Review Request: Miracle Blade III Series

Darkjedi2

Darkjedi2

Joined
Jun 30, 2001
Messages
542
I was watching TV today and saw the ad for these knives.

Has anyone ever tried these blades?
 
Sorry, but I haven't found any yet at the Goodwill store. The ergonomics of the design looks pretty good. The offset blades should work well on a cutting board. The funny little gripping nob on the back of the blade does look practical. The designs should encourage efficient knife handling from housewives who don't have much insight into knife wielding efficiency. The thin blades should cut efficiently. The set looks like it has a practical variety of designs.

The construction and materials look pretty marginal (nothing I would ever buy new). Most kitchen tasks are not very demanding so probably adequate. If you have a Sharpmaker they are probably easy to keep sharp. They do not offer much pride in ownership. It looks like a step up from Ginzu.
 
I picked up a set of 10 Miracle Blade I (1st generation) knives for $20 at the Washington state fair last year.

While I was standing around watching the demo dude going through his spiel a few times, an elderly grandmotherly-looking lady came up with one of the knives and said "This knife is dull." The vendor without any hesitation whatsoever took it from her, tossed it in a box of knives behind him, handed her a new knife from under the counter, and she walked off with it. The whole transaction couldn't have taken longer than a few seconds. I talked to the vendor for a bit after picking up my set and he showed me four or five different versions (one with whitish handle) of the knives he'd had returned to him by customers. Apparently the warranty is supported on these knives okay because, as noted in one of the linked threads, the replacement cost is so low.

The knives I got don't have the offset handles, recurve blade on the paring knives, or the little ball on the spine like the Rock N Chop or Chop N Scoop advertised by Chef Tony on the late-night infomercials. The slicer I got is marked on the blade "T.V. Knife, Surgical Stainless, China". The thickness of the paring knife is just under 1/16", the Santuko shaped chopper is a touch less than 1/8", and the Slicer knife is in-between the other two. The fit and finish is pretty cheap. There were some molding ridges left on the hard plastic handles, which are pretty comfortable but are slippery when wet. The ridges were nothing a little trimming with a SAK couldn't clean up in short order.

For kitchen duty on soft veggies, bread, and meat these cheap knives cut okay because the blade stock is quite thin and the interior of the serrations is protected by the teeth and stays reasonably sharp. The aggressive serrations on the slicer work okay for frozen foods. When the plain-edged paring knives get dulled, they sharpen up decently on a Spyderco Sharpmaker. The edge doesn't last very well under use. The steel used is fairly flexible. But the blades take a "set" very easily and the blades are usually either soon curved or not in line with the handle. But they still keep cutting.

My wife (for whom the more maintenance-free a knife is, the better) uses these knives occasionally. And maybe that's the audience for these knives - people who want a cheap knife they don't have to put a lot of care into. These are decent knives for folks who are after a knife they can drag out of the drawer, cut into whatever they happen to have in front of them, and not worry about the knife dulling or rusting when they throw it in the dishwasher with other metal objects.

So IMHO the knives are worth the $2 per knife I paid for them and Chef Tony's entertainment value is worth what it costs me to watch him. ;) At least he's talking about knives, not dubious miracle vitamins, exercise contraptions, or some get-rich-quick scheme.
 
I never used their knives, however I found a number of negative Miracle Blade reviews over the internet. A lot of their customers are not satisfied with the customer service. I would recommend you checking reviews and feedback before the purchase.
 
My wife bought a set at a walmart demo a few years ago, when new they are mediocre at best and go downhill quickly.
 
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