Ok, so I don't have this specific block. The block that I have is still cuisine de france but I think I have more knives with mine. These knives are wonderful. It's a strong, sharp blade. The steak knives are serated. The bread knife is serated, but the rest of them are not. We've used ours in the dishwasher ever since we got them (like 5 years ago or longer) and it hasn't harmed them in any way, they still look like new. No rust spots. I would recommend this set to anyone.
I bought this since my roommates and I (three other guys) needed a set of knives and this was amongst the cheapest. The serrated knives are great, all the others are SUPER DULL, as in probably never sharpened before dull. Once you get passed that though, it's a great set...we would just sharpen each knife manually before we used it.
Pros:
-just like the knife rack that grandma had in her house
-makes an apartment with 4 guys look classier (kind of?)
-Comes with everything you could need
-bunch of steak knives
-wood block is nice
Cons:
-not a single one of the non-serrated blades is sharp
-I'm still not sure how to handle a hand sharper
Overall, I'm ok with the purchase since I wasn't about to spend $200 on a set. If I were to do it again, I'd probably just buy one or two nice knives and get a set of steak knives from IKEA (although I've used a steak knife maybe once).
Buy Cuisine de France 15-Piece Cutlery Set Now
This 15 piece set is great. Very sharp knifes love them. I added two pics above to show that a couple of things are different than the pic Amazon has uploaded.
1. The sharpener does not have silver parts on the handles. So no more moveable parts as a previous reviewer mentioned.
2. The scissors have a little red on them.
3. The name brand added to the block is now a subtle clear embossment (not bold and black.)
Don't throw away the box that the set comes in until you either read or remove the portion on the lid that describes how to use the "Sharpening Steel." If anyone needs the instructions. I could add them here.
Pro:
* Knives so Sharp
* Not made in China like so many of the other sets.
* Love having the scissor so handy to cut open a bag of frozen vegetable, etc.
I almost didn't buy this because of the earlier poor reviews, but I know from my earlier Cuisine de France steak knife purchase how sharp this set should be. So I felt compelled to spend time to leave a review so that Amazon will continue to sell exceptional products as this one. And I don't want prospective knife set buyers to be afraid to purchase Cuisine de France Cutlery Set. I would buy this set again as a gift too.
Read Best Reviews of Cuisine de France 15-Piece Cutlery Set Here
Here's the pros:
These are fairly heavy knives, balanced, and made not to come apart, which is good for the price. The block is nice and I really do like the steak knives and the bread knife, which are all serrated (although my BF was complaining that the steak knives are dull, I've used them several times and didn't see that as an issue), but the other items in the set have issues.
Cons:
The scissors have very small finger holes in the handles which means, depending on the size of your hands, you may be able to fit 2 fingers in them without getting stuck. They are nice and sharp though and cut well, just not comfortable to use.
The sharpening steel, the handle is loose, and you can only tighten it so far as it seems stripped. But it keeps loosening back up.
The smooth edge knives are dull, like trying to cut something with a butter knife or the edge of a spoon. When I first got these, I tried using my original sharpener that always worked well on my old knives, and I also used the sharpening steel that came with these, and neither made a difference. I was trying to slice celery and I had to push down on the back of the blade to get it to cut through it. That just shouldn't happen. So, this morning, having a little more time, I spent no less than 10 minutes sharpening each non-serrated knife, using celery as my test and comparing them to my old non-serated knives (not even freshly sharpened, that have been in the dishwasher multiple times). After 10 minutes of sharpening these, these STILL can't cut through a piece of celery! And these have NEVER gone through the dishwasher! It's not tough celery, as my old knives made short work of it! I don't know why you can't sharpen these things, it's beyond me? Never seen anything like it. Since a friend of ours knows a guy who owns a store that sharpens knives (we will get a substantial discount), that's our next attempt, but I don't hold much hope. Either way, you should NOT have to take brand new knives to be professionally sharpened. There's something wrong there. But aside from that, they are solid knives for the price, as long as you don't need sharp knives, you'll be good. I'm thinking the person who owned a set of this brand of knife, whose review I based my purchase on, may have had a higher quality set, as most manufacturers do have different quality items, either that, or she's never had a sharp knife so these seem OK to her? I'm less than impressed, and at this point, I REALLY wish I could return these and try a different set from a different maker. Can't do too much worse than these, IMO...
Got them back from the professional shapener and although they are sharper, they still are not as sharp as my old ones, so please, even professional sharpening can't get these things sharp, do NOT waste your money...
And, now for the kicker, I've had these only 2 months and one of the knives is beginning to rust. None have gone through the dishwasher, although I don't know why I'm worried about it with a product of this quality.
Since we had disposed of the packaging and missed Amazon's return window, I contacted the maker. They told me they would gladly replace them, if I paid to ship them back. It's going to cost at least half the purchase price to ship them back, and then what will they send me, another set of dull knives that will not sharpen? So, if you do buy these, and aren't happy with them, return them through Amazon immediately...
Want Cuisine de France 15-Piece Cutlery Set Discount?
I bought this set from Bed Bath and Beyond. Right off the bat the set was great, and I loved the variety of knives that came with it. My only complaints are that the knives go dull way too quickly, and take WAY too long to sharpen. I don't have time to sit for 10 minutes per knife every two weeks. Second, I lost the kitchen shears, which I loved, and cannot find another pair of this brand sold separately. My third, and final complaint, I think the Santoku knife could be just a little longer. Other than that, the set is great and does the job.
Save 42% Off
This is nothing short of beautiful. I own 3 of them, two large and one small, all in Stainless Steel.
