Good steak [and other] knives under $100?

Hi folks. I'm getting married next year (woo!) and my lady and I are putting together a registry on findgift.com, which lets you be specific when you want and not when you don't want. The first item on the registry is steak knives. I'd like something that will be good and will last but I don't want to screw my family and friends with a super pricy gift. Some googling led me to this piece which has some ideas.

Does anyone else have a suggestion of good knives (I gather non-serrated is the most desirable--I've never owned these things mind you) for double-digit dollars to put on our registry?

Congratulations!

For how often steak knives are used (we don't have any, and, despite cooking steak once a week or so, have never really felt the need), $100 is an awfully big sum to have a family member drop. The Wusthof knives are the classics, and I bet these would serve you well.

Much lower in the price range are these from Chicago Cutlery.

I'd bet either would serve you just fine, especially after a sharpening at Northwestern Cutlery.

TODG and I argue about this all the time. (Well, we *used* to argue, now we each use our preferred knife and don't argue!) She likes the Zwilling serrated knives, which can be dishwashered.

I don't like them because I think their tooth gauge is too large and they consequently rip the meat rather than slice it.

Me, I prefer the old-fashioned, smooth-edged, walnut Chicago Cutlery knives. They'll take one helluva'n edge and can be used for all sorts of things in addition to steak. But they won't dishwasher.

They're pretty cheap too.

Geo

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.a ... ts&kw=4955

Dang, those do look nice. I stumbled upon these though (not technically steak knives) and well, you know how aesthetics can trump utility in these kinds of choices...

I'm with TODG. Get something serrated that can go in the dishwasher, unless you are prepared to do the handwashing and sharpening chores in perpetuity.

I have a set of 8 Wusthof Classic steak knives and love them. They do exactly what they should, and also feel great in the hand. They are hand-washed but it never really bothers me since I need to hand-wash my MAC knives and it is a rare occasion to have dirty steak knives without a dirty chef's and/or santoku knife as well.
Jamie

LAZ, you're right: they have to be hand-washed and sharpened. But I've been doing it for so long, it's almost a relaxing task. I just don't like the feel of TODG's Zwillings ripping through the meat, sort of a fingernail-on-blackboard feeling in my fingers.

sti3--considering the smallish price for the two sets, get 'em BOTH! The pretty ones and the Chicagos. What they hey! go for it, save the pretty ones for special occasions.

Geo

I'm back on the market for some non-serrated steak knives. My default preference is forged over stamped but I could be persuaded by some positive intel to go the other direction. I'm flexible on handle material and on that note, I'd prefer dishwasher-safe but I think that's largely a pipe dream with high-quality knives, especially those with wooden handles, so it's not a dealbreaker. 57-60 Rc seems like the ideal range for hardness. I prefer not to overspend but I do have a realistic sense of the general market.

Any thoughts on something that might fit these parameters? Any favorites out there?

=R=

Ronnie,
After using these knives at most of the restaurants we love in Paris, my husband bought me a set for my birthday. I love the blue, but there are lots of colors in the synthetic handles and also an assortment of beautiful woods. I got him the corkscrew for his birthday and it's one of the best, the corkscrew part is very sharp and cuts through the cork with no effort at all. Unfortunately they are about 3 times what you want to spend...sorry!
https://www.perceval-knives.co.uk/index.php/table-knives-947-sky-blue.html

Diane wrote:Ronnie,
After using these knives at most of the restaurants we love in Paris, my husband bought me a set for my birthday. I love the blue, but there are lots of colors in the synthetic handles and also an assortment of beautiful woods. I got him the corkscrew for his birthday and it's one of the best, the corkscrew part is very sharp and cuts through the cork with no effort at all. Unfortunately they are about 3 times what you want to spend...sorry!
https://www.perceval-knives.co.uk/index.php/table-knives-947-sky-blue.html

Yeah, I love those and I remember them well from a few trips we made to Paris. Here are some shots from a lunch we had at L'Astrance in 2012 . . .


Perceval 888 Steak knives - Lavender Blue handle

Look familiar? At 276.67 € for a set of four, they are more than I was hoping to spend but they're not what I would categorize as insane. And a variety of colors are available.

At that same lunch they also rolled these bad boys out for another course . . .


Perceval Le Grand Table - Macassar Ebony handle


Perceval Le Grand Table - Macassar Ebony handle


Perceval Le Grand Table - Macassar Ebony handle

Not only are they functional but they're absolutely gorgeous. However, at 920.00 € for a set of four, that's WAY more than I'd like to spend, especially since I was hoping to buy eight or twelve of them!

