Cutlery Reviews

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. Every Shun Classic 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.

Chef's knife -- I have small hands and this knife felt perfect. The weight was just right and it just fit well in my hand. This knife makes quick work of everything because it is so sharp. It is also much lighter than my previous knife, so I feel like I'm using a lot less force to slice and chop. I have the 7" santoku as well, but this is the knife that I will use for the majority of the prep.

Paring knife -- My old knife was 4," but the difference isn't that noticable to me. This knife makes quick work of garlic. It is so sharp that it seems like I just have to lay the knife against the food.

Utility knife -- 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. This kife is extremely sharp and it's relatively light.

Kitchen shears -- This is my third pair of kitchen shears. The first was $10 and lasted a week. I thought the second pair was just fine until my Shun shears arrived. These cut well and are also very smooth while cutting. They fit my hand nicely. I can really feel the difference in quality. These can perform different functions -- opening bottles, jar opener, nutcracker -- one blade has a curve in it to accomodate bone. I love that they are dishwasher safe.

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. (I've managed to cut myself only twice in the first two days of ownership.) My only complaint is that there was no logo on my block; it's plain wood.

The only thing this set is missing is a Serrated Blade. I have the Shun Serrated 9" Bread Knife and although it's not used as often as my Chef's Knife and Paring Knife, it's still essential to have a good serrated blade for cutting bread and the like.

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 (or some kind of similar, large-ish 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. Now if you're buying a whole set like this, you'll get it all in one shot and it becomes a better deal than pieceing your collection together, one-by-one.

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.

These knives are the sharpest I've ever used and also quite comfotable to handle. Well worth every penny!

I bought the 7pc. Pro-S block set. This knife was included in that set. As I was admiring my new tools I was utterly suprised to see what looked like a stain at the bolster of this knife. As I looked closer it was actually a small section of pitted steel. As I was looking at this moderately small spot I noticed a pitted crack approximately 1/2 inch in length extending from that spot down toward the point. At the point another pitted area covering approximately 1/8-1/6 of an inche from the tip down the scalloped side of the blade.

Don't get me wrong the Henckels Pro-S is still the best knife you could buy, but I was astounded that quality control missed this defective blade. I thought I would never have to make use of the lifetime warranty (especially 3 days after buying a set). But hopefully the exchange will go just as smooth as these excellent knife cut though food.

This is the perfect knife. I have many, many other knives of various brands including Cutco, and I always find myself reaching for this one. Well worth the price! I always throw mine in the dishwasher and after several years, still no sign of rust.

The Professional S series has been a blessing in our family in the two years since it replaced a set of those cheapo "Never-needs-sharpening" knives.

And the most used knife in the lot is this one, the 5-inch serrated knife. Whether you are slicing a few vegetables, peeling a fruit, or want an ultra-deluxe steak knife of the gods, this is the one.

The Professional S design is a classic that will hold up well over the years.

kinfe set is good deal for such low cost,nice weight,very sturdy,quite sharp,best for me is i just put them in dishwasher with no rust yet(used 2 months now) they even look good on counter in the wood block--good bang for the buck i figure.

These Knives are so sharp and well constructed and they where a great deal on Amazon compared to other sources.
The only thing I am not happy with is they will start to rust if you do not wash and dry them immediately. However, for the money these are great knives. I would buy another set when the time comes to replace them.

Look, for $30, throw them in the dishwasher, use them and when they start looking bad, throw out the first set and use the second set you bought together with the first set. Probably will get you 2-4 years between the two sets. These are not $500 Gucci knives, so if you want to handwash, go ahead, but I use the dishwasher and they seem fine (had 1 month). They cut fine, handle is ergonomically nice. Wood block is decent wood, finished nicely. It came with 8 steak knives, so I must have missed the fine print as I thought it had 6. Does not have a giant meat cleaver, but I never used that on my prior set. This is a perfect set for every day use. If you are a serious chef-type, probably would do better with soemthing else(because of limited professional-type knives in this set). I think this is a nice set for $.

I bought a two pack (Amazon price of $7.99 is a better deal that I got on the two pack) and have one designated for meat trimming/food use and one for general purpose.
These shears are fantastic. The blade is a little shorter than I am used to, but the speed with which I can now cut through meats etc. more than makes up for the blade length.
Absolutely would buy again.

This board is constructed of VERY soft material. All of the reasons that I ordered this were lost the first time that I used it.
All of the knife marks are places where germs can accumulate. (Yes, I wash it, but sometimes my husband does.) My main reason for buying this board was because it was listed as "nonporous", if that is the reason you are looking at this board, forget it. ...

Every slice of the knife leaves a cut on the surface of this board. If that bothers you, you should get something else that's made of harder stuff. If you need to get something so you can stop using the dinner plates and counter top as a cutting surface, or if you like soft cutting boards (I think they feel better against the edge of the knife) then this might be right for you. Basically, it's under ten dollars and it's probably better than the one they have hanging up above the shelves at your local super market.

This is a very functional cutting board. Used it to replace a wodden cutting board I'd been using for years. My only complaint is that there are no feet on the bottom of the board to keep it from sliding around, but solved the problem by purchasing some from [local store] that you can attach yourself.

This is a great, well priced knife. Will cut through any of your toughest or most fragile breads. The service from Mustard Seed Foods.com was great. They included a knife protector free with the purchase! My next knife will be purchased through them.