I'm looking at upgrading my old Chicago Cutlery knives. Of course, Wusty and
Henky are the 2 big names, but I am also hearing good things about
Messermeister. Can anyone provide good info on them and how they compare to
the big 2? Also, any opinions on Chicago Cutlery's line of forged knives? By
the way, I have a Chef's Choice 100 sharpener which I will hopefully use on
the new knives as well.

Any and all advice and info is appreciated.

Bob in RSM, CA

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 03:45:04 GMT, "Bob Hayden" >
wrote:

>I'm looking at upgrading my old Chicago Cutlery knives. Of course, Wusty and
>Henky are the 2 big names, but I am also hearing good things about
>Messermeister. Can anyone provide good info on them and how they compare to
>the big 2? Also, any opinions on Chicago Cutlery's line of forged knives? By
>the way, I have a Chef's Choice 100 sharpener which I will hopefully use on
>the new knives as well.

Messermeister is excellent, very close to Wusthof. Henckels seem to be
lighter bladed in general. Dick and Sabatier foirged are excellent
too.

For my money, Lamsonsharp makes a much better quality product than
Chicago Cutlery. Lamson also makes some of the deepest chef's knives
around, second only to the extra-wide Wusthofs. Beautiful stuff.

-- Larry

"Bob Hayden" > wrote in message
om...
> I'm looking at upgrading my old Chicago Cutlery knives. Of course, Wusty
and
> Henky are the 2 big names, but I am also hearing good things about
> Messermeister. Can anyone provide good info on them and how they compare
to
> the big 2? Also, any opinions on Chicago Cutlery's line of forged knives?
By
> the way, I have a Chef's Choice 100 sharpener which I will hopefully use
on
> the new knives as well.
>
> Any and all advice and info is appreciated.
>
> Bob in RSM, CA
>
>
>

Messermeister are comparable to the other brands - all top quality
equipment. One bit of advice, though. Don't use a Chef's Choice sharpener
on bolstered knives like the ones you mention. This type of design causes
the sharpening to begin continuously in front of the bolster and eventually
cause an S shaped edge. The Chef's Choice would be great for your Chicago
Cutlery, though.

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

Larry > wrote in
:

> On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 03:45:04 GMT, "Bob Hayden" >
> wrote:
>
>>I'm looking at upgrading my old Chicago Cutlery knives. Of course,
>>Wusty and Henky are the 2 big names, but I am also hearing good things
>>about Messermeister. Can anyone provide good info on them and how they
>>compare to the big 2? Also, any opinions on Chicago Cutlery's line of
>>forged knives? By the way, I have a Chef's Choice 100 sharpener which
>>I will hopefully use on the new knives as well.
>
> Messermeister is excellent, very close to Wusthof. Henckels seem to be
> lighter bladed in general. Dick and Sabatier foirged are excellent
> too.
>
> For my money, Lamsonsharp makes a much better quality product than
> Chicago Cutlery. Lamson also makes some of the deepest chef's knives
> around, second only to the extra-wide Wusthofs. Beautiful stuff.
>
> -- Larry
>
>

I have a number of Lamsons and like them. The workmanship is not as
perfect as my Wusthoffs, but the blades are indeed very deep and
sometimes that's what you want. A combination of makers and styles can
be a good thing.

Debbie

--
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and when it is found by spammers.

Fred,
Thanks for the words of knowledge.
So the Henckels, Wusthof, Messermeister forged lines are all relatively
comparable in quality...just a matter of personal preference, handle style,
etc?
Any other brands that are extremely worthy of consideration? I'm not looking
for the the absolute finest, necessarily, but I do want the best knives for
the money without compromising quality.
Also, regarding your comment on the Chef's Choice sharpener...other than a
steel for regular sharpening what are the preferred ways of keeping high
quality forged bolstered knives?
Thanx...I'm off to check out your website.
Bob

"Fred" > wrote in message
t...
>
> "Bob Hayden" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I'm looking at upgrading my old Chicago Cutlery knives. Of course, Wusty
> and
> > Henky are the 2 big names, but I am also hearing good things about
> > Messermeister. Can anyone provide good info on them and how they compare
> to
> > the big 2? Also, any opinions on Chicago Cutlery's line of forged
knives?
> By
> > the way, I have a Chef's Choice 100 sharpener which I will hopefully use
> on
> > the new knives as well.
> >
> > Any and all advice and info is appreciated.
> >
> > Bob in RSM, CA
> >
> >
> >
>
> Messermeister are comparable to the other brands - all top quality
> equipment. One bit of advice, though. Don't use a Chef's Choice
sharpener
> on bolstered knives like the ones you mention. This type of design causes
> the sharpening to begin continuously in front of the bolster and
eventually
> cause an S shaped edge. The Chef's Choice would be great for your Chicago
> Cutlery, though.
>
> Fred
> Knife Outlet
> http://www.knifeoutlet.com
>
>

Yes you could add several names to the list. Some of the Sabatier knives
would certainly compete head to head with these others. Burgvogel, Lamson -
lots of brands of quality cutlery. Yes I think it's a matter of personal
preference. High end cutlery like this will possible improve your results
in the kitchen but will certainly improve your pleasure in cooking. I think
feel is important. I'd feel them and then buy what you like. As an
example, the Wusof often have more belly to the blade profiles. I really
like that in a chefs knife or a bread knife but I don't particularly like it
in slicing knives. The Henckels have less belly. Personally I might
consider buying a Wustof chef and a Henckels carver, as an example. What
you like might be the opposite. After 50 years of knife sharpening I've
come to appreciate the products that maintain the angle correctly throughout
the sharpening process. Sure I can hone them by hand with stones. But I
can hone them faster with a good sharpening fixture like the Edgepro or even
the relatively inexpensive Lansky. You need two tools - a set of abrasives
to regrind bevels and a steel of some sort to keep the edges straight in
between sharpenings. Good cooking.

