My Forschner 10" bread knife (rosewood handle) has dulled. The last time I
had a local kitchen store sharpen a good serrated knife for me, they ruined
it, so I begin to suspect that I should simply replace it.

I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good bread knife, long enough
and robust enough to handle a decent-sized, heavy-crusted cottage loaf.

Is the smart money on a new Forschner every four or five years, or would
splashing out for Henckels or Wusthof or [your suggestion here] prove the
wiser route? Let's say that I have a good thirty years of bread-baking and
-slicing left in me . . .

Thanks,

Joe

I bought the Wusthof offset serrated bread knife (offset means that
the blade is lower than the handle). I rapidly became one of my
favorite knives, and I have bought it as a gift for each of my
children and my stepdaughter. They all love it. The bad news is that
the blade isn't as long as other bread knives, but if you can get past
that, I think you'd be very happy with it.

BTW, the serration is on one side only, so you sharpen it only on the
non-serrated side.

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 23:22:42 GMT, (Joe
Loewenstein) wrote:

>My Forschner 10" bread knife (rosewood handle) has dulled. The last time I
>had a local kitchen store sharpen a good serrated knife for me, they ruined
>it, so I begin to suspect that I should simply replace it.
>
>I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good bread knife, long enough
>and robust enough to handle a decent-sized, heavy-crusted cottage loaf.
>
>Is the smart money on a new Forschner every four or five years, or would
>splashing out for Henckels or Wusthof or [your suggestion here] prove the
>wiser route? Let's say that I have a good thirty years of bread-baking and
>-slicing left in me . . .
>
>Thanks,
>
>Joe
>

Joe Loewenstein wrote:

>I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good bread knife, long enough
>and robust enough to handle a decent-sized, heavy-crusted cottage loaf.

We have Forschner, and Henckels 4-star, and Wusthof Classic bread
knives -- all put away in my box of extra knives. All because of a
seemingly very unusual bread knife that I bought on eBay at the
beginning of this year. It's a Sabatier Stainless (logo says "Inox",
with the four star and elephant images), 12 inch long, 2-3/8 inch wide
serrated blade, full tang, wooden handle (not the greatest wood finish
in the world), and it is absolutely terrific.

A picture is at http://www.xhost.org/images/breadknifesm.jpg.

(A very large -- 0.5 MB --picture is at
http://www.xhost.org/images/breadknife.jpg. )

This monster is the best thing we have ever come across for slicing
large bread machine loaves, bagels, etc. The razor-sharp wide blade
keeps the cuts straight, and the weight of the blade makes cuts
through dense breads trivial.

The seller billed it as a "17-inch bread knife"; he also had a smaller
one for sale. I Haven't seen his ads lately, but I'd love to buy a
couple more of these things as gifts. I believe the price was $47.
I've never seen them anywhere else.

Does anyone know anything more about these bread knives? Anyone have a
source for them?

-- Larry

Get one from Poilane...very sharp, serrated, and beautifully crafted.

Consider this pure heresy, but I like the $2.99 "SLIPAD" offset bread
knife I picked up at IKEA, of all places. It's a Chinese-made, stamped,
serrated stainless knife with a molded polypropylene handle. (Who'd
expect any more for that price?)

And, yes, I know enough not to expect any kind of long service from
such a cheapie. It certainly won't last anywhere near as long as my
Wusthof chef and paring knives, but at that price you can afford to
keep a dozen spares around.

You can see it on IKEA's web site, but it's only available in their
retail stores.

I also have no worries about letting anyone use that bread knife.

--
- rick http://www.cfcl.com/~rick/
Rick Auricchio Acoustic Legacy Studios
I acknowledge the existence of a higher power, and have therefore installed
surge suppressors.

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 23:22:42 GMT, (Joe
Loewenstein) wrote:

>My Forschner 10" bread knife (rosewood handle) has dulled. The last time I
>had a local kitchen store sharpen a good serrated knife for me, they ruined
>it, so I begin to suspect that I should simply replace it.
>
>I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good bread knife, long enough
>and robust enough to handle a decent-sized, heavy-crusted cottage loaf.
>
>Is the smart money on a new Forschner every four or five years, or would
>splashing out for Henckels or Wusthof or [your suggestion here] prove the
>wiser route? Let's say that I have a good thirty years of bread-baking and
>-slicing left in me . . .
>
>Thanks,
>
>Joe
>
My money is on an inexpensive one from the local restaurant supply
store. They may be short in the rosewood department, but they are
made to cut a lot of bread in a production environment.

