Knife Sets

Mr Magnolia

Has any one got any recommendations on good knives, or knife sets, I'm thinking of up-dating my own set.

I've checked out Wusthof and they seem to have some excellent sets, has anyone ever used them or have recommendations on other brands?

copacetic

global knives are really good but expensive.
I have 'stellar' ones which am happy enough with...

Alun

I've got all Wusthof knives, and have had most of them for years. No problems withthem at all.

Minder

daveym wrote:

global knives are really good but expensive.
I have 'stellar' ones which am happy enough with...

Global are excellent but there are plenty of fakes, so be careful where they are purchased from. I would avoid ebay.

Mr Magnolia

Minder wrote:

I would avoid ebay.

Yup, for something like this I generally prefer to buy accross the counter

Alun wrote:

I've got all Wusthof knives, and have had most of them for years. No problems withthem at all.

Did you buy these in Ireland Alun?

Alun

Sparks400 wrote:

Did you buy these in Ireland Alun?

No unfortunately .. a mixture of Holland and Germany from when I lived over there. I'm sure there must be a source of them over here though.

copacetic

not sure about the wusthof, but global, stellar etc are available in house of fraser and I thnk arnotts too..

Mr Magnolia

daveym wrote:

not sure about the wusthof, but global, stellar etc are available in house of fraser and I thnk arnotts too..

Phoned Arnotts, they've "never 'eard of woostuff" lol. I must call in and have a look at Global and Stellar though. I'll keep looking for the Wusthof here.

Alun wrote:

No unfortunately .. a mixture of Holland and Germany from when I lived over there. I'm sure there must be a source of them over here though.

Thought so, not looking good though

Alun

Have you tried the usual culprits, i.e. Stock and Kitchen Complements?

Mr Magnolia

Alun wrote:

Have you tried the usual culprits, i.e. Stock and Kitchen Complements?

Thanks for the tip, I've had a look just now. They really only seem to have Henckels knives.

bonkey

Henckels are pretty-much as good as Wusthof. Both are amongst the best of the Solingen manufacturers. Henckels are also often referred to as Zwilling...its the same kit.

My poison of choice is another Solingen manufacturer - Goldhamster by Schaaf, now renamed to Solicut (cause the company was bought out and the range expanded).

Also, while they're maybe a slight step down from the best of the Solingen manufacturers etc. I wouldn't turn my nose up at good ol' Victorinox. I'd go for wooden-handled if you can get them, but that's just a personal choice...many people prefer the plastic-style grips on a lot of ranges.

bonkey

Going further from the above...

There's a couple of things to take into consideration over and above the quality of the steel. Handle and weight are probably the two most important.

I like heavy knives, but not if it comes at the cost of an oversized handle. Other people I know prefer lighter knives. There's no right and wrong here...its a question of what you like.

I also prefer wooden handles over anything else that I've tried. My least favourite handles are metal, which means that while a set like Global are excellent they're not for me at all.

I'd strongly suggest to anyone looking to invest in a good knife set to wander through shops, pick up knives, heft them about a bit and see what suits you.

There's also nothing wrong with mix-and-matching your stuff. If you love the cleaver from one range, but the paring knife from another...don't compromise for the sake of things looking more uniform. Buy the stuff that you feel most comfortable using.

Mr Magnolia

bonkey wrote:

Henckels are pretty-much as good as Wusthof. Both are amongst the best of the Solingen manufacturers. Henckels are also often referred to as Zwilling...its the same kit.

My poison of choice is another Solingen manufacturer - Goldhamster by Schaaf, now renamed to Solicut (cause the company was bought out and the range expanded).

Also, while they're maybe a slight step down from the best of the Solingen manufacturers etc. I wouldn't turn my nose up at good ol' Victorinox. I'd go for wooden-handled if you can get them, but that's just a personal choice...many people prefer the plastic-style grips on a lot of ranges.

Solicut look like a good knife, worth considering.

The wife has a set of Victorinox, they're the plain plastic black handled type and they're no longer sharp. The fact that they're not sharp doesn't bother me (I'd sharpen them) but, they're too big for a block and not pretty enough for a magnetic stand.

So the search goes on.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll consider all....

bonkey

Sparks400 wrote:

Solicut look like a good knife, worth considering.

Well, The set we're slowly building (cause they're bloody expensive) is the Goldhamster First Class Edition. The Solicut equivalent is similarly named. The main difference is where Solicut use olive-wood for the handles, the Goldhamsters used Kingswood (from a controlled/managed source) which I think looks nicer.

I can't comment on their other knives, but the FCEs literally feel like they were tailor-made for my preferences (weight, handle, etc.)

The wife has a set of Victorinox, they're the plain plastic black handled type and they're no longer sharp. The fact that they're not sharp doesn't bother me (I'd sharpen them) but, they're too big for a block and not pretty enough for a magnetic stand.

Too big for a block? Strange...I've seen plenty of stands which take Vic knives. Then again....I live in Switzerland, so thats hardly surprising

As for them being blunt...if they're being used, I'd really recommend you sharpen them. You're more likely to cut yourself with a blunt knife and cut yourself badly at that (at least in my experience...it slips too easily and you have to use more force)

So the search goes on.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll consider all....

Sharpen the Vics, and take your time The last thing you want to do is have to buy another set in 10 years or so cause you're not happy with whatever you blew a few hundred yoyos on.

