Good all around cutting/slicing knife

dougmays · Jun 6, 2011

any recommendations on a good all around knife for slicing meats, veggies, and whatever else comes around?

SmokinAl · Jun 6, 2011

Sam's carries a line of knives in the commercial kitchen section. They are inexpensive & very good knives.

eman · Jun 6, 2011

It all depends if you know the proper technique to sharpen a knife or not.

If you do then get some of the white handle knives from sams or from a resturant supply.

If you cant sharpen then get the miracle blade knives like they advertise on TV . lifetime warrenty and cheap enough to toss if they get dull.

venture · Jun 6, 2011

The knife I use 80 to 90% of the time is an 8 inch chef knife. They don't have to be expensive to be good, and everybody has their favorite brand. Your restaurant supply store probably has a Forschner by Victorinox for about $25.

Good luck and good smoking.

meateater · Jun 6, 2011

These are my favorite style. The white handle one I got at a restaurant supply. I use a Lansky knife sharpening system which works great.

dougmays · Jun 7, 2011

Thanks for the info guys! that looks like a intricate sharpening system :)

alblancher · Jun 7, 2011

+1 on the Sams knives, keep any knife sharp and you will be happy with it as long as it feels good in your hand. Nothing worse then cutting through a case of vegs with a knife that puts cramps in your hands.

magnum3672 · Jun 8, 2011

Any Knife will do really great if you buy quality (cost doesn't always mean quality) and keep it HONED, not necessarily sharpen it. To hone a knife you use a "steel" which is what you see chefs in movies rubbing their knives on to keep them sharp. With a hone you're not remaking the blade edge you're just straightening it out, which with a good steel knife you shouldn't ever have to remake the knife edge unless you hack at a bone and even then with proper honing you can get it back to pretty darn sharp.

I personally use Chicago Cutlery, or I have a couple Cuisinart knives for all purpose chopping that have served me well.

As other people said, go with whats comfortable in your hand (either blade length and handle shape) before going for sharpness, a super sharp blade in a cramped hand can be dangerous and if you can't get a good grip on the knife, well I shouldn't have to explain that.

This knife is a tool that you should be able to keep for a long time and treat with respect, same as any tool in a toolbox from a hammer to a wrench to a power drill. Buy quality and keep it updated and the cost will be mitigated.

Also never ever buy those serrated knives they sell on TV as "never dulls". The serrations make you have to saw all your food which destroys vegetables and turns meat into hamburger.

Just my $.02

I know I'm a bit dramatic but knives are important

alelover · Jun 8, 2011

You only need 3-5 knives. An 8-10 inch chef knife, a good boning knife and a paring knife. For a 4th knife I'd go with the sudoku knife like meateaters. And maybe a cleaver like those Chinese chefs like.

Here's a link to some knife info.

http://www.thekitchenmodel.com/21/kitchen-knives-for-your-cooking-hobby/

venture · Jun 8, 2011

I agree with alelover, you don't really need a lot of knives. I have a lot but 99% of my work is done with two or three. Also, I do not recommend buying knife sets. My experience with knife sets(a gift) is that there might only be one knife in the set you really like and there are many in there you will really never have a need for. It has been said that mismatched knives are the sign of a confident cook.

Good luck and good smoking.

boykjo · Jun 8, 2011

I use a fish filet knife and the yellow V carbide sharpener you can get at walmart......... for about 20 bucks..... like slicing butter every time........

http://www.walmart.com/search/searc...Find&_ta=1&search_query=filet knife&_tt=filet

jirodriguez · Jun 8, 2011

A good 8" or 10" Chef knife will be the work horse of the kitchen, you will use it for 95% of all cutting jobs in the kitchen. Having worked in resteraunts and cooked as a hobby I have seen and tried many, many knives and it all boils down to this: What feels good in your hand? If you buy a $300 knife, but it doesn't feel good in your hand, you will end up not using it - money wasted. Don't bind yourself to name brands, keep an open mind and see what is out there.

I also like Americas Test Kitchen, they do a lot of great in depth reviews on kitchen equiptment. Here is a fairly cheap (cost) knife that consistantly gets top marks (even over a lot of namebrand ones):

tyotrain · Jun 8, 2011

Venture said:
The knife I use 80 to 90% of the time is an 8 inch chef knife. They don't have to be expensive to be good, and everybody has their favorite brand. Your restaurant supply store probably has a Forschner by Victorinox for about $25.

Good luck and good smoking.

I have the victcorinox set... Boning knife chef knife pairing knife and steak knifes and i love them..

venture · Jun 8, 2011

I have the Forschner by Victorinox boner as well. A 6" knife with the stiffer blade which I like better than the flex blades, although both are good. I bought that boner after talking with Pops who recommended it or the Dexter boner which is also a very good knife at a reasonable price. At the time my restaurant supply store wasn't carrying Dexter, so I went with the Forschner. Based on Pops recommendation for both knives, and my experience with the Forschner, I will say you won't go wrong with either. If you are going to go on my recommendation or Pops, go with Pops every time. He knows his stuff.

Good luck and good smoking.

jirodriguez · Jun 8, 2011

LOL.... sorry the JR. High schooler came out in me!

Venture said:
I have the Forschner by Victorinox boner as well.......

exhaustedspark · Jun 8, 2011

My Favorite is the Chefs knife. I sharpen on a desk top Belt sander. After using stones and Steels and diamonds i heard about this belt sander sharpener and recognized the unit as one i had int the shop. Used it one time and i am sold. I do not like serrated blades and it is very easy to sharpen 5 or six knives real quick and they hold their edge better then other systems. Something to do with the convex shape of the belt when sharpening. Also i can buy same darn good knives from the second hands stores just only get the ones that feel comfortable in your hands. I still use a good commercial steel to straighten the edge once in a while.

Karl

venture · Jun 8, 2011

LOL. I remember a lot of so called professional cooks that would true up their spat on the cement floor below the flat top or the grill. They would go to jail for that now.

Good luck and good smoking.

sqwib · Jun 9, 2011

Ditto on the Lansky, but more recently I have been using on of those hand held types, like Boykjo

I prefer a chefs knife as my go to knife. If it holds an edge it should be fine and JR said it best with " What feels good in your hand? If you buy a $300 knife, but it doesn't feel good in your hand, you will end up not using it".

Remember to hone regularly and sharpen every so often.

Honing does not sharpen the knife.

A trick I learned from my Uncle was to run the blade through a tight grain piece of wood after sharpening, seems to work for me.

pops6927 · Jun 10, 2011

My first knife pick would be a good cimeter knife like the Forschner 12" for large cutting; i.e. slicing through pork butts, shoulders, etc.   http://www.acemart.com/prod6010.html

Second knife would be a good boning knife like the Dexter-Russell 6" Boning knife for finer cutting and chopping, etc. http://www.acemart.com/kitchen-supp...fe-white-poly-handle-rshs136-cp/prod4530.html

Third knife pick would be a good 8" or 10" Chef knife for slicing and chopping   http://www.acemart.com/kitchen-supp...f-poly-handle-white-rshs145-8cp/prod4534.html

Fourth knife pick would be 12" Scalloped Slicer knife - great on meats and breads http://www.acemart.com/kitchen-supp...ast-slicer-knife-rshs140-12sccp/prod4533.html

These will give you versatility and are all comfortable and not that expensive!

Thank you Venture for your post!

Of course a good steel is necessary   http://www.acemart.com/prod4540.html

Good all around cutting/slicing knife

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