Recommendation? Looking for a low maintenance chef's knife

C

CasualCook

Joined
Dec 18, 2020
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My dad has a really bad set of knifes. I couldn't cut myself with the edge even if I wanted to.
I could sharpen up his knives but these blades are some no name brand he bought 11 years ago.
So, I'm not assuming these knives will even hold the edge for that long.

I'm looking for a chef's knife 20-22cm would be great but 16cm would work just fine.
Stainless steel, for obvious reasons. An edge that will hold and that wouldn't require much maintenance.
 
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Check out David Mary David Mary knives. He's a maker here with a subforum here on BF.

I had him make me a camp style chef knife of my design out of AEB-L stainless.
He has done a number of chefs knives.

It's perfect, I know he could make something you and your dad would love.
.....and His prices are good.

I will be buying More from him.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Check out David Mary David Mary knives. He's a maker here with a subforum here on BF.

I had him make me a camp style chef knife of my design out of AEB-L stainless.
He has done a number of chefs knives.

It's perfect, I know he could make something you and your dad would love.
.....and His prices are good.

I will be buying More from him.
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Going custom is out of my price range. Especially since David is based in Canada and I'm in the UK.
Any recommendations for a cheaper commercial knife?
 
The Victorinox Fibrox chef's knife is the standard recommendation here. Stainless, tough steel. Not fun to sharpen, but it does sharpen.
Obviously like any other knife it will need periodic sharpening.
If you want something nicer, a Miyabi Koh or it's Zwilling equivalent won't cost much. AEB-L steel sharpens up nicely.
 
I don’t know how much you’re willing to spend, but I just bought a set of yaxell mon and they seem to be holding the edge really well. They are very thin, though, and if he is rough with them, they are hard and could chip and crack. If he’s rough, a softer steel will be needed but will require sharpening more often.
 
Plenty, and I'll probably get some flack for recommending these. Having own both these and high end kitchen knives, I can tell you all are very well made and hit above their price point.

Due Cigni - sandvik stainless, great steel
QSP Damascus Kitchen Knife - bought two of these, 60$ and very well made
Bestech Xin - made from a funky copper stainless. Havent used this enough to give it a pass but initial impressions are very good.

You can also try cheaper KAI, Wustorf, Henckels, but their budget knives really look budget lol.

Good luck!
 
When I visited a commercial knife supply place to look for decent but inexpensive knives to rehandle for gifts, the owner said hands down victorinox fibrox, no question.
 
fishface5 said:
When I visited a commercial knife supply place to look for decent but inexpensive knives to rehandle for gifts, the owner said hands down victorinox fibrox, no question.
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Did he have some secret to remove the molded handle? Get the rosewood ones and call it a day.
 
Victorinox uses pretty soft steel which has mediocre edge retention. VG-10 is a better steel for this purpose. A proper Japanese VG-10 knife costs more than a Victorinox but in my opinion the difference in price is totally justified.

A cutting board can make a big difference in edge holding. I like end grain cutting boards a lot.
 
What Tapio said!! Cutting boards make a huge difference in edge retention. Get rid of the plastic and bamboo cutting boards. I’ve had no issues with the Victorinox steel that a few passes on a strop couldn’t fix so far. About 6 strokes each side every other week is all I’ve needed so far.
 
i second the tojiro 210 VG-10 gyuto chef's knive had some in family use for years. great knives.
 
Always recommend the Victorinox Fibrox…even more so for people that are going to throw them in a dishwasher. They are very inexpensive, hold their edges well and resharpen quickly. I’ve got an 8 inch chef, bread knife, 6 and 5 inch utility and a handful of pairing knives by them. You just can’t go wrong for the price. It’s consistly a top recommend by multiple review sites and crushes much more expensive competitors. I keep mine very sharp just using a honing steel, haven’t actually had to sharpen any of them on the diamond plates in over 2 years.
 
about 20 years ago I was given a 7 knife set by Dexter Russell. The kind with the white plastic type handles that wash well. They are decent knives for a non professional such as I. Cut well, sharpen well when needed and mine do hold a decent edge. I cut and trim animals fillet fish and cut vegetables with them. One is even large enough to cut a big water melon in half. I lie mine, you might look at them.
 
In the world of Japanese blades Tojiro is budget. Sort of like a Victorinonx Fibrox chef knife is in western blades.

Side note the drawing showing the 14" length of the Tojiro is twisted.
 
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You might check out eBay for Henckels 4star knives as they go for cheap and hold a good edge for me at home. I have around 20 Henckels 4star and about 10 Wusthof Classic knives. A lot of the Henckels were my mom's so they are around 50 years old and still going strong. I use a Worksharp Ken Onion sharpener set at 15 degrees to sharpen them. It works great.
 
BDubbs said:
Always recommend the Victorinox Fibrox…even more so for people that are going to throw them in a dishwasher. They are very inexpensive, hold their edges well and resharpen quickly. I’ve got an 8 inch chef, bread knife, 6 and 5 inch utility and a handful of pairing knives by them. You just can’t go wrong for the price. It’s consistly a top recommend by multiple review sites and crushes much more expensive competitors. I keep mine very sharp just using a honing steel, haven’t actually had to sharpen any of them on the diamond plates in over 2 years.
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Yes, an outstanding value with good performance. Also, the Mercer Genesis Line. In US, the 8" Chef Knife is $34, forged steel V15. Have had one for about 2 months, use it 4-5 times/week, have not touched it yet but it touched me, tip of left finger....ouch.
 
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