Would You Buy a $400 Chef's Knife?

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #21

Get serious


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(Doug) #22

Bob, that looks darn good. The ‘hollow ground’ thing really can make a difference, and that brand is beyond solid (IMO).

(Bob M) #23

@amwassil I admire your thoughts about this. I have been thinking about one of those for a while. They’re just so expensive, for one that works well, and then I’m not sure where to put it and how often I’d use it. But I’m still thinking about it…

@OldDoug This style of knife, which the “scalloped” regions near the edge of the blade, is the knife that’s used in a lot of cooking shows for slicing meat. I often use our “bread” knife (since we don’t use it for “bread”), but when I cut roasts, it doesn’t do a great job. It’s hard to get thin slices. It does a better job than a “normal” knife, but still not great.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #24

I use a serrated knife I bought at the supermarket. It does a reasonably good job at cutting, but the problem from my point of view is that the bevel is for right-handed people, so the blade tends to move to the left, making my cuts more irregular than I like.

The advantage is that serrated knives tend to remain sharper, given that my attempts to sharpen regular knives always end up making them duller. (I suspect that being left-handed is a problem there, too. Perhaps if there had been some skilled left-handed people for me to model myself after . . . .)

(Bob M) #25

Being left handed is tough.

For knife sharpening, I have one of these, which apparently I bought in 2014:

This would sharpen a lot, though not serrated.

Alas, I never seem to have enough time. This reminds me that “sharpen knives” has been on my list of things to do … for a while.

Anyway, I just stopped by while getting the installation instructions for my Bosch dishwasher so I know what the knob on the bottom does. I’m back to replacing the latch, but then I have to work.

#26

Years ago, my brother-in-law worked for Cutco. We ended up buying a full set of kitchen knives. At the time, I believe that it was approximately $750 for the set.

To be honest with you, we have used those knives daily for the last 20 years and they are absolutely like new. They, and others in that category, are definitely a lifetime investment.

#27

Here is a photo of our knives. In addition to what I had mentioned the earlier post, is a boning knife and a chopper, both handy though not essential. If you are doing your own butchering, then the boning knife is a must, otherwise it wont be of much use. You will see 2 x 10" chef knives, I suggest that you only need one of those, perhaps a 8" is better for most people in the set.

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From Right to Left: 3 x Mundial (boning, bread, 10" Chef), Global 10", Tramontina, 2 x Victorinox, 1 x Japanese, 1 x Chinese chopper.

(Robin) #28

Wow you mean business!

#30

No, I would not.

WTF? LOL.

#31

Some weirdos about

(Robin) #32

Yeah. Zapped him!

(Bob M) #33

What did you zap?

20 or so years ago, I bought a bunch of All-Clad pans that were very expensive at the time. I still have and use those pans all the time. Look brand new, unless they had the painted exterior. That doesn’t look so good now, but functions fine.

(Chuck) #34

My wife’s set of steak knives and kitchen knives cost over $500 dollars for the full set

#35

When it works, don’t replace it; right?

Good quality folks, you are.
Eggs and bacon.

Ron out.

(Robin) #36

There was a scammer that removed before his post was allowed.

(Alec) #37

I would if they gave me a $390 discount! :joy::crazy_face:

#38

I bought some not THAT expensive but not cheap knives ~12 years ago. I never use them as I somehow got a single knife I like and I use it for meat all the time. I sharpen it sometimes, very rarely and it is just my sharpest knife… I definitely don’t want a sharper one, I hurt myself with my current ones often enough :smiley: I hurt myself WAY easier with sharp ones than with not sharp ones but as not sharp ones are a pain to use, I use sharp ones, at least for things needing the sharpness. (And I got better. When I was a kid, we always had blunt knives for some reason and I got used to them. Grandma came and sharpened them every year and I was full with cuts until they lost their sharpness… But I am a bit clumsy anyway. So I won’t stop cutting myself with everything sharp. I am full with cuts now because grass is so very sharp and I forget my gloves. I can’t FEEL in them anyway…)

So I consider my knife situation simply perfect, I don’t plan to buy knives any time soon. And those will be tiny ones. I use them for nearly everything. Really big objects and meat requires a proper one but for everything else, I have my set of tiny, more or less sharp knives. They need sharpening way more often than my big beloved meat knife but their sharpness is way less important and actually, not desired beyond some extent as I use them all the time and I would hurt myself with a really sharp one. Good thing my fingers heal very quickly…

What I miss (mostly because it’s a thing and I want one :smiley: but it may be useful too) is duck scissors. Whatever you English speakers call it. It is a thing here but not a big thing enough to ever have it in the family. And I have no idea where one can buy one. And I survive just fine without it. Still, it sounds fun and I keep my eyes and ears open…