Best knife for bbq?

Cutleryandmore.com has a great selection. I dint know per se that there is a best overall knife for all BBQ as each provides their own specialty. Like a graton slicer for brisket or a boning knife for smaller detail work. I would also advise against buying a set as you probably won't use all them. Get ones that feel good in your hand. I'm pretty partial to forchner myself.

I just use a plain old chef's knife.



Keep it sharp, though. Mine are fairly cheap and you can definitely tell when they are losing their edge

I like a 12" chef's knife for prep & trimming work. For service, I prefer using an 8" or 10" carving knife.

I use a 5" boning knife for trimming, an 8" chef's knife for cutting ribs and a 12" slicer for brisket. I'm not sure there is one knife that can do it all.

carving knife ...good quality 10"

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)

1 knife to trim
1 electric knife to slice
1 knife to rule them all

For the money, I love Kiwi knives. For under $10 you can get a larger chef knife and a smaller paring knife. With a little care, these knives will work great and are extremely sharp. I can trim up a St. Louis cut of spares with little effort and I only have to be careful of cutting into/through bone. These are thin metal and probably would not hold up to heavy use but are great for home or small event usage.

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleavers/thai-kiwi-knives.html

As others have said, get yourself a 12 or 14in scalloped edge slicer, a 5 or 6 in utility/chef's knife, and an 8 in chef's knife. Personally I prefer an 8in santoku, but that is my opinion.

I think the first knife should be an 8 inch chef knife. After that I find I use my paring knife second most (get a good one, you will love yourself for it). Then a 12-inch slicing knife or a boning knife. After that, just try and complete a set I suppose, or whatever you feel you're missing the most. Just my opinion, based on what I find I use.

We use Dexter-Russell knives the Sani-Safe product line, a 12" roast slicer, 10" chef's knife, a 7" fillet knife and a Mundial 12" Butcher's knife. Mundial is made in Brazil and NSF approved, very comparable in quality to the Dexter Russell, but more moderately priced. I picked it up this week at store called "Kitchen and Company", in Asheville, NC. We like the plastic handle, especially to use in competition and outdoors. They also are available on-line at http://kitchenandcompany.com/housewares-cutlery-mundial-commercial-knives.html
IMO, pick up a knife roll or storage case, to store and transport your knives and keep them in good condition.

colonel00 said:

For the money, I love Kiwi knives. For under $10 you can get a larger chef knife and a smaller paring knife. With a little care, these knives will work great and are extremely sharp. I can trim up a St. Louis cut of spares with little effort and I only have to be careful of cutting into/through bone. These are thin metal and probably would not hold up to heavy use but are great for home or small event usage.

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleavers/thai-kiwi-knives.html

Click to expand...

This is a great value - I'm in for a couple of the knives to fill the "in between sizes", especially since you have tried them already. How did you come across this site anyway? Thanks for posting the link!

I use a plain old (very sharp) chefs knife for prep.

For slicing ribs and brisket, we use a granton slicer (I think ours is 11 inch) that is as
sharp as a razor.

I agree with Big Brother Smoke but use a 10" Chefs knive.

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...

Here is a good thread on knives

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88574

I recently added to the stable because I was slicing with an 8" Chefs or 7" Santoku

Big_T_BBQ said:

I just got the Forschner 12" Granton (Hollow) edged butcher knife (model 40636):

And the Forschner 14" Granton (hollow) edged slicing knife (model 40646):

Both are incredible - the cut like a hot chainsaw through butter. I highly recommend either or both.

Click to expand...

The other knife that gets a lot of work for me is my 5 or 6" boning knife

colonel00 said:

For the money, I love Kiwi knives. For under $10 you can get a larger chef knife and a smaller paring knife. With a little care, these knives will work great and are extremely sharp. I can trim up a St. Louis cut of spares with little effort and I only have to be careful of cutting into/through bone. These are thin metal and probably would not hold up to heavy use but are great for home or small event usage.

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleavers/thai-kiwi-knives.html

Click to expand...

I also am a user of the kiwi knives. After nearly a year of use here is my quick pros:cons.

I have the 8" chefs and I think 4" paring.

Chef's Knife-
Pros: come sharp, cheap, work EXTREMELY WELL (not just for the price, they work well, period.)

Cons: The chefs knife has served me very well, HOWEVER I used the heck out of it. Nearly every single day in the summer. I did a lot of vegetable slicing with mine (tomato's and the sort) on a synthetic board. Not an expensive one either. I think this was the downfall of the knife. It's not nearly as sharp as others claim theirs have maintained. It seems too thin to sharpen even with a good stone. I'm going to buy another, and keep this one to attempt to sharpen, but I have my doubts I'll get it back to the razor sharp edge it came with. I believe if I had cut on a nice wood block instead of the cheap synthetic one, it would be nearly new. I was having trouble with it cutting into the board when I was slicing some steak real thin, and I think that was the issue. It's a little light, but I think this can also be a point of personal preference. The handle is not the most comfortable, but again, this knife was 4.95. I DID use it almost daily for 9 months.

