First Post, and the inevitable question

psykez · Jul 17, 2022

Hi All,

Just getting into having some decent kit at home, I have had a play with everything I could get my hands on in stores and realised I like my knives on the heavier side, but with small handles. The small handles seems to be the biggest sore point on finding knives

I have almost decided on a Wusthof classic as my main but I have a question around buying other knives.

I'd like to get a couple of beaters/teen use knives so my main doesn't get slammed at home. I thought I would go the Wusthof gourmet range for those but then I found an "off brand" forged range at a catering supplies place close to me. So the question is, known brand stamped or off brand forged?

Link to the off brand for reference: Cutlery Pro 250mm Forged Cooks Knife

Matus · Jul 18, 2022

Welcome to the forums

HumbleHomeCook · Jul 18, 2022

Welcome.

In mass produced knives, stamped vs. forged is largely just marketing hype and has little to no impact on the performance of the knife. What a lot of makers do do though, is up the hardness of the forged ones and that is the only real performance enhancer. Stamped knives are forged knives in that the metal they are stamped from was forged, just the final shape was not.

I have a few Gourmet knives and prefer them to Wusthof's so-called premium lines. They are light and do not have that massive finger bolster that many of us loathe.

As to the Classic line, at ~$170USD for an 8" chef knife, KKF can recommend much better performers in that range. In general, you'll discover that folks here find that Wusthof, Henkels, etc. have a lot of shortcomings.

There's a new knife questionnaire template here on the forum. Fill out and post a new thread. Folks will provide a lot of suggestions for you to consider.

Jovidah · Jul 18, 2022

Most of the mainstream 'forged' knives are simply just stamped blades with a bolster slapped on. There isn't necessarily much of a quality difference... and full bolsters are something I'd personally rather not have.

Benuser · Jul 18, 2022

Jovidah said:
Most of the mainstream 'forged' knives are simply just stamped blades with a bolster slapped on. There isn't necessarily much of a quality difference... and full bolsters are something I'd personally rather not have.

There are fingerguards and fingerguards. The narrow ones with vintage carbons you may redress with a few strokes with a nail file. Some larger ones, you may cut.
And some stainless monsters. Soft stainless steel, especially 4116, 'German steel', is very abrasion resistant. It make any stone sharpening simply impossible. Even daily or weekly maintenance with stone or rod will rapidly result in an overgrind at the blade next to it. The blade won't touch the board, resulting in accordion cuts. Dear @psykez, before you post the questionnaire, stay away from this very knife.