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.
Popularity: 33% [?]
Related Articles
7 users responded in this post
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.
Leave A Reply
Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments