What are best budget,lower priced butcher/kitchen knives?

[lonestar1979]

I got cold steel commercial line boning flexible and stiff knives for cheap,will try those out,quality seems pretty good

 

[jux t]

I got cold steel commercial line boning flexible and stiff knives for cheap,will try those out,quality seems pretty good

I have both cold steel and victorinox knives in the kitchen. Both work well, though the cold steel knives rust more readily (I wash them all in the dishwasher, yes…the dishwasher!)

 

[helobite]

I had old hickory butcher knife,their steel is little soft,will try some of Japanese choices.Victorinox flexible boning knife already does well,plus i have one of f.dick,swibo,eicker and zwilling knives,theyre pretty good.Dexter Russell ones and few other ones that i have no experience with are always on sale,but probably arent any better in any way than the ones I have.

At your price point go to Walmart and buy the cheap stuff hanging on the peg board. Also understand this, low priced, mass produced kitchen knives are soft, because the 99 percent home chef does not have diamond hones. Often these people have some sort of a knife sharperner on the back of a can opener, maybe a knife steel (which they get frustrated with, because a knife steel won't restore a heavily worn edge).

I talked to some Cutco knife representatives, their knives are 440A because their "customers put their knives in the dishwasher" . Incidentally, Cutco knives are very nicely finished and balanced knives. And way out of your price point.

I can't say this steel is all that much harder than 440A, but it takes a good edge, holds it reasonably well.

I found Cangshan TS Series Sandvik 14C28N Steel Chef's knives, but you are going to pay a little above $100. Nothing in the $30 dollar range will have anything but butter soft steel.

 

[gadgetgeek]

It's worth keeping in mind that a lot of "western" style kitchen knives tend to run soft, butcher's knives especially since they want to take a ding on bone and not chip. So you just need to set up your system accordingly. My parents have an old hickory set that is older than I am, and they are amazing knives with a little extra love at the beginning to get the profiles dialed right in. I've got a Lee Valley peasant's knife that is similar in age to Aardvark's and it's been my main kitchen knife the entire time. I believe they are O1, but run a little flexy. The commercial-grade knives are probably going to be even softer than you want, but a lot of the mid-tier kitchen brands will be good, as long as your expectations are in the right place. Simple alloy steels that will respond to a honing steel are fine for a kitchen. Another factor is that you are probably better off picking the style and makes of knives you want for each use. I don't think many companies make a better paring knife out of the box than Vic, get the regular and the recurve, they are a few bucks each, and many makers won't run blades that thin. If you do a lot of butchering or have a nice big butcher block, get a decent cleaver. After that, pick a mid-size knife that fits your cooking style and has a good handle. You'll be frustrated with the balance and the handle far before you are upset about the edge-holding.

 

[lonestar1979]

Lee valley carbon steel peasant knives are interesting...

 

[Sidehill Gouger]

20-30$,could be up to 50$,does anyone know if there is any difference between victorinox fibrox and victorinox swibo knives in steel and heat treat,or it is same knife basically?

Swibo used to be the Wenger line made to compete against Victorinox before Vic bought the company. I don't know if they are now made in the same plant or still made in the old Wenger factory on the other side of the country.