Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Kitchen Gear A Slice of Knife
Posted by Nicki Wood on Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 7:14 AM
I used to have knives sharpened professionally, but was never happy with the results. My main knives, Wusthof Trident "Culinaire," had razor sharp blades originally. Now, even when I sharpen them myself, the resulting edge must be "sawed" to cut through grapefruit membranes.
The conclusion is that typical paring knives only have five to seven years in them. Christmas was time to replace them.
Did anyone ever sell Cutco knives to you or your mom? Because of the sales method (college students going door to door), you may have assumed it was crappy and cheap cutlery. I did, even when my own hard-working brother sold it. But 20 years later, everyone who bought from him still seems pretty happy with their Cutco knives. That's four times longer than five to seven years.
For Christmas I received a Cutco cheese knife and paring knife. General consensus is that the steel is harder than Wusthof and will hold an edge longer.
In search of negative opinions of the Cutco, mostly what turned up was objections to the door-to-door sales method and the price. As with any knives, the handles and the weight aren't comfortable in everyone's hand. Knives are like coffee that way -- tastes are very personal, very individual.
There are a lot of knives in my kitchen, but I'm not a knife collector, a knife freak, and especially not a knife snob. So far, I'm thrilled with tthe Cutco. The cheese knife sank through a hard block of aged cheddar as if it were peanut butter. And the paring knife is actually too sharp -- if it touches skin, it cuts. So it will be a learning process -- re-learning how to use a super sharp knife.
Comments (26)
Showing 1-26 of 26
I cut the tip of my finger on a new cutco knife on nye. That knife was super sharp.
The key to having a sharp knife is to use a ceramic honing tool. I use one everytime I pull out my knife.
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I have been loving my Cutcos for two decades now & I think we have sharpened them rarely. I'm sure I should do it more often, but I'm not sure I want/need them that much sharper!
While I don't love their sales process either, you can now buy them online I believe, or in my case, you can buy them from former students who are looking for "real jobs". Still loved the "cut through a penny" demo.
I have a MAC santoku, a German granton slicer, and Dexter Russell for everything else. About $60 in the MAC, and everything else is very utilitarian and "disposable".
Cutco made a strong push recently- I've have three phone solicitations in the last 90 days.
Cutco is good stuff, but I won't lose sleep if a D-R spreader accidentally goes home with another tailgater.
I not only have the knives, I have the entire set of Waterless Cookware. . .and the flatware plus serving utensils. . . and the steak knives. I had the dishes but finally gave them away since I no longer liked the design. I have used that cookware for the past 30 years and use them every single day. They look brand new and I absolutely love them.
My sister and I both bought a set while still in high school and my dad almost had a heart attack when he found out how much we spent. It has been worth every penny. The only problem I had was a handle worked loose on one of the pans sometime last year and my husband was able to fix it.
I even still have the original cookbook that came with the entire set.
I received a Shun chef's knife for Christmas. Never used a Japanese knife before, and it's taking some getting used to. It's a lot lighter-weight than the German ones, but still well-balanced. Overall I think I like it, but I'll have to do a lot more chopping to know for sure.
Interestingly, I've been told that German and Japanese honing steels are not interchangeable. The knife makers apparently sharpen to different angles, and you can ruin your edge if you use the wrong one.
My mother, the most frugal, most skeptical person on the planet, got a set of Cutcos back in the mid 50s. I swear, if you opened the drawer right now they're still as sharp as when she bought them. She had the rolling sharpener they sold with the set then, but we didn't have to use it more than once every five years or so. I thought it was a joke until I bought a cheap knife on my own and realized how high the bar had been set.
It's funny how things change - used to be you bought something to last forever and paid for it. Fuller brushes used to only be sold door-to-door, and there was never any doubt that they were simply the best you could get. Now we buy crap for cheap and buy it again and again and again.
Or we pay too much for less and talk ourselves into it. Trust me, nothing at Williams-Sonoma is as good as those Cutcos, but the snobs and the snob-sheep will never admit it.
