Forged or Stamped knives - Help me decide on a set.

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stepheneleven

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K so I am deciding which set of knives to buy at the moment. I know the immediate answer most people would give would be FORGED all the way, but these forshner-victorinox stamped knives look pretty interesting and got good reviews.

Here are the 2 sets I'm looking at:

FORGED: set ~ $125
http://www.amazon.com/Anolon-Advanc...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265955460&sr=1-1
they got unanimously great reviews on Amazon and other places on the web, dont know anyone personally that has them

STAMPED: set ~ $175
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Fibrox-8-Inch-Chefs-Knife/dp/B000638D32/ref=pd_sim_k_4
I would have to buy these piece by piece as they dont really sell them in a block set like the Anolon but I could build a comparable set to the forged for about $50 more. Has almost perfect reviews as well.

I am a knife noob. Does anyone have any advice to sway me one way or the other, what advantages over the other does each have? Does anyone have either of these specific sets? Please teach me about knives. If anyone has any other recommendations in the sub $200 range please feel free to speak up.

:confused:
 
Typically, forged is better, IMO. However, quality of material is what you really should be looking for. A Wusthof stamped knife is going to be better than many, many forged knives.

I don't know Anolon, but Forschner has great stamped knives.
 
Why do you feel you need a "set"? Typically a good quality Chef's knife and maybe a pairing or utility knife is all that is needed. I could see adding one made for slicing but no need for anything else. As far as serrated bread type knifes are concerned, might as well buy a cheapie and replace it in a couple years. They typically dont hold an edge anyway.
If you have hundred bucks to spend, do so on a Shun 8-10" chefs knife.
 
Bacchus said:
Why do you feel you need a "set"? Typically a good quality Chef's knife and maybe a pairing or utility knife is all that is needed. I could see adding one made for slicing but no need for anything else. As far as serrated bread type knifes are concerned, might as well buy a cheapie and replace it in a couple years. They typically dont hold an edge anyway.
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea to build your own set.

10" Chefs Knife
Boning Knife
12" or 14" gratan slicer
Santuko gratan knife (great for chopping, minicing, etc.)
Shear
 
I guess I dont need a set, but the price on that Anolon set is so low now that its hard to pass up. In addition to the necessary knives, I do want some decent steak knives and also a decent bread knife. I have a cheapo bread knife at the moment and its sucked since day 1.

So leaving out the set/non-set debate, which do you guys think would be better knives? If you had to make the choice. If it were one knife vs. one knife.

I'll record the votes and go with the winner this afternoon.
 
I tried to look up the Anolon set in Consumer Reports and didn't see it. I noticed that there was a comparably priced set of forged knives which was a Best Buy that you might want to consider called Ginsu Chikara. I know nothing about them.
 
I have some of the Forschner knives and feel that they are an incredible value for the money. I like them better than my Henckels.
 
The Victorinox Forschners are hard to pass up. I have a wood handel boning knife that is my kitchen workhorse. Had if longer than any other knife. I can put an edge on easily as well.

Any of my higher end knives, are harder to sharpen and usually get taken for professional sharpening once a year or so.
 
Check out the knife reviews on America's Test Kitchen too. They are usually pretty spot on in my opinion.
 
I just finished my Wusthof Classic collection that I have been working on for about 5 years now. I was very surprised to find the 10” classic super slicer on e-bay (NEW) for half the cost (delivered) than what I could find it for on line.

Check e-bay, you might be surprised at what you might find there.
 
GreasePig said:
Check out the knife reviews on America's Test Kitchen too. They are usually pretty spot on in my opinion.
Click to expand...

and here's what won:

Inexpensive Chef's Knives

Update: January, 2007 During the last two years, we have published or updated four reviews of chef's knives. During this time, our recommended knife has been and continues to be the Victorinox Fibrox 8-inch chef's knife.
http://www.cookscountry.com/pwlogin.asp?did=320&area=testing

I like the 12-inch size: http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Cutlery-12-Inch-Fibrox-Handle/dp/B001XCWM4G
 
I tried out the Anaolon knives for a lark, they are nicely balanced and seemed to cut well enough. They are reasonably well machine hammer forged and will work fine. I have used the Forshner knives shown and those were good as well, they are not fine knives, but are excellent restaurant grade knives that can take and hold an excellent edge. They are certainly priced right.

For the record, I really disagreed with Cooks Illustrated on their selection of the Victorinox over the Wusthof, sure there is a price difference, but, for the best chef's knife, they weight price too high. The Wusthof Classic 10" chef is an outstanding knife, and I have used both extensively. Of course, if price was not object, I would like a Masahiro or Shun 2.
 
I love my Henckels. The 10 inch chef is my work horse. I built the set one at a time as I could afford them. I'm not familiar wi the brand you mentioned but I always believed that forged held the edge better.

The above posts are all good but I always thought that a knife will last many lifetimes. Buy the best you can afford and invest in a good manual sharpener. I use a WartHog. Simple and easy to use. Also have just recently seen the Edgepro and it looks awsome.

If I were you I would not put this to a vote, make up your own mind so you have no one to blame but yourself if it's wrong.
 
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