Top Rated Kitchen Knives Include Wusthof, Henckels, and Forschner Knives

Every day, thousands of people search the Internet looking for guidance on purchasing the best kitchen knives and cooking knives. There are a variety of criteria you can use to determine what would be the best kitchen or chef's knives for your budget and purposes; but, one of the best places to start is with expert and consumer reviews. Generally, you can't go too far wrong if you purchase your kitchen knives from a reputable brand, such as Forschner, Dexter, JA Henckels, or Wusthof kitchen knives; but reading objective evaluations from other consumers and experts, can be extremely helpful.

Buying the right kitchen knife actually involves a lot of different decisions, not the least of which is choosing between a cooking knife that is "forged" versus one that is "stamped". If price is no object, then a forged knife would probably be the preferred choice. Forged chefs knives are generally considered sturdier than stamped knives, but the question is -- are they always worth the extra money? The answer is a definitive, "not always". According to Consumer Reports, "Although the top-rated knives are forged, stamped knives are capable of very good performance." The non-profit consumer education organization points out that stamped knives do not have a bolster and a heel, which do add value to the user experience; but those features probably wouldn't be missed by most people. Visit their web site for a good "crash course" in understanding knife terminology and tips on efficient use and care of kitchen knives.

The four types of knives that Consumer Reports recommends having on hand in a well-equipped home kitchen are a chef's knife, a slicer, a utility knife, and a parer. For home chefs who like to have a kitchen knife for every purpose, there are specialty food preparation knives made for virtually every task in the kitchen. For example, in addition to the multi-purpose chef's knife and carving knife, you can also buy kitchen knives specifically designed for slicing bread, cheese, ham, or fish (fillet knives). There are also shell fish knives, which are more commonly referred to as "clam knives", "oyster knives", or "scallop knives". For cooks looking for a multi-purpose kitchen knife that slices, dices, and minces, a Santuko knife might be a the perfect supplement to a home cutlery supply.

As far as top brand names for the best chef knives and kitchen knives, the Wusthof classic seemed to be the favorite of expert reviewers, although the RH Forschner by Victorinox Fibrox was deemed the best budget knife set. Among the runners up for best kitchen knives were the Henckels Twin Professional "S" and the Henckels Four Star. Henckels Four Star series is one of the most popular lines of kitchen knives on the market, and includes a wide range of carvers, cleavers, boning knives, peeling knives, and steak knives. The Henckels Pro S series also features virtually every kitchen knife imaginable, including sandwich knives, fillet knives, flexible slicers, hollow edge slicers, and serrated utility knives.

It pays to read kitchen knives reviews, like the ones online at ConsumerSearch.com, but if you stick with well-known brand names, such as Victorinox, Forschner, Henckels knives, and Wusthof, you will rarely be disappointed.

About the author: Joel Sussman is marketing specialist with Mountain Media, providing ecommerce services to websites, such as CulteryMania.com, an online source for Forschner kitchen knives, Dexter, Henckels knives, and other name kitchen cutlery.

The Fame of Forschner Cutlery

RH Forschner is a name synonymous with quality and well executed kitchen cutlery. The company was given the sole distribution rights for the US in 1972, but the association between this company and the actual manufacturer, Victorinox, began almost 100 years ago. This all started in Switzerland in the 1800's when Carl Elsener decided not to apprentice in his family's haberdashery business. Instead he began to make knives. He invented and sold the first and the original Swiss Army Knife. These gained tremendously in popularity and in 1937 the Forschner Butcher Scale Company began importing and selling them. The two companies' association has continued since this time.

Today the Victorinox Company exports 90% of their entire kitchen cutlery...over 73 million knives each year.

The Forschner mark on a knife is indicative of superior workmanship and quality and people in all countries look to purchase these items only. The original factory still produces and manufactures all of these cutlery pieces, and each is carefully designed for one particular use and task. While many professional chefs will choose these cooking aids because they will be relying on the quality and superb blade strength, the normal everyday cooks choose them because they know they are selecting a product that is guaranteed to provide them with years of problem free use.

There are numerous styles and designs of Forschner designed blades and even several different handle designs that you can browse through in order to arrive at your final choice. Many of these are specially crafted to afford the user ease of use and to give them ergonomic action. The balance and feel that you have in these knives allows you to use them with relatively no hand or wrist strain at all. The handles are offered in elegant rosewood, nylon composite of even the company's own Fibrox material. The Fibrox handles could be placed in a dishwasher but this practice is not recommended.

The perfection, strength and durability of the blades are a result of their special alloy which is derived from a combination of fine carbon and stainless steel. These two metals when subjected to a Forschner company formula and specification provide an alloy of surprising strength and resilience. This is quite useful because there are many shapes and designs of blades that will have to be exactingly fashioned. Due to many criteria and specifications that will have to be met, only a flexible and strong alloy can be used.

The knife blades that have the peculiar serrated wave are meant for use when needing kitchen knives for slicing items that have both soft and delicate interiors and a harder shell or skin, such as tomatoes and rolls. For vegetables that need to be chopped you would choose one of the straight edged blades. There are also boning knives that have different blades for different uses. You will find knife blades meant to cut through thickened gristle and bone, as well as those for dealing with game birds and fish. For the purpose of filleting, there is a blade that has a nicely curved, narrow blade that is very useful for extracting the meat that is close to the bone.

There are even knife sharpeners which are created by the Forschner Company and these too come with a history rich in tradition and quality. The craftsmen all highly recommend the use of these with their products. One sharpener allows you to re-align the blade as you sharpen and this is not seen in many other products of this type. All of the sharpening steels are manufactured to precise calibrations.

Forschner prides itself on being known as the company that carries on the traditions and principles upon which it was founded. They proudly offer you a guarantee on any of your purchases and will often replace something even when it was damaged through no fault of the company. Customer service is a sacred trust.

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