Cutlery Reviews

I was very disappointed in these knives. The chef's knife was very dull and no matter how hard I tried, it never got sharp. Even slcing vegetables was difficult. After 2 months, I gave up and donated the set to charity. They were a complete waste of money.

We just received these knives as a wedding gift, and we've been very happy with them so far. The knives are extremely sharp, easily slicing through even fatty partially frozen meat. They feel very comfortable in your hand, and although the saleswoman had warned us that some people dislike the fact that the blade does not go straight into the handle (there is sort of a upside-down V shaped gap), we haven't found this to be a problem. The instructions specified to wash the knives by hand, which is quick and easy to do since they wipe off easily. The knives looks great as well, although, as other reviewers have mentioned, the is an extra slot in the block, and some of the knives don't fit entirely snugly. As far as performance goes, however, I would definitely recommend this knife set.

I purchased this set (not from Amazon - unfortunately. I paid one third more money for the set) and found them to be well balanced, stylish and sharp. Yes, they are made in China, but almost everything you purchase today is made in China - realities of life. These knives are well balanced and I have had no problem handling them with my arthritic hands.

As most kitchen "engineers" know knife blocks usually contain at least one empty slot available to add an additional knife of your choosing in the future...If the aesthetics of this bother you then just buy another knife and fill the slot. Also place the knives in the block with the sharp edge upward (not against the block). This will greatly contribute to retaining the knife's sharpness over time.

In my opinon this Sabitier BALANCED knife set represents another great culinary value from Amazon.

Enjoy!

Jim

Despite another reviewer's experience, these knives are quite sharp. To compare them to plastic cutlery is ridiculous -- either the reviewer was being facetious or has an axe to grind for some reason. Notice that that review mentions that the buyer picked up his set for the same price as Amazon but at his local grocery store. How he knows that he even bought this same set of knives is beyond me.

So, I'll repeat: These knives are sharp. I don't find the handle particularly comfortable, but it's okay. My set arrived looking brand new -- no scratches.

Good value for the money.

I guess we all live life at 100 miles per hour these days. I know that I always hated taking the time to hand-wash steak knives while everything else went into the dishwasher.

I've been looking for steak knives I could put in the dishwasher for a long time, and these are the ones!

They have a pleasing, simple design with one-piece stainless steel construction and do a great job at cutting meat. Plus they go in the dishwasher and come out looking shiny!

The only reason I didn't give them 5 stars is that they are a little light and the balance isn't perfect, but for the money they are a great buy!

I've used these knives before, and also a higher end line of steak knives made by Henckels. To be honest, both seem to cut steak perfectly fine. I do like the single piece construction of these knives over the higher end models, and they cost about half the price. I keep them in a knife block with my other knives, and I tend to use them for all sorts of small cutting jobs. They make short work of raw veggies as well as cooked steak, and they're a breeze to clean because of the one-piece construction.

I have found that the steak knives are dull as well as the scissors after a short period of time.One of the steak knives broke off at the handle and I have been E-mailing customer service for 6 months now with NO response back. I have tried the 800 number several times at different times of the day and it always says there are no represenatives avail. and please call back... I would not buy these knives again...

These knives are very nice because they are so sharp. I find I never use the actual "miracle blade" only the other knives in the set, because it's just too long. I love the chopping and filet knives, and my husband loves the rock and chop blade. I just wish they came in a storage block.

The directions state to handwash only, I have & they still look and cut great! The Rock n Chop is the knife that I find the most useful, great at anything I pitch at it.

We have been absolutely delighted with this set of knives. They have great balance, feel pleasing in your hand, and cut flawlessly. What really sets them apart, though, is the style -- most steak knives are either dark-handled, bulky, or both, so you only want to brink them out when you're actually tackling a hunk of red meat. The slim, silver silhouette of this Laguiole fits in unobtrusively with your regular flatware, so you may find yourself using them far more often. Even a chicken dinner turns out to benefit from sharp knives. Our table knives don't make it out of the drawer much at dinner time these days!

I bought these knives for my mother-in-law (an avid steak eater!) for Christmas. She uses them every time she cooks steak, and now, a year later, they cut as flawlessly as they did the first day of use. They make cutting steak effortless. I highly recommend them.

The Sabatier Laguiole Stainless steel steak knives are the finest I have been able to find. The blades have a full tang and the balance is excellent. I have used Sabatier knives in the kitchen for over forty years. I think these knives are a wonderful value and would make a great present for anyone. The storage case they came in is dreadful, but a nice case can be purchased. All in all, we are very pleased with the knives.

These knives appeared in my gold box, so I investigated. At the time I purchased them the gold box deal came to about $100, and Amazon was offering a $20 gift card, so the net cost to me was $80. I wanted to upgrade from the cheapie "never needs sharpening" knife blocks that show up under the tree at Christmas, but I didn't have a large budget for my transition to a real grown-up's kitchen.

What a great value for the money these turned out to be.

