[guerrilla1138]

Okay, well as some of y'all must know by now, knives are near and dear to my odd little heart... and last night just ont he verge of slipping into sleep I got the idea for this thread... thought it might be interesting...

So, What are your favourite kitchen knives?

I spend more time in the kitchen than the average 16 year old guy, and I actually *like* to cook, so I do have a few favourites...

A big Chicago Cutlery Chef's knife, a set of Case knives, two handles, with several inter-change-able blades, and an old Herters hunting knife, simple affair with a wooden handle, and high-carbon blade... those are about all I ever use..

What about you?

[miquela]

My favorite kitchen knives are my mom and dad's. Chicago Cutlery - Dad used to sell them to try to make ends meet when he was a young enlisted guy in the AF. These knives are gosh! probly 30 years old, or older. Nothing ever comes loose, Dad sharpens them occassionally, they are solid, heavy, wonderful knives. Steak kives to go with too. Very nice. :)

My own kitchen knives are ****. :rolleyes: Someday, I'll have nice stuff. ;)

[mrsMTN]

I, too, have Chicago Cutlery (Mickthenailer gave them to me years ago!). Incredibly sturdy, durable and well-designed. But I have an awful time keeping a good edge on them. Anything I should or shouldn't be doing?

[HiPower]

I gotta go with the couple of Henckels in the drawer.
MrsMTN...the poor edge on kitchen knives usually comes from sharpening them with the wrong angle, and not sharpening them often enough. To keep a really nice edge on them, sharpen weekly. Get a Lansky sharpener, and use the 17 degree angle on them.

:D

[ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: HiPower ]

[mrsMTN]

Thanks, HP!

[Ramangel]

The knives I use the most are the OXO Good Grips knives. They are easier for me to use. They have soft, cushioned handles that are easy to grip. The Chef's knife is my favorite. I like the bread knife too. It has a curved handle that is above the blade.

I also like the Wiltshire Stay Sharps. I have all three of them, Chef's knife, utlity knife & paring knife. They each come with a storage case that has a built in sharpener. SO everytime I put them away or take them out I am sharpening them :)

I had some of the Chicago Cutlery knives too, I think everyone must have them :D
Mine were a wedding gift 25 years ago. I no longer used them though so I gave them to my daughter when she moved out.

[Sandman]

I've also got a Chicago Cutlery set in the kitchen. I use them some times but I mostly use a couple of old Green River knives my mom gave me.

[Cliff C]

My wife is the one that uses them the most (I just buy them and keep 'em sharp), so I'm probably not qualified to answer, buuuuuuutttt.... :)

THE two most used knives in our kitchen are:

A Chicago Cutlery (surprise, surprise) 8" Chef's knife that we've had for over 20 years. It holds a good edge and sharpens up great. Big, heavy STRONG knife that will chop carrots or a big block of chocolate with equal aplomb.

The other is a 3" (used to be 3.5") Victorinox paring knife that we've had just as long. I paid the princely sum of $3.50 for it. The tip was broken off, so I shaped a new one but lost the .5" in the process. ;)

We also have some Forschner (6" utility and 10" slicer) and a 5" Messermeister that also gets used a lot. The Messermeister is a nice little knife - great balance and ergonomics. It sharpens up great, but doesn't hold an edge quite as well as I would like. It's still MY personal favorite.

I love knives.

Great topic, Morgan! :D

Cliff

[Richard J.]

Am I the only one here who knows Cutco knives are the world's best by a long shot? Cutco's Forever Guarantee: If any Cutco product should fail due to faulty materials/workmanship, Cutco will fix or replace it free. If it fails due to customer abuse and replacement is warranted, Cutco will replace that item for %50 of the retail price. If (and that's a BIG IF) your knives need sharpening, send them back to Cutco and they will do it for $7. (That's not $7 per item, that's for however many you send back, 1 or 15 or 50.)

They've got knives for every use, including hunting and fillet knives, as well as a few folders, but mostly they specialize in kitchenware. They make scissors and other kitchen implements, too. (I can cut through a quarter with my Cutco kitchen shears, and I've used them to cut a penny in such a way that you end up with a copper mini corkscrew.) Even their kitchen spoons are designed with a somewhat sharp edge (to help cut through frozen ice cream.)

Cutco is a division of Alcoa Aluminum, and you would not believe how many other major manufacturers of knives sub out their work to Cutco. For instance, almost all Cold Steel knives are actually made in the Cutco plant. They use Cold Steel's specs for materials and shapes, etc, but it's actually Cutco that makes them.

They are expensive, which is why I don't have too many, but, if you have a complete set of Cutco kitchen and table ware, you won't ever have to spend money buying any more (unless you lose some.)

[Gusgus]

There are basically two types of kitchen knives - Stamped or Forged. Most Chicago Cutlery knives are stamped, unless you purchase their extremely expensive Legacy series ($100 for chef's knife alone). I will say that Chicago Cutlery makes some of the best stamped knifes out there. My champagne taste gravitates to fine forged knifes by Wusthof or Henckel ($140-160 for chef knife), but there's no way I'm going to spend over $500 for just the basics (8" chef, 10" carver, 6" boner, 4" utility).

Thankfully, I found a great series of Brazilian forged knives that rival the German brands. Several years ago, I picked up a custom set of Tramontina Pros (8" clever, 10" chef, 10" carver w/fork, 10" bread, 6" boner, 4" utility & sharpening steel) for around $200. Extremely heavy, high carbon forged knifes, that sharpen great. Well balanced, with handles that allow you to use the proper "chefs grip", without smacking your knuckles on the cutting board. These are to Henckels and Wusthofs, what the Taurus PT-92 is to the Beretta 92FS. ;)

[Gusgus]

Darn Rich, I forgot all about Cutco. They are great knifes, but IIRC they are stamped, and I just like the feel and balance of forged. If they work for you - great! Isn't that really all that matters?

