As a professionally trained Bladesmith I’m often asked for my opinion on affordable, commercially available cutlery that can be purchased locally. Since I’ve answered this question many times for friends and family I thought it might be useful to share here on the Blog.
Before we get started let me just say that there are a lot of different factors that go into the selection of a good set of knives, and if done properly there is no reason that a high quality kitchen knife can’t be put to service for 20 years or more.
Some of the factors that influenced my recommendations include steel composition, durability, “feel” or balance, aesthetics, and sanitary considerations.
I should note that I am focusing on sets of knives here because a matched set is always best. They’ll all fit in the same block together, they require similar care, they’ll have similar balance and feel, and they look best this way. I highly recommend purchasing a matched set and using the right knife for each particular job.
For the Extremely Cost Conscious
I’m sorry to report, but there is no set of knives that I can recommend below about $150. The main reason is that in order to make a good knife you have to start with high quality steel, then go through extremely high quality processes and frankly this is all quite expensive. The fact that we can purchase cheap knives today is amazing considering that just a couple hundred years ago it would have cost a pretty penny due to all the manual labor and specialized knowledge required of a Bladesmith.
So, if you’re on a tight budget the best option is to just get one or two knives at the moment then save up to purchase a block set. Here are the top three knives I recommend if I was only going to own one really good knife:
- Calphalon Katana Stainless-Steel 6-Inch Utility Knife
($60) – Although not ideal for all tasks, a 6″ utility knife would slice meat, dice veggies or help debone and skin a chicken.
- Calphalon Katana Stainless-Steel 7-Inch Santoku Knife
- Henckels Professional “S” 6″ Utility Knife ($70) – Again, this is the competitor for the Calphalon utility knife. If you prefer something more stain resistant this would be the choice (read below to see what I mean).
For the Average Household
Actually, I’m assuming that if you’re reading this you’re a little more selective than the “average consumer”, but I digress. A good “value” set of knives is the Henckels 10-piece Forged Set from had at Costco for $188. I’m 90% certain this set is assembled from the TWIN Gourmet series of knives.
Features of the Henckels 10 piece set:
- 9 German forged blades plus a block for about $20 each. That’s a good value.
- Hygenic construction.
- Decent steel holds an OK edge. It’s easy to sharpen, and you’ll want to do it fairly often.
- Costco’s excellent return policy.
Drawbacks of the Henckels 10 piece set:
- No steak knives.
- A little “cheap” feeling compared to the ones that follow (still way better than less expensive sets).
- Don’t particularly care of the “balance”.
- Handles a little too narrow for larger hands.
- “Dishwasher safe” though not recommended.
For the Enthusiast
I personally own, and love, the entire Calphalon Katana 8-Piece Knife Set with Block
The Katana series has the following benefits:
- In my opinion it is the second most beautiful set here (behind the William Henry for 10x the price).
- The core VG Steel in this blade is about the hardest you can get, so it will retain an edge longer than any other blade here.
- They come from Calphalon with a fantastically sharp edge straight out of the box. Be very careful with these blades!
- There are no rivets, pores or openings on these knives for bacteria to collect in. This keep them sanitary.
- They feel good in my rather large hands (I’m 6’1″) yet my wife (she’s > 5′) has indicated that they work for her as well.
- Here is a little more info from Calphalon
The Katana series has the following drawbacks:
- Although the steel is very hard, high carbon stainless is “stain resistant” not rust proof. This means it will rust if left in water for say 1 hour. These knives need to be cleaned and put away immediately after use. Don’t leave them laying in the sink!
- Because the blades are so hard the edge could chip if abused. You need to choose a thick blade for heavy work like chicken bones. Of course, this is the same thing I’d say about any high quality knife.
- They do not offer matching steak knives.
This set is available from Amazon.com
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For the Professional Chef
If I had to rely on a set of knives for my profession I’d choose the Henckels Pro “S” knives, available at Amazon.com
You can see a great video on how these knives are produced on the Henckel Web site. Also, you may wish to peruse their other videos that cover things like use, safety and tips.
The Pro S Series has the following features:
- A huge selection of blade types will satisfy virtually any kitchen need.
- A good steel blend that holds an edge reasonably well and hones and sharpens quickly.
- No fears of potential rust if it remains perpetually wet (within reason).
- Sanitary and well sealed handles and construction.
- Reasonably non-slip handles.
- German quality and consistency.
- You aren’t going to cry if one walks off in a busy kitchen.
The Pro S Series has the following drawbacks:
- You’re not going to “wow” your fellow chefs.
- Fairly sharp out of the box, but need a little work before they could match the Calphalon Katanas.
- They feel a bit cold and soulless to me.
- Personally I’d still take the Katanas and just baby them as I worked.
If Price is of Little Concern
Without a doubt the finest commercially available set of cutlery (if you can find one) is the William Henry Maestro Collection – $3,000 for 5 piece set:
A name befitting its stature “the Maestro Collection from William Henry. Called ‘the finest cutlery ever produced,’ this collection offers superb performance, timeless elegance, and a study in contrasts.
The blades are crafted from our Wave Damascus (patents pending) featuring a core of ZDP-189 surrounded by 44 layers of alternating stainless alloys. The 45 layers combine together to create a blade that is very sharp, exceptionally strong, and of incomparable beauty.
The handles are built from hand-selected cocobolo wood hand-finished to a beautiful luster. They join sculptural stainless steel bolsters that feature hidden weight reduction pockets for heft and balance.
