Well, I was sort of vaguely wondering about the bread knife :-), but I have one that works okay and we don't eat a lot of bread. Then again, if I end up with another knife block I'll have to fill up the empty slots, won't I? I'll put it on my "wish list" for after we move. (DH keeps saying it's silly to get stuff that's just going to have to be packed; I keep making plans for my new kitchen and wanting something or other).

I have a W-S gift certificate from Christmas that I haven't used yet but I'm waiting for my new kitchen to be done then I'd like to select a good chef's knife or Santoku knife.

Now, I have a great little Cutco paring knife (and pizza cutter) and a set of Henkles Eversharp knives.

As far as Cutco goes, it was sold to me through a MLM rep who misrepresented herself to get into my house! She said she was referred to me by a neighbor who said because of my background in marketing that I may be interested in helping her because she was a student doing a marketing survey. Yes, she was a student. No, she wasn't doing a survey but was selling me knives when my infant twins were taking a rare nap at the same time! She acted like she was a good friend of the family of my neighbor's.

The reason why I bought the paring knife after all that was because it FIT in my hand perfectly AND it was the exact knife handle I had grown up with. I called my mother and asked her about Cutco. She said about 40 years ago her brother-in-law sold Cutco knives so she bought a set of them all those years ago and had them all our growing up lives! They were known to be the BEST at the time.

I love my little paring knife and my husband loves his pizza cutter. The paring knife handle came loose but all I had to do was send it back with a letter and I received a new knife in the mail very quickly.

As for MLM, I did not give the salesperson any names of anyone I knew. However, I started getting Cutco's catalog in the mail and I can order them through the mail at any time without having a salesperson involved. So far, I haven't ordered any other knives. I'd like to test drive some others before I decide what knives will work for my small hands best.

Not a booster, just a paring knife user!

Karen

Okay, checked out that Porche knife and, though I've never held one, I think I'd cut my fingertip off on that knive...the shape kinda scared me, and I don't scare easy 'bout that kind of thing.

Fairegold: yeah knife geeks!

Just discovered the forum and think it's great. I wanted to briefly add to the knife discussion.

I am a firm believer that you should use the knife that you think feels the best in your hand. I personally have more Henkels than I can count, a few over 25 years old. But that said, my opinion is simply the knife I like best.

I agree with the opinion that you should use the right knife for the job. (That's the excuse I gave my ex for buying all those knives over the years.) Still, I tend to use my 12" Chef's knife for most tasks, simply because I am comfortable with it.

As far as sharpening goes...there is no doubt they can be a pain in the butt. I steel my knife before (and somtimes during) each task and have them sharpened professionally twice a year.

Thanks to everyone here...this looks like a great site.

Anybody try Daniel Boulud knives--made by Sabatier?

Depends how you use knives. Cheap replaceable knives are best for us.

One person in our family tends to be fussy with tools, the rest of the family cut on ceramic or glass surfaces and cleans them eventually. So we have a 10" Sabatier for Mr. Fussy from the year zero and the rest are SS. Only one serrated because those serrations tend to deflect the cut, invariably into your hand. Serrated reserved for bread.

Any tools out there to hold food for cutting?

Do not know if this will be useful to any one or not, but I sharpen knives as a hobby for my friends and neighbors. The system I use takes less than one minute to get a razor edge, and does not remove excess material.

It is a product called Razor Sharp. It is two paper wheels that you install on a bench grinder. One of the wheels has a carbarondan powder on it that is used to hone a edge. The other wheel is just paper.

On the abrasive wheel you run bees wax on it to lubricate then hone the blade until a wire bur is developed on the edge. Then on the paper wheel you apply some jewlers rudge and polish the wire bur off. Razor sharp in less than a minute.

