. I have a damascus steel Kengata and a Yanagiba Hocho both by Kai.

You should go somwhere that you can try some out as it's important that they feel and heft right in your hand. John Lewis carry a good selection and have some of the really good Japanese brands.

ETA: If you are going to buy expensive knives, invest in a steel or sharpening stone and learn how to use it. Don't put them near any of those knife sharpener blocks as they wreck them.

 

[MsP]

I have three Wusthof knives and purchased a trio of Victorinox Forschner knives for a gift and I *love* them. My Wusthof are heavy... these are really light, have grippy handles, and are just nice for the price. They''re pretty cheap. Like maybe $40-70 each. I agree that''s it''s kind of a personal thing because some might think the forschner are just too light and wimpy... but I like it.

 

[TooPatient]

Date: 11/4/2009 10:20:29 AM
Author: elrohwen
I have a Wusthof chef''s knife in the Santoku style (looks like a Japanese chef''s knife). I love it! Though I can''t say I wouldn''t love other knives too. I found a store that specializes in knives and had them show me a bunch in my price range. Then I held them all and tried to find the one that would be most comfortable for me and my hand. I think that''s the best way to find a knife that you''ll really love to use.

And avoid knife sets: you really only need a great chef''s knife and maybe a serrated knife too. My serrated is just a cheap one I got from Target I think. I make sure to keep it sharp and it works pretty well for me. If you have a nice chef''s knife, you won''t want to use any other knives anyway!

Good luck on your search.

Ditto on the sets. I bought a set and never touched most of them. We''ve been replacing as we find individual knives we like.

I must have:
Chef (two or three of these is best)
paring
shorter chopping (works better on onions than chef)
bread

Beyond that is not very interesting. My chef knife is the best thing I''ve found for carving meat.


What I look for in a knife:
stainless steel blade. Solid blade through handle. Even better is one solid piecs of stainless steel forming the blade and handle. Comfortable to hold. Easy to clean. Should be nice and heavy.


Get a GOOD sharpener. We have a diamond sharpener & honer at home. Got it at a restaraunt supply store. Does a great job on the knives.

 

[April20]

We have a Wustof knife block. They''re great knives.

Whatever you decide to get, buy something decent you can keep sharp. Nothing more dangerous than a dull knife.

 

[Kay]

Date: 11/4/2009 10:20:29 AM
Author: elrohwen
I have a Wusthof chef''s knife in the Santoku style (looks like a Japanese chef''s knife). I love it! Though I can''t say I wouldn''t love other knives too. I found a store that specializes in knives and had them show me a bunch in my price range. Then I held them all and tried to find the one that would be most comfortable for me and my hand. I think that''s the best way to find a knife that you''ll really love to use.

And avoid knife sets: you really only need a great chef''s knife and maybe a serrated knife too. My serrated is just a cheap one I got from Target I think. I make sure to keep it sharp and it works pretty well for me. If you have a nice chef''s knife, you won''t want to use any other knives anyway!

Good luck on your search.

That is the most used knife in my block -- I love it!

 

[JulieN]

How much do you want to spend?

 

[FrekeChild]

I have:

10 inch Wusthof Classic Chef's knife
10 inch Wusthof Classic serrated knife
8 inch Wusthof Classic utility knife
8 inch Wusthof Classic boning knife
8 inch Wusthof Classic Santoku with hollow ground ovals
4 inch Wusthof Classic paring knife

Really, you only need three knives in your kitchen. A good Chef's, a paring and a serrated. As several of my chefs have said, if you can't do a job with one of those three knives, it can't be done.

The most important part of buying a knife (any knife) is finding a good balance between the blade and the handle. That long piece of metal you can see going through the knife from tip to butt is called a tang, and it means that the whole knife was built on one piece of metal and that it's a high quality knife.

