I have both Wusthof and Henckels knives, and like them all, but the knife sharpening woman I went to in the Boston area recommended Victorinox knives. They don’t have the cachet of the high-end brands, but she said they held their edge much longer than the other brands, and she did the sharpening for many local chefs.
If you’re buying one of the two as a gift, can’t help. Likely, they’d be for someone that hasn’t come to the conclusion that a set resting in a butcher block stand isn’t going to be used. Not more than 2 or 3 of them anyway. They do fill a blank space on a long counter, though.
I’ve done all the cooking for decades. Processed deer, cleaned boxes of fish, trimmed whatever was bought from the store, vegetables, etc.
We’ve two sets of knives, complete with the storage blocks, from way, way back. Also, a drawer full of odds and ends speciality knives. The first are in a box out in the shop, the last live full time in their drawer.
All we use is: a small Forschner paring knife, a Messermeister carving knife, and a cheap Rapala filet knife. The last has a coating on it that won’t bind when taking the skin side off a fish. Also use a small skinning knife several times a year but that brings the total to 4.
Also, I’m sure there are better knife sharpeners but what I settled on is what looks like a piece of butcher’s steel, but is coated with diamond dust.
Six or seven strokes to each side, same as if you were stropping it, and one or two very light ones at the end, will put the edge right. That many if you’re keeping up with it, maybe double if it’s a knife that’s been neglected.
I have to say that my favorite knives are my parents’ old Ludwig Schiff knives. https://ludwigschiffcutlery.com
@catahoula, can you link to what you suggest for sharpening?
Any other suggestions for knife sharpeners?
I’m guessing Chicago Cutlery is a mid-range brand but doesn’t come close to the quality of the brands mentioned here? (I “inherited” a bunch of CC knives).
I use an ancient chef’s choice sharpener for my Henckels knives. Similar to this but much older, and no issues using it for the past 15+ years:
https://www.amazon.com/ChefsChoice-Professional-Sharpening-Abrasives-Precision/dp/B000CSK0DM/ref=sr_1_6?crid=YF1DFASKZQ1B&keywords=chefs+choice+knife+sharpener&qid=1575433388&sprefix=chef
My Japanese chef’s knife I take to a pro. I’ve tried manually sharpening it at home with waterstones but I seem to truly suck at manual sharpening.
I used to have a Gerber set made in the USA from the 1980’s that my parents gave me. My wife upgraded me with Henckels made in China. Sorry I did that. Like many things I buy I look for gently used made in the USA, Japan, or Germany. I’d rather buy used than new for many things. Buck used to make some very nice cutlery sets.
As for sharpening I’ve tried just about everything. Went back to a simple whetstone and strop. Old school again.
Costco periodically has a Henckels knives roadshow where you can get German-made knives piece meal. That is how I got my current knives. BTW, I highly recommend this block for storing your useful hodge podge collection of knives:
https://www.amazon.com/Eva-Solo-Angled-Aluminum-Silver/dp/B00009OWEZ
Not only it is functional, it also looks cool in a kitchen with ss appliances.
I have used three Wustof Classic knives for 20 years and have one Henckel knife from the same timeframe. All are great. As someone commented above, I keep each in a plastic sheath in a drawer, when they are not sitting out on the drying rack. One is always out.
I like the way Henckels feel in my hand. My go-to knife is a Henckels Professional Santoku knife.
I love my knife block, it’s in the center of the island where I do most of my food prep. It only has the 3 knives I use regularly, plus a bread knife and a set of steak knives. So a couple of empty slots, but that’s OK. I like having them right in front of me.
“… can you link to what you suggest for sharpening?”
https://theultimateedge.com/knife-sharpeners.html
What I have is probably the 10" standard model. Other manufacturers make about the same thing.
Somewhat aggressive, since you can feel a knife dragging slightly as you strop it. I think they come in different grit dusts, though. After a few years, a paring knife will show a different profile but they’re made to be used and one that won’t slice a ripe tomato is essentially useless.
The Mom in my French family sharpened her knives by hand every time she used them. Her family used to make fun of her because she even sharpened the bread knife which definitely was not good for the teeth. She was an excellent cook in any event.
We have a Henckels sharpening steel we got for our wedding, over 30 years ago. It seems to work fine. We have periodically used services by Williams Sonoma to sharpen — free or $2/knife sharpened. They return it with a cardboard sheath.
My D bought a fairly inexpensive knife with a sharpener built into the sheath. I used it recently, very sharp.
Maybe too late to chime in, and I admittedly have not read all posts, but you may want to try some Japanese knives…the Shuns are relatively common. The more acute angle of the edge makes them feel more “sharp”, IMO. But the edges are, generally speaking, more fragile than the German knives.
I send my knives out to get sharpened by a pro, and knowing what I had in house, he recommended we try Globals (also Japanese) as he felt they represented a good middle ground between the two philosophies.
I remember reading of something called a “wire edge”, when it comes to sharpness. That a razor, properly sharpened, had an edge that would be curled and all that was really needed was to straighten it. Stropping it on leather did it.
If a knife’s really sharp, a few delicate passes on butchers steel, or what i linked to, will leave an edge that will make you bleed with a little pressure, no sawing required.
That said, whatever works for you and your knives is probably as good or better than what works for me.
I appreciate all your suggestions! Our kitchen arrangement and lack of drawers requires a knife block. I’m waiting for the Heinckel and Wursthof knives so I can feel how they fit in my hand. I’m also going to have my 30 year old Chicago Cutlery knives professionally sharpened. If they can be sharpened, I’ll just select some new knives to broaden the set.
“ I remember reading of something called a “wire edge”, when it comes to sharpness. That a razor, properly sharpened, had an edge that would be curled and all that was really needed was to straighten it. Stropping it on leather did it.”
Standard Western knives are traditionally made from a softer steel, so as they get used the edge collapses or folds over. When you run the knife on a honing steel it straightens out the edge. That’s compared to true sharpening, which removes steel in order to form a sharp edge.
Harder steel, like most Japanese knives, tends to be both harder and more brittle. So instead of rolling, the edge gets small chips or just wears down. Owners of Japanese knives have probably seen warnings not to use honing steels as there’s no rolled edge to straighten and the honing steel might just cause existing chips to worsen. The tradeoff is that the edge will last significantly longer and is tough enough to be sharpened at a lower angle (around 20 degrees for a standard Western knife vs 15 degrees for a Japanese knife or modern high-end steel Western knife).
The best of both worlds is the current trend in higher end knives for both harder and less brittle steel. Materials technology and people with a passion for cooking knives has really exploded in the past decade or two and there’s a huge collection of super-cool knives out there of all kinds - Japanese, Western, and blended.
OHMOMof2, Do you know where he bought the knife with the sheath? We received one 37 years ago as a wedding present and it is still going strong. I would love to locate another for SIL.