Knives

[Clingy]

Had a review on Kitchen knives and can't find it. I'm sure we had a thread as well but can't find that!

So I don't want to spend the earth, but will spend a reasonable sum on a set of good sharp thin bladed knives. The only decent knife I have is a Chinese vegetable knife (like a thin meat cleaver)....had it for years, but all the rest I have, which are mainly meat knives are as good as useless.

So recommendations from either what you have or what you have read about.

[Nick]

There ya go bud : http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=12872

I prefer something with a decent bit of weight behind it... but it's all down to personal preference in the end.

If you have a hunt through yeel.com for catering equipment suppliers, you should find some local bods... roll up to their shops and they'll more than likely have a range you can get your mitts on and see what feels right for you.

Buy well now, look after it and you won't have to buy another knife for years.

Prices range from £15-£20 for a Victorinox knife up to £150-200 for one of the German professional knives. Wusthof Trident are a personal favourite, but then, I like the knife, so the £200 price tag doesn't bother me... from a professional point of view, obviously.

For home use, where any bugger might use and abuse the knives, I go for a middle of the range, decent quality knife like Wusthof's sold by www.nisbets.co.uk .

Try this link for some rather good WUsthofs at a decent price.. http://www.nisbets.co.uk/group.asp?g...26&section=S27

[Ferral]

Set I have been looking at is the knives Tesco have (for home only however) the main big knife is around £15. They have aluminium handles and are extremely sharp, have a good feel to them also, quite balanced.

But like Nick I personally prefer the heavier knives, I feel more in control than with the lighter ones. I seem to cut myself less also when using heavier knives, just seem to have a better feel all round

[Clingy]

Thanks m8, for some reason I couldnt get the search to find that thread

[Clingy]

Woot finally got some!!! - Global Knives would you believe

I'd seen these Knives on the Interent and thought

1) They look weird and probably handle badly
2) Were expensive

....but I came across them in John Lewis and they were much cheaper and so I asked to handle them. As soon as the assistant passed me the first knife, I fell in love with them.

I know Nick and others dont like the feel of them and I can understand that. I guess it's a personal thing, but these suit me perfectly. For me they feel so balanced.

Moral of the story is....Dont buy before you try!!!

[Clingy]

Damn knives....cut myself before I even used them

[Clingy]

Appears, after I RTFM that I need a "Ceramic Steel" or a whetstone. Whetstones remind me how my father used to sharpen knives!

Which is best?

BTW - I am chucking my electric carving knife previously used to cut bread. I can cut a fresh homemade loaf with a 13cm Chefs knife

[Flibb]

If you havent a clue about using a steel look at those water sharpeners that are recommended for use on global knives. They have 2 sets of ceramic wheels that retouch the edge, one set is course, other is fine. All you do is fill the sharpening compartment with water, then run the blade through the stones, 7 times on each set. Job done. Personally I use a steel on my knives (non global), but I also have a set of sharpening stones for recutting the edge of my hunting knives and cooking gear.

[Clingy]

No problem with using a steel, but Global do not recommend using a metal steel on their knives.

[Nick]

Clingy, DO NOT use a standard steel on Global, what you've got there is not a normal knife, standard steels will either have no effect OR knacker the knife. You HAVE to go and get a Global ceramic steel, it's the only thing that you can use on them.

Check out your warranty though, cos when I owned a Global, it came with a lifetime repair/replacement cover, which included re-grinding or knife replacement.. anywhere in the world... very handy if you drop the things, cos hte blades are very brittle compared to normal blades.

[Clingy]

Thanks Nick. I'll order the ceramic steel then. Perhaps it's because these are the best knives I have had, but the difference it makes is amazing.

[Zak33]

Nice to see Clingy got some serious knives.

Ilove SWIBO
http://www.nisbets.co.uk/section.asp...C2&section=S25

[Joel]

I got some nice knives my parents bought years ago when we lived in germany, I cant remember the brand but apparantly they were swallowed up buy one of the bigger companies. I've only just started using them, as my cheap set were knackared. They are lovely and balanced. I got a full compliment of sharpening stones for them too, great for sharpening my other knives, and the parang i have tucked away that i probably shouldent have, but nevermind. Washing up liquid brings the knives up smashing.

[madman045]

My folks picked up a set of knives while on holiday in Berlin.

Sharp would be an understatement when I accidently opened up my little finger using just the bread knife!!

Highly recommend them & they were a very good price over there...

[Ferral]

They have some lovely knives there. I like the Japanese ones with the pale wooden handles, bit expensive though !

I like the look of the set they have for £20, that has loads in it with carry case also, pretty good deal, they look half decent knives also. Its the Rockingham Forge set. I'm a chef in training at the min, so think it would be worthwhile getting a set like this for that money just to get started and invest in a while down the line on a more expensive set.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/product.asp...3&product=C748

[scottyman]

I've got a set of globals which I love - bought some for my cousin and her hubby as a wedding present - even told them never to wash any knives in a diskwasher.
what did they do... yep. you guessed it. then promptly dropped it, and the blade shattered. more likely the way she dropped it rather than the heat of the dishwasher - you never know. she had the set replaced for free and hasn't made that mistake again.

my cousin recommended a diamond sharpener (steel type) which works wonderfully on all my knives - and is great with the globals also. recommend you use it with oil on the blade and works very well - managed to clean up an old fishing knife which had a badly pitted blade (well - it's a 60 year old bone handled knife) - cleaned it right up.