The kitchen knives you use on a daily basis either in a professional culinary environment or in your home kitchen can be one of two basic types, Western European kitchen knives

If you’re looking at this, you’re probably familiar with the Forschner/Victorinox/Fibrox chef’s knife. It seems this style of knife has become quite popular since Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen gave it a glowing review.

The gist of their review is that they’re pretty rigid, hold a good edge, comfortable, doesn’t slip when wet, low-maintenance, and most of all, cheap!

With increasing demand, comes increasing price. The Fibrox costs more than some of my nice forged carbon-steel designer knives!

This MIU 10″ chef’s knife is a near clone of the Fibrox. It has the same antimicrobial polymer handle. Yes it feels cheap compared to wood, but so does the Fibrox which costs more than twice this price. More importantly, its ergonomic and won’t slip from your hand even when wet. Notice the ergonomic shape and how the base of the grip hooks inwards. Plastic aside, this is a very comfortable and practical handle.

The blade is stamped high carbon stainless steel. It holds an edge very well. I use this knife every day. So much so, it stays out on the counter 24/7. (no children or pets in the house) Even after 5 months of extensive use, it only needs an occasional hit with the honing steel to get right back to razor-sharp.

Stamped is generally considered inferior to forged because it flexes more, but stamped is just fine for the home kitchen. In fact, a little flex in the blade is great when you’re filleting meat/fish.

Bottom Line: This is every bit as good as a Fibrox. 4 stars because it’s not the very best I’ve ever used, but it works well. I use it more than my so-called “nicer” knives. And they’re cheap to boot.Get more detail about MIU France 10-Inch High Carbon Stainless-Steel Stamped Chef Knife.

User Reviews Send this to a friendWüsthof Gourmet 14-Piece Deluxe Knife Block Set   Product Description The Wusthof Gourmet 14piece block set includes the 2.75″ straight parer for your for exact straight edge cutting of doughs and pastrys. The 3inch parer is a must have knife for all you peeling and paring of fruits and vegatables. The 4.5″ utility is useful for the small slicing jobs on fruits and vegitables. The 8inch Bread knife will handle the crusty loaves of bread and the the 8″ cooks is a must for all your chopping and dicing needs. The set also includes the come apart kitchen shear, 9 steel and a 17 slot block. In addition this set has 6 steak knives. Typical stamped knives are punched out like a cookie cutter. Wusthof Gourmet knives are Laser Cut. This intricate manufacturing process is superior to other “cookie cutter” methods as it is more precise and leaves the knives with less distortion. The Gourmet knives use the same steel that is used in our other more expensive knives. Wusthof uses a special blend of German steel through out the whole length of the knife. The ingredients of this steel are proudly etched on each blade. Wusthof not only uses the best materials to make a fine knife, but it is also crucial that each blade is precisely tempered. This tempering allows the knife to hold its edge for an extremely long time, yet can be maintained in your home kitchen with out the need to be sent away for maintenance. Located in “The Cutlery Capital of the World”, Solingen Germany, the Wusthof factory history goes back as far as 1814 when the company was listed with the Duchy of Berg. To this day, the company remains family owned. Each step is performed to exacting standards by skilled German workers aided by the most modern, computer guided equipment. It is this balance of German technology and old world hand craftsmanship that is the secret of how each WÜSTHOF knife is created. Known the world-over for it’s unique and uncompromising quality, Product Details

• Includes straight edge paring knife, paring knife, utility knife, bread knife
• Also includes cook’s knife, sharpening steel, come-apart kitchen shears, six steak knives, 17-slot beechwood block
• Stamped laser cut blade from high carbon stain-resistant steel sharpens easily; precisely tempered to hold its edge
• Laser tested for cutting angle consistency and sharpness; synthetic handles are compression riveted to the full tang of the blade
• Hand washing recommended; lifetime warranty; made in Germany

Video Reviews No video reviews found for this product. Customer Reviews Review Date: December 9, 2008Reviewer: Kratze, Jacksonville, FlGeneral thoughts: Decent set, Chef and Bread knives stand out. Stamped, not forged. Handles have a slighly cheap appearance. Scissors can be easily taken apart to be washed. Set has all the knives most people will need. If you are used to el-cheapo $25 knife sets, such as I was, these are a major upgrade and will probably keep most amateur chefs perfectly happy. But – not as good as the Classic series.

I went into a local store to buy a Classic set, and they were out. The salesperson pressured me to purchase this instead, and when I got home I decided I really wanted the Classics. I have decided to return these and upgrade even further (Classics cost around TWICE as much for a comparable set incl. steak knives).

However, despite the slightly cheap-looking handles, they appear to be perfectly decent kitchen knives. I didn’t cut anything with them, but I did set them up on my counter, tested each one for balance, and ran my finger over the edges.

They look pretty good overall, although the tang only goes halfway through the knife, and it is even shorter on the two small paring knives (you can see where it stops about mid-handle). And the handle design gave them a bit of a cheap appearance. The block was solid.

I am not sure that I can comment on sharpness. I regret that I did not cut anything with them. The serrated Bread Knife was the only one that felt like it could cut me easily when I ran my finger down the blade. Some of them (particularly the steak knives) didn’t feel very sharp, but that might not mean anything.

The Bread Knife and Chef’s Knife were well balanced. The rest of the knives were handle-heavy, including the steak knives.

