Wine.Woot : One Week, One Wine (SM)

I once called my wife a Künstler, and I got slapped really hard.

Hmmm... I may buy these. I'm in need of some new knives. The only ones I have right now are steak knives which I'm dulling by using them for purposes other than cutting steak.

Wootieful wrote:Just picked up a set of Cutco Knives last week, should be arriving any day now..

I'm sorry. My mom has had a set of those for a several years. When I go visit her I bring my Ikea knives as they are vastly superior to hers and I do the cooking.

Purchased! Thanks Woot! Just what I needed.

billchase2 wrote:Hmmm... I may buy these. I'm in need of some new knives. The only ones I have right now are steak knives which I'm dulling by using them for purposes other than cutting steak.

How many of you have kids trying to outfit their first place?? Christmas is coming folks.

For 5 knives, a steel, a pair of shears, and a block to come in at $25, shipped, you can hardly go wrong. Even if you only got a couple years' use out of them while saving up for the Knives-to-End-All-Knives, you did yourself well. As pointed out before, these are forged and full-tang, so they aren't pure ka-ka. Shoot, even if only the steel turns out to be decent, you've done well.

However, the 18/0 steel severely limits the life of these knives. With proper care, you'll get plenty of use out of these. However, this is not a set you'll give to your grandkids (unless you already have grandkids and you plan on wrapping these to put under the Christmas tree).

If I were looking for some decent knives and did not already have a nice set of Henckels, I'd jump on this.

It looks like a good deal. Apparently this 8-pc set sells elsewhere for upwards of $60.

Firstly, these are terrible knives. They will sharpen poorly and they will not hold an edge. Going to our normal "QPR" discussion, this would be a bad choice at $60 and it's a bad choice at $30.

Secondly, knife sets are, in general, a waste of money. Even for $30, you can find one or two decent knives that you will use frequently. Within a knife set, people inevitably gravitate towards the knives they like more. The dexter blades with plastic handles have much better steel.

Thirdly, I'm not sure what these are doing on wine.woot and I'm disappointed by what I've seen (in the very limited time we've had the option) so far with the 'three deals per week'.

Drinking Frog wrote:For 5 knives, a steel, a pair of shears, and a block to come in at $25, shipped, you can hardly go wrong. Even if you only got a couple years' use out of them while saving up for the Knives-to-End-All-Knives, you did yourself well. As pointed out before, these are forged and full-tang, so they aren't pure ka-ka. Shoot, even if only the steel turns out to be decent, you've done well.

at $25 even one year would be a screaming deal. That's practically disposable. I'm contemplating getting one to replace my knives that aren't chef's knives.

I wouldn't want to get this to use every day, but how often do you really need a boning knife, you know?

I use my super nice chef's knife from Korin knives (Shun is for posers! ) for 95% of things anyways

The one assumption I'm making with these is that they're not a single edge, which seems pretty safe. I'm left handed and a single edge would make them useless

canonizer wrote:
Secondly, knife sets are, in general, a waste of money. Even for $30, you can find one or two decent knives that you will use frequently. Within a knife set, people inevitably gravitate towards the knives they like more. The dexter blades with plastic handles have much better steel.
.

In for one. Marry Christmas mom!

I'm in for 1. It's the shears that sold it for me. I probably would have paid just $25 bucks for those, so the other knives are a bonus. If I spatchcock a couple of chickens and toss them on the grill this summer a couple of times, the whole set has more than paid for itself with dinners that taste really good, but I don't have think about or do a lot of work for. Thanks, Woot!

dianefreda wrote:How many of you have kids trying to outfit their first place?? Christmas is coming folks.

Haha, I AM one of those kids (well, 25 years old with my first REAL job out of grad school) trying to outfit my first place... ;-)

Usually knife lengths specify the length of the blade... but an 8" paring knife seems a little excessive. Anyone have the actual blade lengths on these?

jplamb wrote:Probably like McDonalds and Ruth's Chris although I've never held these knives. If you're serious about cutting things or cooking anything it's definitely worth investing in at least a couple high quality knives, you will notice the difference. The Shun knives are pretty nice.

