Like I mentioned in the Free Culinary School Podcast Episode 1, here are some of the chef knives that I have used and recommend.
Shun’s are my personal favorite and what I use on a daily basis. They are some of the sharpest and most beautiful knives on the market; not to mention they have great balance. Forged with VG-10 “super steel” and sharpened to a 16° angel, these knives hold their razor sharp edge and are extremely durable.
Globa knives, were created in 1985 by Komin Yamada. An almost unlimited budget was used to design this modern knife that appeals to professional and amateur cooks alike. Known for holding a razor sharp edge longer than most knives, Globals are still hand crafted in Yoshikin’s factory in Niigata Japan.
Henkels…J.A. Henckel has been making great and reliable knives since 1731 and have been sold in the United States since 1883. Definitely a solid choice that offers great value.
Wusthof knives are some of the most widely used and trusted knives in the professional kitchen. All Wusthof knives are hand forged, and are the standard by which other professional knives are measured.
Although there are many knife manufacturers out there, this is a good place to start. All four of the knife companies listed above are known for their quality and durability.
Do you own any of these knives, or is there a certain knife company that you love that you feel I have unjustly left out? Let me know by clicking on the comment button below.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I would like to know why you didnt include American brands like Cutco, do they not live upto the German or Japanese quality? just curious
Kent,
Let me start by saying both my parents and my in-laws have a set of Cutco knives that they love. However, I do have a couple of personal issues with them.
1) Although I’m sure you can buy each knife individually, the real money is in the set which they always try and sell you. Quite frankly, you don’t need a huge knife set to get the job done; just a 10″ chef’s knife and a 6″ utility knife.
2) For me personally, I like knives with a little bit of a wider handle and more weight, which gives you more leverage when cutting things quickly in a fast paced environment.
3) However, my biggest issue is that although they have a lifetime guarantee on sharpening, I have never had success sharpening a Cutco knife myself; even though I have years of experience sharpening knives in a professional kitchen. When my knife loses its edge at work, I need to sharpen it then and now; I can’t wait for a few day turnaround of having to send my knife back to the factory every time it has to be sharpened (especially since I use my knives so much, I have to usually sharpen them every 1-2 weeks as apposed to once a year as is the case for most home cook enthusiasts).
Because this podcast and blog concentrates on teaching people how to cook like a professional chef, and since I would never use Cutco in a professional context because of the reasons listed above, I just can’t bring myself to recommend them.
Jacob,
I ran across your podcast and was very impressed with it. I wanted to comment on the knife episode because I as well use Shun knives albeit not in the professional capacity but as a cooking enthusiast who yearns to make food properly and with the best ingredients and tools at my disposal. What I wanted to comment on was since you never came out and said what knives you use, I was curious and looked on your page, which sparked this whole comment. If your listeners do indeed purchase a good knife their a couple of rules about good knives that they should know as to keep their knives as beautiful as the day they bought them. (I know you already know this, but I would hate for one of the listeners to ruin a 200+ knife.)
1.) Never wash the knife in the dishwasher or allow water to hang out on the blade itself. When you are ready to clean the blade wash with a mild soap and dry with a cloth towel immediately. The obvious reason is for discoloration and the pakka wood handles can be damaged by water. Bye bye 200 smackers.
2.) Always use either a bamboo, rock maple, or plastic cutting board. That means nothing with a hard surface I.E. Marble, Metal, Glass ect.. This will dull and ruin your knife faster than anything else. Bye bye 200 buckaroos.
3.) Store the blades either in a knife block or a a magnet knife holder. You don’t want to let your knives party with the other flatware or each other. The knives like their personal space. Also if you were to reach in blind… bye bye finger???
I would write more but I have to leave so I will leave you with this.
If you are afraid to sharpen your knives, and if you own Shuns, and you don’t have to worry about using them immediately, Shun offers free sharpening on your blades and recommend under normal use to do this once a year.
The link is here…
http://www.kershawknives.com/
I love my Shuns. They are truly the greatest knives I’ve ever owned. Do yourself a favor and go to a dealer and just hold one. I’m sure you will understand why these are the best.
~Zach
This is a P.S. to my last comment…
I gave the web address to KAI USA (Shuns official website) but I forgot to post the link to the actually FAQ based section. Here it is, also it give you all the information you need to make sure you handle your new knives with care.
http://www.kershawknives.com/faq.php
Cheers!
~Zach
@Nutzacio,
Great comment, thanks for all the information…I really appreciate you filling in the finer points of how to properly take care of your knife. And by the way, I hope that it is not your last comment. Please feel free to comment anywhere you wish. You obviously have lots of good information to share which in my opinion is one the greatest opportunities this blog and podcast has to offer….people who are passionate about the culinary arts sharing information. Hope see more comments from you again soon.
I’d like youe take on the better ceramic knives on the market. Are they not heavey enough or not sturdy enough? After trying one, I felt like the edge was better then my Wusthof’s but just didn’t feel substantsial. I could see doing very precise delicate work but do they hold up?
Gord,
Technically ceramic knives are sharper than regular steel manufactured knives, but how sharp does your knife really need to be? Wusthofs hold a great edge, and can be razor sharp when sharpened correctly.
