Knives, a confusing conundrum

[rick51]

The busiest knife in my kitchen is an Ecko Eterna 10" chef. Knife of the week at the grocery store 35 years ago. It has a fat oak handle that fits my (large) hand. Whenever I use an 8" chef, I wish I had the 10". I know people like the Santoku knives, but they are not for me.

I also use a Chicago Cutlery 62S boning/filet knife quite a bit. 5" blade, very strong, good for boning and trimming. Got it 35 years ago also. This one has a fat handle also.

I probably spent $20 altogether on the two. Heavy strong blades, good balance, comfortable handles that don't wear out my hand. Good enough for me.

[UF_Aero]

Very good thread so far, and obviously everyone has their own preference on knives. I have a set of lower-priced Henckels, and a forged Henckels santoku I use for chopping that seems to do the job. Based on threads here previously, on other sites, and on Amazon reviews, I bought the Victorinox 6-Inch flexible boning knife (Amazon: 47513), and I have to agree with previous posters, for $30 it is one heck of a knife for things like trimming brisket fat. It's exceptionally sharp and flexible, and is now my go-to knife for prepping meat. It's not going to win any awards for beauty, and if something happens to it, at least I didn't have to remortgage the house for it (...Shun, anyone?...), but if you want a razor sharp knife that will make your life easier when trimming/cutting meat, that's the one.

[marubozo]

I'll take just one very high quality chef's knife over an equally priced 10-piece set any day. My home kitchen only includes three knives that ever get used these days:

MAC Ultimate Series 9.25" chef's knife (does 90% of the work)
Shun DM0700 3.5" paring knife
Wusthof 10" serrated knife

Then sharpening stones and a MAC black ceramic honing rod.

In total, $600+ for such a small kit seems like a lot. But when you use them daily and want stuff that holds an amazing edge, feels good in the hand, and can last a lifetime, it's worth every penny.

That being said, I keep the restaurant stocked with an assortment of Victorinox and Dexter knives. I save the good stuff for home since knives get abused in a restaurant setting.

[BBQDaddio]

My go to knife for almost anything is the henkels professional S 31220-180. It's an 8" santoku, feels more like a surgical tool to me than a knife.

Also have the 8" henckels international 31161-200 chefs knife and it primarily used to make larger cuts manageable before switching to the santoku.

I noticed when doing large prep that the lighter santoku is much easier on the hand Aswell.

[plowin-fire]

I use my 12" chefs more than anything. I have a 6" santoku for veggies and small stuff, but I grab the chefs knife more and more. Having a 6" boning knife made at the moment by this shop. Same place my other ones are made. http://redrocktools.weebly.com/kitchen.html

[DJnKY]

Originally Posted by Chopper Duke

I caught that after I posted it from my iPad sitting at lunch with my two sons under two. It wasn't worth fixing.

two sons under two ... redundancy comes natural

On a serious note I fell for a kin sale on Cutco, but I really love the handy slicer for nearly everything. Sliced up a 1 lb frozen chub of sausage, just this am, as if it were butter. I was impressed again. They are available on fleabay at about $80. Which is better than the kin price!

[ynotfehc]

Henckels make great knives, but they also have a variety of price levels, you can probably guess the difference why. Victorinox make great knives also, but dont cost as much. You can find a Victorinox or Forshner at any restaurant supply store, as well as Henckels too, and can compare the feel. Personally as a chef, I dont own a chef's knife. I have 2 Santokus and a chinese clever. Ask anybody in the business and carpal tunnel is very prevalent in kitchens, one of the reasons is improperly using a chef's knife because of its rocking motion. Most people dont use it properly and then get carpal tunnel. A Santoku doesnt use the rocking motion, rather a back and forth motion that causes less stress on the wrist and easier to pick up with out specific training and practice. I can do anything with my Santoku that I could with a chef's knife.