Cost is about $26.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to check out the Wustof and Henckels knives yesterday. They told me that they will accept the 20% coupon off of Henckels even though the coupon says it is excluded. Wustof is not excluded. They also told me that if we buy the knives from them, they will replace them at any time for no charge even if the problem is our fault. I am not sure if all the stores are the same but this was at the Rochester Hills, Michigan store.

Very fond of the 10" Chef's knife from Masahiro. Sharp. Attractive. Well balanced. My favorite knife. Masahiro Chef's Knife [scroll down to MH13713]

On the other hand, Fairegold was waiting for the Ferrari of knives. Try these from Masamoto:

Masamoto Knives [click on Masamoto; then click on first item therunder, Honyaki Gyokusei Kyomen] Ah, no, I don't have any.

"Masamoto Knives"

Ooooh, aaaaahhhhh! Those are elegant knives! Seeing the whole lot of them on the page together made my heart quicken. Same thing happens with the Kershaw knives. :)

Sunny

(pant, pant)

I received my Kershaw Kai Santoku Shun a few weeks ago and it is absolutely wonderful. The salesmen at the knife store ooh'd and aah'd when it came into the store after they ordered it for me.

I have other Kershaw knives in what they call the Blade Trader and they cut beautifully. This knife has 16 layers of steel and the way it is honed the blade looks like moire fabric. Stunningly beautiful and cuts like a dream. I can take this 6 1/2" blade and slice garlic cloves in half or thirds horizontally, then vertically and chop that garlic clove into tiny little pieces with this great big knife.

I went a little crazy with the clearance at Sur La Table and called some other stores to get other Culinar knives mailed to me. I now have duplicates of some of the knives so I guess I will sell them on ebay because mailing them back or driving to Dallas is too much trouble. I now have a set with almost every Culinar knife I wanted to collect over a period of YEARS, and them some. I never particularly wanted the tomato knife but it came in a box set that I broke up and I kind of like it. I would like, someday, to get the santoku (santuko I forget) but I don't really need it, and maybe the flexible fillet knife. Wheeeeee! It is no nice to have good, sharp knives that no one else here "touches" (read-ruins). sunny

Claire - if you see this and to anyone who can tell me, would you recommend getting the Shun with the hollow blade or not?

Hubby and I recently checked out the knives in person and OMG thanks so much for the recommendation on the Kershaw knives. I was all set to buy Wusthof Grand Prix II but there was NO comparison, truly. We both tried out Wusthof first and held several in our hands and then tried the Shuns. We told each other to wait and make sure we had our choices before telling the other one. It was immediate for us both the moment we placed a Shun in our hand. The balance of the knife was so wonderful and the handle seemed to fall into place perfectly into our hands. Plus they are drop-dead gorgeous knives.

So, now we are wondering if we should buy hollow blade or not. We're going to buy a 7" Santoku, and 8" chefs, 6" utility, both classic and birds beak paring knives (never used a birds beak but hubby liked it), and the kitchen shears which look wonderful. I think that would be a good assortment to begin with and I guess as we work in the kitchen we can decide what other knives we should purchase such as a bread slicer.

I thought for sure we'd want the hollow on the Santoku and perhaps try the chefs without but now I'm just not sure if we should get both with or without the hollow blade. Hubby thinks it may be a good idea if they really work to keep things from sticking not to pass up the option for hollow but on the other hand we've never used one so just do not know.

I doubt we could go wrong either way but they are quite an investment and we have not had a kitchen for such a long time I almost forget how to use knives. :o) We really want to make the right decision so can any of you offer some advice?

Plus I also am not sure about the blade length. The Santoku we saw had a 6.5" blade but I thought the 7" may be nicer. Not sure so help would be appreciated!

