Being based in Europe for much of the year has many advantages, but also some disadvantages. Whilst I get to enjoy the gastronomy of the French and Spanish ways of life, there are some home comforts that I tend to miss out on.
Given that this site is, well, dedicated to kitchen knives it is a bit of a disadvantage that I have not much exposure to the kitchen knife sets by Chicago Cutlery over recent years.
This Chicago Cutlery Metropolitan Knife Set is one of the great examples of American craftmanship when it comes to kitchen knives; often we see the kitchen knife market dominated by the likes of the European and Japanese knife forgers, and people often overlook the great Chicago Cutlery.
Of course this knife set is pretty inexpensive given the number of pieces (15) it offers, but it is worth bearing in mind that what it lacks up for in razor sharp knife edges, it makes up for in value for money.
Overall this is a well received kitchen knife set from CC, and you could do a lot worse than starting off your new kitchen with a block of these knives.
Find out more »
This Work Sharp knife sharpener is a bit of a new kid on the block in the knife sharpening world (at least to us), and it comes with so many different knife sharpening options and combinations, you’ll probably be spending a good while working out how to operate it.
Quite literally, this thing is able to sharpen every knife - or anything you have with a blade - to a finely ground razor edge. It is not restricted to kitchen knives, although obviously it is that which we are most interested in. The Work Sharp comes with a kitchen knife sharpener attachement which sharpens blades at 40 degrees.
This kit will also make sharpening your kitchen shears a doddle, as well as scissors and gardening tools.
The Work Sharp “WSKTS” is getting some pretty hot reviews at the moment, and it is pretty fairly priced for such a flexible product.
Buy now »
The celebrity chef and famous restauranteer Tom Douglas has been teaming up with various different kitchen knife producers to create a new line of branded knives.
This time it is with Kai, who are well renowned for producing great quality Japanese Santoku Kitchen Knives, and this 8 inch chef’s knife is a great collaboration.
What is perhaps more interesting about this kitchen knife partnership is that it is also involving Amazon.com, who are selling this chefs knife exclusively - that is, you cannot get it anywhere else.
Reviews have been good so far, with people finding this knife good but not GREAT. This is understandable as is a little bit of fusion between east and west, and whilst Kai have over 700 years of heritage when it comes to producing some of the best kitchen knives, they are probably not as used to working directly with Western chef’s to co produce a product line.
All in, definitely a very capable chef’s knife and offers a bit of diversity away from the more traditional brands of kitchen knife.
Buy now »
Well, not in all my years did I expect to come across a set of steak knives so fine, so well crafted, so well balanced and so darn nice to look at as these Ken Onion steak knives from Shun. We have featured a number of different steak knives, and a number of different Shun kitchen knives here over the last year, but somehow we managed to miss the bit in the middle.
These steak knives are pretty much the holy grail when it comes to top end meat cutting action; forged with some serious VG-10 steel and layered 16 times with ultra carbon enriched stainless steel knives, you would be a fool to pass these up if you are in the market for some new steak knives, and have the money for Shun.
Oh, and they have a great box, too!
Add to cart »
I was about to get around to posting some thoughts on the best kitchen knives for 2011, but it seems that Kitchen Sumo has already beaten me to it!
They are listing some very good knives over there, but all at the top end of most people’s price range, apart from perhaps the Victorinox Fibrox knives, which are a great addition to the worldwide kitchen knife market!
Just the other day I covered the Fibrox Knife Set and here we are again, back with another Victorinox Fibrox kitchen knife.
Why, you ask? Well, they are relatively new onto the Kitchen Knife market scene, and quite unusually, these are quality - even professional - level knives at very affordable prices.
My very first experience with Victorinox - apart from their swiss army knives - was with a (non fibrox) paring knife that I still use 5 years later for small jobs needing a robust and sharp knife. It has - perhaps a little surprisingly - held its sharpness very well over the years, especially when you consider the abuse it has taken!
Of all the Fibrox knives doing the rounds at the moment - noted for their utilitarian design and composite plastic handles that are actually very comfortable - the paring knife seems to be the most popular. Although I can’t accurately say why this is, I would hazard a guess by saying that Victorinox do the smaller kitchen knives a bit better than they do the big chef’s knives.
Anyway, if you are in the market for a new paring knife and you don’t have a huge budget, you would do well to invest in this Fibrox paring knife - it will last you a good many years and it is a truly functional and very effective little work horse for the kitchen.
Check it out on Amazon
The world of Global knives is quite a murky one for me - and it is probably largely because I do not actually OWN any; I’ve just used quite a few over the years and oggled at them in kitchen stores.
With a name like the “Global GS-7 4” Parer” it is perhaps not a surprise that people can become a bit bogged down in silly details when trying to buy a Global paring knife online - Amazon is literally covered with different models, sizes and names.
In reality, you do not really need to worry about this stuff, as you can rest assured that any Global kitchen knife you pick up is going to probably out last you in terms of sharpness. You will have lot your marbles long before a Global kitchen knife gives up on you.
Of course, this 4 inch paring knife from Global is no exception. You pay a pretty high price for this knife, but you can rest easy that it will be sharper, stay sharper, cut better and feel as well balanced as any other paring knife you have ever come across. I appreciate that it sounds a little dramatic, but…well, it’s true.
You can check out this Global paring knife over on Amazon, who pretty much always offer the best prices. Happy slicing!