Bottom Line: Get a Classic (or Grand Prix) set if they are in your budget, but if they are not, this seems like a perfectly decent set. Wusthof is known for quality, so these would probably hold up well over the years.

Buy Now

Tags: 14piece, block, Deluxe, Gourmet, Knife, wüsthof

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at 6:16 pm and is filed under Kitchen & Dining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Wüsthof Classic 26-Piece Mega Block Knife Set with Block

Welcome to the premium knife world! Wustof is world renowned for their high quality knives, and this set definitely lives up to that reputation! Are you a professional chef? Do you like to pretend to be a professional chef in your home kitchen? Do you have money to burn? This is probably the knife set for you!

I was pretty excited to get this set in the mail, this is the sort of day that us cooking nerds drool over. If you haven’t heard of Wustof before, you’ve probably heard of Gordon Ramsey or Emeril Lagasse – both of these celebrity chefs fully support Wustof knives. Consumer Reports rated these knives the very best knives available in 2005. The Wustof family has been making knives since the 1800’s and their company is still family owned and operated. What does this all mean? It means that along with their high price tag, these knives are super high quality.

The Wüsthof Classic 26-Piece Mega Block Knife Set with Block

Electric Knife Sharpener has changed the style in sharpening knives the world over. They can be used everywhere, from kitchen to fishing boats and all the way to the butchers’ table. This new tool has made a huge impact in the area of sharpening knives. It is true that knife sharpening has never been easier with the coming of the electric knife sharpener. The task of knife sharpening in the new millennium has become such a joy. These wonderful tools come in all sizes and can handle just about any kind of sharpening job one can imagine. They are pocket friendly, easy to manage as well as portable.

All the Electric Knife Sharpeners in the market are power driven, meaning it does not require a lot of effort or even breaking a sweat in order to use them. They are made for use in the home kitchen as well as for professional chefs in the cooking industry. Most of them have diamond impregnated cutting surfaces that allow them to grind steel and knife-edges very fast and smoothly, without leaving the splints or metal dust around. They are durable and keep their look in the kitchen as most of them are made of a bone-type material, making them appear colorful and attractive.

People who have been using the manual or non-electric methods of sharpening can tell the difference immediately once they get the taste of these beauties -they are so good to handle and easy to use. More and more people are recommending them to their friends and they act as a great presents too. The electric knife sharpener has all your required sharpening features presented to you in one compact and easy to use appliance. If you thought the knife couldn’t get sharper as when it first came out from the factory, you’re wrong. With the Pro-sharpening station, it is now possible to get an even sharper edge on your knife with no effort at all.

Electric Knife Sharpener machines sharpen your knife in no time at all. Some even have three stages for customized sharpness for your knives. The first stage is 100% diamond abrasives made for sharpening the edges of your knife. The second stage is a highly hardened miniature steel that gives a shaving sharp edge to your knife, scissors or whatever else you need sharpening. It has ultra-sharp microscopic teeth, which can best grip the edge of the knife during sharpening. If you are raising your eyebrows in disbelief, wait until you get to know what stage three can do. This is a revolutionary way of handling sharpening; its flexible stropping disk can polish the edge of your knife to hair-splitting sharpness.

Most are designed to meet the needs of professional kitchens where top professional chefs know what is valuable for their work. They simply pick the best and they have found their match in electric knife sharpeners. The cool-operating diamond surface protects the cutting edge of professional knives. The sharpening module in most of these machines is detachable for easy washing under the sink as well as for machine washing.

This is a must have set for any up coming chef, good steel, good weight and balance, perfect for cutting and chopping. The Wusthof Gourmet 14piece block set includes the 2.75″ straight parer for your for exact straight edge cutting of doughs and pastrys. The 3inch parer is a must have knife for all you peeling and paring of fruits and vegatables. The 4.5″ utility is useful for the small slicing jobs on fruits and vegitables. The 8inch Bread knife will handle the crusty loaves of bread and the the 8″ cooks is a must for all your chopping and dicing needs. The set also includes the come apart kitchen shear, 9 steel and a 17 slot block. In addition this set has 6 steak knives. Typical stamped knives are punched out like a cookie cutter. Wusthof Gourmet knives are Laser Cut. This intricate manufacturing process is superior to other “cookie cutter” methods as it is more precise and leaves the knives with less distortion. The Gourmet knives use the same steel that is used in our other more expensive knives. Wusthof uses a special blend of German steel through out the whole length of the knife. The ingredients of this steel are proudly etched on each blade. Wusthof not only uses the best materials to make a fine knife, but it is also crucial that each blade is precisely tempered. This tempering allows the knife to hold its edge for an extremely long time, yet can be maintained in your home kitchen with out the need to be sent away for maintenance. Located in “The Cutlery Capital of the World”, Solingen Germany, the Wusthof factory history goes back as far as 1814 when the company was listed with the Duchy of Berg. To this day, the company remains family owned. Each step is performed to exacting standards by skilled German workers aided by the most modern, computer guided equipment. It is this balance of German technology and old world hand craftsmanship that is the secret of how each WÜSTHOF knife is created. Known the world-over for it’s unique and uncompromising quality,. continue reading

Tags: 14Piece, Block, Deluxe, Gourmet, knife, Wüsthof

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 5:06 am and is filed under Contents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.