I also agree with Jenn and Ronnie.

Henkel knives used at home should last a lifetime used with a reasonable amount of care. One of my favorite and most enjoyable knives to use is a carbon steel 10" Dexter-Russell Chef's knife that I purchased 35 years ago which has survived 25 years of hard use in hotel and private club kitchens, sharpened professionally on a regular basis. Now I've retired it to home use only, but it's identical (almost, 12") sibling is still going strong and in my knife kit at work.

Over the years, I've had a few knives hit the floor and lost the tip completely. Even these can be re-configured by a good knife sharpener.

One or two of my knives however, have been ground down so far that they could pass as a shiv. Is this what you have?

So Elfin...if one Henckels knife sells for about $100.00 and up, what's your guess on the quality level of 12 and 14 piece sets and knife block selling for $80-100? I say cheap materials thrown together cheaply with a fancy label.

Zwilling JA Henckels still sells the Four-Star line:

http://www.zwilling.com/en/knife-series ... -3542.html

Note that JA Henckels International and Zwilling JA Henckels are two different operations. The logo of the former is a single stick figure. The logo of the latter is two conjoined stick figures. Avoid the former at all costs.

I have had the JA Henckels International set, produced in Japan for 20+ years. I think that they are a good set of knives for the average home cook and I am happy with them.

When I worked in the kitchen, I would buy the German knives.

When I took my knife skills class at Kendall College they said they recommend Victorinox, which I think Northwest Cutlery sells. I've been very pleased with my knives - particularly the weight and balance. Northwest also sells knife blade covers, which are helpful if your household just tosses them into a drawer.

Cook's Illustrated has recommended an à la carte knife set. I've used the Victorinox 12" chef's knife, and their serrated bread knife, for years and just love them.

Geo

The original poster may be interested in forged knives rather than stamped knives. The Victorinox knives, which I have, are stamped.

If a stamped knife is acceptable and you are looking at the ala carte knife set linked to above, you may want to consider the Victorinox bread knife over the Wusthof. The Victorinox bread knife seems to be of the same quality as much touted Victorinox chef's knife and sells for much less than the Wustohof.

These knives are very light in the hand and have molded handles. For those reasons I can see that they might not appeal to everyone. We have been very pleased with them.

bw77 wrote:The original poster may be interested in forged knives rather than stamped knives. The Victorinox knives, which I have, are stamped.

If a stamped knife is acceptable and you are looking at the ala carte knife set linked to above, you may want to consider the Victorinox bread knife over the Wusthof. The Victorinox bread knife seems to be of the same quality as much touted Victorinox chef's knife and sells for much less than the Wustohof.

These knives are very light in the hand and have molded handles. For those reasons I can see that they might not appeal to everyone. We have been very pleased with them.

I agree that the Victorinox stamped bread knives are awesome. I have one and I love it but I wouldn't want a whole set of stamped knives. Knowing that the OP seeks to replace her current set, I figured stamped would be a very big difference from what she has now, which is mainly why I suggested forged.

=R=

After buying the Victorinox (c. $30), I found myself using my 10" Zwilling less and less and less. I basically don't use it anymore. I *much* prefer the Victorinox bread knife to the German ones.

Geo

Thank you all for your posts and suggestions. I made a trip to the Henckels' outlet at the outlet mall in Aurora. Picked up a set of 4 star consisting of a large Chef's knife, tomato knife and a 4 inch parer for $100 less 25%. I am very happy as I really got what I want and needed. The store is going to have a huge sale for the Black Friday fiasco.

Henckels has a lifetime warranty, I'd suggest shipping your old ones back to the company and waiting to see if they will replace them.

I've sent a number of mine over the years back for cracked handles and they have replaced them in a matter of a couple of weeks.

Great company!

Looking around for a new kitchen knife, and the question occurred to me: What are some of LTH cooks' favorite kitchen knives? Are you using Japanese or Western-style knives? Do you have a 'daily driver' knife, or do you have lots of knives around?

I have a Richmond Artifex Gyuto (that I've been increasingly unhappy with), as well as various Henckels knives from a knife block set bought years back (which I mostly use to practice sharpening, but have become fairly useful as a result).

What about you all? And, are you thinking about purchasing anything new in the future?

I have been using Global knives for a while now and have been very happy. They hold an edge very well

My biggest regret is buying one of those Wusthoff knife block sets instead of buying the ones I actually use individually. My younger self was overly exuberant about paying off my student loans and finally having disposable income instead of thinking through what I actually needed.