I'm not much of a knife snob as I have a terrible habit of bringing knifes to work and losing them. That said, I use knives every day for cutting really thick crusted breads and I was given a truly awesome bread knife from a French company called Sabatier. This knife is my new best friend. It can cut the thickest crust as if it were cream cheese. Le Creuset carries the knife and I can highly recommend their store in the Hill Center. One warning, the damn thing is so sharp that it can cut through finger tips and finger nails quite smoothly.
In my 20's I was living in San Diego, riding the dot com wave, and my boss just happened to be the former president of Vector marketing that designed the original Cutco "student work program".
Before meeting him, I had never even heard of Cutco. Now I can't imagine my life without them.
He gave me a huge set of 18 knives (10 are steak knives) in a block, plus kitchen shears. I've often wondered if I was missing out by not owning a Wusthof, etc, so I'm so happy to know that I'm not!
My father always said not to give a knife as a gift, because it would sever the friendship. So whenever I think of giving my spouse (and therefore myself) a knife, I refrain out of superstition. A couple of years ago we finally bought some Cutco steak knives and we are forever congratulating ourselves on the purchase.
I forgot about the shears - I have them too!! I don't think there is any part of the set I don't have.
Selling Cutco knives was one of the worst (and shortest) jobs I ever had, but the knives seem pretty good. I hated cutting the penny, but that was the highlight of the show for most people who sat through my pitch.
Cutco knives are not that sharp. If you think they are, you probably have not ever handled an actual sharp knife. However, as many have stated, they do keep the edge they have, which makes them great for a home cook who is not going to want to spend time with their knives on water stones to achieve maximum sharpness.
If you fancy yourself an aspiring knife-nerd/nut/snob, there is plenty of reading at knifeforums.com in threads such as this one: http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/851760/fromsearch/1/hl/cutco/tp/1/
If you are happy with your Cutco knives though, then enjoy them, and read no further. Finding a knife that you are comfortable using is very important.
Having taken a knife skills course very recently, I have to say that I am *still* quite happy with the Cutcos. Was not overly impressed with the Santokus etc. that we used (and that were sold) in class. Maybe I am not that skilled a knife person, but I am not sure I would want/need much more power. (In full disclosure, I've bought some additional Cutcos [2006] and they are dangerously sharp & effective.)
There are plenty of MBA and other high school/young college students I can hook you up with if you want some Cutco...I think it's one of the best products I've bought in a long time. As for the sales process, it's like the 21st century Northwestern bible school. Some of the most successful marketing/sales/business people out there started selling Cutco during the summers in school. And they'll replace anything for you---a friend of mine received a set of Cutco for a wedding present FORTY years ago...had a handle chip, and yep, they replaced it, no questions asked.
Cutco makes a durable utilitarian knife that's uncomfortable to use because of poor balance and the oddly shaped grips but, because they are serrated and made with high Cr steel, they hold an edge for a long time. If the aesthetics of a knife are less important than how long they will hold an edge then, Cutco is for you. However, if you do a lot of precision food prep, enjoy a very well made and balanced knife and are willing to invest minimal amount of time in learning how to sharpen and maintain them, then you should consider a Wustof, Henckels or Cuisinart. I keep my knives sharp enough to shave with by simply pulling them through a ceramic sharpener 3-4 times just before I use them.
Local Foodie, what sort of ceramic sharpener do you use? I been honing my knives with Furi Gusto-Grip OZITECH Diamond Fingers and it's really made a difference. If a cheap Rachel Ray product helps, I can only imagine what a good shrpener/honer might do.
Please inform!
Local Foodie, I grew up with an entire set of Cutcos in the kitchen and I have never seen a single one that was serrated. What set do you have ?
@cc: http://www.edgeproinc.com
That's where I got my ceramic honing rod, as well as an Apex system, which allows you to sharpen on stones without needing to learn to hold the proper angle, because it holds an angle for you. Of course, at 155$ to start, it's probably only a good idea for someone who has more than a passing relationship with their knives.
