Economic alternative to Forschner Victorinox 10" chefs knife

[goatgolfer]

Many of us compare myriad knives against the standard of Forschner * Victorinox chef's knives of different vintages. Regardless of which company was branding and making the knives at the time this knife was a beater/standard/starter/gift/sharpening-slave/ baseline comparison for many users and post responders. Heck, I gave one to my mom since she wanted to see what "this knife thing was about".

For any number of economic reasons we now lament the current -2015- prices of this tool but I haven't seen any reasonable alternatives to a economically interesting, stamped, NSF-ish, 10" chef's (Western and gyuto generically) knife as the basis for comparison.

Ran across the Update International KP-09 High Carbon Stainless Steel Cooks Knife, 10-Inch on Amazon and with such a generic goo-fu searchable name it's hard to find any meaningful reviews about sharpening, edge retention, steel and all the other sexy stuff we discuss on KKF and others.

So, for ~$12 I am proposing that we consider some broad appeal, let the clowns destroy it, style forum inputs. I ordered mine last night but they seem to be everywhere in multiple configurations (even cimitar) and perhaps already in your stable and you are a closet user.

If someone finds a searchable name/phrase for this brand please share.

 

[TurboScooter]

I've had one personal experience with an Update International knife (KGE-06 bread knife), and it was total trash, even considering I paid under $7 shipped. I also went on a lunch pick up run recently and saw them in use behind the counter of the place we went to(looked like the KGE-08 chef knife in the same line) slicing steak and chicken. If you look at the Food Service Warehouse site they have high res pics that show the blade marked with steel type as "DIN 4110". The KGE-06 I got was marked 3CR13, if I remember correctly. Google "gift-knife-budget-under-40-mission-impossible" and the first result should be a forum thread where Update International knives come up for a little bit.

If you have a Costco that sells them, they carry Tramontina chef knives in a 2 pack of an 8 and 10 inch for something like $15. I am 99.9% sure they used to sell the exact same knives at Sam's Club before under their house brand Bakers And Chefs, but the current stock is all made in China (older stock was made in Brazil), so they may now no longer be Tramontinas, not sure. I have the made in Brazil Sam's ones, and for the money they are shockingly good.

The only Victorinox kitchen knives I have are a Fibrox handled bread knife and a rosewood handled chef knife so I can't do a direct comparison, but I would say the Fibrox handle feels a nicer than the textured hard polypropylene (which are grippy even in soapy dish washing water) on the Tramontina and the blades on the Victorinox are cosmetically finished at a much higher level.

A quick side story about made in China from Sam's:
My boss picked up a set of the Tramontina steak knives from Amazon for a coworker who thinks they're the greatest knife ever made. We actually tried to get them from Sam's first, but it turns out that even though Sam's shows a Tramontina made pack on their website, they've replaced it with a garbage quality Chinese made clone that got returned instantly. Because of this I would hesitate to try the current stock of the chef knives at Sam's.

If you don't have a Costco that sells these, they are being resold on Amazon by a third party vendor (for a lot more money than Costco, search "B00UG3M1EE" on Amazon). Actually, a lot of the Tramontina ProLine stuff is being resold on Amazon. The paring knife 4 pack and the santoku two pack also look exactly like the Sam's stuff.

 

[gic]

I give away the Tramontinas from Costco to friends all the time and they are astonishingly good for the money.Less than $14 for a package containing a 10 and 8" chef or two santakus. The profile is actually quite similar to Victorinox (large belly etc). Costco Online sells a kit for quite reasonably priced $59.99 containing:

2- Utility Knives: 6"
2- Santoku Knives: 7"
1- Cook's Knife: 8"
1- Cook's Knife: 10"
2- Clip Point Paring Knives: 3"
2- Paring/Chefs Style Knives: 3.25"
Cutting Board: 20"

(They also sell the tramontina steak knives online.)

which you can easily get a friend who is a member to order for you if yiou are not a member yourself. (But almost all the costcos I have been to carry the tramontina pro line).

Also, if you can find one, the Kom Kom chef knife is astonishingly good for the money and their bunka bukka type cleavers are also an amazing buy (and much more easy to find).

 

[IndoorOutdoorCook]

Wusthof Pro is not as cheap as anything mentioned so far, but it more or less took over the price point previoiusly held by the Victorinox Fibrox knives.

 

[panda]

most people will destroy kom kom/kiwi, they are too thin. wusthof pro looks like direct replacement of victorinox.

 

[goatgolfer]

I give away the Tramontinas from Costco to friends all the time and they are astonishingly good for the money.Less than $14 for a package containing a 10 and 8" chef [snipped by gg]

For $13.50 I bought the 2 Tramontina chef tools from Costco tonight, only for scientific purposes. When the International trash arrives I can add something to my question. It was only a question to start with you know... The Wusthof Pro line info is new to me but I'm not sure where to see one other than buying one and what's a boy to do with so much un-sharpenable stainless in one place when his mother already has one.

 

[GeneH]

If the package says Tramontina, are we fairly certain it came from Brazil, not China? I ask because the Tramontina 5" Boning Knife Professional Stainless Steel, if not Chinese, may fit the boning knife replacement I'm looking for.

 

[goatgolfer]

The Tramontina chef's knives were marked on the package and on the knives product of Brazil. I didn't look at the boning, paring knife offerings but I don't live too far away if you want me to look for you @GeneH.

 

[daveb]

Dexter Russell makes a line of NSF kitchen knives that don't suck. Stainless with the plastic handles. Branded as made in USA. I've had a variant of their filet in my tackle back for 30+ years, Impossible to make rust. I've used the Chef knife from the series, they take a decent edge, don't hold it well. They make a boner in the same line.

The Wusthoff Pro is aimed right at the Vnox market. Decent beater knife for kitchen, good for the timeshare or RV lifestyle or kid's leaving the nest.

 

[Noodle Soup]

Mundial (Brazil) and Mercer (Taiwan) are both lower priced commercial kitchen knives that compete with Victorinox. Equal, I don't know?

 

[chinacats]

Mundial (Brazil) and Mercer (Taiwan) are both lower priced commercial kitchen knives that compete with Victorinox. Equal, I don't know?

Don't know about the Mundial, but the Mercers suck imo.

 

[Dardeau]

Mundial is pretty darn bad.

 

[chinacats]

I just googled Victorinox 10" chefs knife and one of the first hits was from Amazon for 39.99. :scratchhead: I'm not sure exactly what you're looking to spend but not quite sure how this is not economical. It is a very good knife for the money.

 

[Noodle Soup]

Hey, he wanted something cheaper than Vic. Both of the brands I mentioned are and they see a lot of use in commercial kitchens. There are also a lot of low end Chinese knives being sold by the restaurant supply houses these days too. You get what you pay for. Personally, I would just stick with Vic., F. Dick, Russell, Sanelli or maybe Frosts of Sweden. The next jump up would be the various Japanese lines but they don't always offer some of the common western patterns.

 

[Keith Sinclair]

I just googled Victorinox 10" chefs knife and one of the first hits was from Amazon for 39.99. :scratchhead: I'm not sure exactly what you're looking to spend but not quite sure how this is not economical. It is a very good knife for the money.

My thoughts too.:doublethumbsup: The Victorinox 10" chef knife you can put a convex edge on & keep sharpening till you wear it out. Some of these cheaper knives are hard to sharpen burr can be a pain in the A#@. That alone makes em not worth it + crappy edge retention. Thick behind the edge.

Going bottom fishing with stainless can easy yield a poor catch