I may be splitting hairs on that and I know this is all very personal. I tend to like a smaller knife so I'm sure I'll use the 6" utility a ton but hubby likes a bit longer blade. Trying to please us both. :o)

Chelly, You will absolutely LOVE these knives. (But then it sounds like you already know that!) I have the hollow ground Santuko, and got the regular Santuko with another knife, and quite literally can't tell there is any difference. The hollow ground is supposed to keep things from sticking which it may, but not enough to actually notice. I still have to clean the knife blade with my finger to get all the pieces off (when slicing/dicing small), so don't think it's worth any extra dollars. Also the hollow ground makes it more difficult to sharpen, so I would say go for the classic blade. You will eventually want the bread knife I think; I'm finding invaluable especially for splitting cake layers. Glad to hear you both liked these so much. Be sure to report back when you get a chance!

Thank you, Claire! I'm so glad to get this great information and if you think the hollow is not necessary then you have saved me some bucks. :o)

I agree that the bread knife is a good idea, in fact, wonder if it is good for slicing tomatoes? I notice they do have a tomato knife but I don't want a whole bunch of special knives at this point.

One other question I would have is whether it may be a good idea to pop for the 8 or 9 inch slicing knife. What do you use when you roast a turkey or for slicing any roasted meats?

Thanks for all your input. Just got a good price for the Shun Santoku on ebay. Can't wait. Debating about adding more even before I get the knife.

I saved my old carving knife from the other knives I replaced. Since it's not something I do very often, I decided to see if I really needed it. I find I grab the 6 inch utility knife most often when I need to cut any kind of meat, and think it's usually long enough for any of my daily needs. (My old carving knife is still sharp since I used it the least...)

The steak knives were something I considered at one time, but I recently found a beautiful old vintage set from the 1920's at an estate sale which are still sharp.

The tomato knife would probably be invaluable if you eat a lot of tomatoes. It's smaller and a little easier to manage for me (small hands) than the bread knife, for small items like tomatoes. (The bread knife works fine, however...) I already have one from the old knife set, and consider that particular knife a valuable tool. (You know my birthday is coming up soon...might be something to add!)

Claire, are you checking ebay. There are some pretty good prices there. I am just watching for now.

I have found really good prices on several sites that compare with Ebay when you include Ebay shipping and the other sites "no shipping costs". Another great deal right now if you spend $120 on Amazon in kitchen and housewares you get $20 off and that is through the end of September. Another good deal is on Cutlery and More you can get a free Shun bamboo cutting board for spending $250 and I think that cutting board sells for $59. But I have found the best prices overall at Chef's Catalog for the pieces I'm buying.

I have to buy several knives so was thinking of spreading it out to take advantage of the deal. Also, I would have never considered buying a set but there is one set that has 7 pieces that I was planning to buy anyway and it comes with a knife block and it saves literally over a hundred dollars to buy that way. I just do not know yet if we will want to use a knife block as we are leaning towards an inside-drawer block.

Claire, I do think you are right and I would be better off with the bread knife than the slicing knife to begin with and see if I need it. Can always purchase later. :o)

I want to buy the laguiole steak knives with the ivory handles. I think they're so beautiful. If anyone knows about their quality please let me know.

Jean, I got most of my Shun knives from Ebay, one at a time. I like some of the angled knives Alton Brown is offering on his website. I have an old MAC knife (also Japanese) with this angle which I really loved. Like Chelly, I also found some other good deals on websites with free shipping. This was an investment I made a little at a time, since it was easier than plunking all my money down at once!

Has anyone bought anything from these people?

Claire, thanks for the advice. I have not really considered the angled knives. It's hard when you cannot try them. I do love the tomato knife tho. Have not heard of Factory Direct but if paying by credit card, it should not be an issue. Got my Santoku for less than 80.00 with shipping so I am happy about that. Still looking at the other knives.

I received some of my Shun knives and have to report - they are TO DIE FOR! OMG! I used 2 of them last night; the 6" utility (going to be fabulous), and 8" chefs knife (incredible).

They cut through meat like it was BUTTAH. I chopped some veggies and it was astonishing to me. I've been using a set of Chicago Cutlery my mother bought for me a very long time ago and those knives are so dull I could hack at my arm and none of those knives would have drawn blood. :o) So using a well-made and super sharp knife was a treat I underestimated.

