I saw these in the local costco for $79.97. I have never heard of this brand, but they are endorsed by Thomas Keller, and I can't imagine he would put his name on a crap product. Curious about your thoughts.
always check the low reviews. Multiple people saying the edge chipped or folded and a few saying the carving knife bent after limited uses. Of course those folks could have been abusing the knives. Costco has a good return policy, so for the price I'd give it a shot anyway if the policy applied to these.
Bottom line? They're crap. Also, the knife shapes are... crap. But aside from that...
Knives are one of those things that I think you should a) buy good quality stuff and b) avoid sets. (A) because it's cheaper in t he long run to get something good than to cycle through a lot of, uh, crap and because they're a basic tool not a frill. You'll use knives regularly and for a long time. (b) because each person is a little different and needs different knives for how we cook.
PS: By 'good quality stuff' I don't mean necessarily high priced stuff. You can find good quality knives for prices that are within the range of most folks. If you are on a budget, I'd haunt garage and estate sales and look for older but salvageable good quality knives. This is a good basic intro to how to reclaim those https://www.instructables.com/id/Res...itchen-Knives/
Last edited by rickgregory; August 8, 2020, 12:19 PM.
Seeing as the first thing mentioned is the handy carry/travel case I’d be passing.
What do I know about knives but a set for $80, it’s just not there for me.
Politely it smells of mass produced junk out of China and I’ll leave it at that.
You get what you pay for (and mind you I work for Costco)...so, no...just don't. Please. Really. Seriously.
Want a cheap (but REALLY good) knife set? Check out chefknivestogo.com and you can get a three piece kit and be blown away by way a good knife is...Just respect the edges and all will go swimmingly ðŸ¤
Cooking gadgets
Weber Summit Charcoal Grill Center
Weber Summit Platinum D6
Blue Rhino Razor
Dyna-Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber
Camp Chef Somerset IV along with their Artisan Pizza Oven 90
Anova WiFi
Thermometers
Thermapen Mk4 - ThermaQ High Temp Kit - ThermaQ Meathead Kit - ThermaQ WiFi - ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S - ThermoWorks Signals & Billows - ThermoPop -ThermoWorks ProNeedle - ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio x2 - and a Christopher Kimball timer - NO, I do not work for ThermoWorks...I just like their products.
Other useful bits...
KitchenAid 7-qt Pro Line stand mixer
A Black & Decker food processor that I can't seem to murder
A couple of immersion blenders, one a "consumer" model & the other a "high end" Italian thing. Yes, the Italian one is a bit better, but only marginally
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8-qt + accessories like egg-bite & egg holders
All-Clad pots & pans, along with some cast iron...everything from 7" Skookie pans to 8.5qt Dutch ovens
Weber GBS griddle, pizza stone, and wok
Knives range from Mercer to F. Dick to "You spent how much for one knife? One knife?!" LOL
Kind of a strange set...
What appears to be a slicer (size not indicated), a boning knife (useful, but is it stiff or flexible?), a "butcher" style (which I have almost zero use for, and I have a lot of knives), what looks to be a paring knife of some sort, and what can only be described as something nakiri-ish. And of course a fork. Personally, I’d pass.
I’m with rickgregory in that I’m not a fan of sets in general. I think money could be better spent on a decent chef knife, a utility knife, and a paring knife. Those can handle darn near everything. After using those for a time...other shapes, sizes, handles, yada yada yada, will make more sense...and you’ll know pretty much what you’re looking for. And why.
And as cool as $300 knives are...it’s seriously not necessary to go crazy when shopping for the basics.
Examples: A top rated Victorinox Fibrox chef’s knife is only $33-34. Yes, it’s stamped rather than forged...but it always gets high marks from America’s Test Kitchen. Mercer makes a fairly industrial 8†than can be picked up for 12 bucks. O_o And a forged Henckels Classic can be had for about $50.
Paring & utility knives are almost always less than a chef’s knife...so putting together a functional set for under $100 is not all that difficult. Specialty and/or "boutique" knives can always be added to compliment a basic but functionally sound set.
klflowers I picked up one of those for a friend that I KNEW wouldn’t take care of a great knife. It does seem to hold its own and I sharpen it when I visit.
I also own a couple of those Mercer knives. They’re clearly made for industrial use because pretty they are not. LOL But I don’t care if a friend grabs it or when it ends up outside.
I'd argue that you can use an 8" chef's knife for virtually anything aside from in hand stuff (peeling things etc) where you'll want a paring knife. So, if you want, you can start there though a utility knife is really really handy.
I'd spend a little more if you can, but surfdog has good recs. I mean, you can go crazy with knives. I have a $170 210mm Wakui and in Japanese knife circles it's considered a starter. HOWEVER... if you're interesting in quality knives, these are awesome knives for the pricing and the pricing is really pretty good:
The gyuto are basically chef knives and just over $100. Paring knives around $30-50. The pettys are sold out (petty is the j-knife term for utility knives) but are $65 or so. These are all stainless steel and if you keep them sharp will be outstanding for years and years.