Ruth's Chris blows. $150 for 2 people 1 beer each and my $40 steak was extremely underwhelming.

jbrava wrote:I'm in for 1. It's the shears that sold it for me. I probably would have paid just $25 bucks for those, so the other knives are a bonus. If I spatchcock a couple of chickens and toss them on the grill this summer a couple of times, the whole set has more than paid for itself with dinners that taste really good, but I don't have think about or do a lot of work for. Thanks, Woot!

Wow, new word... thanks!

Does anyone know if the edges are smooth or serrated??

Can I use these to saber the tops off wine bottles?

JOATMON wrote:I would really welcome another Tulare Cannonball offering. And this time I promise to crack that sucker open sooner.

Whew, that was some good cheese.

As long as the blade can hold an edge, these should be OK. I have knives that are good when honed, but they're soft and lose their edge quickly. Kind of inconvenient.

Otherwise looks like a nice set. Gift? Vacation home set of knives?

Algernon wrote:full tang, triple rivets, $19.99... Yeah I got some in-laws that will be getting these for Xmas. They think Chicago Cutlery is high quality.

Your inlaws are correct, if they refer to the old CC line with the wooden handles. Those were made in USA, of high carbon steel and each model and length had a unique number. Current CC knives are chinese junk. I suspect that those we're talking about today are also chinese junk because they are stainless, not high carbon steel and no manufacture data is offered. If you want "good" knives, they are French or German.

I'm not 21, but want this knife set. Does the age restriction on shipping still apply?

most people do not sharpen their knives either from lack of knowledge or just plain laziness. once you take the time to learn how to properly use a knife and maintain a good edge you will realize a good knife for kitchen use only depends on how the knife feels in your hands. lets face it, your only cutting food, not cutting firewood.

the two most common mistakes that people make are prepping food on a glass cutting board/plate and trying to use a knife steel to sharpen a knife, it just simply does not remove steel from the edge, it only re-aligns the edge if it has not rounded over/chipped. glass cutting boards damage the edge more than anything, wood or plastic cutting boards should only be used.

that being said this set is a really good deal, it has all the essential you need minus the steak knives.

Knives for sale on WINE woot....thats not right....

Let's keep things in perspective people. It's a $20 set of knives. Forged with a full tang, no less. If they offered a brand new Honda Accord on here for $1000, would you complain that it's not a Ferrari. Sheesh...

And for the record, I know my knives and own Wusthof IKONs myself. But then again, cooking is a very big hobby of mine and I use them nearly every day. If I rarely cooked and just wanted a set of knives around for the occasional odd job, I'd be all over these.

Now if these were $50+, then I might advise you to instead consider investing in a single, higher quality multi-purpose knife (e.g. a Chef's or a Santoku). But again, it all depends on your intended usage. Bottom line, you're not going to do better for $20.

INTLGerard wrote:I actually have these in my possession so in absence of the Kunstler family...

Honestly, I was quite surprised by the level of quality. Full tang and riveted through the handle, solid forged construction. The handle and the bolster are very comfortable. Place the knife on my finger up on the bolster and the chef and carving knife balanced perfectly with good weight but not too heavy so it won't wear you out.

Impressive QPR, matching set's I've seen at $99 and up. IMHO.

I'll be happy to share some tests later but
stop me if I start sounding like a Ginzu commercial.

I'd be interested in hearing more, I'm on the fence about these

- How long have you owned them?

- How are they holding up corrosion-wise?

- How well do they keep an edge? (Do they past the tomato test?)

wangdli wrote:I'm sorry. My mom has had a set of those for a several years. When I go visit her I bring my Ikea knives as they are vastly superior to hers and I do the cooking.

well I havent' used your ikea knives but my boyfriend has a set of cutco knives nad they are EXCELLENT. We take the carving set to my mom's for thanksgiving and christmas because tehy are head and shoulders better than what she has. We have one knife that I *think* is a steak knife >_> but we use it for EVERYTHING and its great.

However (tie in to the actual product) they cost a mint and we only own them because the BF worked for them and basically got a huge test set for 150 bucks.

