New to better kitchen Knives
- Thread starter bigredtn
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? Safe knife handling is the same regardless.
However, it helps to keep a knife sharp, so it follows the path you choose. With a blunt knife, you may be tempted to put more force behind it and have the knife fly off in the path of least resistance.
Watch out for the bolster when sharpening. Actually in time you should grind that down with a coarse stone, but that comes much later.
With German steel, don't give it an acute angle.
However, it helps to keep a knife sharp, so it follows the path you choose. With a blunt knife, you may be tempted to put more force behind it and have the knife fly off in the path of least resistance.
Watch out for the bolster when sharpening. Actually in time you should grind that down with a coarse stone, but that comes much later.
With German steel, don't give it an acute angle.
jc57
Gold Member
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- Nov 28, 2012
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- 8,761
General tips for better quality knives:
- Hand wash and dry, no dishwasher
- Use a good cutting surface that is easy on your edges. Wood, preferably end-grain, or synthetic rubber like Hi-soft or Sani-tuff.
- Keep it sharp. The steel used for that knife responds well to use of a kitchen honing steel, so you can use a steel to straighten the edge between full sharpenings.
- Don't store it loose in a knife drawer with other utensils. You can use either a drawer insert with slots, a magnetic strip on the wall, magnetic knife stands, a wood or bamboo knife block, or individual blade guards.
Learn decent cutting techniques for whatever food you plan to be cutting. Lots of good You-tube videos (and some not so good) if you need to learn some. German chef's knife profiles tend to favor rocking, which is not a technique I use much, so I personally have trouble using knives with the longer curved belly and high tip.
Keep in mind that the Henckel's "International" brand is their value line, usually made in China or Spain. Their better stuff is made in Germany. It's still a decent knife, it's just not a higher-end knife. I think the Classic line is made in Spain. They use German steel (probably 1.4116 = X50CrMoV15). There is some discussion of them in this older thread: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/henckels-steel-type.1370812/, probably around 55 HRC max hardness.
- Hand wash and dry, no dishwasher
- Use a good cutting surface that is easy on your edges. Wood, preferably end-grain, or synthetic rubber like Hi-soft or Sani-tuff.
- Keep it sharp. The steel used for that knife responds well to use of a kitchen honing steel, so you can use a steel to straighten the edge between full sharpenings.
- Don't store it loose in a knife drawer with other utensils. You can use either a drawer insert with slots, a magnetic strip on the wall, magnetic knife stands, a wood or bamboo knife block, or individual blade guards.
Learn decent cutting techniques for whatever food you plan to be cutting. Lots of good You-tube videos (and some not so good) if you need to learn some. German chef's knife profiles tend to favor rocking, which is not a technique I use much, so I personally have trouble using knives with the longer curved belly and high tip.
Keep in mind that the Henckel's "International" brand is their value line, usually made in China or Spain. Their better stuff is made in Germany. It's still a decent knife, it's just not a higher-end knife. I think the Classic line is made in Spain. They use German steel (probably 1.4116 = X50CrMoV15). There is some discussion of them in this older thread: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/henckels-steel-type.1370812/, probably around 55 HRC max hardness.
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It doesn't state it on the website, but I would also wager that the hardness is somewhere around 55 hrc, mainly meaning that you don't have to baby the tip like most japanese knives, or worry about edge chipping.
jdm61
itinerant metal pounder
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- Aug 12, 2005
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- 47,357
I have never seen the need to "baby" the edge on say an AEB-L or W2 knife in the low 60's. YMMV. My experience with that 1.4116 is that it is truly a miracle steel in that you can chip AND roll/flatten the edge on the very same knife. 
The best tip I can give you is don't waste your money on Henkels or Sabatier or any other European knives. Buy your knives from the custom makers on here and get better steel, workmanship, quality, and exactly what you want. You may pay more but you will be able to leave the knives to your grandkids.
Tim
Tim