=R=

Wow, those are some great looking knives!
I think the Percival 9.47 knives are 332€ for 6 knives so maybe that makes them a little better value.
Now I have knife envy for those other ones.

Diane wrote:Wow, those are some great looking knives!
I think the Percival 9.47 knives are 332€ for 6 knives so maybe that makes them a little better value.
Now I have knife envy for those other ones.

Me too. I should have tried to take one when I had the chance!

In all seriousness, there is a company here in the US that also carries the 888 line and they run $95 per knife (for most of the line), so it might actually be cheaper to buy them from an overseas source and have them shipped.

=R=

Diane wrote:Wow, those are some great looking knives!
I think the Percival 9.47 knives are 332€ for 6 knives so maybe that makes them a little better value.
Now I have knife envy for those other ones.

It looks like prices at the site you linked to above have just dropped from 332 € to 276.67 € for six-knife sets of both the 9.47 and the 888 Synthetic lines. In other words, BUY!!!!

=R=

Reading back through this thread, I see some say you can't put wooden-handled Chicago Cutlery knives in the dishwasher. I've got a set of Chicago Cutlery steak knives and kitchen knives that I've been washing in the dishwasher for close to 30 years, and they don't seem any worse for it. Never discolored. Does the dishwasher affect the blade sharpness? I don't know; I use them a lot so I hone and sharpen them frequently. I oil the wooden handles about once a year. They look great. I also have some serrated wooden-handled steak knives that I got in Brazil about 20 years ago. I don't use them as often, but they look fine too with regular dishwasher washing and oiling, and though some don't expect the same slicing quality from serrated knives, these Brazilian knives are very (almost dangerously) sharp.

I’m very happy with our Victorinox steak knives.

They come in a variety of styles, handles, etc.

Darren72 wrote:I’m very happy with our Victorinox steak knives.

They come in a variety of styles, handles, etc.

Those do look nice.

Darren72 wrote:I’m very happy with our Victorinox steak knives.

They come in a variety of styles, handles, etc.

Thanks, Darren.

=R=

Darren72 wrote:I’m very happy with our Victorinox steak knives.

They come in a variety of styles, handles, etc.

Several reviews at Amazon make note of a strong unpleasant odor with the wood-handled knives. Did you have that experience at all?

Thanks,

=R=

Definitely not.

If I was diving into a pile of Scrooge McDuck money I'd start by looking at one of these three sets of steak knives, in ascending order of cost starting at about $100 per.


Wildfire Knives
https://wildfirecutlery.com/carbon-steel-steak-knives/
Starting at about $100 per in carbon steel, I'd go for 5"
A Thai Cleaver would be a must-have add-on and maybe a chef knife and carving set.

Serenity Knives
http://www.serenityknives.com/steak-knives-1
http://www.serenityknives.com/blog/2013 ... large-ones
Starting at about $200 per and going up from there. My choice would be old school high carbon steel, might toss in a few super steel CPM154 for the hell of it.

Randall Knives
Randall knives year wait minimum, if they even deign to make them, in carbon steel. I'd add a carving set and hunting knife or three for shits and giggles.
Steak knives come in stainless steel, I'd want carbon steel, $485 per, carving set $630
https://www.randallknives.com/knives/mo ... rving-set/
Here's a sold set of 4 for $2,400, older and made by Bo Randall (RIP) before the company became larger.
https://www.arizonacustomknives.com/ran ... 16563.html

I should mention I'm happy with our 20-year-old set of non serrated Laguiole steak knives with accompanying carving set Ellen bought in San Francisco Gump's a couple of decades ago. I also like my Openiel #9 and Great Eastern Cutlery/Northwoods Madison Barlow, both in carbon steel, for BYOSK scenarios.

Also, most any custom knife maker will produce a fine set of steak knives, you might have to pay nose-bleed money and wait a year or more, though a personal visit to the wilds of wherever they are and a bag of Scrooge McDuck money might get you bumped up in line.

Perceval are sleek, modern and above all French, they don't speak to me in the least.

G Wiv wrote:If I was diving into a pile of Scrooge McDuck money I'd start by looking at one of these three sets of steak knives, in ascending order of cost starting at about $100 per.

Oh, Gary. I knew I could count on you to produce the "I gotta have that" feeling in the strongest of ways. *Sigh*

=R=

I found a set of 4 Henckels Zwilling Steak Knives that would cost 200 retail; for 15 bucks at TJMAXX. I think the person tagging the item confused it for Henckels International (the one with the single dancing man logo).

