British BBQ Society Forums

Afternoon guys and girls, the time has come to get a new set of knives, i have always gone cheap and cheerful and have decided to pay extra and get a decent set of knives.
So what do you guys use and what would you recommend?

Cheers

BFD

This will be an interesting thread, I have been using Whustof for years, find them easy to use and maintain. Although we were sponsored by I.O.Shen last year and now I seem to be using them alot more than the Whustof's.

I went through this process last year. Although I covet the I.O. Shen knives, and can be seen salivating whenever I see a seller of Japanese knives at any foodie event I go to, I settled on Robert Welch knives. For me, a good weight, and a nice feel in the hand. Decent price point too, not too cheap, and not too Global. Rather than buying a set of six in a block, I started off with a chef's knife and utility knife, and then added a veg knife.

Next purchase for me will be a universal knife block and then I can see myself getting an I.O. Shen oriental slicer. And maybe a carving set...

I only have Global at the moment, but wont be buying them again, One has broken (Although it was replaced). They are not as good as some cheaper chefs knives I have used. And yes I do sharpen them every time I use them.

I will be doing some proper research next time I am knife shopping.

Hi BFD

I purchased the Lakeland Santoku knife and liked it so much I bought the entire set. They are not cheap, but they are not crazy expensive either. After a year they have never seen a dishwasher, and are all still scary sharp.

2 pence
Drew

I went throught the same thing a couple of months ago and the one thing i would say is that everyone will like different knives as the way that they feel in the hand is a very personal thing. I would also recomend not buying a knife set only buy the knives you need.

I was lucky to find a shop that stocked most of the top knife brands and I ended up testing Wusthof's, Globals, Henckels, I.O. Shen, Kasumi & Shun knives.

In the end i went for the Shun knives for my main knives and then for some other tasks i've bought Henckels, Wusthof & a cheap cleaver from my butcher. The reason i went for the Shun knives is that they were by far the sharpest thing that i tested, they we're well balanced and i found the handles comfortable.

I tried a number of different knives and this is what i found.

I've tried a couple of Wusthof's and thought they were a good blade but nothing special.

Global's i didn't like the weight or balance of them.

I've got a Henckels 4 star slicer i really like the feel of the handle and i got it stupidly cheap, which was nice.

I've used the I.O shen knives before and tested them again in a store and i found the handles to be too small for my hands.

Kasumi's felt good in the hand but didn't feel as sharp as the Shun's and with there not being much difference in price i decided to buy the Shun's

i spent a lot on global but only use the large chefs knife now as they are an absolute swine to keep sharp. my main knife is a utility knife from the richardson balance range which i bought 8 or 9 years ago - feels like a drumstick in my hand and as doc said the feel is everything. go to a decent suppliers and ask to hold them. i think you'll know when you're holding your knife

At the moment I use Global (and really like the balance and weight) but I have had 2 of them break. My friend uses I O Shen and if I was in the market to buy more today I would go down that route.

When I started my chefs training nearly 20 years ago (Jesus that makes me feel old) I was given a brand new set of Deglon Sabatier knives, Nisbets still sell them. They were good but nothing special. As they have broken or I've had the need for a particular knife I have replaced them with Wusthof Classics. Out of all of the knives I've tried I found them to suit me the best and they are remarkably easy to maintain a good edge on. I have friends who have had global knives which break and get replaced but they all now wish they'd bought the Wusthof's instead. When it comes to choice it's a personal thing and you really need to try them in your hand first!! There are excellent deals to be had on the net so find yourself a local seller to try them before you buy, don't forget to buy something from your local shop though otherwise they might not be there next time you want to check something out!!

Good advice thanks guys,i was really interested in what you all had to say, i will let you know what i go for.