Who makes some(top quality) kitchen knives?

Question

My wife enjoys cooking and is in need of quality kitchen knives. She's been asking for years and I never came through- This christmas I will.-PLEASE HELP

Answer 1

This is going to depend on: how much said knives are going to be used (I use mine daily), how the knife feels in your wifes hand and your budget.

The best of the best are: Shun and Kasumi. These are Japanese knives and are the best you can buy. However, they are very costly! My Shun was $140 for one knife (not a set!) and the latest Kasumi is around $180 for one knife. Very pricy but will keep their edge longer and will last a life time if taken care of properly. These are worth the money if your budget will allow for it.

A notch below this would be Wusthoff, Ja Henckels (not the ones at Target more on this later) and Global. These all run right around $100 or so and are also top quality.

You can buy JA Henckles at Target and they are a lot cheaper but beware these are NOT the same quality as the higher priced Henckles that you will find at the specialty stores. They are not bad perse just be aware that you are not getting the same high quality as you would at a specilty store. A number of years ago Henckels decided to produce kinves that would appeal to the masses and that is what they came up with.

The bigest difference is that the kind from Target (and all cheaper knives for that matter) are stamped and the higher cost knives are forged. This makes a big difference in terms of how long they will hold their edge and how long they will last over all.

After the above you get into a hodge podge of all kinds of knives. Furi, Forschner, Chicago Cutlery and many others. These tend to vary in quality and I personally do not reccomend any of them.

I would say: Shun, Wusthof or Global.

Do not get the Henckels at Target unless that is all you can afford or they will not be used much. Certainly if they are going to be used daily get the absolute best you can afford.

Answer 2

Target Kitchen Knives

Answer 3

I answered this 4 weeks ago and received a best answer, here you go. Take this to heart, any brand anyone has mentioned here is absolutely 100% useless information to you. PERIOD. Previous answer:

Few things- there are as many high-quality brands of knives on the market as you could count. There are large and small brands, and the big-name brands which make top-quality knives, typically also make awful-quality stamped knives.

I could list brands from the USA to China and everything between including Henckels, Sebatier, Shun, Global, Kyocera, Wusthoff, Kershaw, Chicago Cutlery, Messermeister, Forshner ... and literally dozens of others.

The people who list their favorite brand of knife have told you precisely nothing about buying knives. Here is what you need to know:

1. Buy open stock, as all chefs do. Open stock are knives you buy individually rather than that tacky block containing mainly bizzare unitasker shapes that few chefs would use for anything. No brand makes the best of every knife, so buy individually what you need. My personal favorite 8" chef's knife is my Henckels Twin Select. But my favorite paring knife is made by forschner. The Twin Select paring knife is rigid and useless. And it's what I'd have if I had purchased a block.

2. You need only 3-4 knives. You absolutely require a chef's knife of 6-8 inches, a serrated "bread" knife, and a paring knife. A boning knife is usefull for butchering and filleting. In addition, other knifes might be useful down the road, buy them at your convenience. You may end up with a cleaver, a santoku, and other knives that have a purpose, but not the bird's beak serrated fish-eye remover knive that comes in the block set. You'll find that most tasks handled by these bizzare knives are handled better with your chef's and/or santoku with modest knife skill.

3. You want high quality steel (high carbon, or other sharpenable variant) or ceramic. Anything else is either impossible to hone well, or stamped flimsy junk. You want forged, not stamped for your large knives, but a stamped pairing knife is fine (and actually advisable, as it can bend to the bone of meat, and is better for filleting).

4. Other people's opinions of a knife's heft, weight, grip size, grip material, or any other ergonomic characteristic mean exactly ZERO to you. YOU MUST TRY THEN BUY. Let me repeat - head to a quality store and TRY IT OUT. If there is no capability to do so, you are at the WRONG store. Even if you choose to try and then buy off the Internet to save, DO TRY. Everyone has different hands, strength, and ability. Thus, everyone has different requirements. Ignore everyone's comments on how well a particular knife feels to them. It's meaningless. It's like trying on gloves, and highly subjective.

5. Don't store your knives in a wooden block, for heaven's sake. If you put your knife away not 100% sterile, you can introduce bacteria and nasties into the slots in the wood. Wood harbors bacteria nicely, and a wood knife block is not possible to sanitize on the inside. If anything grows in there, you won't know about it, and will introduce it into everything you cut. Instead, opt for a magnetic strip, an in-drawer knife holder, a knife-roll, or a composite block which comes apart for cleaning. I prefer a magnetic strip as it keeps the knives very handy, is easy to clean, and displays my hand-selected knives proudly.

6. Good brands make bad knives. Just because a knife says Henckels doesn't mean it's the genuine article. Look at where they are made, how they are made, etc. Henckels (as an example, and being the most popular knife manufacturer) has the Global or International line (garbage, made in China, elsewhere, often stamped, sold in blocks at walmart) and the Zwilling J.A. Henckels line (top quality from Germany, occasionally Spain).

Good luck. Don't be a sucker, and enjoy your knives. They are a lifetime investment, and you should not skimp, nor should you believe that expensive knives are necessarily the best. My favorite cleaver cost 8 dollars as a restaurant supply store.

Answer 4

Henkels and Misono Gyutou. There are other excellent Japanese knives as well.

Don't buy an entire set of any one company. Just as with pots and pans, different companies make different knives better than others.

I have a knife block with a slot for a Chinese cleaver. Why not get one of those with maybe 2 knives and then the two of you can fill it up as you find types of knives you like.

Answer 5

The one that feels comfortable in your hand, that you like to use and will use. The most important thing about a knife is keeping it sharp. All knife competition comes down to preference and sharpness. Consider giving your friend a gift certificate to a store with lots of knives (anything from Bloomingdales to a restaurant supply store) so they can try them out.

Once I started dating a guy who obsessed over sharpening knives, I understood the importance of a sharp knife. You almost don't have to do anything! And, I cut myself LESS often with a sharp knife (it goes where I want it to, i.e., not into me!).

If sharpening services (no automatic ones!!!) are not an option you like, and you don't think your friend will do the sharpening, then stay-sharp knives becomes a better choice.

Here is a good video about knife sharpening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hKXQHGwzAw

A better video about cutlery science (that keep their edge) is on Alton Brown's site, where you can buy the Shun knives he recommends (they come with free band-aids, contrary to my previous comments!):
http://www.altonbrown.com/shun/shun_edge.html

Answer 6

Buy her a Shun. Best knives on the market. Available at Williams Sonoma or Sur la Table. Better to give her a gift certificate to either store and let her buy her own knives. The Chinese believe it is bad luck to buy a knife for someone.

Answer 7

Wiltshire Stay Sharp Knives are great.

Note many knives come with a factory edge for safe handling, so check to see if they will need to be sharpened before you give them to her.

That is a really thoughtful gift idea, good idea, have a star.

Answer 8

Buy her J.A. Henkel knives (also just known as Henkels). You can get a set at Target. I cook almost every meal for my family and last year for Christmas asked for knives. I got Henkels and I love them!!!! They are still sharp a year later and they work beautifully! Good luck!!

Answer 9

My favourite kitchen knife was given to me by my son-in-law, & is a Furi brand. It cost him $75 about 3 years ago. He bought it in Canberra, Australia. It is a fantastic knife.

Answer 10

Oneida. They may be expensive (i'm not sure, i've gotten them for christmas but never bought them myself), but they are worth it. The set i got two years ago is still in perfect condition and good for cutting anything.