What’s the best chefs knife for the buck that will last a lifetime?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “buck chef knife“
About Liliana
Written by: Liliana
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What’s the best chefs knife for the buck that will last a lifetime?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “buck chef knife“
About Liliana
Depends.
Softer steel tends to lose a sharp edge faster and it’s easier to remove steel when sharpening. If you’re using the knife heavily in a professional setting and you’re sharpening a couple times a week, the wear can be surprising. Even the best knives made of hard steel under these circumstances may wear out within a decade. Considering the amount of work you got done with that one purchase, it’s still well worth it, though. I’m not too sure about the REALLY hard knife steels like HAP40 and ZDP-189, maybe these last longer.
For home cooks, basically any knife will last a lifetime with proper care. The level is wear and tear is simply not the same as with a professional setting.
Performance for value, IMO, is best with Japanese knives. Tojiro has been popular for a long time for a reason, not just for fairly low price but for still being solid Japanese knives with proper construction. Other options include Masutani and Fujiwara (NOT Fujiwara Teruyasu…FTs are very expensive).
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Short answer is 8” Wusthof Classic (absolutely not the Gourmet).
Any halfway decent knife will last a long time if taken care of. Even a Dexter from restaurant supply will.
A quality knife with an 8” blade will work well for 95% of tasks. I’ve switched to a 6” for most things but I haven’t limited myself to but one knife. 8” knives are a good substitute for a slicer when needed.
Wusthof is good steel and a rugged design.
Japanese carbon steel Wa Gyotos are my preference but they are much thinner and more fragile. The D shaped and octagonal handles available on some Japanese knives are nice too.
Shun is a happy medium between the two. I don’t like VG-10 steel but it is objectively good. The D shaped handle is nice for right handed people.
Henkles, Global, real Sabatier, Misono and dozens of others will fit the bill too. If you have strangely small or large hands it may be worthwhile to pick them up to see how they feel in your hands. Otherwise, most all knives are comfortable enough for average hands. Global has a really nice handle for small hands. Some of the Henkles have fatter handles that are a nice fit for bear paws.
An Opinel carbon steel pairing knife, 8” Wusthof Classic chefs knife and 10–12” offset serrated from Dexter Russel will allow you to do 99.9% of chef related knife things. Serrated knives can be sharpened, and I do, but it is beyond most people’s patience. Cheap ones can just be replaced every year or two. A three stone set and a honing steel would complete a minimalist set.
Nicer knives are not just for vanity. They are much more enjoyable to use if you are using them for hours on end. If you were a professional cook a lighter knife with a thinner blade would make your day better. For a home cook a high quality German knife will be versatile and durable.
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I have a Misen 6″ utility knife and it works like a charm, it cuts right through steaks and a turkey I made for Christmas, it was 45$. (A utility knife is between a pairing and chefs knife, I use it for either application)
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The oldest cooking knife that I have is a “Kitchen Devils” chef knife, about 20cm long. It cost me something like £10 or £15 nearly 30 years ago. I still use it regularly and it still works as well as it did when new. Kitchen Devils is a very mid range consumer brand, made by Fiskars, and the cost isn’t much different today.
You could spend a lot more and get a knife that would still not serve you as well as this one has served me.
Any decent consumer knife will be fine for most domestic cooking. The main thing you need to do is to keep it sharp and not hit the blade on anything very hard. Then it will serve you well.
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