Which Cooks Knives
 

About 10 years ago i bought some Richardsons of Sheffield Fusion knives that stay sharp, think they have a tungsten edge, there as good today as they were when i bought them, but looking a bit old now. So im looking for a good knife set.


Obvious choice was Global but i also contacted Richardsons and they pointed me to these


the Midori range


Any of you cooks know of a god range i can start collecting, i want razor sharp and easy to sharpen if needed...


i got some russel Hobbs from groupon what a load of crap, gave them to neighbour...

Sheffield steel is a pale shadow if it's former self, i wouldn't bother.

Geiser, f.d!ck whusthof, victorinox, german steel is pretty decent.

Japanese is good, but you have to pay a fair premium for the good stuff.

Global no, it's a tarts knife.

Sure I read you only need 3 kitchen knives

I'll be watching this thread as I'm interested in the recommendations....

Love them or hate them but I've got a set of Globals and I've always found them to be able to cope with everything I've needed to do. I sharpen them with a MinoSharp, few strokes through on each sharpening wheel and they're soon back to being dangerous :D

Got mine in Costco for way less than you'll see on the high street but it was along time ago so no idea if they still do them.

Whatever you get, buy a Spyderco Sharpmaker to keep them sharp; incredibly easy to use, knives are ridiculously sharp.

S30V steel is superb but not used enough in kitchen knives.

i think its gonna be either that Midori one or these
http://www.chefsknifestore.co.uk/?gc...aMkaAjhF8P8HAQ

both Damascus Steel naifu are the Japanese ones...

Im with you on the 3 Knives thing i only ever use

Cooks Knife the big UN
a small pairing one
a middle size one


and ok a 4th Bread Knife as i make Bread....

I have WMF knives.....not too bad and not bank-busting prices

My bro in law is a chef, and still insists on Sabbatier knives.

He sharpens ONLY with a steel, laughs at those sharpeners with wheels, or grinding components and his knives are sharp enough to split hairs.

I can shave arm hair off (it's a random test Spyderco suggested!) once mine are done; all the Sharpmaker is is a set of sharpening stones (you need something harder than steel to sharpen steel) set at the right angle; very simple but very effective. About £60 but well worth it.

mmm, I can see this thread only going one way

after all - the knives are out










I,ll get my coat!!!

Ah , some my heritage :)

Great grandfather owned Capital steel works . My grandfather didn't want go into family business

Bought a set of Antony Worrell Thompson, what a load of rubbish!!! Just bought a set of Richardsons so we'll see how they fare:wonder:

He can't be hard on them, i had a sabatier boning knife, snapped it before the day was through, wouldn't hold an edge for a decent length of time, i'm guessing they use cheap carbon steel.

Also a steel does sharpen yes, but it's taking the edge away to make it finer, sooner or later it'll have to go on a stone.
Shapton ceramic glass stones are quality, they bring an edge up real fast and are smooth and consistent.

A naniwa combination stone is a good compromise, something like 1000/5000 grit should be fine for most things along with a steel.

If you can't be doing with learning how to hone, than something like matt suggested would be good, as at least you'll keep a consistent angle which is the point of them.

There are Sabbatier, and then there's the professional range.

Most chefs swear by them...and yes, most chefs are hard on their knives.

Just had a quick look, stainless that's more like it yeah i probably had the pauper version, still paid a fair few quid for it.

Carbon steel SHOULD keep an edge better than stainless. It's about four times as hard.
My youngest works for the biggest stainless manufacturer in the UK at Tinsley, east of Sheffield, it overlooks Tinsley viaduct on the M1.

Finnish owned, however.......:(

See it's not that clear cut heh, i have an old thiers issard straight using sheffield silver steel, which is a high grade carbon, and like you say it's harder but once that edge is on it's amazing.
And yet that sabatier i had was a total pos, i guess what i'm trying to say it's the quality of the steel rather than what it's made from, a good stainless will easily trump a cheap carbon blade.
Plus us trade folk have to use stainless, cos carbon has the potential to taint the food. ;)
Apparently when sheffield silver steel first came out, they had to change the composition as many complained it was far too hard.

Wonder if that's what my fusion knives are carbon tipped... Does anybody make them anymore a carbon edged blade?