Unless you're going to use your knives all of the time, and REALLY learn to sharpen them yourself, I would be very wary of doing it yourself. It has taken me a long time and I'm still not that great at it. DO NOT buy one of those knife sharpeners that you rest your blade in and it does the work for you. Knives shouldn't be sharpened like that. Also a sharpening steel does not actually sharpen your knife, and it's not meant to--it's meant to smooth the blade and get rid of those little tiny microscopic nicks you can't see. Do not EVER try to sharpen a serrated blade. They are not meant to be sharpened by a non-professional.

I will mention that I have not bought my knives in a set. They were all purchased individually and over time. I also have another set of knives that were supplied to me at the second culinary school I went to. They are industrial quality but a no-name brand. I like to abuse them more than the Wushofs.

Good luck Maisie! And it's good to see you around again!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 11/4/2009 2:07:43 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I have:

10 inch Wusthof Classic Chef''s knife
10 inch Wusthof Classic serrated knife
8 inch Wusthof Classic utility knife
8 inch Wusthof Classic boning knife
8 inch Wusthof Classic Santoku with hollow ground ovals
4 inch Wusthof Classic paring knife

Really, you only need three knives in your kitchen. A good Chef''s, a paring and a serrated. As several of my chefs have said, if you can''t do a job with one of those three knives, it can''t be done.

The most important part of buying a knife (any knife) is finding a good balance between the blade and the handle. That long piece of metal you can see going through the knife from tip to butt is called a tang, and it means that the whole knife was built on one piece of metal and that it''s a high quality knife.

Unless you''re going to use your knives all of the time, and REALLY learn to sharpen them yourself, I would be very wary of doing it yourself. It has taken me a long time and I''m still not that great at it. DO NOT buy one of those knife sharpeners that you rest your blade in and it does the work for you. Knives shouldn''t be sharpened like that. Also a sharpening steel does not actually sharpen your knife, and it''s not meant to--it''s meant to smooth the blade and get rid of those little tiny microscopic nicks you can''t see. Do not EVER try to sharpen a serrated blade. They are not meant to be sharpened by a non-professional.

I will mention that I have not bought my knives in a set. They were all purchased individually and over time. I also have another set of knives that were supplied to me at the second culinary school I went to. They are industrial quality but a no-name brand. I like to abuse them more than the Wushofs.

Good luck Maisie! And it''s good to see you around again!

I didn''t know this, Freke! That''s a great tip. I do sharpen my serrated, but I think it cost about $15 so I''m not worried

. I was thinking of getting a nicer one in a few years and I''ll definitely take your advice to not sharpen it myself.

 

[purrfectpear]

Wustof''s. I''m not home so I don''t remember all the sizes but I have around 7 or 8. Other than boning though, I probably use my very cheap carbon chinese cleaver more than anything else.

 

[Octavia]

I have a Wusthof Classic set and the Wusthof Classic Santoku set. I do use all the knives now and then, but I definitely use the santoku knives (chef''s and paring) the most. I also love the shears that came with the set, and the serrated bread knife. If I could go back, I''d just purchase those things separately rather than buying the set. Also, some knives that I want, like a boning knife, didn''t come with the set.

 

[Maisie]

Wow thank you everyone! So it seems I should buy the three most useful knives and not a whole set. That means I can spend a bit more on each knife. I was thinking of maybe £50 for each one. The sharpening bit worries me. I don''t like the scrapy noise

 

[TooPatient]

Date: 11/4/2009 5:33:43 PM
Author: Maisie
Wow thank you everyone! So it seems I should buy the three most useful knives and not a whole set. That means I can spend a bit more on each knife. I was thinking of maybe £50 for each one. The sharpening bit worries me. I don''t like the scrapy noise

B likes to sharpen a knife before he uses it. Every time.

I''m not as good about this. It is great to use a freshly sharpened knife though. Cuts so clean and easy (you can''t even feel it slicing into your finger -- but the cut isn''t as bad as from a dull knife and it heals faster)


If he wasn''t around to sharpen them regularly, I''d probably take them to be sharpened every so often. Whole Foods has a guy who comes in once a week (once every 2 weeks?) and sharpens knives for people. Drop them off and then pick up later.