Not only are these the most truly beautiful knives I've seen they are so comfortable and fit your hand so well plus the balance is wonderful. I'm a true fan and so grateful to all your posts, Claire, as I would have hated to miss out on these beauties. I receive my Santoku and bread knives today so can't wait!

I haven't read all the posts, but the best knives are those that stay sharp. So that means having a great sharpener that's easy to use.

Check it out; drive yourself crazy: Kitchen Knife Forum

I have quite a few Gerber knives that I bought about ten years ago. I like them a lot, but Gerber now apparently only makes knives for hunting, etc.

I kind of wrecked the paring knife, and my ex took some of the knives when we broke up, so I've been in the market for a couple of new ones.

Thanks to the advice here, I added a couple of Shun knives -- the angled utility knife and the paring knife. I used the utility knife yesterday, cutting up a piece of beef chuck for stew. It was incredible -- very smooth, just great.
I have small hands, and the angle is perfect for me. Now I want an 8 inch chef's knife...

Sue

Wusthoff vs. Henckels. Years ago, while working as a Pro, I had a W 10" chef's knife stolen from my car. In a regretted moment of cheapness, I replaced the beloved knife with a H Four star. The H delivered twenty years of good service, but I never felt the kinship of the W. I finally got another W a month ago and feel I can now compare the two. First of all, neither brand is as good as it was. I found the newest incarnation of the W Classic a let down, but managed to purchase an older display model. The older model has much sharper corners on the bolster, providing a surer grip. The new model, with its softer edges, feels more feminine. Comparing the W to the old H also shows some dramatic differences. The balance point on the W is just ahead of the bolster, whereas the H balances nearly an inch into the blade. This makes the W more suitable for smaller hands like mine, assuming one properly grips the bolster between the index and middle fingers. W and H use different alloys for their blades, with the H being the harder stainless. This cuts both ways(excuse the pun) as the blade holds its edge longer, but is very difficult to sharpen. I also feel that the H blade could withstand the abuse of a commercial kitchen longer than the W. I'm sure there are other differences that elude me, but I hope this helps any wondering on the distinctions between the two major brands...Jackie

We just purchased our first Sabatier knife (should have checked this forum first!) and have been disappointed in its rustiness, or whatever that is that it has on it all the time. It's a 6 inch paring knife, was very expensive, is very sharp, but it looks awful. Using an abrasive scrunge pad has not improved it.

Any tips on caring for this knife? The info on the Kershaw knives say that it doesn't rust. I'd say that's a plus.

Melisande,
Sounds like you got a carbon steel blade rather than high carbon stainless. Try some silver polish, it will remove the stains. To avoid rust you have to keep the blade dry, except of course when you're actually using it, so don't leave it laying around wet. Hope this helps.

deanb

Melisande, Assuming the Sabatier is carbon steel, anything with citric acid will turn the blade black. The only solution is to immediately rinse off the offending acid and dry the blade. Knives of this steel were commonly found in restaurants as late as 1980 due to their ease of sharpening, but the carefree nature of stainless eventually won out. There is nothing wrong with your Sabatier that a little TLC won't cure...Jackie

You'll still see non-stainless high-carbon knives in commercial kitchens, butcher shops, bakeries. And with good cause, they take a razor's edge with relative ease. I have this cheapo cleaver(it might've cost a whopping five or six bucks)that I could shave with after it's steeled. It also rusts if you breath on it, which is a trade off I don't mind at all.

Thanks guys. It IS staying very sharp, and I guess I'm getting used to the appearance. (I'll try silver polish, too).

As an alternative to silver polish, you can make a paste with Comet cleanser and rub it over the stains with a wine cork.

I've used all the Europeans but switched to Global and Kasumi three years ago. Much better quality. Worth the extra cost.

