Cutlery Reviews

I'VE USED THE CLAM KNIFE TWICE. I WASN'T ABLE TO OPEN ALL OF MY CLAMS. I WISH THE END WAS A LITTLE THINNER.

I'm a bit of a cooking geek, so I had bought the New Cooks Catalog at Barnes & Nobel. They suggested this knife for clams, and, I had a couple, but, I have clambakes every so often so I can always use an extra. And now I'm looking at the catalog and realizing the main reason I bought it was I liked the picture. But the truth is, this knife is MUCH better than the other ones I have, no contest. It's got great grip and is really quick-when you have a bunch of people over and there's some knife-sharing going on, that's especially helpful. It's so easy to use ... well, I don't want to recommend a baby using it, but I think a baby COULD use it if no one else was around to open the clams. I think that would be a good ad for Oxo ... there's a baby, and... no, maybe not.

It is a strong knife; and easy to grip; but, I am upset about the rust spots on the blade, especially because I gave 2 people this knife as a gift! It was very embarrassing! I can't return it since it was a long distance gift.
Shame on Oxo! I gave it 2 stars because of the good grip; but, that is all it is....a good grip that looks like you bought it at Good Will!

I believe if you're serious about cooking, you should own great cookware and excellent knives. I finally stepped up and got excellent knives. For those who haven't heard the hype, Shun is one of the most respected knife brands in the world. Check them out on the Web at kershawknives.com.

Great features of the entire line include these cool "D" shaped handles that fit your hand better. Each knife is made in a right- and left-handed version (chefsresource.com for lefties). The handles are made of wood and are specially treated so they are diswasher safe!! The steel used for the blades is harder than what you would find in most other knives. The knives are EXTREMELY sharp. One thing to note about Asian knives is that they must be sharpened at a different angle, 16-18 degrees vs. 20 degrees for German knives. The Shun steel takes the guesswork out of getting the angle correct because of the flat edge on one side of the metal disc below the handle.

It's been a while since I've had a utility knife, but I'm learning quickly. If you're building your set and want to take care of the must-haves first. Move this down on your priority list. Get the chef's, paring and bread knives first. With that said, there is a place for this knife in your kitchen. As with all of my other Shun knives, this one is extremely sharp and it's relatively light. It doesn't take as much force to slice and chop.

This is an expensive, but lifetime investment. I encourage you to visit stores and feel the knives in your hand to make sure you are comfortable with them. For more info on Shun, check out Alton Brown's website. For ratings on various brands and types of knives, check out cooksillustrated.coms' equipment ratings.

This is probably the best kitchen purchase I've made and the one I'm most proud of.

The Utility Knife is definitely one you want in your collection, but I would rank it as the top 5, not the top 3.

Shun knives are beautiful creations period. Since I'm Asian, I love the tradition look and feel of this Japanese knife. I love the beauty of the blade and the dark, polished, Pakkawood handle. The unique "D"-shaped, Wood handles are preferable. The shape fits my hand perfectly, and the wood does not get slippery when wet - providing a very secure hold. The steel is of utmost quality and sharpness. Do not put this blade into any old electric knife sharpener! Electric knife sharpeners are made to put one angle on any blade. These blades come with a 16 degree angle and you don't want to be changing that angle. There are electric knife sharpeners that can sharpen these knives, but you'll have to do some research and find out which ones can be a fit with these knives. I prefer to hone with a sharpening steel and manually sharpen with a stone if necessary (and I don't see it being necessary to touch it to a stone any time soon). The blade is sharp straight off the factory and as Alton Brown says - it's the sharpest straight out of the factory edge as he's ever seen.

These knives are more expensive than most, but I think it's definitely worth it. To have the sharpest, most beautiful knife around - it's no contest. If you are on a budget, build your collection slowly. It's been said that there are only 3 knives that are the absolute basics for any kitchen: A 8" Chef's Knife, a Paring Knife, and a Long Serrated blade for cutting bread and larger items. I would add a thin utility knife and a boning knife to that list next. Then I would add those "in-between" sizes as I get more money flow in. =)

If you plan on spending any time in the kitchen, good kitchen knives are a definite must. Preparation is the bulk of cooking and when you have good knives, it cuts down on the danger of cutting yourself, it adds pleasure to the work, and it cuts down on prep time. Knives are also a very personal choice and it's best to at least go to a store and try it out for yourself first. Shun Knives are designed by the Japanese, so remember - it's designed for small hands. This makes it fit most women's hands perfectly, but I've heard of guys with larger hands not like it so much and going back to the German knives. So definitely try it out. It's a personal thing, it needs to fit you.

