Chicago Cutlery Reviews

Very pleased with these knives, they are very sharp. Perfect for those steaks coming off the grill!

I have had these knives for 24 years (wedding gift), we had six but over the years have lost them along the way. I still reach for this knife first, sadly we are down to only one but will be buying more soon. I love this knife because it is NOT serrated. Never had to have them sharpened either. If you are considering buying them DO IT. You won't regret it.

I would recommend this knife to everyone - the occasional cook to the top chef. It keeps a sharp edge, is very balanced, is a handy size and useful. I am always reaching for it.

This knife chops perfectly every time I use it. It does not ding easy, and is strong enough to cut everything. Very very easy to sharpen. Excellent knife for the money.

I've had mine for a while and use them frequently in the kitchen. Handles heavy work such as cutting up raw chickens. Is generally comforable to use. Separate pieces and throw them in the dishwasher to clean. The reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that the bottle opener and screwdriver are an unneeded add on, that sometimes get in the way.

Especially for people who cook alot (live to eat, rather than eat to live), these scissors are a fantastic gift. I have given at least a dozen pairs as wedding or house-warming gifts. I have had mine for eight years & they are still razor-sharp. I reach for them a dozen times each day. These would be a welcome gift for a valued staff member or an appreciated teacher, as the holidays approach. I couldn't live without mine.

These scissors are easy to clean. We have used them as a screwdriver, a bottle opener, wire cutters, and of course scissors. I highly recommend a pair of utility scissors for any kitchen. These come apart for easy cleaning, this is a great feature because it gives you an opportunity to dry the scissors very well and eliminate any bacteria growth or rusting.

I've had my set for almost ten years; they're nice (better than Farberware "never-sharpen" serrated) but not the best. They're working fine for me now, but when it comes time to replace them, I'll go with a Global.
I also prefer the wood to the plastic handles-- the plastic doesn't feel as good.
FWIW, I use the steel every time, and have had them professionally sharpened once, after about 6 years. And of course, they don't go in the dishwasher.

These knives are made the way I wish all of my knives had always been made. They require the use of steel and occassional sharpening and oiling. Relatively speaking, they're high maintenance knives ... yet I have tried many knives that are far more expensive and haven't found one that matches the cutting ease nor good balance. The maintenance is the price you pay to have knives that are of such high quality, and I wouldn't take them any other way. While the blade will not hold an edge as long as some others, when well taken care of it will outlast the others and the edge will be sharper than all others out there, a result of their using high carbon non-stainless steel, a metal not used in virtually any other knives, and certainly none of this quality.

I give these knives 5 stars not because they are the best knives on the market, but rather that they are probably the best knives in their price range. I have had my set for about 4 years and, while someday I will probably upgrade, they have never let me down. I use a steel every time and wash by hand. As the handles are wood, I oil them occasionally as well.

These knives are not the best that money can buy, if you are looking for that prestige, there are better choices. However, they are solid knives, even for someone like myself who uses them constantly, that will hold up and perform very well for a very reasonable price.

If you are purchasing these knives with this understanding, you will not be disappointed.

This set of knives feels good in the hand. nice weight, good looks, but sadly the blades went dull really fast.

I guess for the price point, they are a good deal. We'll see if some professional sharpening will get them to hold an edge.

Being a student, I can't afford the knife set I really want, but this one will do until I graduate. The knives aren't very heavy due to their plastic handles, yet they are still fairly well balanced. They did need to be sharpened out of the box, but once that was done they cut everything from a very delicate bread to bagles to tomatoes to meat very well. Other knife sets in this price range tend to be "eversharp" (where they have that microserration so you can't use a steel to sharpen them), and this set is far better. I'm giving this set 5 stars not because I think these are the best knives I could buy, but because they are a very good set for very lilttle money.

