Competition knives

I am still using the Victornox knives that were used by my grandfather who was a butcher and that was 50 years ago. I bought some of them to fill out what I needed over the last few years and they are the best for the price.

I use the Mad Cow Cutlery and am very impressed with them. Now I would love to have one of those fancy brisket slicers, but wife won't let me pull the trigger on it.

We had a big discussion on this at a class this weekend. My Opinion FWIW:

You can do an entire KCBS event with an 8 inch chef's knife if you have some knife skills. You can acquire some knife skills by taking a class and spending a little time practicing on a bag of potatoes and some chicken thighs. If you are comfortable with your knife and it's sharp you can do it. Does a slicer (especially mine:becky make it easier? You bet. I would happily only take 3 sharp knives to an event: An 8 inch chef's, a 6 inch flexible utility(also mine, but hey:wink a slicer and a pair of kitchen scissors. In fact that's what I carry with the addition on a 7 inch flat bladed Nakiri style vegetable knife for trimming and scraping chicken (yeah, it's a vegetable knife but don't knock it until you've tried it. The blade configuration makes trimming and scraping chicken a breeze.

Add a good ceramic hone"steel" to that package and you have a great KCBS kit that won't break the bank. I use Wusthofs, but any good grade will do. I choose the German knives over the Japanese partially on price and partially on the face that I can catch a bone or a splinter with the German blades and not have to worry about chipping it. I want a blade that easy to sharpen and hard enough to hold a good edge for 5 or 6 events.

I use Forschners for trimming all four meats and Shuns for slicing, but other knives work as well. Knives being sharp and your comfort with them is key.

We have used the Victorinox/Forschner product for many years and have no complaints. A 6" Chef's, 8" Chef's, and a Granton Edge 12" slicer work perfect for us at competitions. Doesnt break the bank either.

Slamdunk brings up a great point though, it really can all be done with one 8" Chef's knife.

I've been using a set of Victorinox/Forschner for the past couple of years, my first knife from this set was the 14" slicer/graton edge and a 7" santuko, the rest of the set I got about a year later and it includes: 3-1/4-inch Parer, 5-inch Curved Boning, 8-inch Bread, 10-inch Meat Slicer, 10-inch Chef's, 10-inch Honing Steel, Canvas Knife Roll. Do I need all of these knives? No, but it's nice to know that I have them. These knives in my opinion are very good, they are actually better than the ones use every day at home, which is going to change very soon!!

Three knives are my core set for comps. Cuisinart 8" Chefs, 3" Paring (don't remember brand), and 12" Forschner for slicing.

I do have a Santuko (never use it), an extra paring (spare), and I just bought a 6" Chef's knife but I don't think I like it as much as the 8". I'm looking seriously at a Messermeister boning knife.

Great book on the subject, "An Edge in the Kitchen".

Russ

I agree with all of the above choices but I use a knife often that has not been mentioned and I'm a little surprised. One of my go to knives is an 8" boning knife that I keep razor sharp. Does anyone use a boning knife besides me for trimming meat?

smokeyw said:

I agree with all of the above choices but I use a knife often that has not been mentioned and I'm a little surprised. One of my go to knives is an 8" boning knife that I keep razor sharp. Does anyone use a boning knife besides me for trimming meat?

Click to expand...

I used to before I did the flex knife.

We are still using the same set of Forschners that I got for VQ after our very first class with QN4U: granton-edged slicer, santoku, boning knife, paring knife. We also keep a pair of poultry shears for doing odd jobs.

As mentioned above, it's not about how many different knives you have; it's about the knife being impeccably sharp, and you having a lot of practice under your belt, and a steady hand.

smokeyw said:

I agree with all of the above choices but I use a knife often that has not been mentioned and I'm a little surprised. One of my go to knives is an 8" boning knife that I keep razor sharp. Does anyone use a boning knife besides me for trimming meat?

Click to expand...

Yeah, thats one of my go-to knifes especially for trimming briskets. I use:

-10" chefs knife
- 8" flexible boning knife
- 12" Slicing knife - the MABBQ knife is great
- Kitchen Shears

lcbateman3 said:

I use the Mad Cow Cutlery and am very impressed with them. Now I would love to have one of those fancy brisket slicers, but wife won't let me pull the trigger on it.

Click to expand...

Does anyone know if Mad Cow Cutlery is still around? They let their domain expire.

I understand that you want to keep your kitchen knives at home. I would say that I was the same way. I do not know your current financial situation and don't know if buying a whole new set of knives is no problem. For me it was much cheaper to go and get a professional knife bag that every chef uses to take their knives to and from work. This way I can take the knives I am have already purchased and am comfortable with to and from a contest without spending an extra few hundred bucks. Just an idea....

cmohr74 - I know you have a Restaurant Depot right by you there near Chicago. Why don't you go in there and get some Dexter Russel knives? They are reasonably priced and will do the job for you without breaking the bank.

cmohr74 said:

Was just looking on the mad cow cutlery this morning. As posted earlier, they are having a big sale on white handle Mundial knives (up to 62% off)

Click to expand...

Where did you see it? Website is gone

This works for me. I just checked the site and ordered some knives last night.

http://www.madcowcutlery.com/