CUTCO Cutlery. Anyone use them?

[smokin' dick]

Some of my son's friends have gotten summer jobs selling cutlery from this company. I have not yet been asked to listen to the sales pitch, but I'm sure it's coming. These knives are made in Olean, NY, USA,I like that, and are fairly expensive, I don't like that. Most of my knives are 20 year old Henkles. I sharpen, they get dull. Repeat. Should I listen to these kids and get some of their knives or is there some other cutlery that you all love? Thanks. I'm looking for a chefs knife, and some good paring knives.

 

[bigbear]

Dick- do I know about CUTCO Cutlery!! CUTCO is marketed by Vector Marketing and to the best of my knowledge is the only way to buy CUTCO. Their pitch is excellent pay (like $14.00/hr) right out of the shute and extensive training. The bottim line is Cutco/ Vector is a pyramid scheme or damned close to it. I know, my idiot son fell for this scam. Worse yet, Cutco requires their sales force to buy a set of knives (not cheap!) and to hit up every friend and relative they know. Not cool!

Cutco/Vector (I'm not sure they are independent of each other, both are subsidiaries of Alcas Corporation) has been sued multiple times.

Accordning to Wikipedia " Cutco and its marketing arm, Vector Marketing, have been the subject of varied controversy. Vector Marketing's employment tactics have been criticized, specifically for deceptive recruitment practices. Vector was sued by the ArizonaAttorney General in 1990, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 1999, and was ordered by the state of Wisconsin not to deceive recruits in 1994. Each time their legal trouble revolved around allegedly fraudulent recruiting tactics, and each time Vector settled and promised not to mislead their recruits anymore.

Regrettably, Cutco makes a decent knife. They use 440A steel and they hold an edge well. But due to their marketing structure the knives are expensive and really nothing special. Their "Double D" edge is just a gimmick!

Here's a good site to read about CUTCO. In lieu of buying their knives, you should send this link to your friend's kids. These complaints, despite CUTCO's statement that they are just one lazy manager, are common and the Web is full of them. http://cutcocomplaints.blogspot.com/

Don't support these bums. Buy Wustof, Henckle, even Forster, or any of the other good knife makers!! CUTCO doesn't deserve our business!!

 

[trent]

We have a couple of them and think they are great. I think they have a good reputation as well. On the consumer reports site, the Cutco knife was a Quick Pick recommendation for a low maintenance knife defined by them to mean blades that don't need regular honing or sharpening. No, it isn't a high dollar Henkels (forged blades), the Cutco blade is stamped.

 

[supervman]

My brother in law fell into that and sold a set to my in laws. That was 10-12 years ago or so. The knives are now crap! They have the serrated blade that never needs sharpening. When they're toast they're toast. Further, now that my father in law has passed when we go over there for a meal I know I'm designated meat cutter, bird slicer etc. No problem but I bring my own knives.

I would scream and run and with no offense to you maybe try having your Henckles professionally sharpened one time and then just keep up. I sharpen my own stuff but have them professionally done on occasion.

 

[ncdodave]

their product is garbage! over priced garbage. I wont touch your food with it. Its a pyramid scheme trying to be the "AMWAY" of the knife world. I like amway products, but cutco has no business ripping off customers and distributers the way they do.

I can get better knives for 1/4 the price and they are commercial quality knives. I also have the complete line of 4 star henkils (thanks to grandpa for my high school graduation over 20 years ago) ill pay the money for henkils before even putting a cutco knife in my hand as a gift. my hekils stay under lock and key at home.
But, my dexter russels are my work knives and are great to work with. I use a steel often on my knives and sharpen them only once a year if that. a properly cared for knife doesnt need to be sharpened often just hones with a steel.just my 2 pennies worth.

 

[13spicerub]

if you wanna waste money on cheap knives, check out "The Miracle Blade". saw it on one of those late night infomercials after a night at the bar and I HAD to have it...i mean, i need a knife that can cut a boot then still slice a pineapple in mid-air

$40 for a set (2 carving, fillet, chopper, cleaver, pearing, and 4 steak knives). They are amazing out of the box. They will eventually go dull (had mine for about 2 years and they still decet) but are next to impossible to resharpen due to the ridiculous serrated edge pattern they all have.

