Knife Love The best Chefs Knives

Photo by Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

I’ve had several friends and clients ask me for a good knife recommendation, as a gift for their spouse, or for themselves! Most have never understood the difference between a 10$ knife and a chef’s knife worth a few hundred dollars. Or why chef’s are so meticulous with their knives. It comes down to quality experience. And while you may not work as a professional cook, it I believe a good knife. Just one good knife, can take your cooking further.

Knife 101

Fear not the sharp knife! You’re more likely get cut with a dull knife than with a sharp one. And the cut might be nastier too. Dull knives don’t penetrate as easily, forcing you to apply more pressure to into the product. Which can lead to slipping, and cutting!

Sharp knives cut clean and fast. Giving more even cuts without bruising the ingredients. Try cutting a tomato with a dull knife and you’ll know what I mean. The dull knife wont cut through the tomato skin, crushing the whole thing. An old culinary test was to cut the tomato into slices to check for knife sharpness- if you had trouble cutting it, the knife edge needed work.

These are a few of the knives I’ve handled through my career and recommend based on your needs. They both maintain their sharpness, are easy to upkeep, and are professional grade to withstand the test of time.

Plus! They wont break the bank! They generally range between $90- $150 which is very accessible for a good knife that can last you a lifetime with proper care. This year I celebrate 11 years of cooking professionally, and I still cook with the same knives I got in culinary school. Good knives can last you a lifetime! Ironically, I’ve seen a trend in friends who buy cheap knives, and have to replace them in a few years, overall, spending more money than if they bought a solid knife one time.

To know a good knife, you need to know the anatomy of a knife, and I’m including this handy-dandy diagram to show:

I’ll go more into depth about chef knives in a later post. Including knife skills and hacks. Including the different designs and metals used in their production. Aaaaand what they are used for! (No more bread knives for tomato cutting people!)

The Recommendations

Shun DM0706 Classic 8-Inch Chef’s Knife

Shun is the Rolls Royce of the knife world! Its high maintenance, high performance that you would expect from Japanese smiths that started making knives when katanas were outlawed in Japan. See the ripples? Those are different layers of steel that were folded together during the forging- making it very very strong and sharp. The drawback, these knives tend to chip or crack when cutting very hard foods- like butternut squash or bones. So avoid those to keep your knife sharp.

Messermeister Meridian Elite Chef’s Knife, 8-Inch

I own this knife since culinary school! In fact, I own the whole set! It’s been a solid knife that keeps it’s edge well and is balanced for good measure. A comfortable grip, the blade is made from Chromium Vanadium, which is that beautiful blend of sturdiness, sharpness, and rust prevention. It’s my favorite set.

Wusthof Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife

Wusthof has history. German engineering and precision history. They’ve been around since 1814 and are run by the 7th generation members of the Wusthof family. These knives are full tang and strengthened with the same Chromium Vanadium that Messermeister blades use. Wusthof has a series of blade lines so you have plenty to choose from should you want full sets instead of individual knives.

MAC MTH-80 Professional Series 8-inch Chef’s Knife with Dimples

This Japanese style knife is stamped instead of forged. Stamped means that its cut from a single sheet of metal instead of being forged. It’s a high carbon blade that does cut through butternut squash and other hard vegetables.

Global G-2 – 8 inch, 20cm Chef’s Knife

It’s all metal and design forward. Just look at it! The handle is grooved for gripping performance and the blade is balanced for comfort. Big caveat though, make sure your hands aren’t greasy when picking up this knife.

Knife Maintenance

No knife, no matter how good it is, stays sharp by itself. The feathers in the blade get bent, the edge gets dull. And you need other tools to keep it sharp and maintain the edge through the life of the knife.

Cue the steel and whetstone! Quick note on them. Steel is used for honing the blade. Returning it to sharpness when you’re using it.

Wiitek Deluex 12inch Diamond Sharpening Honing Steel

Over time, the knife will lose its edge, and the steel will not be able restore it, that’s when the whetstone comes in. The whetstone will return the sharpness to the edge by grinding away micro chips in the edge and refining the blade to a 15 degree edge. Roughly speaking it scrapes away old metal and gives an even edge line to the blade.

KING KW65 1000/6000 Grit Combination Whetstone with Plastic Base

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase using them. I personally use all of the products listed and recommend them because I’ve found them helpful and reliable. Thank you for supporting my blog, and please let me know if you have any questions about anything I’ve included!

Photo by Erica Leong on Unsplash

Maury

A little about me

I’m a chef and a former psychologist. I spent years studying how we experience food to make the best eating experiences possible- and I show you how to eat well on this site. I host secret popups in Miami, FL teaching people how to approach good food that’s never been done before.

Did you make a recipe? Tag @CasaLagoTastingRoom on Instagram! I wanna see it!

Comments

Christina Petty says
September 20, 2017 at 12:08 am

Love the knife education. Thank you for sharing.

- Maury says
  September 20, 2017 at 1:22 pm
  
  So glad you like it! :-):-)
  
Allan James says
October 8, 2017 at 4:45 am

Thanks a lot for sharing such a nice show up of the best chefs knives. No doubt! I am so much impressed by your knives. keep posting such kind of information on your page. You’ve performed an incredible job. I will certainly dig it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
Thanks again.

- Maury says
  October 10, 2017 at 4:29 pm
  
  Thanks Allan! Very kind of you to say!