Best kitchen knives?

[Born2Fish]

Kitchen supply store or online places that carry Forschner Victornox. They are excellent knives at a very affordable price. They are stamped not forged which saves money.

Cook's Illustrated has awarded their 8" chef's knife their top seal of approval year after year. They sell very affordable yet very good quality knives. I agree that spending an arm and a leg will get you a great quality knife you can pass down. But if you are like myself and dont have 1000 bucks to throw on a good set of knives, Victorinox Forschner are a great brand to buy. I think most of their knives come in at under 30 dollars apiece and you will be very happy you purchased the knives. I especially like their 10 1/4" serrated bread knife. It can cut through almost everything and is delicate enough for good HOT homemade bread and even tomatoes.

[McGurk]

Bump to the top, as I would like some more input from recent posters that may have not added their 2 cents yet.

I am looking into a new chef's knife and posssibly a slicing knife also, but on a budget. There is a 3 peice set of the Victorinox Fibrox handled knives for $60 that includes a 10" Chef's, 8" slicing, and 4 3/4" utility knife. Any thoughts?

[OnAFly]

We got a Calphalon full set for a wedding gift. They are pretty decent knives. I don't like the bread knife at all. The serrations are so large, it's pretty much worthless on bread as they just grab and tear. I like the rest of the set though. The paring knife is a little long, but it's useable.

My one complaint about the set is that they must have warped during a manufacturing process. Every one of them has a very slight bend to the left which begins where the blade was ground down. It's barely noticeable, but still bugs me.

[c0untryf1sh3r]

I bought a Chicago Cutlery set about 5 years ago and am very pleased with it. Full tang, the wood handles great for not slipping when wet, holds and edge through everything. The 10" chef's knife is a little long IMO, wish it was an 8 or 8 1/2". Otherwise its a solid set.

[OnAFly]

I liked the CC knives I've had in the past too.

[Scott K]

I have had a set of Cutco knives for a few years now. They are very sharp, and I throw them in the dish washer all the time. I have never had to sharpen them, or send them in for new handles. In fact, I was going to order a new fillet knife from them for this spring, and now that I seen this topic, it reminded me, so I will place the order now

Are there sharper knives out there? Sure, does the average person need the sharpest knife? I dont, the edge that is on the Cutco knives can easily slice through anything I need it to with no effert at all, and they cut just as good as they did when they were new. Why would you want to buy a knife that you have to wash by hand, and resharpen after every use? I would rather treat it like I do all my other utensils, and just throw it in the dishwasher when dirty, then take it out and put it away when clean, all ready to be used again another day. No sharpening, or hand washing needed.

[Moose]

I have Chicago Cutlery and I love them. They are soft enough to take a good edge yet hard enough to hold an edge. I got away from the wood handles and bought a 10" chef with the black plastic handles. I always wondered about cutting raw meat and the grabbing onto a wood handle. I sharpen them 1 time a year with the 25 degree Lansky sharpening system then hit them every month with the steel and they are perfect. The wife bought an 8" Good Chef Chefs knife all I have to say is JUNK..

[reinhard1]

McGurk Victorinox used to be Forschner brand. dont have any with the name Victorinox on them but they will be the next i order. still using the former Forshner brand that i got before i left the buisness. the name has changed but not the quality and they are still the same knives. just have to keep an edge on them and use a steel once in awhile. for the money they are quality knives in my opinion. good luck.

[Tom Linderholm]

For the money, I would say the best knife out there, for both kitchen and home use is the Wustof Classic Series. Time after time my staff asks for recomendations and that is where I steer them. Most people won't need more than a 8" chefs knife, there are rare times you will use anything bigger.

Over my career I have owned 5 Wustof's, they typically have gotten me 7-10 years before they go in the junk drawer from being sharpened regularly and losing their rocker. Then again, mine are typically running through 50+ lbs of meat, vegetables and potatoes a day on average.

Currently in my knife bag I carry 3 knives that I can do just about any job with. A 10-inch Wustof for tough and rough jobs, a 8-inch Masahiro for more delicate knife work such as fine slicing and breaking down fish and a 6-inch Masahiro for pairing and garnish. The Masahiro knives are unusual as the are a Molybdenum Vanadium stainless steel. Holds a amazing edge with a beveled edge, clean up nice but take a little work to maintain the edge.

End of the day, it's what you feel comfortable you can afford. Wustof makes a solid knife, I would put Henckel knives as the next economic choice.

[Chef]

For the money, I would say the best knife out there, for both kitchen and home use is the Wustof Classic Series. Time after time my staff asks for recomendations and that is where I steer them. Most people won't need more than a 8" chefs knife, there are rare times you will use anything bigger.

Over my career I have owned 5 Wustof's, they typically have gotten me 7-10 years before they go in the junk drawer from being sharpened regularly and losing their rocker. Then again, mine are typically running through 50+ lbs of meat, vegetables and potatoes a day on average.

Currently in my knife bag I carry 3 knives that I can do just about any job with. A 10-inch Wustof for tough and rough jobs, a 8-inch Masahiro for more delicate knife work such as fine slicing and breaking down fish and a 6-inch Masahiro for pairing and garnish. The Masahiro knives are unusual as the are a Molybdenum Vanadium stainless steel. Holds a amazing edge with a beveled edge, clean up nice but take a little work to maintain the edge.

End of the day, it's what you feel comfortable you can afford. Wustof makes a solid knife, I would put Henckel knives as the next economic choice.

+1

[archerystud]

For the money, I would say the best knife out there, for both kitchen and home use is the Wustof Classic Series.

+2

I liked mine so much it made me go out and buy the Wustof fillet knife as well!

[McGurk]

Well, I decided to go with a couple of Victorinox Forschner knives, a 12" slicing knife to handle a lot of my cooked meat work, and a 7" Santoku knive for most of my cutting board chores. They both have "Granton" edges which I have not worked with before but from what I have read and saw they will be nice.

Thanks for the input to all, and if I had a couple benjamin's laying around I might get into some nicer knives, but I have a good feeling about these for now. I'll post back after I have used them if I still have fingers to type with...

[Chef]

I hope you can fillet a "great white" Mr. Quint! Enjoy your new knives...