Cutlery Reviews

These are low-end Henckels, which is fine, if that's what you're after. But don't expect the top quality usually associated with the Henckels name.

This makes a very good starter set for me because I only needed to replace the 3 knives that I use everyday in my cutlery set. I am not a great chef but using these knives seemed to make me feel close to being one because of it's sharpness and smoothness. I believe in the saying "You get what you pay for". At first I thought these were a bit expensive for my simple lifestyle but once I've started using them, I felt good about cooking. Cutting carrots, slicing tomatoes and meat were a breeze, my wrist felt lighter. That's when I know I made the right choice.

Do I really need to give you reasons why you should buy J.Henckels knifes? The name says it all! Quality at an affordable price and a lifetime of joy, not to mention a great investment. This meat cleaver lives up to the J.Henckel reputation and I have found it to be extremely helpful in the kitchen. The cleaver is very well balanced and cuts with smooth and effortless precision. My mom keeps telling me to stop buying all these knifes and instead wait for my wedding day and register for a complete set. Well, at these prices I can't wait and I sure do not want to end up with anything less than J. Henckels. As for the wedding day, I told her not to hold her breath! My J. Henckels knifes are mine!

An excellent, heavy knife that cuts a whole chicken into parts in no time! The one you display now appears to have a shorter tang and different 3-hole pattern on the handle however.

Quality construction, thick blade is rigid, but does not slice as well as the Henckels and Wusthof.

of the many knives ive used in my years of cooking both profesionally and at home I've come to much prefer the Sabatier High carbon stainless knives for there balance and ability to hold and edge. These knive are truely for the person who conciders culinary preperation an art form

(ps.stay away from there made in china cheepies!!!)

the made in france one are worth ever penny (grand chefs)(au carbon)(provence)(traditional)

Joe Jazz

I was pleasently pleased with the sharpness and balance of these knives. I agree with the other reviewer, the point is too sharp and can cause the blade tip to bend without much effort. For the price I would highley recommend this item.

Although made in China, they still carry the Sabatier name and obviously maintain the reputation. While not the greatest knife on the planet (can never beat good German Steel), they are a fantastic knife at a phenomenal price. They are sharp enough out of the box to do the job, and hold their edge well. I have eaten at several steakhouses, and in some of them, I would have liked to see a knife of this quality.

They are well balanced, and require little effort to cut through a steak, or any other meat.

I would buy another set without question, especially with a deal like this.

My only complaint is that the serations on the tip of the knife cause it be "pointier" than necessary, and can easily be bent into a small "hook." This is a minor annoyance, and if you take care of them, and don't go stabbing things, you can avoid it.

Twenty bucks or so, maybe. I found this set to be very sharp, use after use, easy to handle and not too bad looking either. The handles tend to discolor temporarily if you put them in the dishwasher, so don't.

This knife set is perfect for a relatively novice cook such as myself. The last knife set I purchased retailed at over $100 and those knives pale in comparison to the quality of these fine blades. I'm not familiar with all of the details to look for when evaluating the quality of fine knives, but I find they work especially well as my "everyday" knives.

These are great knives. They look great, and cut just as good. The glass block in wonderful. The only reason I didn't give them 5 stars, was that the scissors advertised are not the ones that come with the set. The scissors you get are nice stong sissors, but the product description and picture describe them as having griping teeth, and a notch for bottle opening, they have neither. But this is still a great deal on a great set on knives.

I just received this set of knives. They look great with the glass block. I haven't used them enough, and not all the knives to tell how they are. But the chef's knife is great and felt good in my hand.
The only thing that I was not completely satisfy is that it supposes to come with a "tough pair of scissors with a notch for uncapping bottles and teeth between the handles for twisting off caps"(that's how Amazon described it.) But instead it came with just a regular scissors with no teeth, nor notch for opening bottles.
Not really a big deal. And it is still a nice pair of scissors. But just not as described.

There are really two main competitors in the high-end mainstream kitchen knife market: Henckels and Wusthof. Those who have used both usually have a preference. My preference (and therefore bias you should know about) is for the Wusthofs.

The Wusthof Grand Prix line is a more modern design than the Classic series, with a simple black handle. The balance and grip of these knives are as close to perfect as I have found. For those wondering what benefits a higher priced knife provides, one benefit is that the blade (or tang) is one piece all the way through the handle. This makes the blade much stronger, and less likely to snap.

