Semi professional chef knifes

mollybird

We are after getting a present of German chef knifes (25 piece set). Both me and my husband love to cook and were thrilled to get this set of knifes as a present. We started to use them last night but found they weren't as good as the 2 knifes we have. The blades are thicker than the ones we have. Hubbie doesn't want to sharpen them quite yet. Found it difficult enough to cut through an onion

Does anyone know is this common or known for a good set of knifes?

Alun

What make are they? I confess I've not seen sets with as many knives as that (what on earth are they all for?!) from any of the best known German manufacturers such as Wüsthof or Henckels (Zwilling) for example.

Kerikosan

What Brand are the German Knifes? any of these?

Wusthof
Henckels
F Dick
Viking
Messermeister

German knifes are generally quite thick and robust knifes and good for the heavy jobs some jobs require
If it is a high quality Professional knife it should slice an onion without any problem.

I am a Professional Chef myself and use Imported Japanese Knifes and Global knifes. I also use Victorinox for pastry work as these get blunt fast cutting on marble slabs and general pastry work. and I use Australian Furi knifes For heavy jobs like cracking shells, Lobsters etc.
I also use Naniwa Super Stones & Global Dual wet stones to sharpen all of my knifes.

Deise Musashi

We are after getting a present of German chef knifes (25 piece set). Both me and my husband love to cook and were thrilled to get this set of knifes as a present.

Knives are a great present for people who like to cook. I remember seeing an episode of "Floyd on Food" where he whipped out his knife roll. His attitude was, to cook all you needed was a heat source of some description, but you needed the right knives for whatever prep. work you were doing.

We started to use them last night but found they weren't as good as the 2 knifes we have.

What knives have you got?

The blades are thicker than the ones we have. Hubbie doesn't want to sharpen them quite yet. Found it difficult enough to cut through an onion

German knives are thicker and heavier, in general, than Japanese knives. Just a different philosophy behind them. That said, German companies make some very nice Japanese style knives, they do know metallurgy.

Difficulty cutting an onion sounds like the edge isn't quite optimal. Thickness of blade and "Splitting" rather than cutting things like potatoe and squash, would be more a problem with the geometry of the blade, even if properly sharpened.
They may benefit from a thinning and convexing of the edge? Removing the shoulder (if a sabre grind) and making a smooth radiused curve to a fine sharp edge should solve either problem.

Any pics or links to the knives in question?

Does anyone know is this common or known for a good set of knifes?

It shouldn't be, but I sharpen all my knives before use, as the factory usually puts a working edge on and I want a laser edge. Again I find various makers have different ideas of sharp, the Japanese generally ship a knife ready to go. I do have a fondness for Victorinox and Windmill knives as well, solid performers for not much money.

Let me know if I can be of any help with your knives, easy prep work really helps me enjoy preparing food for my family. I would like for you to enjoy using your present.

homemadecider

Take them to your local cobblers and ask them to sharpen them for you - we do this once a year and it really helps keeps the knives in good nick.

Cedrus

Is it possible that in a set of 25 knives there are one or two that are supposed to be a bit dull for some reason (oyster knife? icing knife?) and you just picked up the wrong one for your onion?

My oyster knife doesn't even pretend to be sharp, you couldn't mistake it for a vegetable knife but there are other designs out there.

What make are they and did they come with instructions or even a list of names?

mollybird

So sorry i forgot to put the name up everyone. The knifes are from Waltmann Und Sohn. It has everything from a meat cleaver, fish fillet knife, chef knife, 6 set of steak knifes and forks and knife sharpner and some other knifes.

Thud

did you google that brand? Doesn't seem to be any website for them but lots of sites selling them for supposedly knockdown prices (£50 down from £550 etc)
Unfortunately doesn't look like the greatest of brands, even at that you may be able to sharpen a few of them and get good use out of them.

Alun

I found a German knife enthusiasts website that mentioned them and they were, well, less than complementary about them I'm afraid. Probably Chinese made, with a 'fake' Germanic sounding name to add a bit of cachet.

Dizzyblonde

mollybird, if you have to replace some of your knives there's a great thread with lots of useful information here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055228995

wannabecraig

mollybird wrote: »

So sorry i forgot to put the name up everyone. The knifes are from Waltmann Und Sohn. It has everything from a meat cleaver, fish fillet knife, chef knife, 6 set of steak knifes and forks and knife sharpner and some other knifes.

Chances are if you got a set of 25 knives as a gift they're not very good.
25 decent knives would cost way to much to be given as a normal gift.

Slutmonkey57b

What's a semi professional knife anyway? A part time one? Is it a soup spoon during the week?

Anthony Bourdain's advice on kitchen equipment is pretty spot on I would have thought...

Pabmac

wannabecraig wrote: »

Chances are if you got a set of 25 knives as a gift they're not very good.
25 decent knives would cost way to much to be given as a normal gift.

Some people have generous friends, some people do a lot to deserve generous friends.

Pabmac

Thud wrote: »

did you google that brand? Doesn't seem to be any website for them but lots of sites selling them for supposedly knockdown prices (£50 down from £550 etc)
Unfortunately doesn't look like the greatest of brands, even at that you may be able to sharpen a few of them and get good use out of them.

Alun wrote: »

I found a German knife enthusiasts website that mentioned them and they were, well, less than complementary about them I'm afraid. Probably Chinese made, with a 'fake' Germanic sounding name to add a bit of cachet.

I suspect this is true.

However,
The steak knives are probably scalloped so they'll be serviceable, if the cleaver has a bit of weight it'll be fine too. Get a sharpening stone and some 3 in one oil and spend an evening or two honing the others. Don't try to do it fast with an angle grinder or anything like that you'll just tear the edges.

Mena02

I watched a program recently about the sale of fake branded knives. They looked and were packaged exactly like the real brand but when put to use they were blunt. There is huge money being made with these fakes as professional knives are so expensive.

MadsL

Also be aware that Henckels have a chinese made cheaper version of their Knives marketed under J.A. HENCKELS INTERNATIONAL and this logo

For their 'genuine' knives you need to look for the Zwilling brand and the 'twins' logo.