Fine Hand Tools for the Kitchen

[dkerfoot]

Has anyone else fallen in love with a good knife set? Last year, I got my wife a set of four Wusthof Classic knives for mother's Day (her request).

http://www.wusthof.com/en/classic.asp

I think I like them more than she does (and she is very happy with them). They just feel so good in the hand. Now, if I grab one of our old stamped blade knives, I can't believe how flimsy and junky they feel.

Wusthof does make several different lines of knives and some of them (especially the Emeril line) are not nearly so nice.

I was skeptical that they were worth the price, but now I am a believer. I even listed a 6" cook's knife or a set of steak knives as a Father's Day suggestion!

[pierhogunn]

I have a set that we got at the beginning of my marriage, the things are great tools, and with a little bit of honing steel attention, I can cut anything cleanly w/out much effort. I just love my 8" chef and 8" sandwich blades.

I have the cleaver, but don't have much call for it. But I do have it when needed for a quick hwack.

[cabinetman]

we got a J.A Henckels set for our wedding, and we've been adding pieces as we can. We love the knives, but have had nothing near their quality to compare them to.
.

[bruffc]

We have the Grand Prix II set and love' em.

[Uncle Cracker]

I've got the Gran Prix II set, too (the mega-set with forged steaks). Had them since they first came out with the "II" series, and really love them (cut myself a few times, though, but that was my fault). You are right about the Emerils, they are crap. Just another case of somebody trying to make a buck by putting a famous face with an inferior product.

[os1kne]

My wife and I got a set on Henckels as a wedding gift. She insisted that I go with her when she/we created our wedding gift registry (pure torture for a guy). As she picked out various/numerous kitchen items, glassware, towels, etc., she said "aren't you going to pick out anything?" Looking around at a bunch of can openers, hot plates, coffee makers, blenders, and other stuff that didn't interest me, I saw the knife section. A good knife set was the most manly thing around. Now, I actually enjoy helping out in the kitchen by cutting up vegetables, etc.

[pecker]

I bought myself the 3 piece set of Global knives and I don't let the wife near them.


They are razor sharp, and a bit delicate...like the BT saw. Not for the ham-fisted.
One of the great things is that they also make a manual blade sharpener that actually works. It has water stone wheels, and a few passes through it gets them very sharp again.

[dkerfoot]

The Wusthof sharpener works well too. A couple passes through the carbide edges, followed by a few more through the ceramic rods and they are very, very sharp again.

Now if I could just get LOML to stop scraping the knife sideways across the cutting board after each cut. Sigh...