I've just had my Global knives stolen & while I loved them, was wondering if folks have other throughts....I HAVE to get knives quickly (like today!) because of Thanksgiving - my other knives are good, but they aren't the Global!

Liz,
Your page says you live in Ashland, Oregon. I did a quick google searh and found that Allyson's of Ashland carries Global knives.
Dean

Thank you! I was in Allyson's exactly at the time you posted....I couldn't decide so I bought a Global #4 (Oriental cook knife), Global GS-9 (serrated paring) and a 2-knife Wusthof set of 8" Santuko & flat-edge paring. That should get me through Thanksgiving!

In following all of these messages, I see that many of you have discovered what I discovered several years ago. Japanese knives are far superior to European knives.

I started serious cooking 30 years ago (wow!). My first knives were Sabatier, which were the best at the time. But the carbon steel blades were quick to rust, and would begin to dull as soon as you began thinking about using them.

I then went to Henkles, and liked the "stainless" quality of the steel, and how much longer the edge remained sharp. Then, being at the age to want the best toys, I became interested in, and bought a set of Wusthofs. I think there was very little difference in the steel in the Henkles, but the shapes of the knives seemed more functional, especially the Chef and utility. Both, however, were more difficult to sharpen than the Sabatiers, due to the extra hardness of the steel. But, alas, a divorce cost me my Wusthofs.

In starting over the knife collection again, this time I went to Messermeister. Now these are the best of the European knives, in my opinion. The steel is suppurb, the balance and shape are almost perfect, and most importantly, they are much sharper. They are ground to a 15 degree edge, as opposed to a 22 degree edge on Hendles and Wusthof.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. I saw Rachel Ray using a Wusthof Santoku on the Food Network, and became interested in it. So I decided that I wanted one. I found that Messermeister, as well as Wusthof and Henkles, include this shape in their lineup. But I said, you know, before I spend $70 on a German version of a Japanese knife, why not look for the real thing, a Japanese Santoku.

This was one of the most rewarding hobby related investigations I have ever done. As I researched Japanese knives, I began to see the extreme difference in knife philosophy between the European style knives and Japanese knives. I discovered the knife makers that have been mentioned on this board, Kai Shun, Global, Kasumi, etc. I settled on Kai Shun, and have yet to find a better knife in a stainless steel version. I gave my Messermeisters to my daughter, and stocked up on Shuns. I have a sheepsfoot parer, a 6" utility, a 6 1/2" Santoku, an 8" Deba, a 10" Chef, and a 9" bread knife. (I also have a 6" stiff boning knife from Granton Knife Co. in Sheffield Eng., which is a butcher shop staple. It has a large poly pro handle that will not allow your hand to slip when wet, and allows great force to be applied as you do when boning, etc. Everyone should have one of these; they not only take a real sharp edge, they are very cheap - $25).

Now for the punch line. I was talking to the owner of my favorite Sushi restaurant regarding my surprise at the incredible quality advantage of Japanes knives over European knives. And I told him about my Shuns, and the others I had looked at. But he said, ah ha!, have you ever tried a Masamoto? I said a what? and he told me about the old samauri sword makers started making knives after the end of the swords for warriors era. I checked them out, and was amazed with what I learned regarding knife craftsmanship. This was a totally different philosophy of knife science than Europe.

Traditional Japanese knives (Masamoto, Aritsugu, Suisin, etc.) are entirely hand made, hand forged, and strangely shaped. The most famous is the yanagi style, which means willow leaf, and that is how it is shaped. This is your basic sushi style knife. So I ended up forking out the $750 to get a Masamoto Hassouchi Hongasum Gyotoseiko. This was a yanagi style, made with a beautiful blue steel interior with a damascus soft iron outer. (You will have to pay about $350 for an entry level hand made yanagi) Jay (my sushi chef friend) also taught me how to sharpen with a Japanese water stone. (you need several grits; I have a 300, and a 1000/3000 combination. The 300 is for edge restoration, the 1000 is the basic sharpening grit, and the 3000 is the polishing grit. I also finish them off with an F.Dick oval fine cut steel. Never use a regular cut steel on a Japanes knife.)