[buccaneer]

If I had my time over, I'd go with a cleaver.
I had 6 chooks to do into spat chocked and boned and by the time I was doing the third with the Pian knife, everyone had gathered around the table gasping.
Apparently it's good party entertainment too!

[AaronPo]

I prefer my Shun's over anything else that I have. The handle shape fits my hand comfortably and they are razor sharp!

[Chopper Duke]

So I've been looking and comparing and then this morning DVOR decided for me. For those unfamiliar, DVOR is a site owned by Optics Planet that does closeout deals. Typically this involves some kind of optics for rifles or pistols (or both) and then some other stuff usually. Today they had Victorinox knives. I scored a 10" Chefs knife for $32 and a utility set (2 3" pairing and a 4" utility) for $11. I didn't see the 6" curved semi-stiff boning the first time and they only reserve and item in your cart for 15min so I rushed to get checked out as that was the only 10" they had. Opted for it since it was cheaper than the 8" on Amazon. I had a $10 credit from being there over a year and my birthday. Still debating on the 12" round tip, graton edge slicing knife.

[JazzyBadger]

Originally Posted by Chopper Duke

So I've been looking and comparing and then this morning DVOR decided for me. For those unfamiliar, DVOR is a site owned by Optics Planet that does closeout deals. Typically this involves some kind of optics for rifles or pistols (or both) and then some other stuff usually. Today they had Victorinox knives. I scored a 10" Chefs knife for $32 and a utility set (2 3" pairing and a 4" utility) for $11. I didn't see the 6" curved semi-stiff boning the first time and they only reserve and item in your cart for 15min so I rushed to get checked out as that was the only 10" they had. Opted for it since it was cheaper than the 8" on Amazon. I had a $10 credit from being there over a year and my birthday. Still debating on the 12" round tip, graton edge slicing knife.

Well the 6" semi-stiff boning knife is a really good knife in my opinion.
Only Victornivox knives I have are the 12" scimitar and the semi-stiff boning knife, and I use both of them quite a bit for meat prep work.

I've never got myself a slicing knife, I just use my Gyuto.

[Blownmope]

Sams club has stupid sharp, high carbon, dish washer safe knifes, dirt cheap, other then my mundial those are my go to knives.

[landarc]

http://www.amazon.com/Dexter-Russell...sell+8%22+chef

This is the same model, except I use a 10", in my kitchen. It is a great workhorse knife. The one you linked to, in theory, has a superior blade and the comfort handle. I didn't like the handle so never gave it a second look. This is not my go to knife, I have a whole slew, literally, almost three knife blocks worth of knives to use, that are far better than the Dexter Russel, but, not reasonably useful. The D-R is just a great, cheap knife.

A note about forged, versus stamped. For almost all knives that are under $100 each, the blades are never hit with a hammer. Most forged knives are stamped, then the blank is machine forged two more times, using pressure, not heat. They are only marginally better than a quality stamped knife. This is why even Henckels and Wusthof have forged knives that are entry level priced.

[bbqgeekess]

Originally Posted by marubozo

I'll take just one very high quality chef's knife over an equally priced 10-piece set any day. My home kitchen only includes three knives that ever get used these days:

MAC Ultimate Series 9.25" chef's knife (does 90% of the work)
Shun DM0700 3.5" paring knife
Wusthof 10" serrated knife

Then sharpening stones and a MAC black ceramic honing rod.

In total, $600+ for such a small kit seems like a lot. But when you use them daily and want stuff that holds an amazing edge, feels good in the hand, and can last a lifetime, it's worth every penny.

That being said, I keep the restaurant stocked with an assortment of Victorinox and Dexter knives. I save the good stuff for home since knives get abused in a restaurant setting.

What do you do for a boning knife? I'd have that over a 10" serrated knife myself. Because you can cut bread with a chef's knife fine--if you keep it razor sharp.

[landarc]

I can use my Chef's knife for boning a chicken just fine, but, I use a paring knife. It works fine as well. I have an old 5.5" Wusthof paring knife, with a re-worked edge, that is an excellent boning knife.