In order of use, my favorite knives are:

1. 10" Wusthoff Chefs Knife
2. 3" Wusthoff paring knife
3. 5" Kyocera ceramic utility knife
4. 12" Wusthofff bread knife
5. 5" Wusthoff utility knife

I'm very happy with my chefs knife, but If I had to do it over, I'd swap out the steel paring knife with a ceramic one, the ceramic utility knife with a steel one, and my stupidly expensive bread knife with a cheaper model. Thus, my ideal lineup would consist of:

1. 10" Wusthoff chefs kife
2. 3" Kyocera ceramic paring knife
3. 5" Wusthoff utility knife
4. 12" generic bread knife

One thing I'm very satisfied with is my electric knife sharpener. That was well worth the money.

Shun 8" chef's knife and 6" utility knife (Shun's smallish round handles work well for my lady hands)
Global boning knife
Serrated Bread Knife

I have probably 15 other knives, some decent quality (I still have the Wustof set I received as a wedding gift 20 years ago) but rarely use them unless I have other people over to cook (and then they get the 2nd team !!)

I toy with the idea of buying a good cleaver--it's the only glaring omission in my drawer--but since I've gotten along without it until now, I haven't been motivated to purchase. Keep the knives in good condition and I've found I just don't need more than the 4 mentioned above.

My go-to knife is almost double the price I paid for it years ago, but at $31 it's still pretty affordable. It's not pretty, though - the carbon steel darkens with age, and it has to be dried right away after washing it - otherwise it can get a little rust. But it's easy to sharpen, and holds a sharp edge a long time.

rtb178 wrote:Looking around for a new kitchen knife, and the question occurred to me: What are some of LTH cooks' favorite kitchen knives? Are you using Japanese or Western-style knives? Do you have a 'daily driver' knife, or do you have lots of knives around?

I have a Richmond Artifex Gyuto (that I've been increasingly unhappy with), as well as various Henckels knives from a knife block set bought years back (which I mostly use to practice sharpening, but have become fairly useful as a result).

What about you all? And, are you thinking about purchasing anything new in the future?

For the past 5 years, 95% of my cooking prep has been done with a cheap Shi Ba Zi Chinese cleaver. Push cutting, draw slicing, rock chopping, all are no problem for this workhorse. When it gets dull, 5 minutes on the stone gets it ready to go again.

This is a thin-bladed meat and vegetable slicer, not a thick bone cutter, making it roughly equivalent to a standard Western chef's knife. I find it much more useful however, because the wide blade functions as a scoop for moving cut ingredients off the board and int the pan. It also gives you a wider area for smashing garlic.

Mine looks like this but a lot uglier and more scratched up:

It's one of my most treasured possessions.

I've used my initial 3 Globals(chef's, utility, paring) for nearly 15 years. I added a Global cleaver(heavy duty for bone work) 4 years ago. These knives are ephemeral and allow considerable finesse. Well, the cleaver is it's own beast; it doesn't get to live with the other knives. I rely on my Global chef's knife for virtually everything. I bought a mid-line Cuisinart a few years ago and rarely touch it; I'm trying to delegate some tasks to it(like making chive oil last night). Anyway, yay! Globals. I initially used a manual sharpening wheel, graduated to a water stone. Haven't felt the need for a steel or strop.

I'll be the wet blanket

I never spend more than $50 on a knife and I love Dexter-Russel.
The Sani-Safe line is the one I prefer but here's a basic 10" chef's knife for just over $30.
These take and hold and edge very will easily last your lifetime.

Victorinox 10" chef, Chicago boning, Victorinox paring and bread. Plus an old, old Sabatier 4" carbon steel, wood-handled curiosity I got at BHV-Paris forty years ago: I can put a razor edge on this thing which is really useful in some situations.

Used to be all-German, all the time. Prefer the lighter, sharper, easier-to-manipulate Swiss knives now.

Geo

I have far too many knives. I've bought quite a few, but friends and family also buy me knives as presents all the time, actually far to frequently.

Most of the knives I use daily are Forschner/Victorinox, and I've got at least 2 or 3 of them in the main types (chef's, boning, santoku, and paring). The knives that I always have within an arms reach in the kitchen are:

- 10" Forschner/Victorinox chef's knife (fibrox handle)
- 10" Global Chef's knife
- 7" Forschner/Victorinox granton edge Santoku (fibrox handle)
- 5.5" Global vegetable knife
- 6" Forschner/Victorinox curved boning knife (semi flexible, rosewood handle)
- Global 3" paring knife
- 5" Forschner/Victorinox mini chef's knife
- 8" Wusthoff carving knife

I've got a lot more, including a few Shun and Tojiros, but the ones above are the main ones I use.

Cool, this is really interesting. Keep them coming, if anyone hasn't weighed in.