It's funny because steel IS carbon (and iron) with various other elements added to vary the properties.

It's how it's heat treated that matters more than the composition. I could waffle on about eutectic diagrams but I won't.

Much misinformation about metals out there today.

There are very hard grades of steel out there, but many aren't suitable for knives. there's not much harder than cast manganese steel, used for the common crossings on high speed railway points.

You don't want cast steel for a knife blade though. Too brittle.

I've had my Sabbatiers for years and they are still going strong. I even have my knife roll and most of my knives from catering college and they are still doing ok for all of the hammer they got.

I have to agree......most chefs swear by them.

I use a combination of Henkels/Wuhstof/Sabattier/Victorinox in my kit. I've got one old Global (most Chefs do) but they are an utter bar steward to keep sharp.

Steels maintain an edge, they do not sharpen knives and are never intended for that purpose. You need to whetstone a knife in order to do that.

If you don't want to spend a fortune, Victorinox are ultra reliable and will do for most. I've got a Pastry Knife (aka Wonderbat) which is probably the best all-rounder you can get. Slice super-fine slices of bread? No drama. 20 boxes of tomatoes? Easy peasy. All for £35! Their tomato knives are good and handy for small salad items. The plastic handles make them a bit "industrial" but I can guarantee they won't let you down. With the pastry knives, once the serrated edge begins to wear, bin it. You can't get them back once they begin to blunt up. Given mine get used on every shift and it lasts a year, a home version should see you right for a fair bit.

If you want bling but reliable knives go German. Mine stay sharp with maintenance using a diamond steel (Vogue ones are £15 Global are 6x that for the same thing).

Some Jap blades are high maintenance but are on a different level for sharpness but leave them to posers or professionals. After all, we get thrm deducted on our tax bills.......otherwise you need your f'ing head reading spending £150 on a "shank"!!

Anything endorsed by a Celebrity is for one purpose only.....to bolster up their failing restaurant empire! Avoid at all costs.

As a pro, I use a Pastry knife/Cooks knife (10"), a paring knife, a serrated tomato knife (good for fruit), a pallet knife, an oyster chuck and a filleting knife for fish. It's very rare (outside of Michelin Star premises) that I'd need anything else so really there is no need for a ten knife collection in any domestic kitchens.

There really isn't much between Henkels and Wuhstof. I literally buy whichever is on offer with Nisbets. You won't go wrong with either.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...2640e52ea0.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...1522241787.jpg

Fresh from the packet, offender of above wound last August! Drawback of being tired and in control of dangerous tools........Victorinox Pastry knife...AKA Wonderbat. Can do most jobs you throw at it.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...50aaaae7a1.jpg

At last someone who knows how to use a knife, i keep telling that lot above but to no avail.

Yeah i have a similar victorinox, it's sneaky in that it doesn't feel sharp until of course you slice your finger with the thing.

Used to use them for filleting salmon all the time, very flexible for it's size.

Who doesn't know how to use a knife?
I'm a qualified chef too and with a Materials Engineering degree that concentrated on steel, I know my metals.

Let me put it to you another way, what do you do for a living.........

Let me put it this way, I use a Mac every day but I still can't programme one.

I ride a surfboard to a very high standard but I still can't make one.

I drive a quick car fairly competently but I still couldn't fix most issues in it.

And I used to cook for a living. And know more about steel than 99.9% of people including you. You cut a lot of meat but prepping salads? Slicing hundreds of potatoes? Peeling sack loads of carrots?

I have one knife that I use for most things except cutting bread, it's high grade carbon steel (japanese I believe) I bought it in a posh shop near stone henge when visiting friends many years ago, cost me about £60 which was a lot at the time for a knife, sharp as fook and cuts anything from tommys to onions as tin as you like, I keep the edge with a diamond steel and it sees a wet stone about twice a year.

If how it looks is important to you then don't buy pure carbon steel as it dis-colours and needs to be dried immediately or it will rust and show water marks, you'll also see blueing and pitting in the surface, but you won't find anything as sharp once sharpened properly. :thumb:

I tend to buy kitchen knives on French street markets, where they can be had for anything from €7 to €70.

I own quite a few €7 Victorinox ones, they seem to get lost very easily.

I also have a decent hand-held sharpening stone, (whetstone).