 

[meat-man]

My brother has one of there " buck " knives and he really likes it. I think I heard somewhere that Cutco bought out Case knives , but I don't know if that is true or not.

 

[bigbear]

That's because knives don't go dull from cutting food. They go dull from cutting hard things like cutting boards, bones, etc. The serrations protect the actual knife edge from the cutting surface. So they can make pretty good knives from really cheap steel and they will last for awhile anyway. Serrated steak knives are a classic example. They don't get used much and last forever, even cheap ones!

But then you discovered the other secret to cheap "miracle" knives- they can't be sharpened, at least not by the average consumer. Sharpening a serrated edge knife is more like sharpening a chain saw than a knife!

When knives go dull it's usually because the fine edge got rolled. That why a sharpening steel works so well. It really doesn't "sharpen" by removing metal to form a new edge, it simply puts the real edge back in place. Straightens it up if you will. Sharpening steels don't remove metal so they aren't wearing out the knife over time. Use a good steel every time you pick up a knife and they will last a lifetime or two.

That's why the comments below about not sharpening but once a year are true. Someone who knows what they are doing can keep a good knife, with a good edge structure, sharp for a long time if properly cared for. Once a year, it's good to have a pro put the edge structure back and get all the angles right. And ask him what angle he set the blade to so you can emulate that as much as possible. The difference between 20 to 25 degrees may not seem like much but it can be the difference between a cleaver and a scalpel.

So buy good steel, keep 'em sharp and don't let the wife or kids use 'em for hobbies or home improvement projects!! Keep a cheap set around for that!!

Happy smokin"

 

[cinnamonkc]

Funny thing but I had a cutco demo on Tueaday. A friend of my son's...
They wanted $2000 for the 4th of July special on full set and $1400 for the basic low end set. It was really high pressure sale and when I declined, he called his manager and then the manager wanted to talk to me on the phone to know why. I told him $2000 was steep for knives and I didn't really need a dozen different knives. Just three or four really great knives and I can do that for considerably less!

 

[bigbear]

My son had to pay $175 for the full set if that tells you anything about how badly you were going to get screwed. You could buy a full set of Wustofs or Henckles for a fraction of that.!! I rest my case with CUTCO!! Bad news! I'm glad you said no!!

 

[cinnamonkc]

Me too Bear!

 

[supervman]

Bubba the love sponge? Heh.

 

[babyback]

Sorry guys, but I have to disagree with most of you... I have had a small set of these knives for about 14 years now, and I couldn't be more pleased. Yes, they are expensive, but I have never had a problem with them going dull other than the non-serrated ones, which will need occasional sharpening. They still look almost exactly the same as the day I bought them, and I have used them a lot!

The sales method is a little weird, yes it does involve MLM, but once you buy one knife, you can register on their website and buy the rest direct. I wouldn't run out and buy a whole set, since they are expensive, but if I ever need another knife, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one from Cutco. Oh, and they do have a pretty good guarantee, made in USA too...

Just my .02

 

[yankeerob]

I won a set of these at a national chicken last year. They're ok but I like my Henckles better. The one good thing is if the knife EVER becomes dull you ship it back to the factory and they'll put a new edge on it free. The serrated one is good for trimming brisket fat.

-rob

 

[richp692]

I've had a set of these since 1988. I like them, they have a lifetime warranty and they will sharpen them for free. The serrated ones haven't been sharpened yet and are still pretty sharp. I sharpen the straight ones myself and they hold an edge pretty well.

 

[1894]

Well , after reading the thread I guess the price / proffit margin / and hard sell is sounding a bit out of line.

My wife and I did buy several though from my nephew about ten years ago. He just did it for a few months one summer and we were glad to help him out. Didn't buy a set , just picked the ones we wanted. My parents got a whole set when they were married close to 60 years ago (with the wood handles ) and except for the chef knife I broke as a dumb teenager

they are all still in great shape.
They are Made In the US of A

And one of these days I'll box up ours and Moms knifes and send them in for the free sharpening .