• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

She wants knives

Vintage Gent

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2003
Messages
2,724
Reaction score
31
Mrs. Vintage Gent has asked for a decent set of knives for the Officially Sanctioned Winter Solstice Holiday. Our current set is a 15-year-old department store purchase--the kind with serrated edges. It does the job, but not by much.

So what to get? I cook only once or twice a week, so I'm almost completely clueless about such things.

(1) It has to be something I can purchase over the WebberNetz.
(2) It has to be something we can maintain easily; I'm not averse to honing a knife, but I'd prefer to do it as infrequently as possible.
(3) It has to be Not Too Costly. My wife likes to cook, but isn't by any means obsessed by the activity, so I'd prefer something of relatively modest price.
 

Thomas

Stylish Dinosaur
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
28,098
Reaction score
1,279
First option: Victorinox / Forschner. Check the restaurant supply stores first, then the on-line places. Sharp out of the box, inexpensive, not too precious so that you worry about breaking them. 8" chefs' knife should run $25 or so.

Second option: Tojiro DP Gyotou knives, or Togiharo Gyotou knives. Check Korin.com - these are a step up from the Forschners in performance and price. Wickedly sharp out of the box - lock these suckers up if you have small children. Japenese steel takes a bit more work to sharpen but holds an edge longer. 210 cm chef's knife runs $50-60 or so. You will need to baby these a bit to avoid discoloration - this means wash and dry right after using.

You can do nearly anything with an 8" chef's knife and a paring knife, but others are nice to have when you are doing heavy cooking and don't want to clean the knife after each use. Also, get a ceramic steel to keep the edge properly aligned.

Good luck!
 

Dakota rube

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
13,306
Reaction score
237
Originally Posted by Vintage Gent
...Officially Sanctioned Winter Solstice Holiday...
You are a truly funny man.

As to your question: my ex has a set of Wustoff. Cost aside (I think she spent +$1000), they seem to be decent knives. Demonstrating my own fiscal realities, I recently "upgraded" to a pretty nice set by the can opener company, OXO.
confused.gif
 

DNW

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
9,976
Reaction score
6
I highly recommend what I'm using now, a set of Henckels Professional S. A 10-piece set can be had for around $300, which I feel is quite reasonable.
 

hamish5178

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
875
Reaction score
327
You might want to ask your wife if she really wants a set. I'd much rather have a single $130 Global than an equivalently priced 12 piece set, half of which won't be used.

I recommend Global over Henckels, I prefer the way they feel, and the entire knife is a single piece of metal (although Henckels may make some knives like that as well?).

edit: I have two Globals, a 7.5" Hollow Ground Santoku, and an 8.5" Serrated Bread Knife. I also have the OXO knife set which I purchased many years ago. Except for the paring knife it's still going strong!
 

MrDaniels

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
3,649
Reaction score
430
Originally Posted by hamish5178
You might want to ask your wife if she really wants a set. I'd much rather have a single $130 Global than an equivalently priced 12 piece set, half of which won't be used.

+1

It's far better to mix and match...believe me, no professional chef has a matched set. Each manufacturer has some they do better than others.
 

goodlife

Senior Member
Joined
May 15, 2008
Messages
202
Reaction score
1
I have a 12pc. set of Chicago Cuttelry that are 5 years old. Quality wise they are just a little behind Henckles and Wusthof, but I got a really good deal. Still I find that we only really use the Chef's Knife, bread knike (also great for tomatos), and the larger of the 2 paring knives (2.5 in. I believe. A couple times a year we also use the carving knife, but I would almost rather have a knife/server set for special occasions.

I understand you would rather order online, but I have recently seen a lot of Wusthof and Henckles at Marshalls and TJMax. I fact I am giving three Wusthof knives to my brother for the sanctioned solstice holiday.
 

Manton

RINO
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
41,314
Reaction score
2,879
Forschner is the best cheap knife, period.

Of the ubiquitous Germans, I prefer Wusthof (sadly, I own Henkels).

For kick ass knives, Shun.
icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif
 

gdl203

Purveyor of the Secret Sauce
Affiliate Vendor
Dubiously Honored
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
45,595
Reaction score
54,356

Renault78law

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2003
Messages
2,125
Reaction score
69
Originally Posted by Thomas
First option: Victorinox / Forschner. Check the restaurant supply stores first, then the on-line places. Sharp out of the box, inexpensive, not too precious so that you worry about breaking them. 8" chefs' knife should run $25 or so.


Thomas and Manton are right, these are the best knives on the low end. Not giftable, however. I agree with the other posters that recommended against getting a set. Go with a Shun kitchen knife and a good paring knife, and you are good to go.
 

Thomas

Stylish Dinosaur
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
28,098
Reaction score
1,279
Originally Posted by Manton
Forschner is the best cheap knife, period.

Of the ubiquitous Germans, I prefer Wusthof (sadly, I own Henkels).

For kick ass knives, Shun.
icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif




Originally Posted by gdl203
3 words for you: Cutleryandmore.com. Clearance. Section

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=2572

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=1207


etc...


That santoku set is a steal. Good knife, too.

Originally Posted by Renault78law
Thomas and Manton are right, these are the best knives on the low end. Not giftable, however. I agree with the other posters that recommended against getting a set. Go with a Shun kitchen knife and a good paring knife, and you are good to go.

I was starting at the low end, but if the budget allows, I'd agree with Manton and Renault - go with Shun.
 

gdl203

Purveyor of the Secret Sauce
Affiliate Vendor
Dubiously Honored
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
45,595
Reaction score
54,356
Originally Posted by Thomas
That santoku set is a steal. Good knife, too.
They also have tons of separate knives (not only sets) in the clearance section.

All the free stuff is also true - I was surprised to see free Wusthof sharpener, cheese knife and cutting board in the box when I ordered a Wusthof set at deep discount last year. No coupons or other BS hoops to jump through to get that stuff...
 

Manton

RINO
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
41,314
Reaction score
2,879
Originally Posted by Renault78law
Thomas and Manton are right, these are the best knives on the low end. Not giftable, however. I agree with the other posters that recommended against getting a set. Go with a Shun kitchen knife and a good paring knife, and you are good to go.

Very important point. They are good workhorse knives but they look "cheap." The blades are really flexible (great for a filet knife, not so great for others), the steel is not that high quality, and the handles are a rather pedestrian molded plastic with a visible seam. A lady might be forgiven for thinking that hubby Scrooged her.

The Kraut knives, however, are lovely to look at and have real heft. Shuns are gorgeous.
 

Thomas

Stylish Dinosaur
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
28,098
Reaction score
1,279
Originally Posted by Manton
Very important point. They are good workhorse knives but they look "cheap." The blades are really flexible (great for a filet knife, not so great for others), the steel is not that high quality, and the handles are a rather pedestrian molded plastic with a visible seam. A lady might be forgiven for thinking that hubby Scrooged her.

The Kraut knives, however, are lovely to look at and have real heft. Shuns are gorgeous.


I was about to defend the Forschner series with the Rosewood handles, but...again the blade is flexible and the steel is good but not great. Also I hate the finish. Give me the brushed look every time - and at some point I'll address that with the current knives.

About heft - Mrs. Thomas goes straight to her santoku for its lightness. Not that she does a ton of chopping, but she's not the sort to easily muscle around a 8-inch Wusthof for long stretches. Just a thought.

But the Shuns...yeah, if the budget will cover Shun and Mrs. VG isn't accident-prone, I wouldn't think twice.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.7%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 39.3%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 15 10.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.3%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.3%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,124
Messages
10,578,693
Members
223,880
Latest member
EdvardHelene
Top