What makes Japanese knives so special is the edge philosopy. They do not have a "V" edge, like European knives; Japanese knives have a chissel type edge. This provides two advantages. First, you don't have to worry about maintaining a constant angle in the wrist when sharpening. You simply lay the flat edge of the chissel on the stone, and work the knife lightly. No sharpening error. You finish the flat side of the blade the same way, holding it flat against the stone. When you finish you have one very sharp knife. Second, the chisel edge, as opposed to a "V" edge of European knives, allows you to make much thinner and more accurate cuts. For instance, when making a dish that requires garlic, I no longer smash and chop the garlic. I slice ~ .5mm slices of the garlic cloves, and fry them in oil until perfectly golden brown. I remove them from the seasoned oil, and save them until the dish is finished, and return them to the dish for a great garlic accent. No burned garlic; just perfectly browned garlic. You just can't slice garlic this thin, or this accuraately with a European knife. The precise slicing ability of the yanagi style knife is why this is the style used by sushi/shashimi chefs around the world.

Once I began getting used to the feel and balance of the Masamoto yanagi style, I bought another style, a Kamagata Usuba. This a a vegetale knife, that looks like a narrow cleaver, but with a Japanese style edge. The standard Usuba has a rectangular shape. The Kamagata Usuba has a sheeps foot end, that results in an incredigly sharp tip. The shape and balance makes this style a great multi tasker.

Now I would estimate that 98% of my knife work is done with the Masamoto yanagi, the Masamoto Kamagata Usuba, and the $25 Granton boning knife. While I still love my Shuns, there is must more Zen in the real samauri blade than in the new high tech steel (VG-10) of the Shuns. For instance, each Masamoto is persoally signed by the craftsman that made it.

For what it is worth, I have not used my 10" Shun Chef or 6" utility for almost two years now. I do use the bread knife on bread, the 8 1/4" Deba when filleting fish, and the 3 1/2" sheepsfoot parer with I need a little knife. If you get your karma right with traditional Japanes knives, you will want to use them whenever possible. For instance, nothing slices BBQ brisket better than my yanagi.

Once you get to Masamoto traditional knives, I think that you have reached the top of the mountain. Not only are they wonderful kitchen tools, but when you pick up a yanagi style from a kmife maker such as Masamoto, you can feel the soul of a real samauri warrior. Those of you who have chosen Shun or Global or Kasumi (which I believe is the same knife as a Shun, with a different handle) are just below the top of the mountain. Thouse of you still using European knives, however, have a long way to go to experience truly great knife craftsmanship. In the case of knives, "made in Japan" means the very best in the world.

Regarding Cutco,

I am a sales rep for cutco and you may think that my comment is biased but it really is not.

1) Cutco is not MLM. Reps do not go house to house and get everyone they see to buy and start selling the knives. What we are simply supposed to do is show the product and ask if they would like to buy it. Once the customer decides to either buy the product or not to buy the product we ask if they know anyone who would be willing to take a look at the knives as well. I know some reps would take advantage, be pushy ,lie and cheat and im not really fond of those reps because it gives me a bad name.

The reason why they only sell the knives that way is to eliminate the store so as not to increase costs and give more of the profit to the sales reps. If this was a bad way to market the knives then they would not have been in business for over 50 years and our annual sales would not be over 250 millions dollars.

As far as the quality of the knife and why i think it is good, I dont know many other companys that have a forever warranty where in 20 years if it breaks you can call the local office and they will send someone to your house and help you pack up your product to send back or touch them with a sharpening block and not charge you for it.
-all the other benefits i wont go into but if you want they can be easily found on the cutco homepage. www.cutco.com

I can think of many people that i have been refered to that already had cutco that buy more because they like it or buy it because their friends or relatives say it is good. Im not saying cutco is the greatest and best knife out there but they are really good and i dont believe they should be frowned upon just because they are not sold in stores.

