Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program If I have learned anything from my grandmother who was a professional chef for over forty years of her life or from my own fifteen years of experience in a high end restaurant kitchen it is this... keep your knives sharp! And a must-have kitchen tool to keep those knives their sharpest is a high quality honing steel.
A good steel is essential for maintaining the sharpest edges on your knives. Unlike other knife sharpeners which remove steel from the blade, a honing steel straightens the edge of the knife by realigning it to its center. The diamond sharpening steel is the best there is and also the most expensive but so worth the investment.
A diamond steel such as this Fischer Bargoin 11-Inch Diamond Sharpening Steel, with Chrome Coating will not only hone your blades but will sharpen them as well. The steel is coated with a layer of diamond dust which makes it harder for more effective sharpening. The wide oval surface of the Fischer Bargoin will quickly bring new life to dull blades and sharp knives are much safer to use than dull knives.
All of my knives are highest quality Wusthofs and have been serving me well since the 1970s. Of course that means taking excellent care of them and I always have. I use my steel once daily before using each knife. Over the years I have had to replace my steels periodically but I have always chosen the more expensive diamond steels because they last much longer and do a superior job.
This Fischer Bargoin is the first steel I have used which is not a Wusthof. I was excited when given the opportunity by Amazon Vine to try the French made Fischer Bargoin for review as it just so happens that it was time for me to replace my Wusthof steel.
The 11 inch Fischer Bargoin steel is a good length for me. I tend to use my 10 inch chef's knife the most so the 11 inch steel seems perfect. The Fischer Bargoin is flat and oval instead of round like my Wusthof and it felt a bit awkward at first, but after sharpening all of my chef's knives once with it, I do like its wide oval surface. The handle is square and offers good control. It is also lighter to handle than my Wusthof and since I have carpal tunnel syndrome the lighter weight is noticeable and quite nice.
From an aesthetic point of view the Fischer Bargoin is rather generic looking with its gray plastic handle. I will not be hanging it for storage (a loop is provided for hanging) so that doesn't really matter to me. I will be keeping it in my knife drawer where it will not be seen. What does matter is how well it sharpens and the easy to use Fischer Bargoin steel will place an incredibly sharp edge on your knives and reward you with superior knife performance, whether you are a professional chef or a simple home cook like me.
But please remember...a sharp knife is a safe knife! After sharpening, expect your knife to be very sharp...and respect it.
After sharpening every knife in my knife drawer with my new Fischer Bargoin 11-Inch Diamond Sharpening Steel, with Chrome Coating I am pleased to say that now my knives are all uncommonly sharp with better than professional edges. I do not hesitate to give the Fischer Bargoin 11-Inch Diamond Sharpening Steel, with Chrome Coating my enthusiastic recommendation.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program The best ingredients, recipes, and technique won't matter a bit if you don't have sharp knives. Dull blades not only force you to work harder but can also make finished dishes unattractive. Thick, irregular slices of meat and hacked up vegetables will greatly diminish the tableside appeal of a meal you've spent time planning, preparing, and presenting.
Nobody wants to sharpen their knives before each and every use though; in addition to being time consuming, sharpening grinds down knife blades. So, most experienced cooks use a steel to hone the edge on their knives between sharpenings.
Fischer-Castet/Fischer-Bargoin has designed an excellent steel. The 11-inch Fusil Diamant has three features that set it apart from the sort of steels that are included in kitchen knife sets or sold at hardware stores:
*The diamond coating creates less drag on blades than uncoated steels, making it easier to swipe knives along the steel.
*An 11-inch length helps to hone knives with a minimum of strokes.
*The plastic handle is more hygienic and easier to keep clean than wood.
Bottom line: a fine product and well worth the premium over typical home-kitchen steels.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I own a few knife sets, including a set of Shuns and Wusthofs. I will begin by saying that I only tried this sharpening steel on my Wusthof's because it does not just straighten knives but also has some sharpening properties. My Shuns are very sharp and a few seconds to straighten the edge is all they need to perform flawlessly. Additionally, I've had my Wusthofs longer and they were in 'worse' shape, so I decided to experiment on them with this Fischer Bargoin sharpening steel. The length is perfect, the steel is easy to use and you'll definitely see results. Where before a knife's edge might have seemed dull, after a few passes on this steel, you'll see a new shine and sharpness appear. You can readily see and feel the results as soon as you start using your knives. But this product is more so recommended for knives that need both a little sharpening and straightening, rather than new pieces that are performing well on a day to day basis but might need to be straightened out every now and then.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have nothing but good things to say about this Fischer Bargoin sharpening steel. Since receiving it I've used to sharpen all of my chef's knives, and with superb results. While I cook regularly, I hadn't realized how dull my knives had gotten until after I sharpened them with this steel. It sounds odd to say, but it really has made my cooking experiences so much more enjoyable. Naturally, it also cuts down on time in the kitchen when you can slice and dice so smoothly.
Design-wise, the aesthetic isn't breathtaking, but it gets the job done. The plastic handle might look a bit cheap, but the steel feels durable and it's comfortable to hold. As far as pricing goes, I think it's a great bargain. You could greatly extend the shelf life of any set of knives with a steel like this.
Highly recommended!
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My primary occupation revolves around a archaeological firm that, occasionally, sends me out in the field to conduct class III cultural resource inventory surveys (which means we walk it) and, as you can imagine, I have to hack my way through a lot of underbrush and cut through thick foliage. On my person at all times in the field is my Gerber Gator machete, my USMC kabar, and a small pocket-sized Gerber utility knife. I use these tools regularly in the field and they can get pretty dull really quick.
I've tried using small travel-sized diamond cutters to quickly sharpen my tools in the field but they always come up short for one reason or another. My kitchen cutlery (Kitchenaid) never really needed much in terms of sharpening so I never really thought to examine kitchen sharpeners for an outdoor problem.
When I first obtained the Fischer sharpener I immediately set to sharpen my Gerber Gator (say that ten times fast) and was pretty impressed within twenty minutes of TLC. My machete doesn't feel like a bludgeon tool anymore but an actual field tool and my kabar is now very dangerous to handle again! They're not super sharp but I'm going out to survey, not on patrol.
There really isn't much more to say about the Fischer other than it is easy to handle and seems to last a while since I gave all my tools a serious upgrade. All in all, a well worthy purchase for anyone who needs to keep their cutlery, no matter what the task, sharp.
This is an excellent knife set. They're really beautiful, something that actually made me wary of buying them at first. After reading reviews on Amazon and a few other sites, I decided to give them a try. I wasn't disappointed! The knives are incredibly sharp, and the weight of each knife feels good when I cut. Highly recommended, and can't beat the Amazon price.
