What kind of knives do y’all use.

[MBMorgan]

I mainly use Wusthof Classic knives (* = primary blades that I couldn't live without):
10" Chef's knife*
5" boning knife*
3" paring knife*
8" serrated (normally for bread)
8" long utility/short slicer
12" long slicer

I also have a couple of big Dalstrong blades that spend most of their time in their respective cases ... but when needed, both have been extremely useful:
A fairly normal 9" cleaver and a long 12" chef-cleaver hybrid

There's also an old, flexible 8.5" Buck Model 127 fillet knife that I carried for years in Alaska for salmon. Today it still gets used on occasion.

All are kept razor sharp with frequent touch-ups with a ceramic hone and a thorough sharpening when needed with an EdgePro Apex 4 setup like the one posted by ecowper above.

[Richard Chrz]

I love a 10 inch chef knife. It’s my go to.

[DavidNorcross]

I use my Old Hickory daily. They are out of business but if I see any around I will buy them. They also have a sentimental value. I have a slicer that I received as a secret Santa gift that I love.

As an aside howtobbqright.com has some branded knives that are dexter Russel that look great. Mora knives while used for work are also great for cooking. Inexpensive, Swedish and very high quality.

[Donw]

I know the reputation of the various knife manufacturers so I go shopping at the church and thrift stores and look through the donated knives for the good ones. Mom may have known her knives but the kids just want to clear out the kitchen so they donate them. Usually around a dollar a knife even for top end brands. My knives in the knife blocks don’t match but they are all really good knives.

[Richard Chrz]

Yeah, there is part of me that needs to start finding decent, put a new edge on them, and sell them.

[jfmorris]

I have a random mix. The only that cost any money to speak of was my Victorinox granton blade slicer. The rest - a mix of Oxo, a Victorinox santoku that I use for slicing and chopping, Victorinox slicer and bread knives, and then my wife has a random Cutco knife that she loves (one of their trimmer knives).

The trick for me is using my Worksharp sharpener on them all once or twice a year, and a steel honer in between. The Worksharp I have is manual, but lets me easily go 15, 17.5, 20, 22.5 and 25 degrees and put a nice edge on things. I've sent the Cutco back to the factory a time or two for free resharpening as well.

[Richard Chrz]

I was gifted a Ken Onion Work Sharp electric, it’s a great little sharpener for lot’s of things, really decent for maintaining a proper edge, and it is fantastic with the super high polish, it can finish up a beautiful blade far better than I can with a super fine whet stone, but to me manual sharpening is my preferred way of taking old edges off, and putting on a new one.

[BKYDBBQ]

I have a basic set of Henckels knives that I got for Christmas years ago, along with some Old Hickory knives, several rapala filet knives, and a bunch of other miscellaneous knives...

Past Pitmaster Club Secret Santa's have hooked me up with a Dalstrong Chef;s Knife, a Dexter Brisket Slicer and a Cutlexe Brisket Slicer...

I got a Shun Chef's knife and a filet knife (not Shun) from a family friend that buys the blades and makes custom hand grips for them.

All of them need to be sharpened though...maybe not the brisket slicers (they get more use slicing pork belly than they do brisket).

[TripleB]

I don’t have any real expensive knives, nor part of a set or block. My knives are rather random and generally have sentimental value.

I have a stamped paring knife that my mother used and got back when supermarkets gave out promotional knives, plates, bowels, etc., when you purchased a certain dollar amount of groceries. It’s close to 60 years old.

I have a small Henckel carving knife and fork, with beautiful cherry handles, I was given for graduating college. That’s close to 40 years now.

A Wusthof chefs knife. My first knife. Also close to 50 years old.

A Victorinox chefs knife (my second) that I use the most. And a Victorinox bread knife.

A Dalstong parring knife.

A Rapella filet knife.

A Cutco all purpose, flat knife for Sammy’s. Probably close to 30 years old.

An inexpensive breaking knife.

A Gunter Wilhelm boning knife. Beautiful knife.

And a steel to keep them honed. I have some inexpensive knife sharpeners.

[ecowper]

Love that you have a 50 year Wusthof!

