For you chefs, caterers and serious home cooks Re: knives

K

karennoca

Well-known member
Years ago, I invested in Wusthof Classic knives. I bought each individually as I could afford them and for a time, I loved them. Then I found out they did not hold an edge well. My favorite knife for chopping over the years became a Kyocera, white ceramic chef knife. They are fantastic, but every so often you have to mail them back to the company to have all the little nicks taken off of the blade edge.

I am ready now to sell my Wusthof Classic knives, for a line of really great knives which hold the edge (I use a steel on my stainless knives every other time I use them, and have them professionally sharpened every two years) and am wondering which brand any of you have which you love and would not part with. I want a good chef's knife, a paring knife or two to start with. Thanks for any info.

I know Ina swears by her Wusthof but I think they came out with a better knife after I got mine.

 
Karen-are they high carbon stainless? If so, you have great knives. Can''t understand why..

they don't keep an edge.

 
My favorite is a 25-year old Sabatier chef's knife. The weight is perfect, more so than

the Wusthof's I have. However, I seen newer ones and they don't have the same heft/feel.

I sharpen on a 2-sided stone block (Coarse side: 20 degree angle...10 strokes, flip, 10 strokes, flip, 9 strokes, flip...etc...down to zero. Then I do the same on the fine side and then finish with a steel. I could probably shave someone with it by the time I'm done.

Unfortunately, I'm lazy and don't do it often enough.

 
It says Wusthof Dreizak Classic on my knives, I can run the blades over my

thumb....I would not do that with the Kyocera or my Calphalon Katana, Japanese Steel knife. The Wusthof will not cut tomatoes well.

 
Sabatier, like all the others makes several grades, but a tiny paring knife my sister gave me

years ago is as sharp now as then!! It is steel, because it will rust!! I have a conglomeration of knives but a Henckels chef's knife that is now 50 years old that is the best. I have a low level Wusthof santoku that I also love, and sharpens well.
I wouldn't ever buy a "set".

 
does anyone else have Rada knives? I received a set of 3: paring/peeler/slicing as a gift and

they are very sharp and nice to hold. Our senior center sells them as a fundraiser and I think that's where my friend bought them and she gets them as gifts for lots of people. she just loves them. I had never heard of them before. I don't know about their bigger knives though. I have a favorite Santoku, actually 2 sizes of this knife, that I love and use for most of my kitchen work. I'm not sure the brand though, either Wusthof or Henkel. I just know I like the Santoku style.

http://www.radacutlery.com/about/knife-construction

 
Are the knives sharp enough to cut paper right after you have them sharpened. My...

trusty Henckels chef knife does serve me well, but a have a few wusthof knives that I love as well. I do baby all of my knives. I cut only on wood, keep them safe and out of drawers, never put them in a dishwasher, and steel them often.

I would guess that you do the same. I have a couple of ceramic knives as well and I find them sharp but not well suited to my hand.

Most of knives given to us at the CIA were Sabatier, and they were great knives. I still have a couple. But thru the yrs the company has licensed quite a few different sources. There is a way to insure that you are getting the original, but I forget how to identify them.

 
I 've heard good things about Rada knives. My other favorite chef's knife is aJapanese Shun Classic

 
Shun has good reviews. I called our local, well stocked kitchen shop and they

carry Shun. The say it is very popular and they are putting in an order for Christmas. I think I will start out with a pairing knife, which they have in stock and go from there. Thanks!

 
Yes, I baby my knives. They are kept in a drawer, in wooden, slotted storage unit

They are never put into a dishwasher, soaked in water, or used for other purposes other than what they are designed for. I hand wash, dry well and put them away.
I just checked all my knives to see if they would cut paper and none did except the ceramic knife...Yikes! Is that the test, to see if they are as sharp as they should be?
I think I have been under a rock all these years about knives!

 
For those that enjoy the show "2 1/2 men"... I need a guy! (I am not a knife person, I have had

to many close calls; dh is "my guy!"

 
I had the same experience with my older Henckels knives not holding an edge.

About two years ago DH replaced my Zwilling J.A.Henckels Pro “S” knives that I had for over twenty years with Wusthof Classic Ikon knives.

The Henckels Pro “S” knives are very similar to the traditional Wusthof Classic knives. The Wusthof Classic Ikon knives have a heavy well-balanced handle and a redesigned bolster.

According to their literature, at some point Wusthof changed their blade design to “PrecisionEdgeTechnology – PEtec”, changing the blade angle from 19 to 14 degrees, that they claim are 40% sharper than their older knives. Asian knives are normally 15 to 16 degrees.

He uses a Wusthof Precision Edge Technology Sharpener, made by Chef’s Choice, which is designed for the 14 degree blade angle. He also has been using the sharpener on some of the older knives I kept to change the blade angle. It was an experiment, but it seems to have worked well.

The sharpener has three stages, grinding, which is only used to condition old beat-up knives (or to change the blade angle, lol). The other stages are sharpening and honing.

 
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