Chicago Cutlery Essentials 15-Piece Knife Set

Chicago Cutlery Essentials 15-Piece Knife SetAfter moving into our first place together, my wife and I really wanted some nice kitchen knives, but weren't ready to spend the 300-400 dollarsi would take. After hearing good reviews about Chicago Cutlery, we decided to give them a try. I think this may be one of the worst sets they offer.

DESIGN/QUALITY

The knives themselves are well designed and feel nice in the hand, and the block is pretty sturdy! The steak knives are handy and the kitchen scissors are extremely handy! The rest of the actual kitchen knives cut moderately well and have stayed pretty sharp over the past 2 years. Here is our biggest problem: we have taken great care of these knives, without any real abuse or misuse, but several of them have already developed rust spots!!?? These are supposed to be stainless steel! It's highly disappointing! Steel wool and polishing compounds have not helped!

WHY 3 STARS??

Cheap (+)

Cheap (-)

Stainless Steel blades have rust spots (--)

OVERALL

We still use these knives and they will do for now, but I can't really recommend them to anyone. I highly suggest you keep looking, there are MUCH better sets out there for the same price.

**UPDATE**

Well we finally upgraded, and I can HIGHLY recommend this set: Wusthof Gourmet 12-Piece Knife Set with Block. It has all of the features of the CC set, but we have seen no rusting and in fact the Ginsu knives have stayed infinitely sharper!

Says stainless steel but knives do show signs of rust after minimal use and only hand washing/drying. Also, no large carving knife in this set. Would recommend this set to those on a budget only, giving this set an average rating.

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Just as the other reviewers mentioned, these get rusty after a few uses.

I do not recommend them. Had other products from this company before without this problem.

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This is a first-blush review. I've only just now gotten these out of the box and into the block. I will update this review after a couple weeks of use.

Pros: Block is solid, heavy and attracive. Full tang blade. 3 riveted handle. Knives are very sharp.

Cons: Too lightweight. Handles are too small/narrow (this is obviously subjective, but since I have big paws, the handles are a con). Stamped metal rather than forged. Knives, especially steak knives, fit very loosely in the block. It is clear that not a great deal of thought went into the design here. Does not come with a sharpening steel or block sharpener (seems like most sets have one or the other).

I can already tell I don't have knives for life here, but I needed a knife set for a new house and didn't want to spend the $250-300 yet that it takes to get into the quality knife arena. That being said, if these knives can get me by for a year or so without rusting out, then the purchase won't be in vain.

Bottom line: Clearly these are not high-end knives, and you get what you pay for. These are a step up from buying crap store-brand knives, but they are a far cry from high quality.

-----------------------UPDATE-05/19/2012-------------------------

After a couple of weeks of very light use, the following has proven true:

Edge still sharp. All of these knives cut fairly well.

Comfort These handles are simply too small, and do not feel good in the hand.

"Stainless Steel" I can already make out very faint spotting on two of the knives. This is after probably 4 or 5 uses, hand-washing, and immediately drying.

I don't regret the purchase for the price, but I will be upgrading to a higher-end set sooner rather than later.

-----------------------UPDATE-06/03/12----------------------------

RUST RUST RUST RUST RUST RUST. Have I made the point clear??

I hand wash these knives directly after use, and hand dry them immediately after washing. No dishwasher, no prolonged exposure to moisture... The result?? RUST!!!

These knives are junk. End of story.

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I like the knives and it's a good set. My only problem was that the holes in the block aren't all the correct size. I had to switch two of them from the placement map they sent, and I had to have my dad widen the hole for the bread knife.

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