New here from South Texas

Hello, I am new here from South Texas. I currently have a few Henckels Pro S and some other less expensive knives. I am looking for a set. Yes a set and I know I will not use all knives all of the time.

I would like your advise. I just read enough to know most of you are not Henckels fans. I was about to pull the trigger of the zwilling 18 Piece Pro Set. My budget is $1600-$2000.

I do a lot of cooking in either a Primo ceramic grill, or sous vide. We do a lot of chopping and steak cutting and quartering whole chicken. We have a decent looking kitchen and want the knives not only for function but want a nice block set for presentation. Like most I want the most bang for my buck and want a set. I may not need the set but thats what I want.

Would some of you chime in with some recommendations for a nice set? Sorry if this question has been asked to death.:newhere:

Welcome to the forum!

I dont think I can help much to your question, but I think you will find around here that the folks around here are knowledgeable and will help you make a decision

Where in south TX are you?

Most people here won't recommend sets and certainly not Zwilling.

There are members all over TX that would be willing to demo some of their knives assuming you live close enough.

-Sam

Welcome!

Well, I think you understand that most here don't care for buying sets and wouldn't recommend it, and I am not sure what 'bang for the buck' means in terms of a set (number of knives?). But since you mention set so many times I will stick to your request. I only have a paring knife in this line, but the Miyabi Birchwood knives are attractive, good knives and come in a set -- it will run around $1,200. Different vendors will offer slightly different sets, so look around for which one offers the best knife combo for your usage.

I would allow some of your budget for sharpening supplies as the steel provided won't be the tool for the job.

There is also the Bob Kramer line from SLT. It'll cost more but it is sexy.

k.

EDIT: But I would be remiss to not suggest spending the 2K on individual knives. You could go with the same line of knives to have 'a look' and invest in a nice looking mag strip or block to show them off.

2nd EDIT: Welcome.

Welcome

Paco.McGraw said:

Where in south TX are you?

Most people here won't recommend sets and certainly not Zwilling.

There are members all over TX that would be willing to demo some of their knives assuming you live close enough.

-Sam

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Thanks for your reply. I'm in Corpus Christi. From the searches I have done here I figured out that zwilling was not going to be recommended. My sister has a full Cutco set and has been telling me to buy Cutco, but I'm sure many would not recommend them either. I'm doing research now and had actually purchased a full zwilling pro "S" set but the set came with a missing knife and I had to send it back. Thank goodness for me as it appears from the many comments here I would have purchased a substandard set.

I will keep looking on this forum for answers and hope others chime in. Thanks.

I have the Zwilling Kramer 10" chef knife and the paring knife and like both of them. If you require a set, that should work for you. Please know however, that the steel used is 52100 which is a carbon steel that can rust if you leave it out. There is a 7 piece set of stainless zwilling kramer damascus that I haven't tried out but may work for you if you are afraid of carbon knives. If you have an SLT near you, I would go and try them out. They will let you try them in the store to see if you like them. I would recommend doing that. SLT has a very good return policy too.

Also, I would include at least two sharpening stones into that mix. Something in a 1000/5000 or 2000/6000. I wouldn't get the Kramer ones though because it doesn't look like you get much stone for what you pay.

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum! Good to have you, How many pieces, and particularly which pieces are you "Needing" This may help the guys narrow it down for you.

Welcome to KKF.

K's suggestion about the Miyabi Birchwood is a good one, but the knives in the set have both a bit of overlap and a gap. The 8" chef's or the 7" santoku perform the same function, and there is no slicing knife in the set.

Perhaps the Hattori FH series at Japanese Chefs Knife (http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HattoriForumHighEndChefsKnives.html) might fit your specifications, especially with the cocobolo or ebony handles. Pick up a nice looking knife block locally and you should be good to go. I'd recommend the 70 mm paring, the 150 mm petty/utility, the 160 mm boning for breaking down chickens, the 210 mm or 240 mm chef's/gyuto and the 270 mm slicer/sujihiki. If you need a heavy-duty knife, add either the 165 mm or 240 mm Western deba.

Rick

Pensacola Tiger said:

Welcome to KKF.


Perhaps the Hattori FH series at Japanese Chefs Knife (http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HattoriForumHighEndChefsKnives.html) might fit your specifications, especially with the cocobolo or ebony handles. ...

Rick

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Wow! Those are some nice looking knives. I would have never even ventured to look at others besides those produced for the masses. This is going to be harder than I thought. The more I learn, the more I realize I didn't know. Thanks.

The Miyabi set off of Cutlery and More replaces the redundant utility knife with a 9-inch bread knife. Just FYI. Adding a slicer to that set might avoid too much overlap. If you go the Sur la Table route, keep in mind that ebates gives 6.5% off purchases at SLT. If you added the slicer at $300 to the $1200 set, you would save around $100 and it would knock the price down to $1400 for the set with slicer.

With that said, I would highly recommend a Hattori set as Rick suggested. That's actually what first came to mind to me too. Other than that you could piece together a hammered togiharu set from Korin. I've never tried them before, but I am sure they are fine.

http://korin.com/Knives/Togiharu-Hammered-Damascus_2

k.

Edit: With the Hattori from JCK, you could get a 70 mm parer, 150 petty, 160 boning knife, 240 gyuto, 270 suji, and chinese cleaver for $1,400. Add in a combo stone and block and maybe a ceramic Idahone too.

Greetings! No help here but to say you have already received some excellent advice.

Cheers!

welcome!

PierreRodrigue said:

Welcome to the forum! Good to have you, How many pieces, and particularly which pieces are you "Needing" This may help the guys narrow it down for you.

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Thanks. I guess I need the necessary basics whatever that means. I was under the impression to buy the most I could afford. I after reading the replies and doing further research based on the replies I have learned that the steel and Rockwell hardness are very important. I think carbon knives are going to be out because they will rust and my wife would not take proper care of them.

I now realize that the RC of 57 on the Henckel set I was going to buy is not all that great. I think at this point Japanese knives are the way to go. I wanted a set because we recently moved and during the move we lost some of our knives. I have no idea how that happened. I frequently have family over and need plenty of steak knives and I was of the thinking to buy a set because I was of the impression that you get more knives for less. Now it looks I will be spending more and get fewer knives and still have to buy a steak knife set.

I was looking at the Miyabi (there are several and confusing) and Bob Kramer. Now I'm more confused but at least I know I'm headed in the right direction. I know why everyone was so against a "set." I am leaning to either buying a set like I mention above or like all of you suggested start buying individual knives and get a nice block.

Thanks everyone

Welcome, good to see another Texan in the fray!:biggrin:

Welcome, good people here

A little late, but .....Welcome!