December 2007
Kitchen knives: Cutting-edge performance
A POPULAR KNIFE The santoku, typically with dimples to help food slide off easily, has shown up in more U.S. kitchens in recent years.
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Cooks seeking knives that are sharp enough to tackle a range of cooking tasks and comfortable to hold for extended periods
have in recent years turned to new types of knives from lesser-known brands.
Japanese designs and companies have benefited from this trend. Celebrity TV chef Rachael Ray has helped propel the curved-spine santoku knife into many American kitchens. Japanese brands such as Global and Kershaw have made inroads where the high-end European brands Henckels, Sabatier, and Wüsthof have reigned for years.
We found a wide range in performance when we tested more than three dozen knife sets. Other findings:
Japanese designs and companies have benefited from this trend. Celebrity TV chef Rachael Ray has helped propel the curved-spine santoku knife into many American kitchens. Japanese brands such as Global and Kershaw have made inroads where the high-end European brands Henckels, Sabatier, and Wüsthof have reigned for years.
We found a wide range in performance when we tested more than three dozen knife sets. Other findings:
- For excellent cutting and handling, the best choices are fine-edged knives, which require regular honing.
- The highest-quality knives are expensive. Our four top-rated sets, all with seven or eight pieces, cost $230 to $500. But
there are fine choices at the low end of that range. Several sets costing $100 or less were very good overall.
- A famous name doesn’t guarantee great performance. The eight-piece Chicago Cutlery Metropolitan set, a CR Best Buy at $60, did better than the Rachel Ray Furi Gusto-Grip and some well-know brands like sets from Wüsthof and Henckels.
