Cutlery Reviews

but it is a quality brand, hefty, sharp and best of all, forged. Chicago Cutlery is producing these in China, so at 1/5 the price of the Henckels, there is still a pretty nice profit. I have found other knives in this set need a good honing after each use and may need sharpening more often. That being said, this is still a great value. I would rate it a notch above the highly rated Farberware forged knives.

I read a lot of reviews before making this purchase, then I went to a Williams Sonoma and handled the knife before making a final decision. Many have recommended that you handle the knives before purchasing... I also recommend this. Holding the knife in my hand is what locked the sale for me! I own a set of Trident (Wusthof) Grand Prix kninves, and wonderful knives they are. As I've been trying to teach myself better knife skills, I've been working at forming the proper hold (what chefs call the "pinch" hold). With the Wusthoff, I have to concentrate on it, because the knife never fit in my hand perfectly. The Shun is amazing in this regard. I will also say that I do have small hands... that seems to make a difference in whether many will like the Shun or not, but it definitely felt natural in my hand. I handled the Global alongside the Shun and put it down immediately (don't like the grip at all!). I've only been using the Shun for two days, but have already started thinking about a couple more additions to the ol' knife block. Is it sharp? Absolutely, everything cut like warm butter. Is that design, or the fact that it's brand new? I'll know in a few weeks! Again, before you purchase, handle the knife in a store, or a freinds kitchen or something. The way a knife feels in your hand should be the major decider.

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.

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.

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 picked this blade up the other day and am thrilled with it. Though it was moe expensive than the Wustof that I had intended to buy I don't regret it. Lighter, sharper edge, and...wait for it...a left handed handle!!!! All you right handers out there wouldn't understand the novelty of actually having a kitchen gadget/utensil that we can use properly with OUR dominant hand. Pretty hard to find actually. Definitely cuts down on accidents and messes while cooking. According to the clerk that i talked to (very knowledgable) Shun only standardly makes the 8" shef knife and the paring knife for us lefties. The others can be special ordered and the place I went to has no up-charge for that, but if there's a sale the discount isn't as much, probably to cover the upcharge that the store is charge for the order.

Don't think I can advertise for them but if you're in Seattle go to the water side of Westlake and turn left down 4th.

The product is exactly as pictured. It fits all my largest knives, including several types of chef knives. The raised slots are plenty wide to accomodate wider handles from an assortment of knives from various brands. Some of the other knife blocks brands have narrower slots for the raised section, but this one has plenty of room for all of my knives, including my Chicago Cutlery knives. The knife block fits well in my drawer when full. The block seems to be plenty longer than my longest knives.

This knife holder is very good quality and fit exactly as intended. I looked into others and this one was less expensive, more compact and is nice looking.

Item arrived on time and in excellent condition. It was exactly as I expected.

Samurai Henckels
has forged knives, an alliance:
Axis of barware!

Shearing a ribbon
of peel from humble lime, quick
wakizashi works.

Sing, o katana,
slice fine the celery, we
like bloody marys.