Looking for good knives.

[Clarkgriswald]

Hi everyone. I recently cooked up a full packer brisket this past weekend that turned out a little dry but before I could cook it I trimmed it up. The knives I have now are old and suck. Had a hard time getting the silver skin off even. I'm looking for a quality set that will last years. What do you guys have as your go to bbq knife set.

Thanks for the help.
Josh

[Jon Solberg]

Josh are you looking for knifes on the high end of the price scale or the low end?

Low end : Victorinox Swiss Classic. These are GREAT knives for the money IMHO

High end I'm with Mb as he states below. "Tridents" aka Wusthof

BUT On the high end you need to figure out the style you prefer and what your willing to spend. German or Japanese.

The other thing I'll say is you may not need a set. Get a block and the ones you'll use. At least for me I only use 3 or 4 regularly.

[Clarkgriswald]

Don't want to spend too much but don't want a junk set either. I didn't know it but my wife just bought me a Victorinox 12 inch slicer. Looks like a bad ass slicer.

[MBMorgan]

I agree with Jon. Start with a chef's knife, paring knife, and some sort of boning knife. Later, you'll know if/when you need more.

[MBMorgan]

I've used a full set of Wusthof Classic knives for many years and couldn't be happier. I keep the edges in perfect shape with a knife steel ... and when necessary (not often) a Chef's Choice 120 electric sharpener. MH recommends an inexpensive Rapala soft-grip filet knife for BBQ trimming chores. I don't have one ... but only because my old and razor sharp Buck filet knife is still in fine shape.

[MBMorgan]

Very well. And I probably don't use it more often than once every year or two ... and only as needed for the most heavily used blades.

[Bob's BBQ]

I have the Rapala and it works great. I'm like you and not the greatest at sharpening. Touch it up now and then and if it gets too bad, toss it and get another!

[JohnF]

I have the Rapala soft-grip filet knife and love it!

[_John_]

To get good, sharp long lasting knives you have to be willing to invest quite a bit of time caring for them. I have kids, 'helpers' who hide or wash them wrong, and frankly better things to do. I got a few Dexter's and Victorinox and its all I need. They were cheap enough I could throw them out and not feel bad but have not needed to. I have a long thin Victorinox boning knife I like to use for trimming, it stays sharp through a case or two of pork butts and the handle is soft enough to not hurt too badly.

[BruceB]

I have a good variety of Wustof Classics that get used daily, but they are spendy. I have the Victorinox 12" slicer which is great for large slabs of meat, like brisket, and a Norpro Kleve 8" Chef's knife that lives with the BBQ stuff, and that thing really holds an edge, and you can find them for less than $20. Use the AR Amazon link and look for them.

[PaulstheRibList]

For trimming meat, a sharp knife is a must! Particularly Brisket.

I LOVE my Wustof Classic Knives! 8" Chef, 7" Sanktou are used all the time! I just got a Japanese 8" Chef Knife with some type of harder stainless that can hold a 15 degree edge. I love it so far, but time will tell if it beats out the German Steel.

For Brisket trim, I have multiple of the Vitrinox 6" flexible boning knives. I keep several so I can always have a sharp one, and there are extras for when we have a multi-person crew to help trim. I have a lower-end Wustof flexible boning knife, but it performs about the same as the Virtronx, and costs about the same as well. Given one of the comments above about a Wustof classic boning knife, I need to get one and see how many briskets I can trim with it and it hold the perfect edge.

For slicing Brisket, the 14" Wustof Brisket Slicer #BrisketSword. If you've seen any of my brisket pics, #BrisketSword is usually in the background. I've heard the Vitronox is great too, for less than half the price. I'm getting one to try.

If you want to just get 2 knives for BBQ, and you only have a few bucks to spend, get the 6" flexible boning knife, and then get an 8" Chef Knife. The only one I have is the Wustof, so I haven't used a less expensive option to share with you about.

[CurlingDog]

i have this one and use it the most. stays sharp a long time

http://www.amazon.com/Dexter-Russell-S131F-6PCP-Boning-Sani-Safe-Series/dp/B0001MRYDI/ref=pd_sim_328_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=21cS0KLc30L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1SQ7N1S1AFPQHBAQM7WJ

[Dr ROK]

For the price, I don't think you can beat Victorinox if you are looking for an affordable low priced blade. Here's a good link:

http://www.askthemeatman.com/cutlery.htm

[Gooner-que]

I have a Rada chef knife and tomato knife, they are plenty sharp and when I dinged the edge of the chef knife I sent it back and they replaced it for free. For the price you can't beat a product made in the USA with a lifetime warenty.

[jholmgren]

I'm very fond of my Henckels Pro S chef's knife. I love the balance and weight. I use a steel on it every time I use it, only hand-wash it and I send it out 1-2x per year to be sharpened. I've had it for about 15 years, use it almost daily and while the label and "branding" has worn off, it shows no other signs of wear. Not the cheapest, but it was worth the investment.

Jim

[Breadhead]

I have a full set of Henckles including the steak knives. They are nice knives when they are sharp.

But... A couple of months ago I was at Costco and saw this set of knives for $20. I use them more than my Henckels now because they are light, well shaped and every bit as sharp as the Henckels.

$20 is less than what it costs me to get the Henckels sharpened. I'm all in on these knives! I don't know how long they will hold the sharp edge but for $20 who cares.👍

[fzxdoc]

I'll have to check out that Rapala knife. I definitely need something before I do my next brisket. I don't think I have the patience to sharpen the knife edges all the time. Does that electric sharpener work well?

I love my Victorinox chef's knife and my Rapala boning knife. I use an amazing and amazingly inexpensive knife sharpener originally recommended by Cook's Illustrated:

AccuSharp Knife Sharpener

It even works on serrated knives. It's amazing! I also have the AccuSharp scissors sharpener which is worth its weight in gold as well.

Kathryn

[JohnF]

That is the only sharpener I have ever had any luck with, it just works!

[Clarkgriswald]

Lots of great suggestions. Thanks for everyone's input I have lots to look at.

[ribeyeguy]

Ever watch the knife show that's on at 2 am on the weekends? You can get about a thousand Frost Cutlery knives for 20 bucks. They're great for about 2 uses and then they're done. I'm guessing that in my garage I have somewhere around a million of their knives, bought when I was a younger and much simpler person.

Stay away from knives like those and spend your money on a quality set, just make sure you care for them properly!

[Breadhead]

I've had my cheapie knives for a couple of months and use them daily. They're still as sharp today as when I took them out of the box.👌

[Dr ROK]

i don't have any experience with this company, but it does look like a very good knife for the money! Kenji even calls it the Holy Grail of inexpensive knives.

http://www.misen.co

[Clarkgriswald]

Thanks for the link, I just ordered one.

[Dr ROK]

Clarkgriswald, from the description, I don't think you'll be sorry. If I didn't already have plenty of knives I'd be ordering one too. Let me know what you think!