Reddit mentions of Zwilling J.A. Henckels ZWILLING Chef's Knife, 8 Inch, Black

We put a chef's knife on our registry as a joke because it was so expensive ($100), but my uncle actually bought it for us. Just had our 10 year anniversary, and it's the only thing we still own from that day. Along with a good sharpener, a good chief's knife can last forever.

I fucking love that knife. It's cuts everything and makes cooking so much more enjoyable.

Edit: This is like the one we ended up with. Apparently different than ours from 10 years ago. Ours has 3 names on the opposite side of the grip and the boxes near "made in Germany" are different than the picture.

Just because its cheaper doesnt mean its fake.

The fact that its cheaper and on ebay isnt a good sign, but prices for the same cutlery can be very different based off of the country its being sold in.

Germany's amazon has the knife for as little as 54euro

or the US amazon has it for $74.

I dont really think either of those are fake. Is $5 cheaper that unbelievable from the ebay store? not really.. but for an exta 15, you can buy it from US amazon and that will usually have a warranty, while ebay shops do not.

I buy a lot of things from ebay, and I always check to see if its fake on the first day of receiving it. If it is fake, and less than $50 they usually just tell you to keep it, and they return the money. Worst case, you have to return it, the shop gets a mark in Ebay's system, and you get all of the money back including the return shipping.

For knives, the same rules apply. With even more emphasis in the safety aspect of it. A lot of people think that with sharper knives, you'll cut yourself more while cooking, but the truth is the exact opposite. Since the cook should let the knife do the cutting. If you're using strength, your knife is either dull or bad. Which is why you should buy good knives (and an okay whetstone) learn how to hone them and do so every 3 uses (I personally sharpen my knives before using and after washing).

Some people will tell you to buy Shun, others will tell you to buy Miyabi or Yaxell (personal favorite). But you don't need these, these are overkill and most chefs don't even use them on a professional kitchen (they might do so in events, but in a normal kitchen you wouldn't want to wear such an expensive knife)

So, all in all you could either go the cheaper way and buy Victorinox, which is a GOOD knife, nothing amazing about it, but reliable and that will get the job done. Also, it is very easy to sharpen.

If you want the mid-range price I'd say either Global, Henckels(If you chose Henckels, choose the forged, not the standard piece) or Wüsthof. I like all three, all of them will last you upwards to 20 years if you properly maintain and wash them buy hand (very important, a great deal of the damage done to knifes is while washing).

A good knife is a companion for the rest of your life in the kitchen. And these three are the best for heavy and professional use. Though the more expensive ones cut better, the wear on them is not worth it for a professional cook.

And lastly, don't buy a kit with 8 to 12 knifes. You won't use that. That is a piece of decoration, on which you'd be wasting money. You only NEED 1 good knife. It is best to have two or three, but no more.

Start with one, I think the best model to start off is the Chef's 8 inch. In either brand. If you enjoy it, go ahead to the chef's 8 inch and the utility and that's it!

Also, don't rule out Victorinox if you're just getting started, they make very good knifes for starters, and you don't need to worry much when sharpening them, since they sell a tool which can re-cut its edge to the proper shape, so if you mess up, you can actually "Reset to factory settings"

I'll link here the 8 inch chefs of the knifes I mentioned. You might find them small at first but even I rarely need to take out my 10inch or the 12 inch.

Global: https://amzn.com/B00005OL44

Henckels (forged): https://amzn.com/B00004RFKS

Wüsthof: https://amzn.com/B00009ZK08

Victorinox (weirdly, the bettex one [Fibrox] was 4 cents cheaper then the most basic. I am linking both, but i don't know if you can "reset" the blade of the better one)

Victorinox Fibrox: https://amzn.com/B008M5U1C2

Victorinox basic: https://amzn.com/B0061SWV8Y

Victorinox tool (this is not a sharpener, this literally CUTS the blade back into shape): https://amzn.com/B001X5A998

I got that exact knife at TJ Maxx for like 30 bucks. It's a 4 star twin. On mine I removed some of the metal at the heel of the knife with my dremel to let the full blade contact the cutting board and to ease sharpening. I also rounded the spine of mine with sandpaper and it makes for an excellent knife. It has been one of my goto knives for heavy duty tasks in a professional kitchen for several years.

I'm using this knife with this sharpener to keep it sharp once every 2-3 weeks (takes 30 seconds) plus maintenance resharpening on the spyderco sharpmaker ~ once in 1-2 years (takes another 10 minutes) for more then 5 years now. Cuts everything extremely well provided you use it only on the chopping boards and don't do silly things with your knife.

Alas, the better Henckels have Wüsthof prices (e.g., Pro - the Twin Signature and International lines are significantly lower quality (see this comparison). Henckels Pro, Wüsthof Classic, and Messermeister Elite are all good, of similar quality, and of similar price.

You could consider some of the cheaper Wüsthof and Henckels lines, like:

• https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Cordon-8-Inch-Cooks-Knife/dp/B0001WN9VO/
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/ZWILLING-J-Henckels-Four-Star-8-inch/dp/B00004RFKS/

I have a Henckel Twin 4 Star and it is by far my favorite knife. I also have some Dick and Shun for comparison, but the Henckel is just perfect for me. Perfect weight, not too thin and stays sharp forever with regular honing.
The paring knife isn't as good, because the blade bends slightly and I want my blades to be stiff.
I think you can't go wrong on these.
By the way, the link I posted is the old version of this knife. The newer 4 star II linehas a metal thingy at the end of the grip to balance it out or something.
I can't say anything about the Cermax or the Professional line though.

This here is a pretty good knife pic. This knife would chop a cutco knife into pieces and still hold an edge.

Exactly, that's the point I was going with as well and people are so heavy-set on defending their purchases. Not everyone is perfect, it's best to realize when you've done something wrong or when you've made a poor purchase, it happens.

You can get some amazing knives for under $100, which is why I recommend not getting Cutco as they tend to be around that price.

E.g.
Knife 1
Knife 2

Knife 3
Knife 4