Wow, what a divergence of styles/price ranges/philosophies.

Like all the great enjoyable things in life, that last 10% of performance is where the premium price kicks in.

Chicago Cutlery is simple and needs sharpening frequently, but IMHO it's a pretty good deal for the $. I've had wusthoff, trident, henckels, sabatiers, and yes, they are certainly better. How much is it worth to you?? Chicago cutlery knives are like Almaden Golden Chablis--yup, it ain't Montrachet but doesn't pretend to be, and it's perfectly acceptable to serve to people whom you aren't trying to impress.

I promise I'm not name dropping now, but one brand I can't find any more is Trente Deux. I bought a 10" chef knife in 1975 in Galeries Lafayette as a souvenir from Paris. Well balanced and holds an edge nicely.

Re: sharpening: readers might find this knife web site helpful. It has more than any sane person needs to know about sharpening knives.

I love my Henckels Four Star knives and I am wondering how those of you who own them, take care of sharpening them. Here's a link to a thread about sharpening knives.

Anyone here have any experience with DiGangi Design knives. We bought a set at a craft show mainly because they look great and are as much decoration. Have revently started using them and they seem to work well, but I am too much of a knife novice to know if they are "good".
Just wondering any anyone has them and if you use them. any advice on handling, cleaning, maintaining that may be unusual or specific to these is appreciated.

Masamoto's are very good knives, but are still semi mass produced.
The idea that each is made the traditional "samurai" way, with the craftsman pouring his soul into his work, and then is sold, in volume, online, for $750 may be a little far fetched... But hey live the dream

A confessed knife fan here. Learned a lot on Knifeforums. I hinted around for one of these for a time, but DH never picked up on it. I really do love beautiful knives. I have some Wustoffs, Henckels, Globals, old Sabatiers. I use stones to sharpen, but I have never tried sharpening the Globals at home. I like my Global chef's knife, but I am a bit afraid of the metal becoming slippery, so I am very careful to dry my hands when I use it. I like my old, ugly Sabatiers because I get them razor sharp, but I sharpen and hone them so frequently that it is getting old. I tried the angled Shun and found the taper of the handle weird, but I like the D-shaped Shuns. I think I would recommend those to someone who wanted a couple of great knives, but didn't want to commit to regular Japanese knives.

I love my japanese knives, but you still find myself using my Wusthof's. They are easy to maintain and you do not have to be as careful with the thin japanese edge. The Original Grand Prix can be found at Cutlery And More at really low prices. They seem to still have a large selection left, too. I picked up an extra 8" Chef's Knife for $69...usually it's around $90! They also have Shun & Global knives too.

I was just in WS the other day looking at cookware and just wanted to take a quick look at their knives and was stunned by the beauty of the Kershaw Shun Santuko knife (Onion Series). It is beautiful just to look at. I would be afraid to use it in case it would destroy the beauty of the knife. I asked the salesperson if I could see it and I have to admit, it was very, very sharp. Having cut my finger in the past with one of my sharp knives, I hesitated. 2 questions: are there any good websites or other sources that would provide useful info on how to use your knives properly so I don't run in to the same problem and are these knives worth it since they are quite expensive. Also, how do you sharpen one of these and do you have to do it as often as you would other knives ie Chicago, Henkels etc?

Gerber Knives ROCK! Major selection. High Quality. Fair Prices.

I have several different good pieces of Chef knives from Global knives, I have arthritic hands and this is the best brand that works best for me even their Steak Knife Sets. I have tried Cutco and Henckels & Wusthof

I use to use other brands but they got too heavy for my hands and was uncomfortable to use and they remain sharp for a long time.

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