 

[JulieN]

MAC Superior Bread knifehttp://www.chefknivestogo.com/macsubrkn.html

Tojiro DP 8" chef's and parer combo http://www.chefknivestogo.com/to2pcstset.html#

That should leave you with enough to get some sharpening accessories.
The MAC ceramic rod is very popular for touch-ups: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/mac-black-ceramic-honing-rod.html

The least intimidating sharpening tool is the hand-held pull-through sharpener. Something like this http://www.chefknivestogo.com/glmipl3sh.html

 

[PinkTower]

Wusthof santuku. They stand behind them. I dropped mine, and sent it back recently. They promptly replaced it free of charge.

I also love Sabatier (see Pandora''s post, since you both live in UK.)

I have their paring knife. I also have their serrated grapefruit knife. This is a strange little scoop/blade that I find useful for all sorts of jobs with citrus, melons, etc.

 

[cellososweet]

Whatever you chose, I''d suggest going into a store and holding a few. Wusthof''s and Henckel''s are two popular brands that are readily available. I''ve cooked with both (and a myriad of others), but the Henckel''s feel better in my hand. I like the weight distribution of them and the handle works well with my arthritic hands with long long fingers (though I do like a Global Pro if I have a lot of chopping to do because I can chop super quickly. Light as a feather). I''ve tried Shuns, Henckels, Wusthof''s, Globals, Sabatiers and have good things to say about all of them. But what it really comes down to is what makes you feel like you have the most control. Feeling like a knife is too heavy or awkward might make you press down harder than necessary and can result in accidents.

Good luck and happy cooking!

 

[sba771]

This is going to sound silly but can someone show me a link on bed bath and beyond site to the Wusthof chef''s knife in the Santoku because I went on the site to add it to my registry and there were a bunch of different ones that have this name and I got a little overwhelmed. I registered for the Classic Wusthof knife block which I think is a good start, but am adding a few additional open stock ones and wanted to add the one you all are raving about. Thank you!

 

[Maisie]

I had a quick look around for knives today and came away with a frying pan

 

[Octavia]

Date: 11/5/2009 5:53:41 AM
Author: sba771
This is going to sound silly but can someone show me a link on bed bath and beyond site to the Wusthof chef''s knife in the Santoku because I went on the site to add it to my registry and there were a bunch of different ones that have this name and I got a little overwhelmed. I registered for the Classic Wusthof knife block which I think is a good start, but am adding a few additional open stock ones and wanted to add the one you all are raving about. Thank you!

sba, here is the link to the two-piece set: Wusthof Santoku Set

The smaller knife only: 5" Santoku

The larger knife only: Classic Santoku

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Hi Maisie, did you get your knives yet?

If not, maybe take a look at Global knives? I have three of them and they''re the best I''ve tried so far. I have used them a lot over the last 10 or so years and they''re holding up well. They''re also really nicely balanced and comfortable to work with. They are maybe a little over budget, I think they were around £80 for the big and serrated ones and maybe around £60 for the smaller one, but I''d say they were well worth it. I didn''t buy them all at once, btw. I got along fine for quite a while with just one of their medium sized chef''s knives, which my mother now has.

I have three - big one, small one, serrated one. I''ve never needed anything else.

I know they''re available in the UK.

Jen

 

[sba771]

Date: 11/5/2009 11:07:25 AM
Author: Octavia

Date: 11/5/2009 5:53:41 AM

Author: sba771

This is going to sound silly but can someone show me a link on bed bath and beyond site to the Wusthof chef''s knife in the Santoku because I went on the site to add it to my registry and there were a bunch of different ones that have this name and I got a little overwhelmed. I registered for the Classic Wusthof knife block which I think is a good start, but am adding a few additional open stock ones and wanted to add the one you all are raving about. Thank you!

sba, here is the link to the two-piece set: Wusthof Santoku Set


The smaller knife only: 5'' Santoku


The larger knife only: Classic Santoku

AMAZING!!! Thank you! They are being added. Thank goodness my FI likes knives and isn''t giving me a hard time for these- picking out pots and pans with him was one of the hardest things. Now he is happy to have more knives to play with. Thank you!!

