Our new Mercer knives

[DaveD]

Hey folks, been looking to upgrade our entry-level knives (nothing has a full tang, a couple are stamped rather than forged etc). After PJ's thread about his Wusthofs I started reading up, and long story short, just couldn't swing the price tag for those or Zwilling or Shun for good full-tang forged blades. But Mercer has a lot of firm fans, they've been around a long time, and have collections that are good German steel, full-tang construction, and they are one hell of a lot less expensive. Downside is that they are available strictly by mail/online, there are no brick & mortar places to buy them, so you can't test-handle. But I was willing to take the risk.

So here's the new hardware, from the Mercer Genesis line. 8" Granton chef's, 7" Granton santoku, 6" cleaver, 10" Granton carving, 6" flexible boning, 5" utility, 3.5" paring, 3" peeling/tourne, plus a 5" serrated tomato knife from the Renaissance line, since the Genesis doesn't have one, and their standard ceramic hone. We kept our existing meat scissors and bread knife, which are just fine. We also replaced our steak knives with the Genesis set. Grand total for all of this was just under US$525. Still plenty of space in the existing knife block too.

Will let ya know how they feel and perform...

[58limited]

Those look really nice!

[WI Bubba]

Gotta LOVE new knife day!

[Panhead John]

I really think that’s kinda tacky….showing off new knives an such….



😂😂😂 Congrats Dave! Those really are good looking quality knives. You’re gonna love chopping vegetables and cutting meat etc. with em. After a month or so I’m still loving using my new knives, they cut so much better. Enjoy! 👍

[Panhead John]

Damn DaveDD….never did like him. He was bad news from day 1….

[DaveD]

"Day" 1? Hell, dude was here for only about 20 minutes, and look how he stunk up the joint!

[Sid P]

Lucky for us, DaveDD was only here for one day. What a loser.

[Richard Chrz]

I have a few of the lower range Mercer knives. I’m super happy. Looking to follow along and see how you like them. They are in strong consideration with me,

[Mosca]

Doggone, DaveD. You’re going to love using those! Nice purchase. Keep those sharp and they will be your grandchildren’s knives.

I bought my knives without trying them. Half the reviews praised their balance, the other half criticized the handle as hard to control. Honestly I’ve never noticed either the great balance or the uncontrollable handle. I grab a knife and cut food. Same with all the knives I’ve picked up over the years. Not that testing before buying is overrated, but you get used to what you have pretty fast.

I had mine in a block, but I wanted the counter space back, so I got a magnetic strip. If you find yourself thinking the same, give it a try, they’re cheap. Use auto body tape to mount it so you don’t have to drill.

[DaveD]

We just don't have the right geometry in our kitchen to do a mag strip, much as I'd love to. All our vertical wall space is basically the backsplash you see in the knife-block photo and goes only as high as the underside of the cabinets, much too short a space to mount a strip in any useful way. There isn't a ton of other use to which we could put that corner of the countertop anyway...

[JustKyle]

Those look like really nice knives. Seem like really quality pieces that will last a lifetime with the proper care and use.

[MBMorgan]

Can't go wrong with Mercer blades. Great looking set ... congrats!

[Timbo54]

Congrats on the new knives, I think you are really going to like them. I have a set of Henckels Twin Cuisine (no longer made ) that I gave to my wife. She likes to cut on plates, platters and bounce them off the tile counter tops. I bought a selection of Mercer Genesis several years ago and love the weight and grips. They stay sharp and only need sharpening a couple times a year. Nice choice.

[DaveD]

Hey, great to hear your experience!

[DaveD]

When I woke up this morning I immediately started thinking, "What can I cut up with those new knives today?!?"

[Panhead John]

Right on bro! I did the same thing after I got mine. 😂 You’ve got to make a salad tonight fer sure, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms etc. First thing I wanted to do was the ol tomato test. Maybe a whole chicken tonight to cut up OR steaks to try out the steak knives…🧐 You’ll be amazed at how much better a quality set of knives can cut.

[Old Glory]

Hear good things about those knives. Enjoy!

[Sid P]

Congrats, those look beautiful! I hope they keep you happy forever.

[holehogg]

Those sure are good looking knives. Have fun using them.

[DaveD]

Today for lunch we ate the other half of the from-scratch "the works" pizza that my lovely bride made on Thursday night. I'm a little overly fastidious about my hands and so always eat pizza with a fork and steak knife. The new steak knives just glided through that thing! My muscle memory of how much force I'd typically need was way overkill. The former ones were entry-level Henckels stamped & finely serrated knives, nearly impossible to sharpen, but I won't have that problem with these non-serrated ones.

[Mosca]

I use the cheap Henckels paring knives. I even put them in the dishwasher. They actually do a good job of taking a beating!

[DTro]

Nice new toolbox!