What knife set does chef Gordon Ramsey use in his kitchen?

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BabyJWuu

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Answer is from the following "Askville":

http://askville.amazon.com/knife-set-chef-Gordon-Ramsey-kitchen/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=32133610

I love watching Chef Gordon Ramsey on television! He's great! And I just looked this up, and discovered that he uses the Wüsthof line of knives....more specifically, the Classic Ikon series. Great knives! Another celebrity chef that uses the Wüsthof line is Jamie Oliver.

"Ikon knives feature a unique new triple-riveted handle design optimized for the perfect feel in your hand. The handle is constructed of Grenadill, or Mozambique Ebony, one of the toughest woods available. These knives are precision forged, giving them incredible sharpness and durability. The edges of these blades are laser tested to ensure maximum sharpness. Most of the blades feature full tangs, which increases balance and durability.

The Ikon set features some of the highest quality knives on the market today, so you can expect to pay accordingly. Individual knives from this collection cost $100 each, and a full set of 18 knives costs around $1,400! Clearly, these blades are meant for professionals, and are likely out of the price range of most casual buyers. Other options in this price range include the Ikon Classic in black or white, and the Culinar collection, which is a pure stainless steel set."
http://ezinearticles.com/?Examining-the-Wusthof-Catalog&id=1460247

My husband is just starting to get into "gourmet" cooking for various charity events, and we have done lots of shopping around for good knives. We've mainly gone for Henckels knives, rather than Wusthof...due to the price and the availability on Amazon!
I imagine that Gordon probably gets a "little" compensation from the Wusthof company to use their knives...

I am pretty surprised Gordon hasn't come out with his own set of chef knives, or, like Emeril has, at least had his own set within the Wusthof line.

The Wusthof site:
http://www.wuesthof.de/EN/

another reference for Ramsey using Wusthof knives:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Examining-the-Wusthof-Catalog&id=1460247

Poppet
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wüsthof
 
My recommendation is to ignore what TV chefs do. They use whatever they are paid to use and endorse whatever they are paid to endorse. Some of them endorse some pretty bad knives. If you want the best, look for kitchen cutlery made in Japan. Thin, hard blades. Nothing like them.
 
Knife Outlet said:
My recommendation is to ignore what TV chefs do. They use whatever they are paid to use and endorse whatever they are paid to endorse. Some of them endorse some pretty bad knives. If you want the best, look for kitchen cutlery made in Japan. Thin, hard blades. Nothing like them.
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Hi, I am curious why so many of these Japanese companies still use wooden handles, when modern materials like micarta are available?! I can understand the traditional aspect, but from a quality stand point, the new technology materials are significantly better.

I think if I was to buy Japanese knives, I would want western handles made of synthetic material, not wood or wood with resin.

I am open to suggestions on that. I have only been looking for a set of kitchen knives for two days now! I have learned a lot in a short time, but with the number of companies, blade steels, etc., it is a lot to learn quickly.

Thank you in advance.

BabyJWuu :D
 
Most of those Japanese knives to which you refer use stabilized or resin impregnated wood handles so they perform in a similar fashion to other resin type handles. Some are natural wood, of course, and that would be just a matter of tradition. There are some manufacturers that make POM handles like you would see on a Wusthof or Henckels. Masahiro is one that comes to mind. I have a japanese made Henckels M66 utitliy knife that has a paper micarta handle. Personally, I see no negatives to a plain wood handle. Nice look and feel. Just a matter of preference, I guess.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Call me cheap...but I actually really enjoy my Victorinox/Forschner chef's knife. :p
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You're in good company. Cooks Illustrated magazine loves them. They have half the right stuff. The blades aren't hard but they are thin and that is what makes them outperform other Western made knives.
 
Hi, BabyJWuu

Japanese knife handles are available in two styles called “wa” or “yo”. Wa handles are the traditional Japanese handle often made out of wood, shaped in either an octagon, d, oval, etc. In general, Japanese consumers tend to focus more on the blade than handle. So it’s not uncommon to see a high end blade with nothing more than what appears to be a broomstick handle on it. For Western consumers, they offer the “Yo” handles - which are no different than European style handles.

Both styles feel comfortable to me with the grips (pinch, hammer, accuser) that I use. I’ve learned that as my knives and skills got better, the handle itself became less important. Japanese knives are often thin enough and sharp enough to cut through foods with just the weight of the blade, so I use a very light grip and the handle just provides a means to steer or guide the knife...like a boat rudder. With European knives, I use a firmer grip (and need a comfy handle) in order to apply the downward force needed to compensate for the wedging that occurs with thicker, duller blades.


The Chef’s knife will likely be your main workhorse, so it’s really important to ferret out whichever one best fits within your budget, cutting preferences, etc. Chef’s knives come in various blade shapes; the most predominant are German or French.