Thanks, ANM,
Knife sharpening is a talent I always wish I had and that I respect in others. I just wish I was better friends with somebody who's really good at it.
I've heard Corrieri's does a decent job sharpening and both good and bad reports about Davis Cookware in Hillsoboro Village.
Any other recommendations from the gallery if I wanted to have 3-4 kitchen knives brought back to life?
Chris, my sharpener is even cheaper than your RR. Mine is a ceramic rod affair in a nylon handle from a filet knife made by J. Marttiini (these filet knives are available at most sports sections of K-Mart and Walmarts) and is 15+ years old. What makes it great is it's simplicity. You simply can't use it wrong. You simply pull the knife throught the "V" grove in ti and they are sharpened at the correct angle as described by Chris above. The diamond hones should actually work better than my ceramic one but, the relative hardness of the two sharpeners are close. To "SL": if you go to cutco.com and look at their knives you will notice that most are serrated. Yes, they do have some that aren't and their Nakira is exceptional but, serrated knives were created almost specifically to address sharpening times. Serrated knives don't need sharpening as often because they have greater surface ares of cutting edged but, on the flip side, they can't be sharpened by conventional methods. Once the become dull they have to go back to Cutco (who will sharpen them for you and I seem to recall for free) but, you will be without your knives for a month or more. If you go into a professional chef's kitchen serrated knifes are almost exclusively used for only one purpose, slicing breads and pastries. You won't see a lot of Cutco in their domain.
Ciao
One other comment about the Cutco knives. I'm not knocking them, Cutco make a qualtiy product but, look at the ergonomics of their design. The handles are made of plastic and are small in your hands and with longer chef knives or my favorites, Nakira's, are much lighter than the cutting parts making the balance poor. You want a knife with lots of steel like a Santoku to have a big and heavy handle to counter balance the blade and make the process joyful. I'm not a Cutco basher, they make excellent products but, more intended for the casual user than the professional.
The only serrated knife in my mom's set was the bread knife, so maybe they changed through the years. I'm familiar with the purpose - and step-down in quality - of a serrated edge, that's why I was surprised to hear it in reference to these. and maybe a tad suspicious.
I do not know own a set myself, I'm merely pointing out that the one set with which I have any familiarity is now over 50 years ago and still sharp as ever, and held up in every other way, making it a purchase that actually lived up to its marketing.
I'm glad to see so many people establishing their own opinion of the product through actually using it! I have been using Cutco for 15 years, because my grandma has had her set fer 42 years. I started selling Cutco 8 months ago. I don't know how so many of you had a bad experience with the sales; we are forbidden from going door to door under regulations from the Direct Sales Association. Perhaps if you had a good representative maybe you would think otherwise... many companies see the training our reps get as the highest quality of direct customer sales; creating the optimum level of comfort for the people who matter most: you guys! YOU use knives basically everyday, WE provide the best that is out there. IF you disagree please contact me with questions and concerns, I would gladly help you understand why we reign over competition.
p.s. Our factory will sharpen them for free, so you don't have to worry about what type of rod to use. Qualified Reps have sharpening kits, and have to go thru training to sharpen correctly; otherwise you ruin the edge. If you are unsure please contact the factory thru our website to have your knives evaluated.
p.p.s. Representatives are there to give you a BETTER deal than what you can get online, while earning extra money to go to college themselves. You have to understand, sometimes people need to grow, and putting yourself out of you comfort zone and into productivity is the best way. These reps are the cream of the crop! Some of the greatest and most inspirational people i've met. Google some of their books!
I too agree that knives are an individual thing; it's just like the old days when knights would try out blades that best suited them. A knife, just like a sword, has its own balance and weight, and so do people. My personal taste is the Protech Don; I've never tried out the Cutco knives, but I can safely say that the Protech gets the duty done.