For someone who would like an actual *set* of knives iwth a knife block, or who is looking for a housewarming or wedding gift or going - to - college gift, this seems like a nice little set at a nice price. Personally no one needs more than 2-4 really good knives, all the rest is just sales. but some people like to have the block I assume, since they continue to sell them all over. 25 bucks is a good price.

bfalley wrote:How well do these clean up after use.
Do you think they would say.... retain trace amounts of DNA etc..... also would something like say .... bone dull these really quickly

I lol'd. Unless you were serious, in which case, I called the police. >.>

Azninvasion wrote:Here's a nice guide to buying and maintaining knives:


http://gizmodo.com/5348996/youre-doing-it-wrong-how-to-properly-buy-maintain-and-use-a-knife

Also, an easy and creative DIY knife block:

http://www.chrisdiclerico.com/2005/09/17/knife-block-copy/

You're welcome ;)

Hone your knife every use. A sharp knife will thin slice a tomato easily. Unless you are willing to practice holding the correct angle to hand hone, a honing tool will do nicely. Replace the honing tool often; the angle of the cutting edge is critical for a truly sharp knife and the honing material wears. If you truly like a sharp knife, have it professionally sharpened, especially after purchase and before using it. No instrument is truly sharp from the factory. Once you handle a sharp knife you will never allow it to go dull again.

And note that a sharp edge is microscopically thin. It bends, dulls, oxidizes, wears, warps easily. Your cutting board can dull or save your sharp edge.

i see most things have been covered. Bar Keeper's Friend does wonders for cleaning blades, and would probably work well on these for any staining. *haven't needed it for the Shuns but the inherited CC blades look like new after a little paste n polish

canonizer wrote:
Secondly, knife sets are, in general, a waste of money. Even for $30, you can find one or two decent knives that you will use frequently. Within a knife set, people inevitably gravitate towards the knives they like more. The dexter blades with plastic handles have much better steel.

This is very true for the majority of people.

I use my chefs' knife (or my santoku) and paring knife for almost all of my cooking. Add in a bread knife, a good pair of kitchen shears and a honing steel, and that covers pretty much everything in the kitchen.

The only thing is, it is usually easier to get these essential utensils (even better ones) in a set.

One more thing about this particular knife set: Take note that the lengths given are for the whole knife and not just the blade. Thus the 8" paring knife has a blade of around 4".

todd74 wrote:Let's keep things in perspective people. It's a $20 set of knives. Forged with a full tang, no less. If they offered a brand new Honda Accord on here for $1000, would you complain that it's not a Ferrari. Sheesh...

I might just complain about it not being wine. Although that would further save my budget too.

wangdli wrote:I'm sorry. My mom has had a set of those for a several years. When I go visit her I bring my Ikea knives as they are vastly superior to hers and I do the cooking.

watching the films? This isn't WINE?!? It isn't even related to Wine.... Corkscrew or wineglasses I can understand, even maybe fancy vinegar... but knives? This belongs on regular WOOT or at Amazon.com.

Boo, hiss! We want WINE, not cutlery!

swiller wrote:razor thin nose,
mineral to metallic upfront,
faint slice of blood orange on the mid-palate,
piercing finish with hard oak,
somewhat an acquired taste

lol

adgal wrote:watching the films? This isn't WINE?!? It isn't even related to Wine.... Corkscrew or wineglasses I can understand, even maybe fancy vinegar... but knives? This belongs on regular WOOT or at Amazon.com.

Boo, hiss! We want WINE, not cutlery!

Wine and food? So, knives for food prep?
If you try hard, everything relates to everything.

On the inexpensive knife side, I'd recommend Forschners (Victorinox).

They're stamped, not forged, but have insane QPR, and are what you'll find in many, many, many professional kitchens.

These knives are forged, which is generally better than stamped, but not necessarily so, we'd need to know more about the hardness and flexibility of the steel to get an idea of blade quality.

18/0 stainless, as others have mentioned, is less rust-resistant than nickeled steel. You might want to drag these across an oiled cloth before you put them away to keep them from rusting over the years, especially if you live somewhere with high humidity.

For the price, you can't even get one stamped Forschner, but if you're serious about cooking, I'm not sure the low price here makes it worthwhile.

However, if you're my sister, who beats the scaffolding out of her knives and makes the people at Henckel cry on a daily basis, then your knives are going to be dull in a week and it doesn't matter how good the steel is because you're going to destroy them by next summer anyway.

Welven wrote:Is the cutlery dishwasher safe?

Never understood why streaming jets of hot water would dull a steel knife. Maybe if you put them clumsily in the washer basket and they bumped against other metal for an hour, but otherwise, no way...