Fine. It's worth keeping in mind that the Forschner often sold in restaurant
supply houses has a fibrox handle, the same blade as the roasewood and is only
about 5 bucks cheaper. This is the knife (fibrox or rosewood) to which Cook's
Illustrated gave the nod. The delicate insinuation that I was initially
motivated by love of fancy woods is a bit off base.

My initial question really concerned whether there weren't better blades than
the Forschner. It doesn't seem to me that origins in a restaurant supply
store is necessarily a guarantee of robustness of a serrated edge. If there's
nothing better than the Forschner near that price, though, I'll simply do it
again.

"Joe Loewenstein" > wrote in message
gy.com...
> Fine. It's worth keeping in mind that the Forschner often sold in
restaurant
> supply houses has a fibrox handle, the same blade as the roasewood and
is only
> about 5 bucks cheaper. This is the knife (fibrox or rosewood) to
which Cook's
> Illustrated gave the nod. The delicate insinuation that I was
initially
> motivated by love of fancy woods is a bit off base.
>
> My initial question really concerned whether there weren't better
blades than
> the Forschner. It doesn't seem to me that origins in a restaurant
supply
> store is necessarily a guarantee of robustness of a serrated edge. If
there's
> nothing better than the Forschner near that price, though, I'll simply
do it
> again.

Actually I like the fibrox handles.....very comfortable. And I know one
isn't supposed to put them in the dishwasher, but there are times...

Why would you have to throw it away after 5 years? Is a serrated knife
that costly to sharpen or regrind? One of those little round diamond
deals ought to do it, and you would have to resharpen the expensive one
about as often.

del cecchi
>
>

"B.Server" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 23:22:42 GMT, (Joe
> Loewenstein) wrote:
>
> >My Forschner 10" bread knife (rosewood handle) has dulled. The last time
I
> >had a local kitchen store sharpen a good serrated knife for me, they
ruined
> >it, so I begin to suspect that I should simply replace it.
> >
> >I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good bread knife, long
enough
> >and robust enough to handle a decent-sized, heavy-crusted cottage loaf.
> >
> >Is the smart money on a new Forschner every four or five years, or would
> >splashing out for Henckels or Wusthof or [your suggestion here] prove the
> >wiser route? Let's say that I have a good thirty years of bread-baking
and
> >-slicing left in me . . .
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Joe
> >
> My money is on an inexpensive one from the local restaurant supply
> store. They may be short in the rosewood department, but they are
> made to cut a lot of bread in a production environment.

Actually, they are made to be cheap. I have and use a Forschner 10" bread
knife and I like it a lot-a good knife for the money. My very favorite
bread knife, though, is the Wustof because it features a blade with a lot of
belly (convex edge.) I find that it speeds the bread cutting process. Most
importantly, get a long one - 10" at least. Using short bread knives is
inefficient.

Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com

In message > - "Fred"
> writes:
:>. . . My very favorite
:>bread knife, though, is the Wustof because it features a blade with a lot of
:>belly (convex edge.) I find that it speeds the bread cutting process. Most
:>importantly, get a long one - 10" at least. Using short bread knives is
:>inefficient.
:>
:>Fred
:>Knife Outlet
:>http://www.knifeoutlet.com
:>
:>

Thanks for the advice, Fred. Oddly, though, all the long Wusthof bread knives
seem to have _less_ belly than the Forschner. I'm looking at photos, though.