My biggest issue with ceramic knives are two fold: (1) They’re way to fragile. I’ve seen a cook snap the tip off of a ceramic pairing knife just by trying to remove the core from an apple. There are just too many things that can happen to a knife to have it be so fragile. (2) You can’t sharpen a ceramic knife yourself; you have to send it back to the factory to be sharpened. Since I use my knives on a daily basis, I need to be able to sharpen my knife as soon as it needs it; I can’t afford to be without my chef’s knife for a week or so.
Not to mention the price of ceramics…I would just stick with a well-manufactured traditional steel knife such as a Wusthof or any of the other ones that I recommended above.
The only ceramic product that I do recommend is a ceramic steel. These are a great way to finish your knife sharpening process and will keep your knife razor sharp between trips to the stone.
I love my big block of Henkels! They keep a very nice edge for this amateur cook. It’s funny, though…the only 2 knives I use from the whole block are the big chef’s knife (use for 95% of tasks) and a 6″ utility knife for occasional smaller work–just as you recommend. The chef’s knife is hefty and seems indestructible–love it!
I am actually a big fan of the messermeister knives. They are a little harder to find but if you have a source they are great. To me, they are very comfortable in my hand, more than the wustoff.
I have a ceramic knife too which is great for certain things, especially herbs or anything with chlorophyll since it has no metal it doesn’t oxidize and turn the herbs black. Don’t use the ceramic knives on anything hard or with bone in it as they can snap. They are harder than steel but more brittle. You don’t need a whole set of ceramic knives, one will do.
@ Tyrusg,
I have a couple of friends who use Messermeister and they’re big fans. It’s a good, solid knife company.
Not the biggest fan of ceramic knives because they’re super fragile, impossible to sharpen, and really expensive. Instead of spending the money on a ceramic knife, I would just recommend buy a sharpening stone and steel instead to keep your chef’s knife razor sharp.
Hey Jacob,
Just wondering why you did not mention your potato masher thing you mentioned? I don’t remember what it’s called because I had never heard of one, but would like to see what it looks like.
@ Torqued4Cooking,
Its called a food mill, and you can check it out here.
How does the everyday cook/chef decide between all the various models a particular knife company has. For Example I use J.A. Henkel and Wusthof. I use both brands “Classic” series but based on price one would assume the Professional “S” Series Knife was a better quality then the “Classic” series. Is the quality and edge holding abilities different amongst the models or are they just personal favorites. One other question about sharpening. Where or what quality should an average person look for when looking for a professional to sharpen there knives. I wouldn’t expect to bring my knives to the same person who sharpens lawnmower blades, so what should people look for? Thank you.
@ Bob,
Really what the selection of a knife comes down to is personal preference. All of the knives are going to hold an edge to a certain extent; all that really matters is how does that knife feel in your hand.
As far as getting your knife professional sharpened goes, I would look up “knife sharpening” in your local phone book. I prefer to do all my own sharpening because professional sharpeners use a grinding wheel that just takes off way to much metal in my opinion.
First of all, like your site and podcasts
Now my question, do the size of your hands matter when picking out the right knife? If I have really tiny hands, does the length of the knife matter? Also, how often should you steel your knife?
The size of your hand shouldn’t really effect the length of the knife that you choose, however the size of your hand does dictate the handle width. If you have a small hand, you’ll want a knife with a more narrow handle.
As far as steeling your knife goes, there really isn’t a set time frame because what your cutting and how often you use your blade will have a large effect. Usually you should steel your knife when it seems that it doesn’t cut quite as easily as it did when you first bought it.
Jacob -
Thanks for the great site. I just graduated from a culinary school and they issued some wonderful knives … MAC. These are some beautiful knives from Japan. They got a bad rap (some would say justifiably so), but the company has turned that rep around.
If anyone checks these out, I have only one recommendation … keep your fingers 1.5″ away from the business end; they have a tendency to jump out about an inch and bite ya.
http://www.macknife.com (No, I’m not in sales; just love the knife.)
Hey Scott, glad you’re enjoying the website and congratulations on graduating from culinary school. I like the Mac knives, but their handles are a little slender for my gorilla hands. I have a couple of friends who use them though and are total fan boys. Welcome to the site, and if you haven’t already, join the forum and say hi to all the great people who hang out over there.
Hello. I just found your podcast, and enjoyed it very much. I appreciate technique-based cooking instruction, and yours is particularly clear and easy to follow, even when it is audio-only. Thanks.
As to this post: I use a variety of knives in my (strictly amateur) kitchen. But my current favorites are my 10″ and 6″ carbon steel Sabatiers. Carbon steel is a bit more finicky to work with — it must be kept dry and it must be sharpened more often. But I find that being softer, they are easier to sharpen; and I prefer the shape of French knives for making accurate cuts. I think that I never understood the purpose of a knife’s tip until I switched to these from my Wusthof.
Thanks for the info! This has been a huge help. I was wondering what your opinion on the different lines of Shun knives was, i.e. the Shun Classic vs. the Shun Elite?
Have you tried both, and/or do you think there is any reason to get one over the other?
@ Sam,
I personally use the Shun Classic 10,” Santoku, Paring, & Utility. I also use the Ken Onion 8″ Chef Knife. I’ve seen the Elite at the cutlery store and they look pretty cool. I haven’t had a chance to put them through their paces yet because I’m still trying to destroy my Shun Classics (very unsuccessfully by the way).