Thursday, January 14, 2010

Getting a Quality Knife Set for the Ages

By Moses Harun

With a history covering almost two centuries, Wusthof keeps providing the world with well-made kitchen knives and shears, pocket knives, and other accessories. Based in Solingen, Germany, Wusthof remains run by the same family and presently employs in excess of 350 employees, each of whom, you could presume are committed to creating each Wusthof knife set as sharp as its reputation.

Product Lines

The Wusthof knives are crafted by two methods - forging for Wusthof's higher-quality line and stamping for their more affordable line. As a result, depending on your budget, you can become the very pleased owner of a set of renowned Wusthof knives albeit at assorted levels of sharpness.

The forged knives are available in the Classic, Ikon, Classic Ikon, Le Cordon Bleu, Culinar, Grand Prix, and Grand Prix II lines but the stamped knives are used for the Gourmet, Emeril, and Silverpoint lines. There is a pointed difference between forged and stamped knives in any high-end knife collection, with professional chefs preferring forged knives most of the time for their chef's knives. Stamped knives are usually only preferred for steak and paring knives.

Whatever Wusthof knives set you purchase, though, every one of their knives are an amalgam of 15 percent chromium, 0.5 percent carbon, and a small amount of molybdenum. Adding this to the company logo - a trident in a circle against a red background - these cutlery pieces are distinctive from thier competitors' knives.

Advantages

While we're trying to avoid sounding like a spokesperson for Wusthof, those knives have been proven over and over to be among the highest quality blades available. Substantiation of this statement is Wusthof knives are the preferred blade of celebrated chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and James Martin, while also being annually voted as one of the best performing knives by Consumer Reports and Cook's Illustrated.

For amateur chefs, the non-slip traditional handle conforms comfortably to different hand sizes and therefore helps many guests or spouses to feel competent using the knives in the set. Naturally, these knife blades are extremely sharp and just about never rust, stain or require sharpening. More than anything else, high-quality manufacturing processes and materials are the primary traits of a quality knife.

Disadvantages

The one issue that could discourage the amatuer from investing in a Wusthof knife set will be Wusthof's exorbitant price. Given that the most affordable set of low-end Gourmet paring knives sells for $35, you will probably locate many knife brands with more knives while charging comparable prices. For the the more expensive collections, $300 is peanuts.

Also, there are sets that have thinner-than-usual handles like the Wusthof Classic. Naturally, men are more bothered by this issue because of their bigger hands. Additionally, certain cooks do not prefer a stainless steel handle, preferring instead the polypropylene type.

By and large, Wusthof knife sets will give more quality for any price. It cuts very nicely and efficiently like all high-quality knives should, does the job for generations as this manufacturer has done, and looks very professional when placed on your countertop. With a product as good as this, you probably will want to invest in another set as a gift for a new chef.

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