 

[Mara]

maisie if you are on a budget (aren't we all?!?!), sur la table does email promos on knives a lot. i got a 8 piece set of wustof about a month ago from them, it had 4 knives, a block, scissors and sharpening for $150. i think shipping was free. it took FOREVER To arrive since i guess they sell out of them really fast but i used them for the first time last week and cut some skin off my fingertip accidentally so they are super sharp hahah. you will have to buy more knives piecemeal to add to your block but it's a good starter kit IMO if you don't want to pay $500 or $800 for a set.

my friend who loves to cook splurged on the shun knives from WS...wow those were pricy. i am not sure i need that much knife power. also as Freke says, the best way to go if you are going to get good knives is a 'full tang' which means the metal goes all the way through and will make a much stronger knife in the long run.

also i think sur la table does knife sharpening free once a quarter or something? sometimes places do this. oh and i just got the sur la table wustof promo email again like a week ago so maybe check their site. oh and one more thing, you might want to take a knife class, as in how to use them. i use them ALL WRONG... but it's a hard habit to break, how to hold it, how to place your hand etc. sur la table does these classes too OR if you just take one of their classes on cooking, a lot of times they will show you correct knife techniques during the cutting.

 

[Maisie]

Thanks for that Mara. I looked on the website and the prices are great. I need to find out if they ship to the UK. I signed up for the email notifications and it asked for my zip code. I had to use the only US zip code I know... 90210

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Maisie - you''ve gotten some great advice in here. Get into a store that sells a bunch of different knives and find a handle/weight/balance that''s comfortable for you. I prefer the traditional 3 rivet construction, but a lot of people love the Global handle, and some love Shun''s rounded.

Here''s an incredibly in depth review on kitchen knives that I always point people to: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/129/Chefs-Knives-Rated

I own a couple of Henckels blocks, but they''re the International line, and tend to develop rust spots. I only really need and use 2 chef''s knives, one 180mm for me, a 240mm for my husband, and a Santoku! Also a paring and a serated knife. I love my Hattoris. http://japanesechefsknife.com/

Here''s a you can check out for good pricing on popular brands - http://www.cutleryandmore.com/cutlery.htm?src=Yahoo&cam=Chef+Knives&kw={keyword}&OVRAW=chef%20knife&OVKEY=chef%20knife&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=38588518022&OVKWID=171567602022

 

[Karl_K]

Everyone should have on of these:
I use it about 90% of the time for just about anything but chopping and I have had it ~20 years
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015ZOQJU/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0015ZQLXO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0KPH0CPPK6Q5XKSQHEQJ

 

[Lynn B]

Great hobby, Maisie! And you get to eat what you make... it''s win/win!

And I vote Wusthof, too. Awesome knives.

I have a whole block full of them, but you know, I think I could do just about ANYTHING in my kitchen (and I cook, A LOT!) with just my Santoku, my serrated bread knife, and a paring knife. You really don''t need a dozen knives. A few well chosen, high quality ones, and you are *ALL SET*!

 

[JulieN]

Date: 11/7/2009 10:55:55 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
Maisie - you've gotten some great advice in here. Get into a store that sells a bunch of different knives and find a handle/weight/balance that's comfortable for you. I prefer the traditional 3 rivet construction, but a lot of people love the Global handle, and some love Shun's rounded.


Here's an incredibly in depth review on kitchen knives that I always point people to: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/129/Chefs-Knives-Rated


I own a couple of Henckels blocks, but they're the International line, and tend to develop rust spots. I only really need and use 2 chef's knives, one 180mm for me, a 240mm for my husband, and a Santoku! Also a paring and a serated knife. I love my Hattoris. http://japanesechefsknife.com/


Here's a you can check out for good pricing on popular brands - http://www.cutleryandmore.com/cutlery.htm?src=Yahoo&cam=Chef+Knives&kw={keyword}&OVRAW=chef%20knife&OVKEY=chef%20knife&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=38588518022&OVKWID=171567602022

Which Hattori series do you have? I like the FH series though I think the micarta handles look a little cheap, so maybe I'll go for the HD gyuto.