Best knife for bbq?

I've had a set of Mundial now for.... 23 years? They're great!!! The handles are
wood and they're still there. The German Steel looks like new and sharpens up still
like new. I'll probably have to re-handle them in a few years, but 25 years on
wooden handles ain't too shabby...

I picked up my J.A. Henckels Four Star for about $30 new on Ebay and love it! It holds an edge real well.

big brother smoke said:

Victronix fomerly known as a Forschner are affordable easy to sharpen knives.
You need at least 3 good knives in my opinion, if, I had to pick three here they are:

1. 6" boning knife (trimming)
2. 8" chef knife (Cutting, slicing, trimming and chopping)
3. 12" or 14" Graton Slicer (scallop edge). (Slicing)

Click to expand...

I mostly agree with BBS here as well. I prefer Dexter-Russel in the low-moderate price range and Shun for moderate to high prices blades. The Dexter-Russels and Victorinox as probably better for competitions as sharpening is easier.

The original poster didn't ask about brands, but I have found that you don't have to spend a lot to get a good knife. Now, if you are a professional chef, yeah, you may need to go high end, since you will be using your knives to prepare thousands of meals.

I have some Henkels International knives, which are made in Spain instead of Germany for half the price. I'm very happy with them. I also have some 20-year-old Chicago Cutlery knives that I love to use. They are really easy to put a new edge on, and feel good in my hand.

The other thing I like about my Chicago Cutlery big chef's knife is that it is heavy, which I love for chopping vegies and herbs.

Besides, my knife skills, although better than the average Joe, are not up to the level of needing high-dollar knives. When, or if, I ever find myself being held back by my knives, I'll look at spending big bucks for top-shelf professional hardware.

CD

And a video of me using it---

http://www.youtube.com/user/PopdaddysBBQ#p/u/2/wHxH0iUfjMw

I do use three knives in this video - graton edge 14 I think... my partner was defatting with a fish blade he felt comfortable with but when I have to shoot through 500 pounds of brisket in one of my 40 minute sales..... the pizza knife is the way to make quick work of it. I love it with ribs too.. this is not a competition blade though LOL

There will be an article about this very subject in the next Smoke Signals. I hear the author was once a Chippendale's dancer.

One other issue when thinking about a good BBQ knife is the kind of edge you will put on the knife. Lot's of folks use terms like "scary sharp." Well, a knife that is what sharpeners call scary sharp won't serve you well when it comes to dealing with most meats, especially if the meat has been cooked and has some bark. You need an edge with some grab to it. If I'm sharpening with water stones I never take an BBQ knife past 1000 grit. On my Edge Pro, which I am using less and less these days, I stop at 320 though sometimes I may use the 600 grit stone.

To be honest, most folks have probably never encountered a scary sharp knife. The stones it takes to get a knife that sharp with a highly polished edge are super expensive and just not available to most folks. You may be able to get there by stroping, but even then most western knifes don't use hard enough steel to keep a knife scary sharp for more than a few cuts.

As for the best knives by brand, I think it would be hard to beat Forschenr/Victorinox. They are made of the same steel as Wusthof and Henkels at a third of the price.

This is where I buy all my knives. Mark has it ALL. From lower end western knives to super expensive Japanese blades. He also sells sharpening supplies.
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/

I have a couple of the 4" Kiwi pairing knives and one of their 6" knives...great for taking on the road or around the house. Cheap, but still pretty good knives that hold their edge pretty well considering the price.
I also have a 12" Dexter-Russell V-Lo Duo-Edge for slicing my briskets....LOVE IT!

I echo what most say here. I have owed and used many knives but will say that my knives of choice because of price and durability are the Victronix knives. They last, stay sharp and are not expensive.
I use the following the most:
1. 6" boning knife
2. 10" chef knife
3. 12" granton slicer
4. 3-4" paring

Besides those, maybe a cleaver is useful but I hardly use it. The 4 knives above I use each week. Other knives sit in the block and are never used.

This is all we use for everything
http://www.cutleryandmore.com/victorinox-fibrox/cimeter-knife-p13680

There is over 40 of us.

I like regular old Amish Knives,They will last for ever and hold a edge great,and there cheap.And I also have a "12 inch Wolfgangpck knife for butchering.