JA Henckels are the best you could get in a store. I go up against Henckels' quality every working day of my life, and eighty percent of the time, I win -- by what Cutco can do, compared directly with Henckels. Henckels doesn't offer Cutco's kind of guarantee, either. I suppose they think it's a little too hard to manage across an ocean.

Cutco guarantees, without needing you to jump through hoops of any sort, its sharpness -- forever; against defective manufacture -- forever; a half price replacement guarantee if you've damaged your Cutco -- forever. Only guarantee with a time limit is a two-week trial period where the customer decides whether he'd rather keep the knives or his money. We cheerfully call it the Think-About-It Guarantee.

Henckels' guarantee isn't that good: against rusting only. Heck, it's made of stainless, it's already not supposed to rust.

ummmm, I believe you are wrong about that, but I'm not positive. I'm pretty sure though. Henkel's are one of the preferred knives by most professional chefs.

My mother burned her Wustof by leaving it in the oven. She called and got a replacement, free with no questions asked. I've never strayed from them, even when working in restaurants.
Perhaps I'll give them a try.

Wustof is the other preferred brand of knives used by professional chefs. I've never used one, but I hear they are great.

I also know someone who had a knife replaced by henkel, no questions asked. I can't remember what happened to it though. And I'm not so sure the International Brand has the same warranty as the ones that are Made in Germany, which mine are. The IB is a cheap imitation of the original.

All the great chefs use Ginsu knives.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I will buy all the Henckels people don't want at 50 cents on the dollar.

UG, you work for Vector for a living?

UT, it's my income, yeah. I keep the details private. I'd happily fix you up with some Cutco, inasmuch as I know you eat solid food!

Henckels works if you keep maintaining it, as their RC hardness runs about 49-50. You need to sharpen it much more often than Cutco, which goes Rc 55-57. The fancy edge (the DD edge) for all practical purposes won't go dull for years unless you're whittling trees down with your kitchen knives. (Hint: chainsaws mo' better)

Wüsthof is good quality too, and their blade design is improved of late. I tried my MIL's chef-knife from them some years ago; it seemed reluctant to get into the work for all its good balance and hand-feel, which I attributed to a very thick spine: the blade cross section was extremely wedgy and the edge was a wedge grind rather than a hollow grind. They seem to have slimmed 'em down a good bit now, which was exactly what they needed. Maw In Law's knife was built like a bayonet. Helluva tool for a slasher movie.

I love my Wusthof (correct spelling) knives . The handle is larger which accommodates a larger hand. I have owned mine for several decades and they perform extremely well. Knives that all have a serrated whether it be a bread or french or filet... immediately show their imperfections. You do not want a serrated edge for many applications.

UG, with all due respect to your privacy, how can you generate enough leads to make it worth your while?

I don't like serrated edged knives either, except for cutting bread or tomatoes. I do have a very small Henckel that works really well on tomotoes that I usually use though. It's wicked sharp. And isn't sharpening part of the whole chef experience anyway? I like sharpening knives... :D

The sous chef at the country club would wipe his knife on his apron, while cooking furiously. Once he had it at just the wrong angle. Damn near sliced his leg off.

My knives are crappy. A sawing motion is needed.

Nothing beats a Cuctco knife.

BS.

I just went on my favorite knife site. They carry everything.

But no Cutco knives. What's up with that? :confused:

Is it one of those deals like SnapOn tools?