Cooking For Engineers

[molinafe]

Dear Sir,

I've heard that there are some Brazilian brands in the market such as Tramontina and Mundial brands. It seems that those Brazilian forged knives are quite good and they have good prices.

Do you have any comment about them? Have you ever tested them?

Thank you.

[naughtydogcafe]

I have two MAC chef knives which I've had since I was a kid. They're probably 35 years old. They look so different from the ones they make today, and I'm probably going to have to invest in new knives at some point soon, but I love my old knives. They keep a wonderful edge. Are beautifully balanced. And, they look nice. Thank you for such a good presentation. It's nice to know my favorite knives are still around, and still great quality.

[Guest]

Wow, what a great read. I never knew about all these other manufacturers!

I've recently purchased my first set of knives from here: Chefs Knives

I grabbed a selection of their Global Knives after reading up on them on the 'net. I love them but I may look into some of the other recommendations here.

I need to grab some kind of sharpening tool though. Can anyone recommend one? Is it best to go with a steel or whetstone??

Thanks!

[kirkdickinson]

Followed the recommendation and purchased a Mac Chefs knife. I looked everywhere and couldn't find one. Bought some Wusthof in the interim. The Wusthof chefs knife is nice and I really like the pairing knife.

I finally read this review again for the 10th time and just ordered a Mac Chefs knife off of Amazon. Came in three days and is wonderful. Never had a knife of any kind this sharp except a razor blade. And it was sharp out of the box. Could it get sharper? I don't know, I am not going to touch the blade with a stone, only a professional when it needs it.

Did a little test myself with a Global, Wusthof and the Mac. Laid them out and let several people cut carrots and tomato. Some liked the Wusthof and some liked the Global, but ALL said WOW! when using the Mac. Unscientific consensus between all my friends is that the Mac was hands down the best. One friend has one of those big blocks with the complete Wusthoff set and seemed a little sad that the Mac clearly was better.

Thanks,

Kirk

[Pthailand]

Because i'm a grad student from Le CordonBleu so i got Wusthof (full)set and Misono UX10 9.4"Chef's knives, 9.4"Slicing knives. I can assure you guys that they're good knives. But after 1 full year in school and 5 years cooking ... none of my chef use german knives, all of them use japanese knives, i'd try Global, Masamoto, Hattori and Shun from my chefs they are much better than german's knives. Not that i never sharpen my knives, i'm using #300, 1200, 6000 whetstone for sharpening my knives. Wusthof is a little heavy compare to japanese brand but i need them because japanese knives don't have some knives that i needed, Misono is the best in my opinion, Global is good but the handle not comfortable for me, Masamoto....what can i say...it's different from others this one is japanese-style knives and cost more than $2000 each(it's very good if you wanna ask, slice fish like a butter maybe easier than butter ), Hattori...i like my Misono more than this one but the blade is so beautiful i just can't stop looking this knives (it should be a perfect gift), Shun is sharp (just 1 word for them) but i just don't like the handle it's not that it doesn't fit my hand but i already get used to the handle like wusthof and misono.

Thanks :-)

[SirShazar]

[molinafe]

Dear readers,

I invite you all to take a visit at the website below:

http://www.mundial-usa.com/gourmet.html

They are Brazilian made forged knives. Good quality with low prices.

Hugs.

[kirkdickinson]

My brother has some Mundial knives and they are good. Almost as good as my Wusthoff, but not as good as my Mac.

I would love to have that Olivier Anquier set. I really like them.

[Hector]

Hello,

I am a newcomer to cooking and I'm looking for a good chef's knife. Cooking for me will be a hobby as opposed to a profession. After reading the comparison of chef's knives I feel more informed than before but I am left with one question.

What about 10 inch chef's knives? The comparison mentioned mainly 8 inch knives. What are the differences? What considerations are important? Is it strictly a matter of comfort or are there other factors?

Thanks
Hector

[Dilbert]

Hi Hector -

I have a 10 and 8 and 6 inch chefs. the 8 gets the heaviest workout but the 10 is very useful for larger / more forceful / even two handed tasks.

that said, if you are very tall with long arms and a real good swing arc for rocking, a ten incher might be more suited to your "cutting geometry"
conversely if you are not tall, with shorter arms, the 8 inch may be more comfortable/natural to use.

either would be a good choice - but the best advice is to go get the brand specific knives in hand - they must "feel right" in your hand - that's a matter of knife handle design plus your hand size/grip/etc.

if it doesn't feel right when you pick it up and handle it, odds are you will not be long term happy with that knife.

[New Superior Knife User]

thank you for having done such a good job! your review has made the process of knife selection much easier for me, a beginner in this area.

being in a remote asian country, buying a kitchen knife is simply a matter of selecting whatever the local supermarkets have imported. a superior kitchen knife is unheard of, and the shelves are saturated with knives from China. occassionally, there are some knives from Japan, but their brands are not even listed in your test [very unpopular i suppose].

i have recently placed a purchase a set of Chef Knife and Paring Knife by Kai at asianfoodchannel.com. the set costed me S$99, approximately U.S.$72.35 [price not inclusive of postage and taxes].

according to the description, "the KAI SEKIMAGOROKU knives dates back to the 13th century, during the Kamakura era, where swords had been forged with the finest quality of soil from the district of Seki. The very distinguished swordsmith – Magoroku created a unique method of sword crafting. The transition from the Edo period to the Meiji era popularized knife crafting, convincing many swordsmiths in Seki to produce cutlery instead of swords and ushered in the KAI SEKIMAGOROKU Stainless Steel Knife series."

and according to the description again, the KAI’s Yamato factory is "Japan's number 1 knife manufacturer".

since i am new in this area, i would just like to post this to the whole world of knives enthusiasts out there and hopefully someone more knowledgeable can help me in verifying these statements.

[Guest]

[Guest]

[Guest]

I noticed a cook I work with who had a Tojiro DP..but it wasn't near as sharp as my Forschner. I have no doubt the Tojiro can get a lot sharper.

Unless you regard a knife as disposable,sharpening skills are part of the mix.
I'm sure a new Blazen starts sharp, but inevitably it will dull. If you can't sharpen it better than my $30 Forschner....you wasted $100.

The A+ edge is something you EARN. You can't just buy it....well...you CAN get a ceramic and if it does not chip or crack it's pretty sharp for a long time.

[chris avila]

well i agree to diss on some points mentioned.

i am a current CUTCO rep. and also a chef by trade .

i have several of the tools mentioned and several that were not and use them at a regular pace at work. when first opened , all tned to have great stats. not like the ones given their. my CUTCO chefs knive slices green onions like a warm knive through butter. if i had to rate one as least id say the Forschner Victorinox. they are the standard ones at my work place, for fnding reasosna, AKA cheep owners, cheep knives. and hardest to keep on edge/charpness on!!!!!! i dont rate CUTCO at the top either, as a pro. knive for restaurant cooking, the handle is the worst, and the size of the blade is not as well as it could be. i use my cutco at work and at the presentations, same set if i may add, but nothing will change my mind about my cheep corner market chefs knive i bought in my travels. truly a wonder.

i guess if u have the hanks or the cuts, wush or shun, its up to you which suits ur needs.

and i agree with what someone stated before me, they need to re do the test, because its not correct.