Which brand of kitchen knives should I get?

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Apex

Originally posted by: Kaervak
Wow, I think I'm the only Shun whore on this forum. Damned expensive, but I really like them. And as others have said, unless you like wasting money or dream of being Super Chef, you can get by perfecly fine with an 8" Chef's Knife & 4" Paring Knife. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy any home sharpening devices. I've seen bad things happen to knives shaprened in those things. The only "sharpening" you should be doing at home is with a sharpening steel. And never cut on glass or a plate, kills the edge.

crappy German steel (58-60).

Probably not even.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: iamtrout
Ok, so looking at the Henckels stuff... all I probably really need are the 8" Chef's knife and a paring knife. For the paring knife I figure I can just use the knife on my leatherman multitool; I don't pare that much anyway, and those things I do pare I do with my leatherman.

But which Henckels? $50-$100 is a lot (for me) for a single knife. But if it'll last...

Pro S
Five Star
Four Star
Twin Select
Twin Cuisine
Twin Signature

I'm going to get forged, not stamped.

http://japanesechefsknife.com/DPSwdenSteelWoodenHandleSeries.html

Great starter Jap knives (I assume you'll be wanting the chef's knife/F-808). Do not cut through bone or frozen stuff or anything besides food, do not drop, do not put in dishwasher, do not use a typical steel, always store with an edge guard (the Tojiro knives come with one), always hand-wash immediately after using, etc.

Or if you have an Asian supermarket nearby, drop by and see if you can pick up a lightweight carbon steel Chan Chi Kee cleaver. Great value.

http://chanchikee.com/ChineseKnives.html - KF1301

EDIT: Cut only on a wood or plastic board.

 

[BoomerD]

Knives are yet another subject where in most cases, you get what you pay for. Inexpensive knives tend to be of lower quality than expensive knives..(duh)...but not all expensive knives are worth the cost. We have one of the Costco Henkels International sets. Not great, but good. Seems to be better quality than the old walnut handle Chicago Cutlery set they replaced. (which we used for over 15 yrs) I've considered replacing the HI set with a better quality set, but $400 is a bit steep for our useage, so probably these will do for a couple more years.
IME, the "Made in China" stuff is junk, and won't hold an edge nor last long even under normal use. Japanese steel is great nowdays, (used to be pure shens) then German steel, and MOST US steel is still better than much of the crap out there.