Reply With QuoteJust get a good sharpener. I have a JL one and it really is fab.
other than that, avoid gimmicks and moulded on handles.
Though I don't cook that often we have been struggling for a couple of years with a set of Richardson kitchen knives, they are supposed to never need sharpening as they have (I think) a teflon edge.
Any suggestions for a set, including bread, meat and veggie knife, they should be dishwasher safe, not more than £100.
Looking on Amazon there are loads :| just wanted to know if anyone has any suggestions :)
Just get a good sharpener. I have a JL one and it really is fab.
other than that, avoid gimmicks and moulded on handles.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Oh, and never ever dishwash a knife. Instant blunt.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
I was given some very nice Jamie Oliver knives for xmas - they are very nice/balanced and keep a good edge.
Only one brand to go for - Global :D
I invested in a set of these a few years ago and they have been superb. We use them every day and I have not had to sharpen them yet :shock:
They are stylish, light, lovely to work with and look good on the worktop in the wood block I bought for them :D
I use kin knives don't use a dishwasher it will ruin any knife. Buy a waterstone and learn how to use it even cheap stainless steel can have an edge put on it.
Originally Posted by stooo
I didn't know that, how does it blunt them??
Put something aluminium in the dishwasher and see how it comes out; it will answer your question. ;)
Try zirconia (ceramic) knives
Such as http://www.harimaent.co.jp/l-ceramic2.html
I have 3 ( 2 ice bear) in various sizes and they have all been excellent - and not required sharpening in over 6 years.
z
No need for a fancy bread knife cheap supermarket one will do the job IMHO.
Tojiro make great knives. Second the global recommendation although they can be too light for some so aim to try one first.
Henckels make some good stuff too.
Don't make the mistake of buying cheap ones as a great knife will literally last a lifetim if well taken care of!
You only reall need three good ones as far as I'm concerned. A good chefs knife, carving knife and a santoku. Possibly a filleting one if you are going to give it enough use...
Spend the money on fewer and better quality rather than 8 knives of which you'll only use a few...
Pretty boring, but I use Sabatier. They do need sharpening, however.
Best wishes,
Bob
PS. I can't remember the brand, however.
RLF
I've got a couple of Richardson Fusion knives, which sound like the same as you have. The handle on the chef's knife could be a little more comfortable, but other than that, I have no complaints about them. They're sharp enough, and the odd pass through the knife sharpener keeps them that way. I put them in the dishwasher as well, but at about £10 per knife, I'm not that worried.
Have you tried a little light sharpening? I'm surprised that you're struggling with them.
http://www.wusthof.com/desktopdefault.aspx
Or
http://www2.zwilling.com/en-GB
Or
http://www.shunknife.co.uk/
Together with Global these are the "big 4"
In order, difficult to say but (reportedly) Zwilling JA Henckels have fallen away a bit in quality (they are still amazing though!) so it's a choice between the other 3.
Current wisdom seems to rate them (in order) Shun, Wusthof, Global then Zwilling JA Henckels.
Plenty of reviews and comparisons on t'interweb.
For me it would be Shun or Wusthof, I just can't get on with the Global styling.
[edit] just saw your £100 max limit, forget everything I said. Buy a Spyderco sharpmaker and learn how to use it!
Cheers,
Wus are considered the best.
I use all Henkels, with a couple of oddities in the drawer, I've had them a few years and they are fantastic and sharpen well - even the cleaver :)
I bought a couple of Kai kitchen knifes (Sekimagoroku) to try after they had been recommended and the local TK maxx had then in for a little over £20 each.
Global are quite nice and well balanced but I don't like the handles.
It's just a matter of time...
Couldn't agree more.
Another vote for Global, best ones I've used
I've got a set of Zwilling twin pollux that I have found to be great, the ice hardened blades hold a very good edge and they are not going to break the bank.
Thanks for all the replies, some very good suggestions but most out of my budget :salute:
I'm still using Bexfield knives, but not sure if they are still available. I would second the advice above of getting just two or three quality knives because they will last, and a good sharpener such as a Chantry.
If the others are too expensive.... for a chefs knife I use Sabatier carbon steel. I can recommend it. It takes a great edge but you have to really look after it. If you are looking for another steel knife that never needs sharpening then sadly you will be looking for ever I think.
I cook a lot and have gone through an endless array of knives over the years, from a set of useless Sabatier (didn't hold their edge), a reasonable set from Ikea (but the handles deteriorated too quickly), a couple of Global which were rubbish (horrible to hold and a worrying lack of difference between blade and handle), to my treasured collection, currently residing in a canvas knife roll in my drawer in the kitchen.