Last edited by rickgregory; August 8, 2020, 04:44 PM.
I have a few knife sets including some nice Damascus knives but the biggest bang for the buck set I have is Misen. I bought their chef's knife on Kickstarter and ended up buying the other knives over the last two years whenever they had a sale. I tend to use the Misen knives more than my other knives: they have a good balance and fit my hand just right. I haven't had to sharpen them yet, I just hone the edges every few months. You can buy a travel case if you need one on Amazon for pretty cheap. Just my $0.02 for what its worth.
All knives, from the cheap to the expensive, get dull with use. Where to make your investment is in a sharpening system. I have an Edge Pro. Wicked Edge is another, I am sure there are more. With that, you can get just about any knife and put a sharp edge on it. I look for carbon steel knives at second hand stores or on eBay. Most of mine are 'Old Hickory' that I got for a couple of bucks. In ten or fifteen minutes I have them razor sharp. They are not pretty, surely won't impress anyone, but they do what they need to do and will last until there isn't enough blade to thin and edge.
I agree. I bought a Worksharp sharpener a few months back, really brought my Old Hickory knives back to life as well as a bunch of other knives I got when mom passed away.
Equipment
Primo Oval xl
Slow n Sear (two)
Drip n Griddle
22" Weber Kettle
26" Weber Kettle one touch
Blackstone 36†Pro Series
Sous vide machine
Kitchen Aid
Meat grinder
sausage stuffer
5 Crock Pots Akootrimonts
Two chimneys (was 3 but rivets finally popped, down to 1)
cast iron pans,
Dutch ovens
Signals 4 probe, thermapens, chef alarms, Dots, thermapop and maverick T-732, RTC-600, pro needle and various pocket instareads. The help and preferences
1 extra fridge and a deep chest freezer in the garage
KBB
FOGO
A 9 year old princess foster child
Patience and old patio furniture
"Baby Girl" The cat
surfdogrickgregory
yeah I’m with 👆👆these guys. I beat the living crud out of mine. I have had terrible shoulder issues, recent shoulder surgery and elbow issues on the same right arm. So I have various needs at times
I predominately use Mac "Professional" line and Wustoff "Ikon" line. I love them both and they take beating. Gotta love a forged blade v stamped but like said above they all have their uses and fan clubs.
i have other 4-star, Shun, Kramer, Global etc.. I could probably dig I up a paring knife for you But new is fun.
for now it makes sense like said... get a few moderate blades and use them. Then maybe pay al little more and trade up when you know how you feel about them.
A knife is personal. All of mine are. (Not the cheaper ones) and I still need more. If you already know how you feel then make the leap on a singe new one like Rick said above. Those are some real nice ones for that money. Great blades.
Last edited by HouseHomey; August 9, 2020, 08:15 AM.
79.97 is the sale price, I bought the same set earlier this year. The knives are sharp, it comes with a nice carrying bag. I assumed they were good quality at a good price since Costco was selling them, but didn't really explore other options. I like them a lot.
Cooking gadgets
Weber Summit Charcoal Grill Center
Weber Summit Platinum D6
Blue Rhino Razor
Dyna-Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber
Camp Chef Somerset IV along with their Artisan Pizza Oven 90
Anova WiFi
Thermometers
Thermapen Mk4 - ThermaQ High Temp Kit - ThermaQ Meathead Kit - ThermaQ WiFi - ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S - ThermoWorks Signals & Billows - ThermoPop -ThermoWorks ProNeedle - ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio x2 - and a Christopher Kimball timer - NO, I do not work for ThermoWorks...I just like their products.
Other useful bits...
KitchenAid 7-qt Pro Line stand mixer
A Black & Decker food processor that I can't seem to murder
A couple of immersion blenders, one a "consumer" model & the other a "high end" Italian thing. Yes, the Italian one is a bit better, but only marginally
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8-qt + accessories like egg-bite & egg holders
All-Clad pots & pans, along with some cast iron...everything from 7" Skookie pans to 8.5qt Dutch ovens
Weber GBS griddle, pizza stone, and wok
Knives range from Mercer to F. Dick to "You spent how much for one knife? One knife?!" LOL
As some have pointed out...FEEL is also VERY important.
I have a STUNNING chef knife that I rarely use because while I like the handle, I don’t care for the blade shape. It’s a bit too straight for my liking.
Likewise, I had a Global for about three days. LOL When I discovered it, I thought it was the coolest thing ever...so a got one. Decided I didn’t like using it as much as like looking at it. I like the heft of my other chef knives...and that one is very light. OTOH, a friend loved it so Merry Xmas.
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