Kitchen Knife Review

Wusthof Classic 3-Inch Serrated Paring Knife

Bought this when it came up in my Gold Box. As a fan of the Wusthof classic line, I thought it would be a useful addition to my other knives. Yes, it is well made, earning it three stars.

On the minus side, its serrated edge makes it less useful as a paring knife, as I can attest from having cut myself several times on those serrated points. For mincing, I much prefer either the smaller of my chef's knives or even a 4 inch utility knife. Unfortunately, the blade is too short and too curved to work well as a tomato slicer.

Over time mine I noticed that kitchen "helpers" in the family would reach for it--the novelty factor--use it briefly, and return to an old favorite, i.e., one of the standard paring knives, the 4 inch utility knife, or one of the chef's knives. As a result, this knife has been relegated to storage with the specialty knives in a bin at the back of the drawer with other knives we use only rarely.

Bottom line: For use as a dedicated bar knife for citrus, it would be fine. If you are looking for a more versatile knife, my advice is to consider other knives in this line.

I am a former professional chef, and have always loved Wusthof knives. Over the years I have accumulated a set of them, and they are, by far, the most used knives in my kitchen. This knife, a serrated 3-inch paring knife, is particularly useful. I generally use it for dealing with fruits of different varieties, but it is useful in many other versatile ways, too. The knife is razor sharp, and holds its edge well, it is well balanced, and is dishwasher safe (though I normally hand wash it.)

Wusthof knives are the best mass market knives readily available and I recommend them highly. Some people comment on the high cost of these knives, which can be a real turn off, but to these people I say that while the prices are high at first glance, these knives will far outlast any competing cheaper knife they can buy. Buy a Wusthof once, and you are set for life.

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Three points I'd like to make about this knife:

1. I love my tomato knife and have been using that for years. Always wanted a back-up or second small serrated knife and this is perfect. A great fit for cutting small fruits and veggies on a small cutting board. You know what it's like when you pull out your second cutting board and it's small, and and your only other serrated knife is the big bread one.

2. Love to cook and also party and this knife makes prep work for any party a breeze cutting roma and cherry tomato's, lemon's and limes, onions, grapes, olives and also any other items that can be small but slippery.

3. Also works great on chopping veggies in which the skin has started to get soft. Like green peppers and tomato's you know what I mean when you use a regular paring knife(even a sharp one)and have to saw a few times back and forth on the skin before the cut happens. No worries with this little knife.

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If you are going to have one knife at your Bar this is the knife. It is the perfect knife for cutting up lemons and limes into wedges. It was like it was just made for that. Because the knife is serrated you never need to worry if it is going to be sharp. I also use this knife for cutting small fiborous vegtables as well. I would highly recommend this knife. Cheers!

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This is an excellent bar knife and only drawback is it is 3 inches and some lemons are longer. But a great knife and I gave as a gift twice.

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Friedr. Dick 1905 Exclusive Series 6-3/4-Inch Santoku Knife

This knife is from the 1905 Exclusive line of knives. In 1905 Friedr. Dick developed these knives with massive collars replacing the rivets previously utilized in knife building. This 1905 version has been updated to include modern materials and manufacturing techniques. "The blade is made of special German stainless steel, XcrMoVMn. A high-technology hardening process generates a finely dispersed martensitic structure with a unique, dynamic and sharp cutting edge."

First and foremost when you pick up this knife you pick up quality. The weight of the knife lends itself to perfect utilization of the entire cutting edge and complete re-sharpening. The traditional shape fits into your palm like it is an extension of your hand and its razor sharp cutting edge made short work of every vegetable placed on the cutting board. Cleaning and slicing peppers (skin side first) were a breeze and coring and cutting cabbage for a quick sauté was a snap. Very little pressure had to be exerted to move the knife through the entire head of cabbage and fresh garden tomatoes usually too ripe to slice by most dull knives were snap for the Santoku. The knife slices were clean with no tearing or ripping.

To complement the sharpness the wedge shaped cutting edge moved the food away from the knife allowing you to slice and dice like a professional! The 6-3/4" blade was just the right size to handle the job and moved effortlessly through vegetables, starches and proteins without loosing its edge. This knife has been manufactured to the highest possible standards to ensure many years of continued service; from high production kitchens to blossoming home chef's, this knife will certainly stand the test of time.

