Kitchen knife - length and brand suggestions?

[Ridley]

Fwafwow, those NewWest are nice. Sometimes I travel through Napa for work (they are sold in a store front in Napa) so I will stop in and take a gander at them.

 

[Ridley]

Oops, I meant to thank StopMakingSense.

 

[mimesis22s]

I'm partial to Japanese made knives which don't have a bolster at the bottom of the blade. My most used knives are 6" and 8" Santuko with occasional use of an 10" chef's knife. For an easy to find brand, I like Shun (Kai) knives. Sharp out of the box and generally easy to care for (stainless). My best most recent investment is a knife sharpening system that holds the blade and sets the angle. Used to use Shapton glass stones but the Tsprof system has turned all my knifes into joys to use. Even my 35 year old Henckels stainless paring and filet knives.

 

[Pitt]

I have a 8" Victorinox that I use for everything. Not expensive at all and holds an edge decent enough.

 

[Spence14]

Wusthof are highly recommended from professional chef's. I get pretty much everything I need from the chef's knife and pairing knife. Not US made though. It's a German company. I have no trouble keeping a good edge on them.

 

[Lawnboi]

I’m not the biggest bark river fan any longer, and they can take some work to make the edge decent, that said I have a bunch of their kitchen knives, 10” chef, 8” chef, petty z, mountain man, and a bird and trout, two actually. For specifically trimming meat you want the bird and trout or mini kalahari sportsman.

If you want a real heirloom working knife for the kitchen call up Steve at red rock tool in SD. He will make you a bird and trout or whatever else you want however you want it. His fit an finish is some of the best Iv seen and his knives are made by him one at a time.

Iv been pretty far down the rabbit hole when it comes to knives. Next on my list for the kitchen are some of the LT Wright camp cook knives.

More importantly you need a way to keep these higher end knives sharp. Plan on investing in something to sharpen with, and learn how to. Even these high end steels dull in the kitchen fairly quickly.

Some of the Japanese knives are nice too, iv had a handful but have always come back to something made in the US

 

[NDGuy]

Yesterday I trimmed a tenderloin and realized that a couple of my hunting knives not only cost more than all of my kitchen knives, they are better. My sharpest in the kitchen is an almost 8" chef's knife, which is too long. (I ended up using a steak knife.) So I need some advice.

1. Length - How long is good for this kind of meat work? I'm sure this is known to chefs, but I'm stupid.
2. Brands? I'm looking for quality. By analogy to rifles - I own both a Ruger American and a Cooper. Although I like the Ruger, I already think of it as "my son's rifle". The Cooper is mine, and I will use it for as long as I'm able, but one day give it to my son. For the knife, I'm looking for something more like the Cooper. I'd prefer made in the USA, and price isn't a primary issue. To give you a better idea:
   • I like this guy - https://middletonmadeknives.com - built in the US, Southern, and could be an heirloom (if you do it right).​
   • But I also like something like Tops 5.25" Frog Market or Dicer 3 Paring (Tops isn't a possible "heirloom" but you get the idea).​

Did you get a chef set made?

 

[fwafwow]

Did you get a chef set made?

I'm ashamed to admit that I did not - I went down a rabbit hole, then got side tracked on some other project of a "need" item, etc. The project is still on my list, but following my recent surgery (continued problems after a bike accident), I'm trying to stay on good behavior in the purchases department. Trying.

 

[CCooper]

I have a couple Knives of Alaska filet knives that have made their way to my kitchen block. They get the nod for boning out quarters most times as well.

 

[NDGuy]

I'm ashamed to admit that I did not - I went down a rabbit hole, then got side tracked on some other project of a "need" item, etc. The project is still on my list, but following my recent surgery (continued problems after a bike accident), I'm trying to stay on good behavior in the purchases department. Trying.

I'd recommend Semper Sharp otherwise look up Robert Erickson Knifeworks. Reasonable prices and very slick knives! He's on my custom knife thread a few times.

 

[Ridley]

If you can get one, I would say Phil Wilson all day every day. Contact him, get on his list and as he gets closer to finishing a knife or batch of them he goes through his list, containing people to see if what he made is what you want.

Seamount Knifeworks :: Kitchen Knives

Seamount Knifeworks - Phillip Wilson Knifemaker

www.seamountknifeworks.com

 

[Manakh]

What is your sharpening skill level? Whetstone or diamond? Stropping? How often do you want to sharpen? Is the trade off of 90% sharpness of the best there is for 3-5x longer edge retention worth the trade off?

Wustof was mentioned, but the reason it's popular is because in a professional kitchen situation of extensive use they just hit it with a honing steel or ceramic and keep going.
If you want to enjoy or appreciate the craftsmanship and relish in the true performance of the knife then in my opinion wustof isn't my suggestion.

My kitchen knife I use all the time I "sharpen" like twice a year maybe... I just hit it on the strop several passes every time I use it and it maintains the edge for so much use it's unbelievable.

But to add to that you HAVE to get good cutting boards. Endgrain or soft rubber style!!! Otherwise it's shooting the most garbage ammo out of your precision rifle. And if you're not going to whetstone then you may as well look at a lesser quality knife as well.

 

[Kato]

So many options.

 

[Robster]

Silver Stag has some nice kitchen knives as well. Both in stag and wood.

Ranch Chef

Ranch Chef Series, D2 Cooking Knives

silverstag.com

 

[arock]

I bought a zwilling bob kramer licensed 8 inch carbon steel chef knife after I got a new job a few years ago and went kind of ham with disposable income. Outstanding knife, easy to sharpen, takes a great edge, doesn't fracture and I prefer the heavier weight.

I have an inexpensive Victorinox set that has a 10 inch chef knife, carving knife and paring knife. The chef knife is a little more flexible than i'd like and pretty light. All take an edge very well and will cut just about anything without issue. Balance and weight isn't there but they do work. These are what I learned to sharpen knives on.

I also have a Victorinox 6 inch flexible fillet knife that takes a great edge and is perfect for trimming fat and silver skin. I'd like to add a stiffer Japanese boning knife at some point but there just isn't a need and my tiny ass kitchen doesn't have the room to add more knives unless I really need something.

You can spend anywhere from $50 to $5000 (or more) on a knife set. You'll get good steel either way, really depends on what feels best in hand and what you like the look of.

 

[awasome]

Prep cooking for a restaurant while I was in college, running a bbq catering company, doing many bbq competitions and cooking at home, I have used what my chef recommended. Knives that are cost effective, keep an edge, easy to sharpen, and durable. The Victorinox Fibrox line hits all those marks. American Test Kitchen also has them on their list best kitchen knives every year. If one of the knives get damaged, I don't stress it and just replace it because they are not expensive.


Another recommendation my chef said is to never get a knife set and always build your knife bag. Sets have knives that you pay for that you won't use and why waste money on that. This is the list he gave me to start the knife bag.

1. 8-10in chef knife
2. 6in boning knife
3. 3in paring knife
4. 10 in serrated bread/slicing knife
5. 12in meat slicing/carving knife
6. heavy cleaver

I have added a 6in santoku that I was gifted. It was forged in Japan and I have no clue what brand it is.

I wouldn't mind some more expensive knives, but when I price them out I would much rather spend my money else where since the Victorinox knives have been working fine for me for almost 2 decades.

 

[brocksw]

another vote for victorinox knives. I own a few of them from 6-8" all the way out to the big butchering knives. Work great, keep an edge, and aren't expensive to replace.