Wedding Blog
I was somewhat surprised at how CRAZY expensive knives could be. But after numerous blisters caused by my $60 set of knives from Overstock.com, I was more than eager to register for a great set of knives.There are too many knife sets out there to count, so here’s the barebones minimum your kitchen needs.
1. A Chef’s Knife - for chopping, both vegetables and meat.
2. A Slicer - A long knife, used for…slicing. Typically meats and vegetables.
3. A Utility Knife - Like a Chef’s knife, but smaller, usually for fruits and vegetables.
4. A Parer - For peeling and coring
If youre looking for knives that will last you a lifetime, make sure you look for the following:
A full tang - the tang is essentially a continuation of the blade all the way through the handle of the knife. A cheaper knife will usually be connected by glue or soldered to the handle, with no metal throughout the handle. Usually the Tang is visible through the whole handle, sometimes like this:
A forged blade - A forged blade is made by heating a piece of metal, hammering and grinding it down to the desired shape. Stamped blades, on the other hand, are pressed from a sheet of metal. Stamped blades are typically much less expensive than forged blades, but lighter and less durable. Forged knives are usually much heavier.Steel Blades - Look for knives that are made with rust and stain resistant, high carbon stainless steel.
Good Balance - Hold all your knife options in your hands. Make sure they are comfortable in your own hands.
I pretty much headed straight to Williams Sonoma to look at knives, and never looked back.
I ogled Shun knives for their beauty, and I was willing to go pricey, but they were just a tad out of my registry comfort zone. A 10 Piece knife set retails for $700, and I figured I needed a career change (perhaps sushi chef) if I was going to be cutting with those bad boys.
I opted for Henckels Twin Cuisine knives. I knew that they were the highest rated knives by Consumer Reports, yet surprisingly, not the most expensive knives they carried, so I was ready with my gun to zap a set of them into my registry. They were still pricey ($500) but we registered for them piece by piece, making them in a more comfortable “gift” price range.
Here are Consumer Reports top 5 rated kitchen knife sets:
1. Henckels Twin Select ($500)
2. Henckels Professional “S” ($260)
3. Wusthof Culinar 8907 ($500)
4. Wusthof Trident Classic ($300)
5. Henckels Four Star ($210)
Bye Bye, Blisters.
|
Share this post: Chop Chop!
Thanks for doing all of this research!
We were a little lost with the knives when we went to register. So we talked to the people at Macy’s, the local kitchen store, our parents, the butcher, and then he did some research online before we made our choice. We love our Henkels Professional “S” knives!
We splurged on our Wustof set which I purchased piecemeal, but it was definitely worth it! I wouldn’t trade it in for anything else! The difference between the Wustof and the Calpholon ones I had been using was like night and day! I use the Santoku knife most often for everything from mincing to cutting vegetables to meats and it’s a def must have knife in MHO.
May I suggest, instead of a utility knife, that people look into a serrated knife instead? None of the “essentials” that are listed could cut a loaf of bread neatly — and a serrated knife gives the *best* cuts on tomatoes.
If you are worried about price, you could always just register for each knife separately - that helps with the guilt. I did that with the Global knives from WS and I was willing to live with the chance of having one or two or three knives that would last forever than a whole set I wasn’t happy with. In the end, our families’ generosity was large - we got every one we registered for - and Mr. Oakley was giddy like a school boy (I cook, he chops).
Did you get a chance to go in and HOLD the twin cuisine knives? While they were rated very highly, they are heavy, and somewhat unwieldly for somebody with smaller hands. I recieved one as a sample gift, and while the edge of the knife is fabulous, I never use it because it’s so darn heavy! It’s the 6 inch utility one.
i have to agree with Jes. i have a Henkles twin 4 star set, and i bought a Henkles prof S santoku, and i have another chef knife from the twin cuisine line that you selected, and i have to tell you that the twin cuisine line is extremely heavy. i’m an avid cook, and out of the 3 different knife lines from henkles, i really like my professional S santoku. it’s very light weight, and handles really well. i rarely if ever use my twin cuisine knife bc it’s heavy and when chopping a lot of veggies, causes my wrist and forearm to hurt.
try the knives out and see which one you feel more comfortable with. if i could re-register, i think i would have gone with the prof S line.
I highly recommend Global knives. They are fantastic; I got the chef’s knife for my fiance for his bday last year and he loves it. This knife is super light…turns out to be very friendly for the lady chef and her wrists!