It's true you get what you pay for and Friedr. Dick knives provide high quality at a great price!

This is my first Santoku knife. I had long thought about purchasing, but felt pretty loyal to all my Chef's knives. I decided I could not go wrong by buying an F. Dick product. When I saw this "1905 Exclusive Series" of cutlery, I was all excited. The design of the handle is so beautiful, elegant, and well-made. I purchased both the Santoku and a paring knife of the same series. I am only sorry that I did not buy them a long time ago, as they are wonderful to use. And I am really impressed with how this Santoku knife handles itself in the kitchen, for I give it many tasks. It fast became my favorite knife. Feels very balanced and good in my hand.

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These knives are beautiful and incredibly well made. I've been using them for several months now and I couldn't ask for a nicer, more well balanced, superior knife. They sharpen nicely and keep their edges for a very long time. Yes, they are expensive, but I will have these for the rest of my life. I am very pleased with this purchase.

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Browne Foodservice 80126430 Tin Quiche Pan, Low Rim, 9-1/2-Inch

I bought the wrong size, but this style is what I was looking for. I really wanted something new with making pies after watching a certain "scientific" cooking show, it seemed like this would be a much better route to go for say apple pie as opposed to the glass or ceramic plates I usually use. But this one was too small. I used it anyways, just made a smaller pie and it was great! I will be trying to find a larger one for my needs, but I do not regret buying this one. The pie was much easier to remove and no issues with sticking or anything. The only thing I did was use a light coating of shortening before laying the dough in.

I bake for a living, and was looking forward to a new fluted 9 1/2 tart pan from this vendor. Unfortunately, only the bottom disk arrived, no fluted portion. I was not able to remedy, the only option was to return. I would have preferred the option of having the fluted portion sent to resolve the issue.

The quality and heft of the portion I did receive was quite nice! I am hopeful to find another one soon.

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Wusthof Ikon 3-1/2-Inch Paring Knife with Blackwood Handle

As Wusthof official statements put it, the Ikon Blackwood is the jewel of Wusthof. It is the most expensive line of all Wusthof cutlery lines.

In short summary,

Pros: Decent stainless steel grade, excellent reduced bolster design, excellent ergonomic handle, good weight, beautiful wood handle, an overall attractive knife

Cons: High cost (when not on sale), the knife balance may shift too much to the handle for a paring knife.

The Classic Ikon series and the Ikon Blackwood series are essentially the same, except for the handle, where the Classic Ikon handles are made with hard plastic and Ikon Blackwood handles are made from African Blackwood (Grenadill wood). Currently, the Ikon Blackwood paring knife is being sold at $80 and the Classic paring knife is $60. Both are forged knives made with a good quality steel blade, an ergonomic handle, a full tang, a reduced (heel-less) front bolster and an additional bolster at the end of the handle butt. Despite the marketing statements claiming it is a high carbon stainless steel knife, it isn't. X50CrMoV15 is the stainless steel grade here, so it has 0.5% carbon and that is not considered high by today standard. In contrast, VG-10 (used in Shun Classic knives and Tojiro knives) has 0.95%-1.0% carbon and SG-2 (used in Shun Elite) has 1.25-1.45% carbon. Nevertheless, X50CrMoV15 makes a tough knife with good corrosion resistant. In other words, the edge rolls easily compared to most Japanese knives, but this steel has good resistance against chipping and rusting.

What I really appreciate about the Ikon line is its reduced bolster. The traditional full bolster which extends the entire knife heel makes sharpening difficult. Ikon solves this problem nicely by reducing the bolster. The knife edge is fairly sharp out-of-the-box compared to other knives, but it could have taken a much better edge. I sharpened it on diamond stone and then on Japanese water stones. I can vouch from my experience that the reduced bolster has made the knife much easier to sharpen. The ergonomic handle is truly ergonomic as it claims. It fits my hand nicely. The second bolster on the back of the handle shifts the center of gravity significantly toward the handle. It probably works better for larger knives, like a Chef's knife, but for a small blade paring knife, I feel it may have shifted the weight slightly much toward the handle. Still, it is not too bad and I can certainly adapt to. The African blackwood is indeed as nice Wusthof claims. It is very beautiful, smooth to touch and best of all: it really does not absorb much water. I bought this knife at $50 and am quiet happy with it. At $80-$125, which is the usual price range for this knife, I think it is high.