I have an 8cm Kasumi damascus paring knife, a 14cm Kasumi damascus utility knife, a solid stainless steel cleaver bought from a chinese market in Birmingham for £4.99 about fifteen years ago and a bread knife that I picked up from somewhere or other. I have a double sided sharpening stone, mainly to sharpen and then polish the damascus edge on the Kasumi blades but it also puts a shaving edge on the cleaver. I also have a butchers steel to give the blades a quick strop before use. I don't use the bread knife, preferring to use the cleaver to get perfectly straight slices of bread and if I am honest, I could just make do with the 14cm utility knife. I was once given a set of 'ever-sharp' knives but I never used them as they had a pathetic blade and mean handle. I threw them out when we moved house about six years ago.
I think the market has been flooded with 'show' knives and I can't see the point of a six or eight set in a block on a kitchen work-top. I concur with the advice that the OP should buy a couple of decent knives and a sharpener but I would add to that the purchase of a canvas roll so they can be put away after use and maybe a steel to give the edge a bit of attention before use.
Not to knock all the sterling advice, but you're straying into the sharp equivilent of WIS world when talking to many chaps here about knives. (they seem to be another obsession for many).
Google "what makes a good kitchen knife" or similar, then get a set of 5 plus knife block from Sainsbury's for about 50 odd quid (at least were last Xmas). That will be all you ever need if you're just a home cook like most of us. Full tang, well balanced, prper handles, well constructed, not expensive. Dah Dah!!
Also buy something to sharpen them with, but get something basic, well reviewed and applauded - there are loads of choices. I have a draw-through sharpener that suctions onto the worktop. works like a dream and you need almost zero skill to use. My knives do what they're supposed to, do it very well, look as expected, and are razor sharp all the time. All for £65 and no knowledge!! :wink:
A myth has built up around putting sharp knives in the dishwasher to clean them. There is a safety reason for not putting them in a dishwasher as it is possible you could reach in and cut yourself accidentally, but nobody has ever come up with a scientific reason why sharp knives would become blunt.
Theoretically the pressure of the water combined with the chemicals in the detergent could over time dull the edge of a knife, but not as quick as actually using the thing. Most kitchen knives are made from stainless steel, the same material as a dishwasher.
The reason aluminium stains in a dishwasher is the detergent is very alkaline and it oxidises the surface of the aluminium.
A knife edge is rough and presents a huuuuge surface area for the corrosive detergent to attack and ultimately wear down.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Just FYI... (& dredging up some info from my days as a (Sheffield) metallurgist working on stainless steels)...
The sharpest knives and razors are not stainless steel, but plain/high carbon steels
Stainless steels are a compromise for kitchen utensils - and preferred because of their corrosion resistance.
The discovery & history of stainless is covered nicely here... http://www.bssa.org.uk/about_stainless_steel.php?id=31
The carbon content and carbides in higher C steels makes them harder & retain the cutting ability better.
However, without the Ni and Cr present (as added to make stainless steels) they corrode.
Cr is added to cause the steel to passivate (form an impermeable oxide layer & therefore enhance corrosion resistance).
Ni is added to enhance formability (Ni is used as an austenite stabiliser - a face centered cubic crystal structure more amenable to forming)
There is a very concise summary here http://chemistry.about.com/cs/metalsand ... 71201a.htm
If you want a really sharp cutting edge - get a non stainless knife - but be prepared to sharpen it often.
If you want a shiny knife that is sharp - but not as sharp as plain C - buy a stainless knife.
If you want something both hard & corrosion resistant - buy a ceramic knife - such as the zirconia examples I posted earlier in this thread.
They are hard & corrosion resistant therefore maintain a cutting edge for (much) longer.
However, they are inherently brittle (similar fracture toughness to cast iron) - so use with care - and do not attack bones with them.
Hope that helps :)
z
+1 10 years old and still terrific (although we do sharpen).
I think the main reason a dishwasher blunts knives is that people put them in the basket and they bang together while washing. You also shouldn't put sharp knives in a draw with other knives.
I'm a bit of a knife fanatic and have quite a fewkitchen knives. Most are carbon steel or Damascus and I wouldn't dish-wash them regardless as they have wooden handles!
All my stainless knives go in as our dish washer has a flat tray with 'pegs' to hold knives individually.
Here's my favourite of the moment:-
I have a ikea 'top end' knife, best one in my draw, sharpens up a treat, will cut up a frozen chicken breast with little effort!