This set includes an 8 inch chef's knife, a 3 ½ inch paring knife and a 6 inch sandwich knife.

The 8 inch chef's knife, is a great knife. Wusthof offers three sizes of chef's knives, 6, 8 and 10 inch. For most home cooks, I think the 8 inch knife is the best choice. The 6 inch is a bit small for bigger jobs, but the 10 inch is too big for most jobs. While the 8 inch isn't perfect for all uses, if you are only buying one size chef's knife (and most people only buy one), this is the one I would recommend.

As for the 3 ½ inch paring knife, this knife falls into the category of overkill for me. Most cooks will get by just fine with the 4 ½ inch utility knife. There is really no notable difference in size for the vast majority of applications between the 3 ½ inch paring knife and the 4 ½ inch utility knife. I prefer the 4 ½ inch utility knife, but the 3 ½ inch paring knife will do the trick.

I have found very few uses for the 6 inch sandwich knife. I prefer the larger size of the chef's knife or the smaller 4 ½ inch utility knife. This knife is just the wrong width and length for most tasks.

This set is a good deal; however, if compiling a set myself, I would include the chef's knife, the 4 ½ inch utility knife, and the 9 inch bread knife. Judge for yourself.

I am always impressed when I find a product that is so well made that I wonder how anyone can improve upon it. These knives are of a very high quality and I would recommend it to anyone who insists on having a quality tool. However, it is important to take care of these knives. This is not the knife for those who do not like doing maintenence. You must use the steel before every use and hone it or have it professionaly sharpened every 6 months to a year. If you do these simple maintenence chores these knifes will last a lifetime!

Extreme caution advised! These really are RAZOR sharp. I sell knives at Williams-Sonoma and I have cut myself on the Bunmei twice already. I take my job very seriously and am extremely careful when handling them, but still got cut. These are for pros, sushi chefs and those used to the blade on a Japanese knife. Very dangerous in the wrong hands. Very, very good choice if you really do want to precisely slice a lot of fish.

A bread knife is a specialized tool -- you really can't use it for much other than cutting bread. It's tempting to purchase just any bread knife. But this is forged, rather than stamped, and the reduced flexing of the blade goes a long way towards making the slice the slice you wanted rather than what you happened to get. Functionally, this knife is beyond reproach. Even with crusty breads, the crumbs are minimized.

It does not use the traditional three-rivet handle -- the handle is molded. But it is a full tang, and there's no reason to expect any loss in longevity.

I gave this four, rather than five, stars primarily on the basis of the appearance of the blade -- but this is a matter of personal taste. Unlike knives used in the kitchen (where getting the job done is the job, and the appearance is not particularly important) a bread knife is likely to be used before guests. The utilitarian appearance of the blade is entirely appropriate to my tastes, however it may not appeal to those who expect a highly-polished appearance. Also (and this is visible from the photos) this bread knife does not have an offset handle, which may be awkward with large cutting boards.

I'm an enthusiastic Calphalon cookware user; have been for some time, can't explain my addiction, but their stuff works for the way I spend time in the kitchen. I recently saw this knife at a price that I think is pretty much scandalous, and decided to give it a try.

Yes, it says it's made from German high-carbon stainless steel; this is a correct statement. However, this does not mean it's a German knife any more than eating hush puppies means you're eating suede shoes. It's actually forged in China (look carefully on the box, you'll see the note). Nonetheless, it seems to be a reasonable alloy, comparable to the various European manufacturers.

It's quite substantial - "fully forged" means the blade, bolster and tang are one solid piece of metal, heated and beaten into shape with forges. Thus, it feels like a much more expensive knife than the price tag would indicate. The blade styling is typically German (tall, somewhat blocky) rather than French or Asian. If you like large knifes, and have large hands, you'll find the balance and control quite good. People with smaller features may not find this length the most comfortable, and should consider the 8 inch knife, found elsewhere on the site.

I was not highly impressed with the factory edge on the knife; I've had better - even in stamped (cheaper) knives. It's nothing that a professional sharpening wouldn't cure, and even at the cost of that, you'll still be substantially cheaper than a comparable knife from other manufacturers.

Overall, I'd recommend this knife for all but the most serious (or neurotic) chefs. Even for the most passionate home cooks, this knife is a stunning value and will let you reduce a big something into a pile of little bits of something in nothing flat.