I agree with all the negative issues mentioned (cheesy block, crappy sharpening steel, chintzy mezzaluna, poor packaging that knocks the handles against each other). Once you overlook these annoyances, this is a great value for the six good knives you get in the set.

They are easy to handle, sharpen, wash, and they feel great. I also like the slightly smaller scale of the bread knife and the fact that there are 2 different paring knife sizes. Since I received the knife set I have not used any other knives in my kitchen.

If you see this set for $80, jump on it. Since I bought the set I have continued to comparison shop (department stores, cooking stores, etc.), and I can't believe what a deal these were. I hope to have these for a long time. Goodwill will be getting the rest of my "lifetime/never needs sharpening" [whatever] collection.

I own this 10-pc. set in the Provence model (rosewood handles versus the Grand Chef's traditional black) and am delighted with it. The knives are beautiful -- they should be kept on a knife magnet instead of hidden away in a block.
These Sabatier knives are made in France -- most of their lines are not, just as most of Wusthof's and Henckel's are not -- buyers need to check carefully. The simplest advice is that only the most expensive sets are made in France or Germany, respectively.
This set competes head-to-head with Wusthof's Classic series and Henckel's Professional "S" (Pro-S in the trade lingo) series. I own the Wusthof set and a number of the Pro-S knives. While I have a slight personal preference for the Pro-S ones, they are much more expensive than this set and the current difference in price gives Sabatier the nod hands down. The Sabatier handles are more squared off than the others, but you're not likely to notice that. If you can buy a 10-piece set of Sabatier Grand Chef knives for $$$, do it. I think it's the best relative value in a knife set today.

I collect forged kitchen knives and enjoy gourmet cooking. I own knives or sets from all the major manufacturers. That's a lot of knives.

Amazon sells this set for 7vnt to 8ty percnt off the normal p rice all the time. At that price it's the best value in forged knives. These are French, not Chinese made Sabatier and are top of the line quality. I prefer Wüsthof Grand Prix or Wüsthof Classic to all lines, some prefer Global, Henckels, Dick or even Sabatier.

Considering the price (you can get this set for the cost of an 8" Wüsthof or an 8" Dick) you can't beat the Grand Chef sets at Amazon. You get six top of the line quality French forged blades and four other pieces for the cost of a single good blade. Most cooks would never need those six blades let alone the odd mezzaluna.

I titled this review "6 fine blades" because only six pieces are French forged blades; the other pieces are made in China. The scissors and mezalluna are typical B tier Chinese cutlery, the block is ok. The sharpening "steel" is the higher quality Sabatier sharpening steel, but it still is worse that the sharpening steel you'd get from other quality manufacturer. For some reason, Sabatier sharpening steels stink. The one they package with the cheap set is even worse. For this price, you can buy an open stock steel if you get a particularly bad sharpening steel with your set.

And, if you want good kitchen shears. Shop Henckels! The Sabatier shears are guaranteed to be a little bit off but you'll probably still be happy with them and for this price who can complain.

I disagree with the reviewer who prefers the Calphylon set. Calphylon knives are of lesser quality than top of the line German, Japanese or French forged knives. The reason Calphylon knives are so heavy, is the lesser manufacturing techniques. That weight is not quality, it's the opposite. I give Calphylon knives as presents to friends with pressed knives. They are the "B" team with Farberware forged; great value but not top of the line. If you ever used top of the line German/Japanese you'd see why Calphylon is too heavy. It's cheaper to make them too heavy, that's why the list price and street price is so reasonable for Calphylon knives. If you web search to find this Grand Chef set, you'll see it really sells for the list price on other sites. Unlike many Sabatier sets, this one does actually sell for close to the list price in other venues..

The knife is a great tool for the kitchen, cuts and chops very well. Problem I experienced is, the knife broke at the bolster when attempting to cut thru a chicken breast bone. To date I have not been able to get warranty information from Sabatier as to replacement. Knife was approx. 6 months old. Barb

The Provence line of Sabatier are very good knives. They are well balanced and have great steel. For some reason however, Sabatier knives do not come from the factory sharpened; thus, one must have this done before the knives are used. I have talked to several knife store owners who say this is the case. They sharpen the knives before they sell them, but then you have to pay full retail price, which is a lot more then the sale price on Amazon plus a sharpening charge. This is also a great knife for doing things that a chef's or vegetable knife is supposed to do. It is not, however, a boning knife. If you buy this knife, it will probably become your favorite.

This knife serves well it's purpose: chopping up food into little bits for your stewpot, or whatever you happen to be brewing in your kitchen. The luscious wood handle is comfortable and has plenty of clearance -- you never have to worry about smacking your hand on the cutting board. The blade is curved enough to let you chop with a nice rocking motion through carrots, garlic, etc., and you can use the wide surface to scoop your veggie bits right into the pot. For tougher foods, like meat, you might need something with serrations, or a big ol' butcher knife for its inimitable chopping action (to cut away fat, for example).