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

"Bob Hayden" > wrote in message
m...
> Fred,
> Thanks for the words of knowledge.
> So the Henckels, Wusthof, Messermeister forged lines are all relatively
> comparable in quality...just a matter of personal preference, handle
style,
> etc?
> Any other brands that are extremely worthy of consideration? I'm not
looking
> for the the absolute finest, necessarily, but I do want the best knives
for
> the money without compromising quality.
> Also, regarding your comment on the Chef's Choice sharpener...other than a
> steel for regular sharpening what are the preferred ways of keeping high
> quality forged bolstered knives?
> Thanx...I'm off to check out your website.
> Bob
>
> "Fred" > wrote in message
> t...
> >
> > "Bob Hayden" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > I'm looking at upgrading my old Chicago Cutlery knives. Of course,
Wusty
> > and
> > > Henky are the 2 big names, but I am also hearing good things about
> > > Messermeister. Can anyone provide good info on them and how they
compare
> > to
> > > the big 2? Also, any opinions on Chicago Cutlery's line of forged
> knives?
> > By
> > > the way, I have a Chef's Choice 100 sharpener which I will hopefully
use
> > on
> > > the new knives as well.
> > >
> > > Any and all advice and info is appreciated.
> > >
> > > Bob in RSM, CA
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Messermeister are comparable to the other brands - all top quality
> > equipment. One bit of advice, though. Don't use a Chef's Choice
> sharpener
> > on bolstered knives like the ones you mention. This type of design
causes
> > the sharpening to begin continuously in front of the bolster and
> eventually
> > cause an S shaped edge. The Chef's Choice would be great for your
Chicago
> > Cutlery, though.
> >
> > Fred
> > Knife Outlet
> > http://www.knifeoutlet.com
> >
> >
>
>

"zenit" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 00:52:29 GMT,
> "Fred" >
> had to open a new box of zerones to say:
>
> >Yes you could add several names to the list. Some of the Sabatier knives
> >would certainly compete head to head with these others. Burgvogel,
Lamson -
> >lots of brands of quality cutlery.
>
> The Forschner Fibrox series certainly deserves consideration... While
> it's a stamped product, the knife takes and holds a sharp edge, making
> it the favorite of many working chefs... I recently bought a small set
> of Wusthof Grand Prix knives and am hard pressed to see a major
> improvement in performance over my older Forschner blades... The price
> difference alone should make the Forschner series a contender...
>
> <! -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- zenit -- >

We were talking about high end forged knives. I think the Forschner are a
decent value at their price point but I wouldn't put them in the same league
as the others.

What fascinates me most, however, is the power of a Cook's Illustrated
review. There are all kinds of knives in the same price category as the
Forschner and most of them didn't get reviewed. Personally I would rate the
Forschners about in the middle of their class. The ones that I have have
relatively soft, thin blades and don't hold an edge particularly well.
Many, no most, commercial kitchen knives in that price category have harder
blades. The F.Dick Eurocut, as an example, are the same price as the
Forschner pretty much and better in ergonomics, steel, edge holding and
design. I have a Eurocut granton ham slicer that is really quite a good
knife, certainly better than any of the handful of Forschners I have - at
least for me.

I think what made the Forschner appeal to the Cook's Illustrated staff was
the thin blades which are really easy to push through food. A thin, sharp
blade can be appealing in the short run. In the long haul, though, harder
more substantial blades will usually please more.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that the Forschner sell really well.
We sell about 3 dozen of them per day. Ah, the power of a Cooks
Illustrated review!

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

>
> What fascinates me most, however, is the power of a Cook's Illustrated
> review. There are all kinds of knives in the same price category as the
> Forschner and most of them didn't get reviewed. Personally I would rate the
> Forschners about in the middle of their class. The ones that I have have
> relatively soft, thin blades and don't hold an edge particularly well.
> Many, no most, commercial kitchen knives in that price category have harder
> blades. The F.Dick Eurocut, as an example, are the same price as the
> Forschner pretty much and better in ergonomics, steel, edge holding and
> design. I have a Eurocut granton ham slicer that is really quite a good
> knife, certainly better than any of the handful of Forschners I have - at
> least for me.
>
> I think what made the Forschner appeal to the Cook's Illustrated staff was
> the thin blades which are really easy to push through food. A thin, sharp
> blade can be appealing in the short run. In the long haul, though, harder
> more substantial blades will usually please more.


Folks,

Keep in mind one thing. How long a blade holds an edge is less important
to a pro than how easy it cuts. Pro's (like myslef) can quickly
sharpen a knife whenever we need to. In a pinch, a few licks on a
diamond steel will put any knife into cutting condition, a least for a
few minutes.

But when you might have to slice a couple of hundred vegetables for a
project, you appreciate how easily a knife cus.

Also, as I have discovered, ergonomics is not only important, but
personal. For example, I prefer the handle of Henckels Four-Star line to
any other knife that I have used.

Colin