German design features a pronounced curve towards the tip of the blade; adept at “rock-chopping” (rocking against the belly), and cutting with the heel of the blade. They tend to have thick, heavy, soft (~52-56HRC) blades capable of handling heavy-duty chores (cutting around / through poultry / fish bones, splitting thick-skinned veggies), and withstanding misuse (dishwasher, sink drop) without breaking or chipping. The blade acts like a wedge & splits (as opposed to cut) foods apart; making it better at chopping and coarse cutting than finer cutting. Their steel is easier to sharpened and easily dulled.

Japanese chef’s knives (aka gyuto) commonly have the French blade shape, which is more triangular, with much less curve at the tip and a longer straight section of blade. Designed for “draw slicing” (pulling the knife from heel to tip of blade back towards you) and push cuts (pushing down with the blade parallel with the board). They tend to have thin, lightweight, hard (~58–65HRC) blades optimized for precision cutting and slicing. They gain a tremendous advantage in agility, weight, and cutting efficiency but are more difficult to sharpen, more susceptible to chipping and not made for chopping / impacting hard items (shells, bones, frozen food) or prying.

If you’re just starting out or spend most of time doing nothing more than rustic, coarse cutting…a well maintained European knife is fine. Otherwise go Japanese.
 
Chef Ramsey uses them not because they're great, but because they fatten his wallet. If you want the best look for Japanese knives.
If you really want a unique piece somebody has a set in the knife maker section under fixed blades that is an amazingly unique piece and I'm sure he would something like that in his kitchen, I know I would. If you're willing to spend the money something like that would be a great set because in reality, you don't need 18 knives, a set of three very nice knives is better than 18 decent ones.
EDIT: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664048
Something like that would be a great addition to your kitchen
 
Close to 20 years ago, I spent a fair amount of dough piecing together a set of Wusthof Trident Classic knives, and truly thought they were the cat`s ass until one day around 10 years ago, I was in a restaurant supply store, and happened to notice some Global (Japanese) knives in the display case. Intrigued by their thin blades, I purchased a chef`s knife and a small paring knife, took them home, and put `em to work....I was immediately hooked....the Globals were like big surgical scalpels. I now have two sets of knives in my kitchen, and use them all for different tasks.
 
artmichalek said:
Alright, you're cheap. But Cook's Country just rated the Victorinox 8" chef more highly than some much more expensive knives. It's probably the best value out there.

http://www.cookscountry.com/testing/results.asp?did=755
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The Victorinox /Forschner chef's knife does well b/c it uses a similar (if not the same) blade steel commonly used in mid-high range European knives, just thinner. Its’ thinner blade cuts better, but comes at the expense of having a shorter lifespan and being more prone to rolling and folding over. You need to steel and sharpen it much more frequently and replace it sooner.

Most mid-high European knives use a type of steel called X50CrMoV15 (or some variation of it). Euro-brands have been pumping out different models with a similar (if not the same) steel -- forever. Often the differences (if any) in the various models and brands may be a different handle or slightly thicker / thinner, harder / softer blade, but the net effect is insignificant. The blade itself if sharpen the same will perform similarly.

I haven’t use it, but the Mora supposedly has a better blade than the vic for the same money.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Call me cheap...but I actually really enjoy my Victorinox/Forschner chef's knife. :p
Click to expand...

Knife Outlet said:
You're in good company. Cooks Illustrated magazine loves them. They have half the right stuff. The blades aren't hard but they are thin and that is what makes them outperform other Western made knives.
Click to expand...

artmichalek said:
Alright, you're cheap. But Cook's Country just rated the Victorinox 8" chef more highly than some much more expensive knives. It's probably the best value out there.

http://www.cookscountry.com/testing/results.asp?did=755
Click to expand...

Yeah, a friend pointed this one out to me a while ago, seems like a great bang for the buck. I'm hoping to pick one up soon :thumbup:.
 
Gordon Ramsay is a "rockstar" of the culinary world. His restaurant empire currently has at least 16 Michelin stars.

Do you really think that he buys his knives or do companies throw their products at his feet for endorsement purposes?

Do you really believe that the apprentices, or line chefs in his restaurants use high-end knives to peel potatoes, dice onions or section chickens?
 
CWL said:
Do you really think that he buys his knives or do companies throw their products at his feet for endorsement purposes?

Do you really believe that the apprentices, or line chefs in his restaurants use high-end knives to peel potatoes, dice onions or section chickens?
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He's probably knee deep in freebie knives.

An apprentice or line chef in a Michelin rated restaurant? These would not be rank beginners, my bet is they are using some pretty high end blades.
 
An apprentice or line chef in a Michelin rated restaurant? These would not be rank beginners, my bet is they are using some pretty high end blades.
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Nah, more likely good-quality commercial-grade forged knives with real comfortable grips. My guess would be non-famous French or German knives that can be touched-up really quickly -rather than super-steel knives with excessively hard blades.
 
................ excessively hard blades

thats opinion. Japanese blades are hard, and require different cutting techniques than "western" , softer knives.
I do agree though that unless it's in a japanese resturaunt, or in a chefs own personal kit you're not likely to see them "on the line"
 
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