[MBMorgan]

Those Wusthof blades last forever. Mine date back to the mid/late 70’s.

[ecowper]

MBMorgan mine are about 12 or 13 years old now and are in great shape. Plan to have them for a lifetime and then gift them to Karyn

[BBQnBEER]

I'm Benchmade all the way. The Meater is my go-to.
Their life sharp warranty is fantastic as well as their overall customer service.

[Huskee]

I watched a video from Project Farm on YouTube where he tested a few different price tiers of knives, cheap to pricey, and one brand won out, Wizeka. Their price however is mid-range ($96) in the spectrum of what he tested. So I bought them. Very happy with them so far. I am in the camp of not spending high dollars on knives because nowadays lots of inexpensive things are very adequate, and like ComfortablyNumb brought out, just sharpen them with a good sharpener and get more good life out of what you buy. I also have some scattered single knives, all relatively cheap.

In case anyone cares here's the knife video I referenced. His channel is great, he tests lots of things in some crazy and some brilliant ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcLD4SKY9Js

[Skip]

My best knives are some Wusthof Knives that I purchase separately rather than in a full set. We also have some Cutco knives that we bought from Family and Friends kids who were selling them. I've been sharpening with some stones that work pretty well.

[Mosca]

Just talking chef’s knives, I use a mix of German, Japanese, and American knives, all either low priced or entry level priced. Some I bought new, some used. I like all of them, for different reasons.

RIGHT NOW, my favorite, and the one I’ve been using steadily for almost a year, is my Global chef’s knife. I just like it. People who don’t like Global knives most frequently complain about the handles being uncomfortable, not about the knife being a bad knife. I like the way the handle feels. The only thing I don’t like about the Globals (I have three, the other two being a santoku and a nigiri) is that they are a son of a gun to sharpen. They hold an edge forever, but when they need sharpened, the draw-through doesn’t hack it. (Regarding the santoku and nigiri: I choose the santoku about 20% of the time, and the nigiri is sheathed, and in a drawer. I never use it.)

SECOND choice is the Zwilling. I got it used at an estate sale for around $10! Every time I use it, I admire its easiness and functionality. It’s a damn good knife. What I don’t like about it is that it requires frequent sharpening, once every few months. I can use the draw-through on it, but that is temporary. Dragging out the belt sharpener is a pain in the ass, so I use the Zwilling until it needs to be sharpened, then put it away until the Globals need to be sharpened, then do them all at once.

THIRD, but a really good recommendation, are the cheap stamped knives from Sam’s Club, the Member’s Mark brand. Those bastards are SHARP AS HELL right out of the blister pack. Don’t believe me? Drop $17 on a twin pack of 8” and 10” chef’s knives. I have half a dozen of these in various styles; a bbq class I take gives them out with enrollment. They are literally as sharp as a new safety razor blade. Sharp as a new X-Acto knife. Sharper, maybe. The downside is that the knives are light and need frequent sharpening, and they’ll never again be as sharp as they are right out of the package. But hell, you could buy 20 of them for the price of an entry level Global/Zwilling/Wusthof etc..

I don’t have any Victorinox, Mercer, etc. I had a Victorinox, but I didn’t use it because I have the other knives and I like them better. When I take cooking classes at LCCC, we use Mercers, and they’re really good basic tools.

I do have one other knife, but I haven’t used it yet. Being the season ‘n all, I’m waiting to put it to work.

[Johnny Booth]

I discovered those Members Mark knives as well. The price cannot be beat. I have nicer knives, but these have been used more, and they can still get very sharp.

My 8” Chef was a giveaway. - Greater Goods Nourish, Japanese Damascus. I just like it. Just saw it on Amazon for $30. 😂

[ecowper]

Zwilling is like Henckels or Wusthof .... great blades, great handles, softer steel .... pretty much any knife from Solingen

[Gusto]

I have a 40 year old set of Chicago Cutlery that is very easy to keep sharp and works well as well as various Victorinox, Dexter, Wustof, Zwilling, etc. My main daily driver though and the one that would stay if I could only have one is a MAC Professional 8" Chef's knife.