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Best bang for the buck chef's knife?

fuzzybabybunny

fuzzybabybunny

Moderator<br>Digital & Video Cameras
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Looking to get a new super sharp chef's knife. Any other choices other than the standard Calphalon, Henckels, etc that's on par with them or even better but cheaper?
 
If you have any friends that have an account at a restaurant supply house (place around here is called Restaurant Depot) you can get some great stuff at reduced prices.
 
Depends on how often you cook, and even what you're normally cooking I'd wager. Tailoring to the crowd here, It's like a person asking "what's the best PC that I can get for the money?" What are you going to do with it, and how often?

How often do you cook?
Is this for a specific function, or as a general kitchen knife?

As another poster mentioned, I heard that the Victorinox knives aren't too shabby for the price. Of course, I have a kick-ass Chinese chef's knife my bro brought over from China . . . 😀
 
You can sharpen most knives (any decent one really), so initial sharpness isn't so important. You want to look for size, weight, balance, and quality of construction (handle/steel/etc).
 
0roo0roo said:
does it really matter?
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Yes, a good knife makes a difference. That being said though, for the vast majority of us we won't notice the difference between a good but cheaper knife and a much more expensive knife in our day to day cooking.

OP, what may make an even bigger difference for you is to either learn how to sharpen knifes yourself or get them sharpened every once and a while. There's a place nearby that does a decent job for a few bucks a knife. It makes a HUGE difference.
 
Howard said:
this one

alternative is probably a good chinese cleaver, if you have a chinatown nearby
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yes that victorinix/forschner is a good one, they used to even sell those at bed bath and beyond. use one of those 20% coupons they send in the mail every week and its even cheaper.

there are also cheaper forged henckels knives ("international") that are made in spain rather than germany. they used to even sell then at target. an 8 inch chefs knife is around $40 and they used to be quite nice quality, with good quality metal, unlike calphalon knives with are low quality and are made of poor quality metal.

in my opinion it is worth it to buy the german or french knives. they arent that expensive, around $80 for a set with an 8 inch chefs knife and a paring knife , but i dont think they will let you use the bed bath and beyond coupon on them.

the chinese cleaver is a really good idea as well. i like the dexter ones that are used in most of the restaurants. the entire blade is tapered. they are about $30-40 at amazon. they are american made so you dont have to worry about things like lead content, unlike with the cheaper ones youd find in chinatown
 
kamikazekyle said:
I'll bite and let you know how it is next week unless someone posts sooner. Even if it sucks for actual cooking knives, I have a few beater knives that I can use it on if it even works remotely okay-ish.
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those things dont work, they actually ruin/dull your knives. the chefs choice electric sharpeners work well as long as you dont use them too often
 
I like Global chef knife. Weight and balance of Japanese knife just feels right. I'm not a fan of heavy and bulky German knives.
 
my vote goes to the miracle blade. It is a very sharp blade. Even if you should encounter god, god will be cut.
 
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