Mr Magnolia

bonkey wrote:

Too big for a block? Strange...I've seen plenty of stands which take Vic knives. Then again....I live in Switzerland, so thats hardly surprising

As for them being blunt...if they're being used, I'd really recommend you sharpen them. You're more likely to cut yourself with a blunt knife and cut yourself badly at that (at least in my experience...it slips too easily and you have to use more force)

Agree totally, a blunt knife is far more dangerous than a sharp one we don't use the Vic's, they're in a press upstairs waiting to be sharpened.

bonkey wrote:

Sharpen the Vics, and take your time The last thing you want to do is have to buy another set in 10 years or so cause you're not happy with whatever you blew a few hundred yoyos on.

The wife bought the Vic's for catering college around 10 years ago, they've been of good service for her/us in fairness, I will sharpen them and keep them in reserve. Some of these knives would fit into a large block I suppose, but I fancy a nice new set as they're well worn and the set we do use aren't the best.

NextSteps

bonkey wrote:

Well, The set we're slowly building (cause they're bloody expensive) is the Goldhamster First Class Edition. The Solicut equivalent is similarly named. The main difference is where Solicut use olive-wood for the handles, the Goldhamsters used Kingswood (from a controlled/managed source) which I think looks nicer.

Please tell me they have Goldhamster written on the handle!

I have a Sabatier 8" cook's knife which I think is great. That and a small knife and I don't feel I need anything else.

The Sweeper

I started collecting global knives, one by one, in the UK. Then I went to Australia for Christmas, and between the excahgne rate, their proximity to Asia and a Christmas sale, I got a set of six in a leading department store for the equivalent of £110. They're currently waiting for me in Oz. I can hear them calling... uuuseeee uuuuuussssssssssss...

bonkey

UB wrote:

Please tell me they have Goldhamster written on the handle!.

God no.

The wood in the handles is of far too high quality to want *anything* like that on it.

They do, however, have it on the blade, as well as a cute little hamster logo

Since Solicut bought them over, they've moved from Brazilian hardwood (I thought it was Kingswood, but may have been mistaken in the name...either which way, it was from controlled forestry, its like rosewood, and its gorgeous) to Andulasian olivewood (almost as nice, also from a controlled source) and they've changed the logo.

Where I've a choice of Goldhamster or Solicut (i.e. something that was in the Goldhamster range), I'll buy Goldhamster for that logo and name.

Minder

I bought Global from an american website and had them shipped to a friends place in NY. They brought them over on a visit - no problem if stored in the suitcases. The ever declining dollar made the knives very cheap.

The alternative is to check the import duty and find a US supplier they will ship overseas.

There are over eighty knives in the Global range, along with a variety of other implements - spatulas, tongs, tweezes, serving spoons.

Mr Magnolia

Minder wrote:

I bought Global from an american website and had them shipped to a friends place in NY. They brought them over on a visit - no problem if stored in the suitcases. The ever declining dollar made the knives very cheap.

This is probably the best option for me, my brothers in NY for a few months at the minute, I'll check out Macy's site and see what they stock...

Edit/ this looks like superb value, any opinions?

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?upc_ID=708565&Quantity=1&EXTRA_PARAMETER=BAG&PseudoCat=ba-xx-xx-xx.index

bonkey

I wouldn't buy any range of knives without having had a chance to at least "heft" them in a shop to see how the weight and overall feel is. Given that one of the customer reviews mentions that they're not as heavy as some other knives, I'd expect to find them too light for my taste.

I also note that the page mentions they're "no tang" knives - again a no-no for me unless I'm mistaking what it is they're saying (the tang is the part of the knife which runs through the handle. A full-tang knife will effectively have two side-plates riveted onto the tang. A half-tang will typically have the handle built around a shorter tang. A no-tang sounds like the handle and knife are effectively seperate components which have been somehow joined together...which I would have my doubts about the last-a-lifetime sturdiness of.

Other than that, its a fairly standard 6-piece kitchen set, kitchen scissors, and steel, with a steak-knife-set added into the block.

Not a bad price overall, I guess, but like I said...it wouldn't be for me until after I had picked up the knives to see how they feel in my hand, how the weight is, etc.

Minder

Sparks400 wrote:

This is probably the best option for me, my brothers in NY for a few months at the minute, I'll check out Macy's site and see what they stock...

Edit/ this looks like superb value, any opinions?

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?upc_ID=708565&Quantity=1&EXTRA_PARAMETER=BAG&PseudoCat=ba-xx-xx-xx.index

Check the online retailers for cheaper options - lower overheads = lower prices.

But you will need to shop around.

Good luck

sharkman

Got a set of Zwilling knives in TK Maxx , was about €190 (reduced from €520),

Fantastic knives, have also got a couple of extra knives from the same range seperatly there also : http://www.zwilling.com/locale/en_ww/index.php?bereich=sortiment&produktbereich_id=1&produktbereich=serien&serie_id=2627&artikel_id=116

copacetic

sharkman wrote:

Got a set of Zwilling knives in TK Maxx , was about €190 (reduced from €520),

Fantastic knives : http://www.zwilling.com/locale/en_ww/index.php?bereich=sortiment&produktbereich_id=1&produktbereich=serien&serie_id=2627&artikel_id=116

nice find! I love that shop, it's worth the effort to go in every couple
of weeks to see is there anything good.

morgana

Here's a list of online shops stocking the Wüsthof knives http://www.wuesthof.de/DE/shop.asp

Mr Magnolia

That's great . Thanks all!

enda1

I'm pretty sure that catering shop (Sweeney O'Rourke?) on Pearse Street stock the Wüsthof knives. Got their massive bread knife, must be about 40cm long. Its deadly!

copacetic

seems like the place to ask how people clean their knives?
Mine have a few rust spots, tried CIF any tricks of the trade from
all you quality knife wielding maniacs?

krinpit

What kind of price range should a regular joe-soap be looking at to get value for money?