The only problem with this knife is that it makes the rest of your knives seem almost unusable due to their cheap quality and crude design. Sure, I'm trying to be funny, but it's also quite true, and it is a little bit of a problem because a full set is expensive!

On to a descriptive review. The blade is sharp. Full tang. All the metal you see except the rivets appears to be made of one piece, which, yes, means the tang flairs nicely out where the handle meets the blade. (Most other knives to create this look have a separate piece attached, often a chrome-plated collar that always looks wrong aesthetically to me because the metal is right next to the blade and is similar but not the same colour or sheen and is generally made of a cheap metal.)

The shape is strong and elegant. Feels wonderful in the hand. Smooth but secure.

This is somewhere between a woodsman's trusty boot knife and a surgeon's scalpel, turning out to be perfect as one of the commonly most-used "core" cooking knives in the kitchen. I don't know if it's worth the price to get a whole set or even all of your top most-used 3 or 4 knives, but at less than $90, the paring knife is within easier reach.

The blackwood (grenadill) wood is hard and attractive, perhaps slightly darker than the photo, or that may be after some use. Many kinds of wood get better with natural polishing simply from being used.

I prefer wood to plastic handles. Be careful when comparing prices if you do too -Wusthof has somewhat less costly knives which look just like these but with plastic handles. The plastic ones are paradoxically called "Classic Ikon" whereas this wood-handled version is simply "Ikon". (Keep in mind people may forget to mention the word "Classic" in the description.) With how much I use this knife, it has a fair chance of eventually resting along side a stove-top's burner touching or almost touching the heating element. If or when that happens I'd rather have it singed than melted.

Balance point is far back, just beyond the middle rivet. For a throwing knife, I like the balance point near the choil, but for a kitchen knife, this balance feels nice.

Enjoy!

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The blackwood series knives are really nice looking and function great; they are hard to beat. You will not be disappointed with the overall looks of any of them. The classic are attractive and great functioning knives. I have both because there are some knives that I wanted that don't come in blackwood. Anyway, for the price, they are really good knives.

Read Best Reviews of Wusthof Ikon 3-1/2-Inch Paring Knife with Blackwood Handle Here

It's a superior knife. Beautiful handle, superb ergonomics, keen edge, full warranty. It's a Wusthof, what more can be said.

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Good Cook Classic Waiters Corkscrew

A good corkscrew and bottle opener doesn't need to be fancy. And this one isn't. But is very good at what is supposed to do.

Opening beer bottles is easy enough, they pop right off. This opener does not slip like my old one did.

The corkscrew goes in easily, smoothly and straight. And the leverage is sufficient to pull the cork out.

What I love about this corkscrew is that it is coated with a thin layer of rubber. It makes it feel nice and improves your grip, which is especially nice in wet conditions.

Recommended.

You are not going to impress anyone at a fancy party with this corkscrew, but you will get the cork out of the bottle. I bought it for my travel trailer accoutrements, and will work one heck of a lot better and easier than a drywall screw and pair of pliers (don't laugh I've done it before in a pinch).

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Green Marble Cheese Slicer (3 pound)

I bought one for me and one for my daughter. We love them and they work perfectly. I can always find what I need at Amazon!

a good cheese slicer: Clean-up is quick just rinse & wipe it & the wire off under water-tap.A lot better than the mess use to have to clean-up on the counter.Though careful people: marble breaks it does not bounce;a-duh.

2 spare wires included-3 wires in all.

like to use a dark colored slicer for cheese & lighter colored slicer for liverwurst,kishka etc.

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Mercer Cutlery Renaissance 5" Utility Knife

I was originally looking to purchase a Wustof, because I have a few of them, and love the quality. My friend is an Executive Head Chef in a Boston restaurant. He suggested I buy a Mercer instead, because the quality is that of Wustof, with a much lower price tag. He was right, I love this knife. It was a little lighter than I expected, but the quality is great. I highly recommend Mercer.

I have several Henckels and Sabatier knives. This knive surpasses both brands with the sharpness of the blade and ease of use. I purchased two Mercer Renaissance knives as a gift for my daughter and included this one for myself. I will purchase more Mercer knives in the future.

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