High end kitchen knives (Page 2)

 Henckels set here. I love the santoku for just about everything. It really does not do well for carving roasts and fowl. Carving knife is a must there. As someone else posted, plese don't put them in the dishwasher!!!!!! I have a wood and a plastic composite cutting board, don't use glass.

We have an 8" Cutco chef's knife that lost its edge on a glass cutting board - my mistake! I ran it through the steel to see if it just needed honed but it needs sharpened - the edge is completely gone. My wife said they're never supposed to get dull, which doesn't make sense to me because metal is metal and it do what it do. Every knife gets dull, even Wusthof, Henckels, Fibrox, Shun, etc. Anyway, that was a pretty good knife, albeit a pretty thick guy. I'm going to get it sharpened and give it another chance in the next month or so.

I'm now loving my new Henckels 7" Santoku that I got for my birthday a month ago. Nice and sharp [and I run it through the steel every 3 days or so, I need to get a longer steel] and have NEVER put it in the dishwasher. Look at the video on Bradword's post - like he said it is very informative, regardless of the knife you choose.

After getting my online subscription to Cooks Illustrated I looked through many an equipment review and they can't shut up about the Forschner Victorinox Fibrox Chef's Knife. A steal on Amazon right now at $21.99. They said it beats the knives that cost almost $200.00 and it won in three different tests; against expensive, inexpensive, and innovative chef's knives. It's something I'm definitely going to try out in the future to see what the hubbub is about!

Thanks for all the great information everyone!

I ran out at lunchtime to check out the knives at Linens-n-Things, which is going out of business and has everything at 50% off. As luck would have it, they had a nice Henckels set (the Twin Cuisine line) which included a santoku and chef's knife, a serrated knife, paring knife, scissors, and a sharpening steel. They felt great in my hand, and even greater on my wallet since it was marked down from $399 to $369 plus I got 50% off that lower price, so for $180 I'll take it and be happy.

So is there a special technique to using the sharpening steel? I assume you just run the knife up and down it on an angle just like sharpening any other knife? 

I think I get the idea about the glass cutting board - now one of this weekend's projects will be to make a maple and cherry cutting board . 

Thanks again everyone!

Edited by Maine Rob 2008-12-12 2:20 PM

Coming from that - whatever along the lines you mentioned you get will rock your kitchen world.    I cannot believe people funcion with poor knives.  I was given a set of decent knives when I started grad school (they were 2nd hand as a friend has gotten married and upgraded).  I use them still 20 years later!

And glass cutting board?   gotta go.  dulls the knives in a flash!

 

ok -now I read the most recent posting.   enjoy them! 

Edited by bootygirl 2008-12-12 2:45 PM

Nice score! You'll definitely enjoy what you got. And if not, you can probably sell it on eBay for a small profit!

Re: honing steel - seriously, watch this video: http://www.altonbrown.com/shun/shun_flv_sm.html!!!!!

It covers a) knife/stainless steel materials b) blade angles c) cutting surfaces, d) proper cleaning, e) proper storage, and f) honing [not sharpening]. And it's only like 5 minutes long.

Ohman...

I don't know if I even want to get started in this thread, so I'm just going to offer my opinion, and not back it up. There's plenty of resources out there if anyone is inclined to investigate further, so here goes:

I use a 9.5 inch chef's knife for 95% of everything I do in the kitchen. You'll quickly get use to the length, and a longer knife changes the fulcrum, so as I chop, I actually have to lift it up less compared to a shorter knife.

I only need one nice knife, not a block of knives that cost $500.

I have an old german knife, very nice, cost a bunch at the time, but I don't use it much anymore.

I now use a japanese brand chef's knife, made with better steel than my Wusthof, and it was cheaper. As a bonus, they are lighter too, which makes a longer (IMHO better) Japanese-style knife feel like a shorter German.

Try taking a look at Korin, a NY retailer. They have a Tojiro brand "gyutou" (chef's knife) for around $70.

Edit to add: The Henckles that you got are still GREAT knives that will last generations - my german was inherited from my grandfather. Enjoy.

Edited by 11hr 2008-12-16 8:40 AM

I have a full set of lesser known brand kitchen knives and love them.  When I first got it, I used the chef's knife more often than the santoku.  Now, I use the santoku almost exclusively.  I hand clean and hone my knives after every use.