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Better than the best!
Wusthof makes the best knife blades in the business, and in my opinion the best quality knives. Cheaper knives generally dull more quickly, and some never get truly sharp at all. Wusthof knives, in contrast, get clean, exact cuts every time, and are a joy to use.
These Culinar knives are a cut above even the Wusthof Classic design on which Wusthof made their reputation. When one picks up a Culinar knife, it feels like the handle molds itself to one's hand, as if the knife is an extention of oneself, rather than a mere implement.
A close look at the shape of the handles will show why. Wusthof Classic and Grand Prix knives - along with the knives of most other manufacturers - have a traditional handle shape, thicker in the middle with a straight back. That provides a good strong grip if your hand is the right size - and they are pretty good for me, since my hands are of average size.
The gently curved shape of the Culinar handles, though, while providing as good a grip, allows more control over the cutting action and the precise angle of the blade. The convex back of the hilt fills out the palm, providing more contact for a more secure hold, while the subtly curved bolster facilitates a forward hold for chefs who use a fast rocking cut. The taper in the handle makes it a perfect fit not just for average size hands, but for any size hand: a smaller hand will stay toward the bolster, where the handle is thinner, but a bigger hand will cover the handle further back, where it is thicker.
This particular set is an excellent all around set. Two pieces are not knives: the block and the sharpening steel. The block is handy for easy storage and drying of the knives after washing, and has extra slots for two additional knives and a hole for kitchen shears. The steel is essential for occasional honing of the knives to keep them sharp. The tests I've seen on the internet show Wusthof steels to be more consistently hard than those from their competitors - important to ensure that it is the knives that are honed, rather than the steel that wears smooth.
Of the knives, the 20 cm (8") chef's knife is the one most used - perfect for all a manner of cutting. The 20 cm carving knife is used to serve roasts and birds after they leave the kitchen; the bread knife's serrated edge, also 20 cm in length, cuts the crustiest loaf.
The other two knives are a 9 cm (3.5") paring knife and a 12 cm (4.5") utility knife. The paring knife, while small for other tasks, is the perfect length for, well, paring - peeling potatoes and other tasks which involve cutting something held in the other hand, where a short blade helps to speed the work while avoiding injury. The utility knife is useful for odd jobs on the slimmer vegetables and other small objects.
This is an excellent knife set for the home chef. The high list price of this set only reflects the quality of the knives. Sometimes you can get a discount on this or other similar sets of Culinar knives; as of this writing, for example, this set is priced at less than half of list, making it a real bargain.
No matter what price you buy them at, though, a set of Wusthof knives will last you a lifetime. Even if the price is a stretch for you, you won't regret it after you start using these knives.
[Wednesday, December 24, 2008]
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