Wusthof Grand Prix 7-Piece Knife Block Set

I just received this item and it did NOT come with the 8" carving knife. It had shears/scissors instead of the 8" carving knife. Not sure if I want to keep it or not.

I researched kitchen knives quite a bit before I decided on buying Wusthof. The Classic Black and Grand Prix lines are the highest rated in general over the majority of editorial reviews, and are the most common choice of chefs. Not having a lot of money, I was planning on waiting and saving up for a while before I bought a knife set, but when Wusthof discontinued their Grand Prix line in favor of Grand Prix II, I jumped on the clearance prices. These are amazing deals on fabulous knives.

I agree, it was disappointing not to get the carving knife with the set, but I bought it with the cutting board set. I paid $215 for a cutlery set that would probably retail around $600. These knives should last the rest of your life if you take proper care of them. Do your knives a favor and have them professionally sharpened at least once a year.

Personally, I have been extremely pleased with these knives. They are extremely sharp, and hold their edge very well. Nicely balanced and attractive. There is such a difference between good and bad steel.

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Initial Review in 2004:

We were very excited to receive the Grand Prix 7-piece set based on the all the positive reviews we found...

When it arrived, inside the shipping box was a very plain white box containing the knives. When we opened this up we noticed they had actually used the box from the Classic 7-piece set and turned it inside out! It appears Wusthof ran out of the Grand Prix boxes and just substituted an inside out box from another set. Okay, surprising, but no big deal...

Next we looked over all the knives in the set and we noticed that the Kitchen Shears felt cheap and didn't match the quality of the rest of the set. Turns out the Kitchen Shears have a "Made in China" stamp on the blades. We had expected a set made in Germany and yet the shears are made in China. This put some doubt in our minds about where the rest of the set was made.

Called up Wusthof customer service to inquire whether this set was genuine and after some time on hold was informed that they ran out of the German made kitchen shears for the closed out Grand Prix line and had started to substitute shears from China. However, they assured us that the knives were made in Germany and just the shears were not.

This is not a knock against Chinese products, many great products come from there. It's just that we paid for a high quality product that was marketed as being produced in Germany by a company that's been making knives since 1814, and we end up with pieces from a factory whose quality is unknown to us.

UPDATED 2/5/2013:

We've had this set for just over 8 years now and it's held up very well, scissors included. We're extremely pleased with the quality of this set.

Read Best Reviews of Wusthof Grand Prix 7-Piece Knife Block Set Here

I love these knives. I replaced a 20 year old set that still had good blades, but the wooden handles were in bad shape. I found the two Consumer Reports reviews (I have had a subscription for many years back to Dec 1998 and Dec 2002). Wusthof Grand Prix were the best in their tests both times. They are best in my tests here in my kitchen. Beautiful balance, the handles have a textured surface so they won't slip out of your hand when wet. They are so sharp. I put wax paper on my cutting boards before slicing and the paper is in shreds everytime after chopping or slicing. I am very happy with these knives and try to think up new meals that require their use. I use them on a daily basis. I also purchased the 8 inch carver and the steak knive set to fill up my block. I keep the two extra steak knives in their case. I love the bread knive. Now, I buy my bread unsliced and it makes perfect slices to any thickness. My shears were from Germany, but my 4.5 inch utility knive was a steak knive instead. So, I have 3 utility or steak knives in the block. My guests help me chop just to use the knives. I have never had so much help in the kitchen before.

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I got these as a gift-asked for them after much deliberation. Not only are they inexpensive compared to others (although I think they were on sale for $150 when we bought them), but after looking at knives in Williams-Sonoma, BB&B, etc., I think the quality of these knives is as good as any of the other Wusthofs or Henkels. They came highly recommended by Consumer Reports, too.

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