[Bubba]

Lots of Chicago Cutlery fans I see. I also like the Henckels and the Forschner. Have really nice Henckels cleaver I use quite a bit for chopping and dicing. That Yan feller is purdy good with one of those. ;) Don't get me started on the Cutco... :rolleyes: Never again. Cold Steel being made there is enough of a sign for me. (No.. don't like their stuff either. But then... you guys should know me well enough by now to know I am a knife snob. :D) For serious kitchen work... I go to the display on the wall here in my office. I've got a couple of MadDogs that will handle anything. (Carved the Thanksgiving turkey with my Rezin 2000.) ;)

mrsMTN, the Lansky is a decent system... but it is quite a bit of trouble to set up and use on everyday knifes. The steel used in kitchen knives is relatively soft compared to what is used in even low cost pocket knives these days. i.e. ATS-34. I find this makes most kitchen knives to be pretty easy to sharpen with the right tools. I can sharpen the entire kitchen set to a shaving sharp state in the time it takes to setup one knife with the clamp systems like the Lansky.

HiPower is right about the angle however. I personally like a little more angle. I find the SpyderCo Sharpmaker to be the quickest all round tool for kitchen knives. But you to have to go through the knives and re-cut the original angle to match the 20 degrees of this kit. Once that is done, touch up is a 10-15 stroke process. Using the brown sticks first will re-cut the edge. Then the white sticks will put a hair popping edge on the kitchen knives with about 15-20 strokes per side.

If you really want to sharpen very hard steel and put a mirror like razor edge, nothing beats the EdgePro Apex system. It costs almost triple a Lansky system. But it is the only "system" setup I have found that allows you to keep the same angle over the entire length of the blade, regardless of length. The lansky will work well up to about a 4" blade. But as you get to larger blades and you move further out from the center of the blade where the clamp is attached.. the angle changes. Not the case with the Edge Pro. I can get a razor edge on ATS-34, O-1, D-2 in lengths from 4" out to my 12" fighting knifes.

Most folks will never need a system this elaborate. But I have yet to find anyone that can't get a razor edge on everyday knifes with the Sharpmaker. For $35-$45, it's a deal.

[miquela]

I have been corrected, yet again. :rolleyes: I really really do hate having to say i'm wr... wro... wron... oh man, it's just too hard, you know what I'm trying to say. :D

Big breath.... No, I'm a big enough girl to be able to say I was wrong, and tell you Mom's knives are Cutco, most likely stamped, according to Dad. They are very good knives tho, Dad keeps them sharp (but they only need sharpening occassionally), the handles have never been loose: to my knowledge we've never had a problem with them at all. I think they're great! My personal favorite is the French Chef's knife - great for slicing and dicing veggies :)

Hey Bubba! I think I finally found something we disagree on! ;) But I'm sure it's only due to my ignorance of knives, and once educated, I will again, see the error of my ways. hee-hee :rolleyes: BTW, How's the cleanup of that damascus blade of mine coming? :D :D :D

[Bubba]

Originally posted by miquela:
<STRONG>
BTW, How's the cleanup of that damascus blade of mine coming? :D</STRONG>

Funny you should mention that... It is coming along nicely. The blade looks MUCH better. It had some SERIOUS oxidation problems. BUt I have found some cleaners that got most of it. Still need some additional work on the handle. Should be able to get to that once I get back from Orlando. It will be ready by the time you visit in March.

[miquela]

Originally posted by Bubba:
<STRONG>Should be able to get to that once I get back from Orlando. It will be ready by the time you visit in March.</STRONG>

:D :D :D :D I'm so looking forward to the trip. Get to go shoot guns, check out the work you've done on the knife. It'll be good to see my friends too. hehehe ;) :p :D

[ 01-18-2002: Message edited by: miquela ]

[Queenchicken]

I am a Chicago Cutlery fan myself! I have had them for 8 Years now!!

[Mike Irwin]

I have a set of Cutco that gets a lot of use.

But my favorite knives are the two that I have that were made by my grandfather, supposedly from springs from a Model T or A.

He made these sometime before he and my grandmother were married, in the mid-1920s.

Being spring carbon steel, they rust like crazy if you aren't careful with them, but they also take an edge that NO stainless steel knife can ever hope to match. If I do my part with the steel and the strop, the edge is literally surgical quality.

Several years ago I cut myself with one just after I sharpened it. I never felt the actual cut, but I did feel the blade hitting the bone on my index finger.

They are the only knives that I will use for carving a turkey or chicken. They have enough spring in the blade that I can slide the blade down along the keel and nicely detach the breast in one large chunk.

I also have a small cleaver that was probably made in the 1920s/30s. It's also high-carbon steel, and will also rust like crazy, but it also takes an edge like no other.

As far as I'm concerned, NO kitchen is complete without a cleaver.

[Tony from Finland]

Uh, kitchen knives? I'm supposed to have knives that get used only in the kitchen? :rolleyes: :D

[HiPower]

Of course, Tony. What else does the wife use when digging a spot for the tomato plants? Or when the kids need to whittle a stick?

:D

[Tony from Finland]

No wife, no kids, no garden. The knives I do have are pretty much all more capable of whittling than a typical kitchen knife. And my girlfriend carries a folder (as if I hadn't got knives in the kitchen too... :p).