For the $100, you could buy a single Wusthof grand prix chefs knife. Ask yourself, how many hours a day will you be using your knives? These knives are well made, sharp, and hold their edge well. They look very similar to those expensive knives that so few of us can afford. The balance is not as good as the pricey competition, but at one third to one half the price this set does admirably. They are a bit heavy, as are most knives in this price range, but they feel solid in the hand. Steak knives are wonderful and go well with my stainless flatwear. I am a casual cook and sometimes gourmet who admits these knives are a lot of bang for the buck.

I recently purchased this set after spending several weeks trying to decide which set was right for me. Not a chef, just a regular guy who likes to cook. I looked at several competators and decided that, for the price, this set was the best one out there. I've had the opportunity to use most of the knives at this point and I find that they keep their edge very well and are extraordinarily easy to clean up. They have a nice heft to them and the handles seem to be just the right size. The only drawback that I see is that I would have preferred an 8" chefs knife instead of the 6" that comes with the set. Overall excellent for the price and an absolutely sufficient set for novice.

This was my first set of "nice" knives. I am SO disappointed ! Right away they began to rust and are continuing to do so, more and more. Even my cheap knives from Target don't rust. The positive comment I have about them is their sharpness is awesome. I wish I had investigated the quality before I bought these. I just assumed any Chicago Cutlery product would be great since the name is supposed to mean quality. Wish I had saved for something of better quality ....

We got these knives as a gift about 6 months ago. They look nice and they are sharp and do cut well. The knives rust very easily though, cheap steel I guess. They are also not well balanced in my hand. The handles are hollow not solid so the blade is heavier than the handle. I don't think these will last very long.

I would not have purchased these on my own, I would have bought better knives that would last me longer. For the price they are fine but you can do much better if you spend more. I would rather have 3-4 really good knives than a bunch of OK knives.

I have recived serveral comments on how good these knifes look. I am in fact very pleased with the way they look, but even more important is how well they perform. They cut wonderfully (for me at least, but I'm used to cheapy knifes). Yes they will in fact rust, although I haven't had this problem with my set (had them for about four months now) because I only handwash them and dry them immediately. One steak knife found it's way into the dishwasher and sure enough it came out with a little rust spot, this was easily removed with a little steel wool. You just have to weight the benefits of the all metal knifes to those that are wood handled or plastic.

There are many things in our kitchen upon which we've come to depend, and this Chicago Cutlery knife set is right at the top of that list.

First of all, it comes with a handsome and handy wood block for easy knife storage. We keep it right by our chopping block.

The knives, with Bakelite handles, are well balanced and well made with stainless steel rivets holding the knives to their handles.

Perhaps the most used are the parer and the utility knife. The sizes of both are easily manageable, and they are comfortable to hold for long periods of use.

These are cutting edge items at a reasonable price.

Having once worked for the Vector/Cutco ripoff, I know a thing or two about knives. I've held every brand of high quality cutlery in my hands (Henkels, Sabatier, Wusthof, Cutco) and to tell you the truth, this French Chef's knife has the best balance of all of them.

Definately get the Insignia line instead of Walnut. Even if you like the look better, wood handles go bad, absorb bacteria, and aren't dishwasher safe.

Some points to consider before buying these knives: though the handle is not ergonomically fitted to your hand, the blanance is exquisite, so there isn't much of a concern there. The knives all have straight edges, which means that you will have to sharpen them. This isn't such a big deal, since you have to sharpen ANY knives. I also noticed that a carving knife & fork are not included. No big deal there either, since you'll use those maybe twice a year, tops.

Anyway, this is a REALLY nice set of knives, espeically for this price.

I have this set and I like it quite a bit. I prefer the bakelite handle with rivets to any other design (wood changes over time, regular plastic doesnt feel nearly as nice, and I don't care for the look of stainless handles).

I did not have a problem with cracked handles. I assume they will stay that way (I don't see how they could crack through normal use, since the blade is a full hilt design).

All these knives are straight edge (except the bread knife) with forged blades (better than stamped blades).

All in all a good set for people who don't want to spend lots of money on knives (like me).