J.A.Henckels Knives - Quality?

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Riskyguy

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I was looking at their knives and noticed they are made in China (like everything else these days). Are they still a good knife? The package says German steel. I want to get a chef's knife and a paring knife. Am also considering the Victorinox knives. Thanks for your advice.
 
I would absolutely the Henckels that are made in china/Twin Cermax, Pro S, Twin Select, 4 Star II and Twin Cuisine all made in Germany I think.

Victorinx are worse, but better bang for your buck.
If you are buying and want to save money overall, buy up in quality.
I prefer Japanese by far.

Fujiwara are the finest choice on a budget IMO

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/FujiwaraKanefusa.html

I'd go for the fantastic FKS range and a waterstone.
Happy days....probably for life.
Great trustworthy dealer too.
HTH Bucc
 
The Germans have been bangin out blades for a long time. The Japanese even longer. Both are good. I have a set of Henckels that I found on clearance at BB&B cuz they were missing a piece (practically stole em) and have been very happy with em.
 
I have the Professional S 8" chef, boning, and a paring knife and I'm very happy with them. I have a couple of other "cheapie" paring Henckels that are ok as well. Major differnce in the heaft and feel of the Pro S though. I'd buy again.
 
Hi!

I love my Henckels. Thing is, mine were made in Brazil..... plenty of Germans there. My best friend asked me what I wanted for birthdays and Christmases when I was in my early and mid twenties (well over 20 years ago!) and I said Henckels' knives so she started and created the collection I have now. I've never used other brands of well-made knives so mine is is a one-sided opinion. Have you considered buying older, vintage sets instead of brand new knives? You might get better quality that way and help save the planet a little energy and pollution, not to mention some bucks you can in turn spend on a spectacular hunk of meat! Buying second-hand is more cool than it used to be.
 
buccaneer said:
I would absolutely the Henckels that are made in china/Twin Cermax, Pro S, Twin Select, 4 Star II and Twin Cuisine all made in Germany I think.

Victorinx are worse, but better bang for your buck.
If you are buying and want to save money overall, buy up in quality.
I prefer Japanese by far.

Fujiwara are the finest choice on a budget IMO

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/FujiwaraKanefusa.html

I'd go for the fantastic FKS range and a waterstone.
Happy days....probably for life.
Great trustworthy dealer too.
HTH Bucc
Click to expand...

I bought my custom made Japanese knives from them. Awesome customer service and they sell only the best.
 
Although there are better ones out there at even higher prices, my German made Pro S knives are excellent.
 
I've had a set of Henckels for years now. I bought them through a friend in the restaurant business so they may be a little better than retail. But I love them.
 
There are different lines of Henkel knives. Get the ones that say "Zwilling." They are the ones made in germany of forged (not stamped) steel. Or you could Just get some Wusthof Classic. Also made in Solingen germany from forged steel, but in my professional opinon, a better and lighter knife.
 
We have the four star set that we bought years ago...we use them every day and have been very happy with them! :thumb:
 
I prefer the feel of Wusthofs if you consider Henckels and Wusthof as the two major knives. I did use a 10" Messermeister that I really felt balanced well (not real common for a 10" Chef's knife).

By the way, I have become increasingly leary of the whole forged versus stamped thing, since most of the manufacturer's in Europe and China have gone to machine forging, the metal is actually hammered just 3 times, not hand forged, which we all assume to be the starndard when we see forged. Of course, without the training, hand forging is a mess as well.

So what I am saying is, a cheaper 'value' knife is not a bad choice unless you really want something special. Victorinox and Dexter-Russels both serve well and last a long time for the money.
 
I think that the big difference with Henckels is if they are the "J.A. Henckels International" brand. Those are not the same as the other ones. They are actually a much cheaper (in every way) line than their other lines.
 
I don't know what you think of Cook's Illustrated equipment reviews, but in their knife reviews, the Victorinox Fibrox line of kitchen knives seem to consistently be highly recommended by the magazine and often are a "Best Buy" because of their cost.

Are there any good knives made in the USA these days?

Pat
 
buccaneer said:
I would absolutely the Henckels that are made in china/Twin Cermax, Pro S, Twin Select, 4 Star II and Twin Cuisine all made in Germany I think.

Victorinx are worse, but better bang for your buck.
If you are buying and want to save money overall, buy up in quality.
I prefer Japanese by far.

Fujiwara are the finest choice on a budget IMO

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/FujiwaraKanefusa.html

I'd go for the fantastic FKS range and a waterstone.
Happy days....probably for life.
Great trustworthy dealer too.
HTH Bucc
Click to expand...
I edited the error I made in not typing "avoid" after "absolutely"...but no sign of the edit???
Sorry if I confused.
Check that your hand suits first all the advice is good.
Either bang for your buck now or buy up for not spending again sometime.
I used to own wustoff, they are good knives(this was when Germans made them only) but have moved on to Japanese makers, over twenty years ago and still committed to them.
Your hands may prefer European knives.
 
The older German knives are great, but today not many use Virgin steel. Henckels went big time and offer so many lines from so many places, its hard to keep track. Japenese knives are real nice, but the harder steel and multiple angles make them hard to sharpen correctly.
A good American knife is Lamson Sharp good prices here
http://www.thebestthings.com/knives/lamson.htm
check out their other knives too. A lot of people love the 4 Star Sabatiers. I use Sabiter K knives from France. They have an outlet in the U.S.
http://ksabatieroutlet.com/index.php
Also, I use the Carbon Steel: not the stainless
 
PFSmith said:
I don't know what you think of Cook's Illustrated equipment reviews, but in their knife reviews, the Victorinox Fibrox line of kitchen knives seem to consistently be highly recommended by the magazine and often are a "Best Buy" because of their cost.

Are there any good knives made in the USA these days?

Pat
Click to expand...

Absolutely! But they're custom makers and they usually copy the Japanese! :laugh:

The knives are absolutely incredible, though.

Murray Carter
http://www.cartercutlery.com/

Devin Thomas
http://www.devinthomas.com/

Delbert Ealy
http://www.ealyknives.com/

Just a heads up, you won't find a good knife at any big box store. If you want quality cutlery you'll have to dig a little deeper. If you want a dull slab of steel that will "last the rest of your life" just buy a super pretty German block set at Bed Bath & Beyond because it's "forged" and your buddy that cooks food for a living said that's what they pushed on him at culinary school. :thumb:
 
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