★★★★★ 5
Forged Knives at a Stamped-Knife Price
Size: 18-Piece, Style: Traditional Handle Design
Purchased as a gift for a friend suffering with an old, rusted, chipped set of cheap big-box knives.
As far as I can tell, these are one-piece forged/milled knives with a full tang... no idea how Amazon gets them so cheap. I have a set of J.A. Henckels Four-Star that were 5x the price, and these knives are almost as nice in fitment and quality. Some of the grinds at the bolster aren't quite symmetrical, but nothing that functionally affects the knife. Not show-dogs, just old reliable mutts that get you where you need to be.
Knives have a good weight and balance, not too heavy but sit well in the hand and have a nice action. The edge out of the box is only average, and the chef's knife had a decent roll to the edge out of the box. However, they sharpen easily and can take a fine edge with a little work with the steel (no word on edge longevity yet, they don't cook that often).
The shears come apart for cleaning (which is nice), although I found it a little too unstable when opening them wide, the rivet is at 90* so when taking a big bite they have a tendency to come apart rather than scissor. Changing to a design that doesn't separate until they're fully open would make them much better.
The woodblock is pine, and had a distinct pine scent out of the box (I suppose this is an area where they saved money, I would pay a premium to get a bamboo block instead). The exterior was well-finished, but the interiors of the knife slots did have some rough spots and/or splinters from the milling. Nothing that stops it from working as intended, a little back and forth solved the majority of problems.
Friend hand washed them after receiving them, but left them damp. Water spots, but no rust on any of the blades, the steel had light surface rust that came off with a scrubby sponge and soap. Overall I remain optimistic they will stand up to the abuse of a forgetful cook.
Having bought expensive German steel, and now these, I daresay I would probably be unable to tell the difference between the two in the kitchen.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2015