You may like these links then... :DI'm a bit of a knife fanatic and have quite a few
Here's an email I got from a German customer (another knife fanatic) after a lengthy conversation about knives (not work
As promissed 3 links
...my most loved knife shop...
http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/default.asp
tell Ohki my best regards when ordering
the powder metallurgical steel knifes
http://www.roedter-messer.de/shop/zwill ... 1_172.html
And the Titan, steel mix knife – very good stuff
http://www.kochmesser.com/cera_titan_me ... 23,kl.html
most of it is in German but you will manage to find the same products on English language web pages….
JCK (your first link) are great suppliers and err.... well known to me :-)
If you want to blunt a knife fast, cut up a lot of cardboard. My pocket knife blunts quite quickly when cutting up cardboard boxes.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
I'm not a knife man by any stretch of the imagination - but that is lovely :thumbup:Here's my favourite of the moment:-
What exactly is that ?
A perfect demonstration of the dangers of getting into nice knives - you spend all your money on the blades, and then all you can afford for a kitchen worktop is some old scaffold boards.I'm not a knife man by any stretch of the imagination - but that is lovely :thumbup:Here's my favourite of the moment:-
That's actually the knife makers (quite famous) coffee table ;-) but you are quite correct..
An 8" Santoku inspired kitchen knife made of Odin's Eye Damasteel by a knife maker called Stuart Mitchell from Sheffield.
The scales (handle) are made of desert ironwood.
For me it has to be Stella Sabatier knives, tried everything else over the years & keep coming back to these (ended up giving my Globals to my brother who doesn't really cook but heard they were "the best" so wanted them on display in his kitchen) (sad). It really depends on what feels good in the hand but having said that its worth targeting at least £100 for a set of 4/5 knives as a starting point quality wise, saying that i have recently seen lots of quality knives available at discounted prices everywhere from TK Maxx to House of Fraser. Top tip, buy a good quality steel & learn how to use it, few things more useless than a blunt knife.
Agree with all those who recommend Global, but you'll need to spend more than £100 to get all the knives you want!
I found Global were too light, I have a set of Wusthof that are fantastic. I also have some Victorinox knives that are much more affordable.
"Informational": Sabatier is not a brand or registered trade mark, and several different firms produce 'Sabatier' knives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier
Interesting. Many years ago I bought a very indifferent set of Sabatiers under the impression they were good. Replaced years later by Kitchen Devils from Tesco (pretty good) and now Global.
I would second the idea of buying one or two god knives - you generally use one knife the most. I have a few I can use as well as each other - but one would have done the job of the three!
It's just a matter of time...
I've been following this thread as I've been thinking about getting a set of good knives for our new kitchen when it is built eventually - having a house built in Airdrie, and it's not going to be ready until October at the earliest :evil: - and have been looking at Global for a while now, and it is good to know that many members here use them and recommend them.
Thanks for the help chaps, and apologies to the OP for the slight hijack :wink:
My choice is far removed from these esoteric & designer brands.
If it's good enough for a professional kitchen, its good enough for me.
Knives to suit every budget.
http://www.russums-shop.co.uk/knives-c44
I have three of their own brand "Smithfield" - 25cms Cooks, 25cms Serrated Pastry & 8cms Paring - all one really needs 8)
but because I bake my own bread - a long bladed bread knife is a must. Makes it easy to cut thin even slices. Currently very happy with this 30cm blade
http://bakerybits.co.uk/Bakers-Bread...-P1567731.aspx
All at the budget end, all do the job perfectly well.
Cannot help the OP as my choice of Global is well out of the budget.
Do like ‘em though......(the intruder in the middle is SWMBO’s :wink: )
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Third from left. It's a sword.
R
Global are great value work horse knives, a sort of Seiko equivalent ish.
OP. Personally I would support the suggestion of spending all you budget on two knives and adding extras later if needed rather than buying a lesser set.
My cousin is a "foodie" who writes recipe books, food columns and stuff and also did demos with various celeb. TV chefs.
I once asked her the same question posed by the OP. Expecting her to recommend some exotic , expensive brand, I was taken aback when she told me that she used Kitchen Devil Professional knives at home and if I bought anything more expensive I would probably be wasting my money.
Of course I ignored her advice and probably wasted my money :D
+1 again. Global are amazing. Quite shockingly sharp, and if you can, use their sharpener. Easy and quick to use.Couldn't agree more.
And an advantage with Global knives is that if you cut yourself, it doesn't really hurt for a few minutes. Don't ask me how I (and wifey) know this..... :shock:
I have a Kitchen Devil Pro chef's knife and it's as good as anything I've ever used (they're now made by Fiskars).
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
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