The paring knife-
Pros: I love it. I don't do so much slicing on a board with it of course, but anytime I need a paring knife in the kitchen I reach for this one. Still razor sharp, another reason I think the board I was using attributed to the dulling of the chef's knife.

Cons: None? It doesn't fit in a spot in my knife block I guess? I wish it came with a handle other than natural wood, just to match everything else? You can see I'm reaching for a downside, and I really have no complaints.

So overall, if you are looking for an affordable knife, I say these are pretty good knives. They do take extra special care when washing and stuff, to keep them maintained, but nothing someone with pride in their belongings would mind.

Outside of those, what knife do I use? Well, I have an 8" chefs knife, and an 8" santoku that are my weapons of choice (now that the kiwi dulled down). I think the 8" chefs was from the dollar store or something I ran it through my smiths pull through $2.99 sharpener while reading the boards for a while, and it's like a whole new knife. I find this to be the best advice is no matter what, make sure it's sharp and the function is there, the weight, grip, look, style, mostly falls into personal preference from there. Anywhere from $2.00 to $200.00 knives.

Please don't beat the crap out of me I'm not telling anyone their right or wrong or what you SHOULD do, just saying what works for me. :-D

newie said:

This is a great value - I'm in for a couple of the knives to fill the "in between sizes", especially since you have tried them already. How did you come across this site anyway? Thanks for posting the link!

Click to expand...

I believe it was Patio Dadio that did a big writeup on them. Forgive me if it was someone else. Anyway, if you search the forum you will probably get hits on the thread.

tburda said:

I also am a user of the kiwi knives. After nearly a year of use here is my quick pros:cons.

I have the 8" chefs and I think 4" paring.

Chef's Knife-
Pros: come sharp, cheap, work EXTREMELY WELL (not just for the price, they work well, period.)

Cons: The chefs knife has served me very well, HOWEVER I used the heck out of it. Nearly every single day in the summer. I did a lot of vegetable slicing with mine (tomato's and the sort) on a synthetic board. Not an expensive one either. I think this was the downfall of the knife. It's not nearly as sharp as others claim theirs have maintained. It seems too thin to sharpen even with a good stone. I'm going to buy another, and keep this one to attempt to sharpen, but I have my doubts I'll get it back to the razor sharp edge it came with. I believe if I had cut on a nice wood block instead of the cheap synthetic one, it would be nearly new. I was having trouble with it cutting into the board when I was slicing some steak real thin, and I think that was the issue. It's a little light, but I think this can also be a point of personal preference. The handle is not the most comfortable, but again, this knife was 4.95. I DID use it almost daily for 9 months.

The paring knife-
Pros: I love it. I don't do so much slicing on a board with it of course, but anytime I need a paring knife in the kitchen I reach for this one. Still razor sharp, another reason I think the board I was using attributed to the dulling of the chef's knife.

Cons: None? It doesn't fit in a spot in my knife block I guess? I wish it came with a handle other than natural wood, just to match everything else? You can see I'm reaching for a downside, and I really have no complaints.

So overall, if you are looking for an affordable knife, I say these are pretty good knives. They do take extra special care when washing and stuff, to keep them maintained, but nothing someone with pride in their belongings would mind.

Outside of those, what knife do I use? Well, I have an 8" chefs knife, and an 8" santoku that are my weapons of choice (now that the kiwi dulled down). I think the 8" chefs was from the dollar store or something I ran it through my smiths pull through $2.99 sharpener while reading the boards for a while, and it's like a whole new knife. I find this to be the best advice is no matter what, make sure it's sharp and the function is there, the weight, grip, look, style, mostly falls into personal preference from there. Anywhere from $2.00 to $200.00 knives.

Please don't beat the crap out of me I'm not telling anyone their right or wrong or what you SHOULD do, just saying what works for me. :-D

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Thanks for the input. My chef knife still as a decent edge on it but it definitely isn't what it was new. However, at $6-$7 I can justify buying a new one should I ever feel the need.

There are different knives for different uses. I use a chef's knife for chopping onions and other vegies and herbs, a slicing knife (looks like a narrow chef's knife) to prep meat, and a carving knife to cut cooked meats.

A chef's knife has too much surface area to be a great meat knife, but if I only had one knife, that would be the one.

Hey James,
I second the opinions on both the Mundial and the Kiwi knives.
A dear friend gave me a few of the Mundial knives, and I augmented those with some more. They are very reasonably priced, and you can actually get multiple knives and not put yourself in the poorhouse.
I think I would for sure need a 6" boning, 12 or 14" granton slicer, and a butcher knife for Q.