So my parents have knives that might be old enough to have been fashioned back in the Bronze Age and they are even duller than I am. So for Father’s Day, I’ve decided to get them a new Chef’s knife or set to replace the crap that they currently have in their kitchen. I’ve been rocking a GLOBAL Knife (chef and boning) for the past few years and love it, especially the fact that they seem to retain their sharpness for longer than any other knife I’ve ever had. So I’d like to get my folks a nice chef’s knife for use in the kitchen, which brand would you recommend. But I’d also like to make it as low maintenance as possible, I don’t see Genomic RepairMom and Dad sharpening a knife on a weekly or monthly basis.
I’m madly in love with my Shun, but I quite like my stepmother’s Wusthof, as far as chef’s knives go. Global makes the best bread knife I’ve ever found, but I find their handles non-ideal for my grip when it comes to dicing and mincing. My family treats knife shopping like most people treat clothing shopping: you have to try it to make sure it fits right.
For a good, all-purpose knife that works with a variety of knifework styles, though, my money’s on the Wusthof.
I LOVE my Sabatier knife (serrated) for cutting anything from bread to other stuff where a serrated knife is gold. Then I have Wusthof Classic Chef knife as non-serrated knife (one ‘regular’ and one bigger). All of them are absolutely awesome.
In the end I think it depends on which you like the most holding while working with them. The Sabatier handle seems a little smaller than “regular” knife, which I like since I don’t have boats as hands 😉 And the Wusthof feels like it’s an elongation of my arm….. it’s just perfect fit!
It’s a great present, although where I come from it’s custom to pay (a quarter might work here, we do 1 krona coin) the giver since it’s bad luck to get a knife in a gift – but buying it is perfectly ok 🙂 Superstition and old habits and all….
If you need to sharpen a knife on a weekly or monthly basis, you’re doing it wrong. I assume you meant “hone” not “sharpen.”
Is either parent left handed? If so, I would rule out Shun because the handles of many of their knives are right-handed even when the blades themselves are beveled on both sides. Particularly for Japanese knives, check the bevels to make sure the knife is beveled on both sides or else you can only use it with one (the right) hand.
Globals are great, especially for people with smaller hands. They do have great edge retention. Japanese blades in general are hardened to a higher degree than American or European knives.
I’ve had bad luck with Wustofs. In my experience, the quality control isn’t as good as others in the same price range. I’ve had a couple of over-tempered blades from them; they were too soft – too flexible and didn’t hold an edge well.
I use mostly Henckels Pro S. I’ve had my chefs knife for 12+ years and never once had to get it resharpened. A quick swipe along the hone and I’m good to go and I do a *lot* of cooking. That being said, there is a Global sashimi knife I’m lusting after. 🙂
I recently tried out a bunch of different santukos (some friends expressed a desire for a santuko for a wedding gift) on raw carrots, apples and slicing paper. The two best were the Shun and the Henkels.
Hope this helps.
Note to chall: the custom in my family is to pay a penny to prevent bad luck…
ah… a penny. Yes, that would be similar 🙂
I’m left-handed by the way, and haven’t been superinterested in Globalknives due to that fact. It’s like “pocketknives”, they are also for right-handed most often (as a side note ^^)
Many, many years ago I received a left-handed pocket knife as a gift. It’s a “swiss army”-type knife, and all the tools are “backwards” to the usual configuration (even the corkscrew turns the other way!) and I love it. I pull it out when I am trying to illustrate to people how pretty much everything is designed for right-handed people. I love the reactions from right handed people when they try to open or use it. They get all squirrely and tell me how wrong it feels. 🙂
The knife is from Eddie Bauer, but as far as I know they haven’t manufactured it for years.
I’ve had my Henckels for 13 years and still love them. They need some TLC from time to time (the move to TTT was a good time for a re-sharpening, or re-honing, or whatever). The one Wusthof we have is nice, but it doesn’t seem to be holding up quite as well as the Henckels – and it’s only 3 years old.
Also, all my Henckels and Wusthof were gifts. No horribly bad luck yet (knocks on wood).
Oh, I also wanted to say – if your parents’ knives are dull but otherwise good quality, getting them professionally sharpened may rehabilitate them just fine. It’s one major advantage of buying good knives – even if you don’t take care of them or they chip or whatever, the construction and steel of the knives is good enough that they can be returned to like-new by getting them sharpened or re-ground + sharpened.
I’ve had my Henckels pro chef knife for…golly, I don’t know how long and it’s held up beautifully. (When I left my ex, I only took 2 kitchen items with me, and the chef knife was one of them. Our other knives sucked.)
When I get a real job I plan to replace all of the rest of my lousy knives (currently ‘Goodwill vintage’) with Henckels.
Sharpening doesn’t have to happen weekly. I only get my knives sharpened 4 times a year, or after a particularly brutal round of prep (breaking down whole animals). And most home cooks really shouldn’t have to take their stuff in for sharpening more than twice a year. Honing with the steel rod I do before and after use. If they’re not going to hone regularly, you may want to go with the heavier German knives. The Shuns and Global need more care.