Even though I am a vegetarian I could not pass that up. I gave 3 to friends and use one as my paring knife.

My friends thank me every time they eat their steaks. I am happy with my garlic slicer.

So what I am saying is; don't forget to look into TJMAXX.

Surprisingly Emerson Knives, with a reputation for high-speed low-drag tactical knives, is getting into the BYOSK market with the Emerson, Carnivore Folder.* I've owned an Emerson, the most low-speed model they make, CQC 7A with a waveless drop point blade, for a dozen years or more, a terrific hard use pocket knife.

Please don't take this as a recommendation, Emerson started out as custom, moved to midtech, which is what I have, then, in recent years offered collaborations with much larger companies while ramping up their own production. I'd guess its a decent knife but one can likely do better for the price.

I still get Emerson email newsletters, which is how I know about the steak knife, caught me by surprise. What's next, Opinel making black tactical folders with swooping serrated Persian style blades.



I sense a trend, says Commander Obvious.

*[Edit] Just noticed on Emerson's Carnivore page *Serrations not available on this model.

I really wish there were a place where one could go to test-drive a wide variety of steak knives. Even the retail shops I know of that have testers carry so few brands (and mostly the same brands), it'd take a lot of separate trips to cover any significant amount of ground. And even doing that would still leave me with a lot of untested prospects.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I really wish there were a place where one could go to test-drive a wide variety of steak knives. Even the retail shops I know of that have testers carry so few brands (and mostly the same brands), it'd take a lot of separate trips to cover any significant amount of ground. And even doing that would still leave me with a lot of untested prospects.

=R=

Did you try ABT? They have a large selection of knives on display, not sure how many are steak knives.

ronnie_suburban wrote:I really wish there were a place where one could go to test-drive a wide variety of steak knives. Even the retail shops I know of that have testers carry so few brands (and mostly the same brands), it'd take a lot of separate trips to cover any significant amount of ground. And even doing that would still leave me with a lot of untested prospects.

=R=

Kind of off topic, but we had dinner at Chez Benoit in Highland Park on Saturday night and they use the Atelier Perceval 9.47 knives as their steak knives. I was excited-you don't see those knives here in the states very often.

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I really wish there were a place where one could go to test-drive a wide variety of steak knives. Even the retail shops I know of that have testers carry so few brands (and mostly the same brands), it'd take a lot of separate trips to cover any significant amount of ground. And even doing that would still leave me with a lot of untested prospects.

=R=

Did you try ABT? They have a large selection of knives on display, not sure how many are steak knives.

I'm a fan and a loyal, longtime customer but I'm already pretty familiar with most of what they carry, which is mostly Wusthof.

=R=

Diane wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I really wish there were a place where one could go to test-drive a wide variety of steak knives. Even the retail shops I know of that have testers carry so few brands (and mostly the same brands), it'd take a lot of separate trips to cover any significant amount of ground. And even doing that would still leave me with a lot of untested prospects.

=R=

Kind of off topic, but we had dinner at Chez Benoit in Highland Park on Saturday night and they use the Atelier Perceval 9.47 knives as their steak knives. I was excited-you don't see those knives here in the states very often.

Not off-topic at all. Maybe I should head over there and re-familiarize myself with them. They're pretty much at the top of my list (more than the Perceval 888 line) but at ~$70/knife, I just can't pull the trigger without trying them again. Thanks, for the intel.

=R=

I ended up going the "cheap" route and purchased some J.A. Henckels International 39360 Classic Steak Knives (German steel, fabricated in Spain). While I was exploring all my options, I had them in my cart at Amazon and pricing bounced around quite a bit. But on the day I decided I needed to buy something, they'd dropped to $67.99 for a set of 4 (~$17/knife). That seemed pretty good for a riveted, forged, full-tang knife from a manufacturer with which I've had favorable experiences over the years. They're fine, if not spectacular. I wish they were a bit more substantial in the hand but as Doug Marcaida would say "it will cut."

As for more artisanal, custom-made, beautiful and/or substantial knives, I still covet them but I realized that I'd be really bummed if I invested in a bunch of them and they started to get lost, misplaced, accidentally thrown away or whatever. With the Henckels, I'm far less concerned about that. And they certainly do the job nicely.

=R=

At $20 per for 4 & $15 per for 8 I'm tempted by the non serrated version of the Misen Steak Knife
Special pricing for Fathers Day on all products, DAD20, expires June 6th.