Our knives were in pretty awful condition - I was getting tired of pushing the blade of the steak knife back in the handle every time I sawed through a piece of meat. Sure I'd love to have a set of top-grade Henckels but given the price of something like that plus the fact that we don't use knives that often, I figured this second-tier set was worth a try. The knives are nice and sharp. The construction quality is decent and it suits our purposes fine - they look good, cut well and fit in the block like they are supposed to. So what if they don't do well in the dishwasher? How much trouble can it be to hand-wash a knife? For $..., they're a fine deal. I'm glad I bought them.

For the price, this is a decent set of knives for people like me who aren't professional chefs and don't have the patience/discipline to maintain a more high quality set of knives. I've been using these for about a week now. The butcher knife is heavier than my former Farberware version, but the other knives are similar in weight. The block they come in is small and elegant, good for kitchens with tight storage space. I've mostly hand washed them but have run the smaller steak knives through the dishwasher, in the silverware racks on the bottom, without problems thus far. The knives are a bit on the light side, except for the butcher, so if you like a heavier feel to your knives you may want to find another set.

PROS:
Small, elegant wood block
Great basic set of knives for everyday use
Low price
Seem to be ok in the dishwasher
Don't need to be sharpened

CONS:
Very lightweight knives, the steak knives especially, almost to the point of feeling "flimsy"
Edge sometimes make cutting delicate things like tomatoes awkward

Several years ago, I purchased this set as a housewarming gift for a friend, who raved about them so much that I ended up buying a set for myself. As an impoverished college student at the time, my selection really came down to the price being right. Fortunately, the knives were right, too. I still use these knives every day, 4.5 years later, often mistreating them, with no ill effects. Now that I'm ready to move on to one of the premiere lines, I will hand these down to a younger sibling, as they still have numerous years of use left in them.

The price is cheap because they are made without quality or durability .

Although very sharp out of the box, these knives have nothing in common with the products one expects from Henckels. The editorial review says the steel is not of the same quality. Well, there is a lot less of it as well. The knives are extremely light weight and there is quite a bit if flex in the blades if you are cutting anything more tenacious than veggies. The block and steel are fine and the set is probably an decent value for the money - but that is about it.

I GAVE THESE KNIVES 5 STARS, BECAUSE FOR THE MONEY I DON'T
THINK YOU CAN FIND A BETTER SET OF KNIVES. YES THEY GET DULL,
BUT ALL KNIVES GET DULL THATS WHY HENCKEL INCLUDES A SHARPENING
STEEL. USE IT, DON'T BE AFRAID OF IT. IN MY OPINION IT'S BETTER
TO BUY A LOW END PRODUCT FROM A RESPECTED COMPANY, THAN TO BUY
A HIGH END PRODUCT FROM SAY, BRAND-X. THE BOTTOM LINE IS DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SPEND HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON A SET OF KNIVES THAT ARE SO [COSTLY] THAT YOU ARE AFRAID TO USE THEM. GET THESE KNIVES, YOU WILL BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.

After reading up on what great knives Sabatier made, I was ecstatic to find this set so cheap. I bought it over [online store] (brand new) and upon opening the box, I found that the wooden block was poorly assembled. It was not aligned and you could see the leftover glue residue on the block. The are also decieving, saying that you get 12 items. I thought that meant 12 knives, turned out to be 11 knives and 1 block. On the wooden block however, there are 12 slots for 12 knives/scissors, not 11. The handles are ok, not the most comfortable, I grew up with Cutco knives (which are really sharp and have the most comfortable handles ever but with a hefty pricetag: 800). The Sabatier knives are pretty sharp compared to the cheap store knives. After using this set for the past few months, the best thing I got out of it were the shears. They are very sharp and can cut almost through anything. I think next set of knives I purchase will be from Henkels.

I love to cook when I ever get some free time. But, it was a chore to do the type of cutting and chopping that I needed to do to get the food prepared properly to cook and serve. A friend mentioned that it might be the 'junk' culery that I had accumulated in my cutlery drawer. I saw this Elite set on sale at Amazon and figured that it would be worth a try with some good knives. Boy, was I ever right! The difference in the kitchen is unbelievable! The parer cuts and feels great in my hand. The Chef knife chops like I never thought I could! It's even more fun in the kitchen now when I cook with these Elite knives. I can't afford the expensive French cutlery, but, the Elite forged knives are as close as I can get to the best without breaking the budget. Highly recommended if you like to play 'chef' in the kitchen and can't really afford the French Sabatier. The Elite set is worth every penny I paid for it!

I bought this set for my best friend who'd recently been delving into the world of cooking. She was struggling with her junky $12 set of knives and was lusting over my Henkels Pro-S series. Judging from the description on this Sabatier set, I figured they'd would be an adequate starter set for her. Turns out, they're great! Not the perfect balance compared to my Henkels, but the knives have good heft and construction and the blades hold an edge. My friend was ecstatic and prepared a vegetable platter for my New Year's party just to show me how cutting cauliflower, carrots, and almonds with the knives was like slicing through warm butter. She's happy, and I'm happy. I'll probably buy another set of these for my dad's apartment. He's got some terribly junky knives, too!

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).