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Messermeister Meridian Elite 6 inch utility knife

F

Faiaoga

Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Messages
945
:cool: I have picked up a damaged kitchen knife that I will try to fix up and sharpen. It is marked as a Solingen Messermeister Meridian Elite 6 inch utility knife (E/3688-6), and I have found the same knife shown on a Messermeister web site. It will have to have the tip reground and the edge restored, but otherwise the knife is in good shape.

I am not much of a cook and certainly no professional chef, so I am asking about the quality of this knife from those who are cooks/chefs. Is this knife considered worth the $115 list price? Is it worth being sent to a professional for sharpening? Thanks.
Faiaoga
 
most european or western knives in the kitchen knife world are considered to be too soft. even Wusthof and Henckels are catching up to the japanese, but still not by much when it comes to rockwell hardness. The japanese tend to harden their knives to around 59-60 RC compared to Wusthof's 58 RC. And then there's the steel that the japanese uses which is quite a ways more superior than what european knives are made of.

I only used wusthof here as an example coz it's what i'm more familiar with. messermeister to me is just about the same level as those other euro knives that i mentioned.

in short, if you know how to sharpen knives or have a knife sharpening system of some sort, sharpen it yourself. that is if the knife is in decent shape in the first place. if it's got chips or whatever, that'll depend on how good you are at sharpening.

pix might help?

most mass produced european kitchen knives for me are way overpriced. any japanese blade that's priced at around $70 can outperform and will be way sharper than any european blade.

but that's just my point of view.
 
Messermeister Meridian Elite knives are an attempt by the Messermeister company to produce a euro styled knife that has the ( typically Japanese) attributes of a thin and very hard blade (60-61hrc). They were trying to bridge the gap between the two styles and for a big company did fairly well at it. They are very usable knives and a good intro to what a decent knife can do. They tend to chip a bit easier then f. dick or other standard euro blades. While I also like Japanese blades, it is important to realize that the vast majority of reputable cooking schools still use trad. euro knives ( typically german). So have ago at sharpening it or take it to a reputable cutler to have it sharpened and have at it. You are not likely to be slicing sashimi or breaking down primal cuts or using you knife for 12 hours straight so things like extreme edge durability and really precise fit are not likely to be the factors that prevent you from getting the orders out with fewer blisters. So have it sharpened right once and then just use a steel until it needs another sharpening. It is a better knife then the vast majority of humanity gets to play with so have at it and have fun.
 
I think the whole high hardness thing is a little overrated but do agree that many of the heavier German-style knives are overly thick. However, I find that F. Dick and Victorinox Euro-style pieces are just fine in the thickness department and hold an edge more than well enough. It's not like you're cutting cardboard or rope, so edge wear shouldn't be significant, and being just soft enough to steel makes touchups extremely quick.
 
so long as he doesn't use stone, glass, ceramic, metal or bamboo as a cutting board. then he's all set.

=D

i absolutely hate those stone and glass cutting boards.
 
Bhamster said:
Messermeister Meridian Elite knives are an attempt by the Messermeister company to produce a euro styled knife that has the ( typically Japanese) attributes of a thin and very hard blade (60-61hrc). .
Click to expand...

must be a miracle worker at the factory who can get Rc60 from basically 440A steel (X50CrMoV15 is what's on the blade)
that said, if the damaged knife didn't cost much, would be a perfect candidate to fix up and use. Just dont use glass or stone cutting boards.

as far as the hardness thing, didn't realize what I was missing until I started using a nakiri (small cleaver) with a thin Rc 62 blade.
 
Messermeisters are up there with Henckel and Wusthoff. If you got it cheap great! If I were spending money I'd rather have a japanese knife in VG-10 or Aogami Blue Steel but the Mess. will last you a long time, just keep it sharpened up.
 
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