I'm certainly no knife geek, but after buying the Richmond I found I was happier using a lighter knife around the kitchen, as opposed to our heavier Henckels chef's knife. The knife seems to have some grind problems, and I'm having a surprisingly difficult time keeping it sharp. So I've been looking around for good value Japanese-style knives. Any recommendations? Think I might head to Northwestern Cutlery next time I'm in Chicago.

I think I'm a knife spaz. I bought a Victorinox 10" chef's knife based on an LTH recommendation, loved the blade, but I cut myself on at least four occasions with the damn thing. The majority of my knives are Henckels and Shun, so I suppose my questionable dexterity and crummy knife skills are simply better suited to a heavier weapon. That said, the Victorinox was a great value - and holy moly could that thing cut. Believe me, I've got the scars.

I got my 2 Shuns from Woot--pretty sure they offer semi-regularly. Might want to subscribe to their email list if you think these might be a good option for you. I want to say that my 2 knives together were under $120 or something like that. It was a VERY good deal.

Thread leading me to it was here in case it's helpful. viewtopic.php?p=269074

I have a one-time hiker's fascination with Swiss Army knives and similar handy gadgets but no such fascination with kitchen knives. My set meets all my needs and my eye is --- so far --- never drawn to more. I have a set of three wooden-handled Chicago Cutlery knives that are approaching 30 years old that I got when I bought my first house, a block of knives (can't remember what brand, so obviously not one of the big expensive brands) that we got for a wedding present 8 years ago, and a few Joyce Chen knives: one a cleaver and two all-purpose knives with blades about 4 inches long. The Chicago Cutlery knives are starting to get a little thin from sharpening, but I think they've got years of useful life left.

That said, above, about no fascination with kitchen knives in the sense of acquiring them, I do enjoy using knives and other kitchen utensils and gadgets that have sentimental value, such as those I've bought as travel souvenirs. The three Joyce Chen knives I have I bought at the Dean & DeLuca in Foggy Bottom. The fact that the other knives I have were gifts from family members make them special to me.

Luckyguy wrote:I think I'm a knife spaz. I bought a Victorinox 10" chef's knife based on an LTH recommendation, loved the blade, but I cut myself on at least four occasions with the damn thing. The majority of my knives are Henckels and Shun, so I suppose my questionable dexterity and crummy knife skills are simply better suited to a heavier weapon. That said, the Victorinox was a great value - and holy moly could that thing cut. Believe me, I've got the scars.

I have a Victorinox slicer that I used for smoked brisket and it cuts through even a chilled one "like buttah". Also excellent for precise surgical amputation of fingertips.

These posts remind me that I've learned the painful way never to leave knives in the sink to be washed up with other dishes. Now I always wash them and put them away right away. Not for the knives' sake -- for mine.

Katie wrote:These posts remind me that I've learned the painful way never to leave knives in the sink to be washed up with other dishes. Now I always wash them and put them away right away. Not for the knives' sake -- for mine.

In my previous life as a deli trainer for an up-market grocer, I never cut myself during training sessions. I was lucky enough to always gingerly pick up chefs' blades (many edge toward my palm) from sink basins and retain my digits. Previous to one grand opening I picked a knife up out of a cloudy sink, turned to face the new crew(new manager in view), and barked, never put knives in the sink!!! I instructed them how to store dirty knives if they couldn't clean them and rack them that moment, and took a break. Cooled off, I returned to find that in my brief absence the new manager had p-touched labels all around the sinks,

"NO KNIVES IN THE SINK!"

I suppose this is as good a time as any to link to the Kitchen Accidents thread.

I still cringe when I read through it. Pardon the narcissistic self-reference, but I stand by my comment there:

Independent George wrote:On the plus side, I can now attest to the efficacy of the Chefs Choice 130 Professional sharpening station. The blade was so sharp, I barely noticed it carving through my flesh!

I was wondering if anyone else here took the plunge for the Misen Kickstarter last fall? I got mine today, and took some photos when unboxing (over on my blog at https://mamagotcha.wordpress.com/2016/1 ... -unboxing/ ... I would have posted here, but photos and links are still not being cooperative for me here on LTH).

This is the knife that Kenji Alt-Lopez called "the holy grail" of knives, featuring “(i)ncredible quality and design, high-end materials, perfect balance, and a razor-sharp edge.” All for a mere $60... and a year's wait.

I don't know enough about knives to have an informed opinion, but so far it's been fun to use and feels great. I'd love to hear from anyone else who got one, as well!

Tnx Mama-g,

I've used the Victorinox ever since Kenji recommended it when he was at Cook's. Recently, he recommended a Japanese bread knife as better than the Victorinox bread knife, so I ordered it. It is *simply amazing*! What a wonderful knife. With his recommendation, and your seconding, of the Misen, obviously I've got to order it. Which I will now do. Thank you!

Geo