Kitchen Knives - Warning

garyclay

I'm in the market for some new kitchen knives and decided to get a really nice set. I have heard lots of good reviews of Global knives and so started looking around. Trouble is these knives are expensive so I decided to look at something cheaper.

I then stumbled upon Global Knife sets on e-bay at less than half the price I found elsewhere on the net. Thankfully I smelt a rat and had a quick look on the e-bay forums. It turns out that knife factories in China are knocking out Global fakes for 10 quid which are then being sold on for 150-200 on e-bay!

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=400052219&tstart=0&mod=1109919444692

So if you are thinking about knives then give these a miss.

After lots of reading and investigation I think I'm going to go for a set of Henckels 4 star knives from Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008S0T6/qid=1111435948/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_0/026-8118055-1914066

Anybody got these and are happy/disappointed. Or do you know of some bargain Wusthoffs or REAL globals!!!!

Mustang

I have a number of Globals and ceramics, a sprinkling of carbon steel Sabatiers, and the odd nameless 'special' acquired from various places. I look less for a matching set than for good quality knives that suit me.

My favorites are the globals and ceramics. Yes they are expensive, but they are very good. However, most of the time I only use: a global bread knife, a global fish knife, a ceramic cooks knife and a global veg chopper.

Why not just buy one and see if it suits you. Globals/ceramics tend to be quite light in weight whereas other types are heavy, eg Wustof. Depends on what you like.

I did look at Henckles, but I read some not-so-good reports on cheap Henckles.

Also remember to get a decent knife sharpener, and use it.....

Curry_Queen

I got caught out before xmas when I bought a set of knives on ebay. They came in a lockable briefcase and looked exactly the same as an expensive set I'd seen elsewhere on the web, but they're fakes and probably not even worth as much as the "bargain" price I got them for

Galtizz

Sounds a bit like the old, old con going back to when all good quality steel came from Sheffield.

Alegedly a town in Taiwan full of knife manufacturers was re-named Sheffield so that they could legally print 'Made in Sheffield' on them :rolleyes:

BungleGirl

I have aset of Henckles but they are the cheaper ones that are just under £50 on Amazon. They are supposedly reduced from £200 however they have been on Amazon for £50 for at least a couple of years. They were talked about on this board before Christmas with varying opinions.

I looked at a lot of sets in John Lewis etc. and found the Henckles to be the best value by far. They are used on a daily basis and I have never had any problems with them, they are still very sharp and do everything I need them to do with ease.

One of the reviews on Amazon for the knives I got suggested replacing the steel steel with a ceramic steel. I have not felt the need to do this as yet. Having said this my knives are just used in a family home and hence are not used to extremes.

I hope this helps.

bridiej

Must admit I'm surprised that you can buy knives on ebay, especially as you have to be over 18 to buy them in a shop....

garyclay

The discount henckels you mention are licensed out to a company in China. The knives are of a completely differenet quality to that of German made Henckels.

The go under the name of 'Henckels International'. They are pressed knives rather than forged.

It's a shame companies do this as they are simply eroding their good name.

20 Years ago Sabatier were the market leader then they started selling the moulds to anyone with the cash. This lead to the plethora of Sabatier knives we see now with various prefect names.

However if you are happy with your Henckels Internationals then thats great although I can assure you that they have NEVER sold for more than 50 quid ANYWHERE! Its the old RRP lie that all manufacturers use.

Jeryth

Knives on Ebay, yes possible. My fella's Valentine's gift to me was a fab Boker Camping knife.

Curry_Queen

bridiej wrote:

Must admit I'm surprised that you can buy knives on ebay, especially as you have to be over 18 to buy them in a shop....

I think they get around that by having in their T&C that you must be 18 or over to trade on Ebay, but under 18's can get debit cards and register so how can they enforce that rule