Each knife features our engraved logo, a unique serial number, and a certificate of authenticity.
Although if you have the money to drop on the Maestro you could probably also afford a hand made set of cutlery from a professional Bladesmith. There would be a number of differences, not the least of which is the chance to own a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted, highly customized and signed set made by a famous Master.
If you are interested in acquiring an heirloom quality set of knives you may contact me, and for a fee I’ll help design and either construct the set or introduce you to one of the Master Bladesmiths I trained under.
Please be aware that the cost will be more than those William Henrys and the wait could be 6 months for a hand forged matched set. But hey, if price is truly not the issue then is there really any option?
CUTCO!!
Of course they aren’t available in the store following a Direct Marketing model where customers are referred by other customers. Pretty pricey but worth it, USA made too ;)
Good info in there, I don’t know any of the brands you’ve mentioned, being an Aussie…
Nick
My wife wants a nice set of knives, but her main quality seems to be “dishwasher safe”. You only mentioned on of the sets above being dishwasher safe. I’m assuming the “don’t leave wet for more than 1 hour” knives are NOT dishwasher safe. Would the other set (the “S” knives) be diswasher safe, and/or can you recommend a set that would fit her criteria?
Cutco?
Come with a forever guarantee > http://www.cutco.com/customer/guarantee.jsp
Dishwasher safe, I use the dishwasher, I certainly don’t empty it as soon as its finished. My set are still awesome, had them for 7 years now. Even take them camping and outdoors, they are terrific!
Plus they are the part of the Ka-bar, US Military issue. Seriously you can’t go wrong with this product…
Mike,
The problem is that when we’re talking about steel there is a tradeoff which has to be made. Knives need to be really hard, and this means that the steel needs to have some carbon in it to be hardenable (usually .5 – 1%). The problem is, high carbon steel rusts. So in order to keep that from happening we can mix in a little nickel or some other metals, but the more of those materials we put in, the softer the steel becomes.
Since the finer knives need to stay sharp longer they are “high carbon” stainless, which means they sacrifice a little rust resistance in order to hold an edge longer. The water in the dishwasher, especially combined with the agressive detergent, will attack and damage a high carbon blade. So unfortunatly the only way to get a knife which is impervious to the dishwasher is to buy a soft stainless steel that will dull quickly and never take a good edge.
So, basically many of the really cheap knives would probably be dishwasher safe – but I simply can’t recommend one because they are going to be such poor quality I just can’t pick the “best of the worst”. You should be able to find some at WalMart or Target that will work though.
Of course, I understand the desire to let a machine do all the cleanup work, but I think if your wife had one very good knife that required hand washing she would find herself turning to it repeatedly even if it takes a little more time to clean up.
Hope that helps,
John
Nick,
Wow, I’m surprised that you guys don’t at least have Henckels in AU. Wustof and Henckels are the biggest names in the cutlery industry on earth as far as I know… Sorry that I don’t know any of your local brands to recommend. :-)
With regards to Cutco. I am quite familar with them, and the outstanding feature of those knives is the marketing. From a technical standpoint they are worth little more than knives one could purchase at WalMart, hence the extremely high margin for the company and the entire MLM structure. They are marketed in such a way that they build a much higher perceived value.
However, you will never find them in use in a professional kitchen because they simply aren’t appropriate for sustained usage. Also, the first time you watch me slice through a 1.5″ thick steak in one pass with one of my Katana blades you’d instantly understand the difference.
Cheers,
John
John,
Thanks for the reply to Mike’s posting. I’m the wife :) Your blog provided great information and you’re posting confirms what I’ve been trying to find out, which is that if you want a good knife, hand washing is the only option. My wishful thinking of good knives and a dishwasher doesn’t exist because of the way they are constructed. Sounds like the Katana knives will meet the rest of the requirements, minus the dishwasher. I really appreciate the information and the quick response. It was very helpful, informative and easy-to-read.
Thanks, again!
Jeanine
Thanks for the kind words Jeanine. I hope you love the knives, and if you do end up getting them please come back and let us all know what you think of them!
Take care,
John
John,
I agree with what your saying with the marketing ;)
The main cutlery that have me won over the most from Cutco is their flatware (everyday spoon,fold,knife) they are great. The smaller knives are good for the kitchen too like Petite Carver, Trimer & Pairing knives. The Chef knives aren’t the best though, don’t stay sharp long enough, pass it through the sharpener and its good to go. Even when its not sharp sharp its still better then any knife I have to use when visiting other people’s kitchens…
We have the Victorinox & some other one I can’t remember the name of that are suppose to be top dog here. It has been a few months since I’ve visited Knife World or the department stores, being in EU and all that fun travel stuff.
I’m a Cutco fan also. I purchased a set of knives from them about 6 years ago. I recently sent ALL of them back to the factory to have them sharpened and they were returned in pristine condition – they were extremely sharp! it only cost me $8 in shipping. My set included 8 steak knives plus all the other knives in the set. I think there are 7 others (I’m too lazy to go into the kitchen and count them). I am extremely happy with those knives.
I’ll buy Cutco knives at yard sales for a dollar or two, but it is insane to spend anywhere suggested retail for those knives.
I’ve been looking at the Kershaw Shun series, but the Katana set might just be better suited to my uses, and it is less expensive for the same number of knives.
Nice post!