I wonder if anyone has ever bought/tried the Furi bread knife (Australian)
that sells for around $80

http://www.chefsresource.com/fur10breadkn.html

I've seen it advertised and have been tempted -- but -----

Dee


"Joe Loewenstein" > wrote in message
m...
> My Forschner 10" bread knife (rosewood handle) has dulled. The last time
I
> had a local kitchen store sharpen a good serrated knife for me, they
ruined
> it, so I begin to suspect that I should simply replace it.
>
> I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good bread knife, long
enough
> and robust enough to handle a decent-sized, heavy-crusted cottage loaf.
>
> Is the smart money on a new Forschner every four or five years, or would
> splashing out for Henckels or Wusthof or [your suggestion here] prove the
> wiser route? Let's say that I have a good thirty years of bread-baking
and
> -slicing left in me . . .
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joe
>
>

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 00:07:48 GMT, Andy Katz >
wrote:

>On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 22:58:53 -0500, pltrgyst >
>wrote:
>
>>We have Forschner, and Henckels 4-star, and Wusthof Classic bread
>>knives -- all put away in my box of extra knives. All because of a
>>seemingly very unusual bread knife that I bought on eBay at the
>>beginning of this year. It's a Sabatier Stainless (logo says "Inox",
>>with the four star and elephant images), 12 inch long, 2-3/8 inch wide
>>serrated blade, full tang, wooden handle (not the greatest wood finish
>>in the world), and it is absolutely terrific.
>
>I have one of those. The interesting aspect, to me, is that the edge
>does not directly contact the cutting board, and requires a good
>shove, or pull, to finish cutting through a stiff bottom crust (say of
>a ciabatta). The nicest part, of course, is how is precisely it
>slices through a hard top crust.

Thank you for confirming the knife's existence -- the first other one
I've heard of.

Yes, the blade has two straight, unsharpened edge areas around 1/4
inch long at the two ends, which have the effect you describe. Tipping
the loaf slightly allows a quick finish to the cut through any bottom
crust I've encountered, and the broad blade keeps it all straight.

-- Larry

In article >,
says...
> I wonder if anyone has ever bought/tried the Furi bread knife (Australian)
> that sells for around $80
>
> http://www.chefsresource.com/fur10breadkn.html
>
> I've seen it advertised and have been tempted -- but -----
>
> Dee
I can't imagine why anyone would want an $80 bread knife. All it has to
do is cut bread, not do delicate surgery.
--
Jerry Bank
Trenton, New Jersey
Music is the language of the gods.

In article >,
Jerry Bank > wrote:
>I can't imagine why anyone would want an $80 bread knife. All it
>has to do is cut bread, not do delicate surgery.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

Cutting a bagel in half, or a light croissant is not that easy
without the proper knife.

Using good tools is always a pleasure.

Imagine getting that little bit of joy every morning when you cut
open your bagel. $80 isn't that much for a daily bit of joy.

YMMV


Chuck Demas

--
Eat Healthy | _ _ | Nothing would be done at all,
Stay Fit | @ @ | If a man waited to do it so well,
Die Anyway | v | That no one could find fault with it.
| \___/ | http://world.std.com/~cpd

Ah, Chuck,
You say it so well.
Dee

"Charles Demas" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Jerry Bank > wrote:
> >I can't imagine why anyone would want an $80 bread knife. All it
> >has to do is cut bread, not do delicate surgery.
>
> Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
>
> Cutting a bagel in half, or a light croissant is not that easy
> without the proper knife.
>
> Using good tools is always a pleasure.
>
> Imagine getting that little bit of joy every morning when you cut
> open your bagel. $80 isn't that much for a daily bit of joy.
>
> YMMV
>
>
> Chuck Demas
>
> --
> Eat Healthy | _ _ | Nothing would be done at all,
> Stay Fit | @ @ | If a man waited to do it so well,
> Die Anyway | v | That no one could find fault with it.
> | \___/ | http://world.std.com/~cpd

The handle looks slippery to me and, without a bolster, could lead to
your hand slipping up over the blade, called a stubbing injury. I agree
with both the writer who said a good tool is a joy and the one who said
why spend $80 to slice bread. The Forschner offset bread knife
http://www.knifeoutlet.com/catalog/F.../FORFBREAD.htm
and the similar F. Dick
http://www.bigtray.com/productdetails.asp!sku.MTC8005521,catid.16910.html
are great knives for the money.

Steve

--
Sharpening Made Easy: A Primer on Sharpening Knives and Other Edged
Tools by Steve Bottorff Copyright January 2002 Knife World Publications
www.sharpeningmadeeasy.com
E-mail: steve AT sharpeningmadeeasy DOT com