Prepare yourself for a long post
1. I’ll tell you all what I tell every one of my knife customers (I work at a Sur La Table). When you’re going to pick your chef/santoku/paring/offset bread/whatever, hold each option you have for that knife type in your hand. The knife for you is the one that you would reach for if you had every knife in the store to pick from.
Also, your knives don’t have to match. Pick your best bet from each line. Unless you’re getting a cooking show, no one will ever ever ever see your knives.
2. BE KIND TO YOUR KNIVES in their use, cleaning and storage. Use a wood or a synthetic cutting board (the epicurean brand is fantastic). Wash, dry and put away your knives immediately after using them. This will help extend the life of your edge and promote kitchen safety. Just because it says dishwasher safe does not mean that you SHOULD put them in there. Your blade will go dull much faster in a DW. If you do not have a block or a magnetic strip for storage, for heavens sake don’t put your knives in a drawer unprotected. This can hurt fingers hunting through the drawer, and bang the blade against other things, again, shortening the life of your edge. Knife sheaths cost under $5, invest in a couple.
3. Learn how to use your honing steel. This is not a sharpener, it’s a straightener. You should hone your knives after every 10 uses or so, to straighten the fine edge on your blade back to where it was before you used it. Every time your knife hits a cutting board (or anything really), it bends your blade a little. This is why glass, marble, granite, steel, etc cutting surfaces are detrimental to your knife. We don’t even sell them anymore. Sharpening your knife will take steel off of the blade and shouldn’t be done more than every 7-9 months of HEAVY use. Most people only need their knives sharpened once a year. Which reminds me, it’s time for me to run my santoku through the sharpener.
If you’re in the DC area, I’m at the Tyson’s SLT most Tues, Thurs, and Friday evenings after 6 if anyone has more knife questions.
Great info and review! An old roommate bought me a Wusthof chef’s knife a couple years ago for my birthday - it was amazing the difference! Who knew 
Now it’s the only knife I use.
We’ll except my Rada bread and tomato knifes - I love those too
Ditto Kate. Definitely get a serrated knife too. I hone my knife after every 2nd use or so and haven’t had the need to sharpen any of my knives. I’ve had some of them for over 2 years now. FYI, I have Wusthof Classic. Love them. Before purchasing our knives, we did a bit of research and our top choices were Wusthof, Global, and Shun. Our friends had Global and we tried it. We loved the look and sharpness, but did not like that it was too light. We both wanted a bit more heft to our knives. My husband just did not like Shun and thought it was too funky looking. At the time not many retailers carried Shun and we would’ve had to kinda hunt them down to buy. Insert big sigh here because that was the one that I REALLY REALLY wanted. So in the end, we bought Wusthof and we both really do love it. We chose Classic line (now they have Culinar and Ikon) because we could feel and see the different from Gourmet, which is a great line too. Ironically, I brought home a shun paring knife (currently up to 6 paring knives, crazy I know) and my husband ALWAYS uses that one over other paring knives. He loves how it feels and how sharp it is. Granted, they do require a bit more maintenance and care than other knives (according to my research) but I think it’s worth it. They’ll sharpen their knives for free when you send it to the company in WA. If we ever need another knife I have a feeling we’ll be buying a Shun. But I’ll never give up my trusty Wusthof Classic.
I really wanted a santoku knife after having used a cousin’s Wusthof santoku. My fiance got me a Shun 7 inch santoku for Christmas (he isn’t good at keeping surprises, so I’ve already used it) and it is great! My Shun is more comfortable in my hand and has a significantly better warranty than Henckles and Wusthof. If you are going to splurge on a knife, a santoku is really the knife you need because is specially designed to work on meats, fish, and veggies. Shun will sharpen for you for free and the way the blade is made will stay sharp a lot longer. They do require the special care though - my fiance made me watch an online video of how to care for the knife! hahah Shun is the way to go, in my opinion, for looks, comfort, and quality - just be prepared to care for the knife - honing after almost every use and washing, drying, and storing immediately after using it!
| Visit our sister sites | Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Fertile Thoughts Infertility Support |
Mrs. Penguin, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in Chief
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About Me: I love the Spice Girls, dogs with underbites, bean burritos, making messes, high fives, avoiding showers, crossword puzzles, blogs, weddings, and blogs about weddings!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Latest Gallery Pics