Why spend so much money on a knife? Well, if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and you almost always have to bust out a knife to prep a meal from scratch - why not use the best? Why spend that time with items that you love and brings you pleasure to use? Many times, it's the small things that brings us the most pleasure in life, and I consider my Shun knives as one of those things. Having something so beautiful and yet so sharp and perfect - it makes my time cooking just that much more enjoyable.

Another good thing to know is that although the Shun Knives are usually offered for right-handers, you can get these knives for left-handers. You just need to find the guys who stock and sell those ones as they are less known, and less common.

First off, this knife is beautiful. The wood handle and steel cap give it a sophisticated look, but most of all, it is the Damascus blade that really makes it a show-off.

Back before guns, a lot of effort went into making steel sharp for swords. The Damascus technique involves folding steel tens or hundreds of times to achieve the ultimate in sharpness, and it dates back hundreds of years.

This knife is a reference to those ancient swordmakers, but not exactly. Unlike true Damascus knives, Shun knives are laminated: the inner layer is a high-tech piece of expensive super-steel (called VG-10) and the outer layers (protecting the inner and bringing down the cost) are a more ordinary stainless steel. Unlike the swords of old, only the outer layers on this knife are folded. The VG-10 inner part, the part the edge is made from and the part that cuts, is a single forged piece. So in this knife, the Damascus pattern is more for looks than performance. Perhaps it also helps keep food from sticking.

However I don't care what it is for - it looks fantastic. It also gives an exotic, handmade look to your kitchen cutlery. Normally Damascus knives are much, much more expensive.

As for cutting, the VG-10 super steel combined with the Japanese obsession with ultra-thin, ultra-sharp edges make this knife wickedly sharp. The VG-10 core is designed to keep an edge for a long time, however all straight edged knives will need sharpening. If you never bother to sharpen your knives, get a serrated knife instead.

The handle is a wood product. It is based on wood, but resin-injected and sealed so it repels water. Shun advertises it as dishwasher safe, but that would be like putting your fine china in the dishwasher - you could do it, but why take the chance? If you do dishwash it, you might want to take it out before the drying cycle, and keep the blade away from anything that could nick it.

This knife is very light and sharp. The 6" length is very useful to me. I use it sometimes as a slicer, sometimes as a parer, and sometimes as a sandwich knife. It has become my main go-to knife for small jobs. Unlike other, duller knife brands, this straight-edge knife has no problem cutting bread or tomatoes.

All in all, this is my ideal balance of performance and looks. There are cheaper knives on the market that perform just as well (some 1/3rd the price) but none that look as good, at any price. It is worth it to me, especially since knives generally last for decades, sometimes lifetimes.

This product matches the quality of similar items costing three times as much.

I just received the item. I chose the 12-piece set because the picture above showed extra slots to enable expansion. Also, another consumer review on this page specifically commented on the extra slots. It DOES NOT HAVE EXTRA SLOTS for a bread knife or any other knife. That being said, I am pleased with the overall quality. Amazon just needs to update the picture.

I am very pleased with the knife set. The handles are very comfortable in the hand and the cutting ability is superb. I really like the extra slots in the block because I was able to put several older Chicago Cutlery in those slots. Good product!

I've got the paring knife from this series, and I love it. Perfectly balanced, perfectly sharp. I had high hopes for this santoku, which is really kind of a compromise blade between a chef's knife, a cleaver, and a traditional santoku, and which I got for almost half off.

The grip is nice, and the blade is full tang (with a very nice synthetic grip coating the otherwise metal handle), making it very sturdy. But unfortunately it's just not sharp enough. Unlike my large santoku, which slices through peels and crusts, this guy needs much more force applied. I still do plan to use it for crude jobs (boning raw meat, rough dice of onions, bread), but it has perhaps been compromised too much by trying to do too many cutlery jobs. It's only average at most of them.

It's well-made, though, and will last a lifetime. And it comes with a nice plastic sheath so it can survive life in a drawer as a "sometimes" or backup knife.

This cutting board is all that it is advertized to be. I liked mine so much that I went out and bought a smaller version. Being able to put the cutting board in the dishwasher makes this my favorite cutting board and one that I look forward to using on a daily basis.