Kitchen knives- any local cutlery shops worth a look?

I'm in the market for some mid-grade kitchen knives. It's something I prefer to buy in person so I can fondle them first to make sure it's a good fit. Are there any local shops (other than BB&B) that carry decent knives?

Seems like a lot of the Amish/Mennonite places sell these:

http://www.radacutlery.com

Don't really know anything about them other than they are USA made.

We got into the Global knives....talk about expensive.

We looked into Globals but my wife didn't care for them. We've got a set of two man Henkels now but she hasn't been too careful with them so they're a bit beat up.

The wife gave me a 3 piece set of Wusthof kitchen knives for my birthday. Good Lord are those things nice! The first set of quality knives that I've owned and I can say they sure make a difference when you're slicing and dicing. A bit pricey though.

DarrellA said:

The wife gave me a 3 piece set of Wusthof kitchen knives for my birthday. Good Lord are those things nice! The first set of quality knives that I've owned and I can say they sure make a difference when you're slicing and dicing. A bit pricey though.

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I'm so disappointed with my wusthof know I must have got a terrible one that slipped through qc. My brother bought me their chefs knife as a present and it sucks unfortunately. He felt bad and took it to get professionally sharpened and that helped but it's not worth over $100 though.

My shun knife on the other hand is scary sharp and slices through stuff with no effort. My future kitchen knives will most likely be all shun, expensive but very nice imo.

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TonyB. said:

I'm in the market for some mid-grade kitchen knives. It's something I prefer to buy in person so I can fondle them first to make sure it's a good fit. Are there any local shops (other than BB&B) that carry decent knives?

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OP, what would you define as "local"? What is local for me might be 100 miles away from you.

30-50 miles away from Baltimore would be the max. Otherwise I'd buy online.

TonyB. said:

30-50 miles away from Baltimore would be the max. Otherwise I'd buy online.

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I'll take that to mean you are in Baltimore. Sorry, can't help.

You can fondle knives at Williams-Sonoma. There is one in Annapolis and I am sure there are others. I have started "collecting" some good kitchen knives. I wanted to work on a whole set of Global Sai, but I went to return one of the knives I got for xmas and ended up with a Shun and that feels really good in my hand. Global's regular line is more toward the midrange, I guess. Though mid-range is a relative term. Knives are really a kind of personal thing like coffee, wine or speakers.

Edgeworks in Frederick - good for fondling all kindsa knives...

I've got a nice set of Wusthof Classics. They are high quality and I would imagine they'll last a lifetime. We also have some pampered Chef knives (my wife became a pampered chef consultant after we had the Wusthof Classics) the PC knives are also very high quality and she is still a consultant if you are interested in a set of them. PM me for details if you would like.

JBinDC said:

Edgeworks in Frederick - good for fondling all kindsa knives...

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I second them. It is a Maby 50 miles from Baltimore but worth it. The owner is an awesome guy and will help you find whatever you need. Plus his prices are very fair. I paid only $2-3 more than amazon for my last knife from there and got to choose from the two he had in stock.

My 2 cents is going small or going custom!!!

A place like Chef Knives To Go may be a good option for actually buying. Etsy may even be useful. Mainstream brands like Wustoff, Shun, Global, etc. are going to be the heart of most stores. The problem is they are often too thick and use steels that aren't ideal. For example, Wustoffs are great for a thick, heavy, durable knife when you are cutting bones or something frozen, but they aren't ideal for fine cutting or edge retention. You often pay a lot for bigger brand names. EdgeWorks has some pretty good stuff tho. Sonoma and Williams have nice selections of the nicer mainstream brands, but again don't have the smaller brands that often cost less and perform better.

My own experiences have led me to avoiding mainstream brands and going for small, or even custom, makers. Custom chef knives are quite affordable, and much better than anything mainstream.

I also adhere to the concept of fewer nice knives than a block of mediocre ones. I only use a 9 inch laser, a paring knife, and a serrated bread/tomato knife to cook. I use my laser and paring knife for 99.9% of the work. So I put money in them rather weird knives I will never use. A single 9 inch chef's knife is really the workhorse of the kitchen.

For chef knives, I think carbon steels are going to be the best bet for affordable + capable, unless someone specifically wants something exotic which will drive up price. I love my Richmond Addict Gyuto in 52100 carbon (similar to 1095). It was cheaper than my Shun, but run circles around my Wustof, Global, and Shun with a thinner angle, thinner blade, with better edge retention, and with less edge deformation. My Addict is 61 HRC and has zero issues with chipping. 52100 is tough as nails, even at higher hardness levels unlike what many mainstream brands are doing.

If you find a custom maker you like, a chef's knife in 1095C/52100 is going to impress and be very affordable. It's worth every penny. It will run circles around anything you find in a store. It will be 100% more awesome as it is a custom piece made for you. It will fit you better. There are custom knifemakers on this forum even.

While not fancy looking, a hard-core performer is the Kikuichi Elite Carbon Gyuto...it uses a steel similar to 52100 and is a very popular model in commercial kitchens.

I've also come to like paring knives with modified wharncliffe blades as I think they give better control and they cut much better than other blade shapes with less force. One of my favorites is the Tojiro.
http://www.amazon.com/Tojiro-DP-3-5-inch-Paring-Knife/dp/B000UAQOSW/ref=pd_sbs_k_6



Whatever you go with, get a good maple cutting board (and a composite for meat). It will dramatically extend the life of the blade and the cutting board will last decades.

They aren't pretty, at least the ones I have, but it is what lots of kitchens and butchers use around the area. They do a great job at butchering and food prep. 3rd/4th generation family business.

Martello Knife Service Inc.
(410) 536-7110
1710 Sulphur Spring Rd
Halethorpe, MD 21227

Another vote for Edgeworks in Frederick. Well worth the ride!

I'll throw another vote in for Edgeworks in Frederick. Good folks who own/operate it.

I've settled down to nothing but the Victorinox/Forschner kitchen knives. Good quality stainless steel blades and a very reasonable price for the quality that you get.

Sorry, but I object. Only the police and military should be allowed to have kitchen knives... oh, wait, that's in Great Britain.

This is by no means cheap, but local basically.

Hes a friend of a friend in philly, and I follow his work I really dig it. I use a 210mm Tojiro and a 6in Mayabi utility (eastern handle) which I love. One day Ill get me some hand made good ol USA knives...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BiltSharp

cb51 said:

I've settled down to nothing but the Victorinox/Forschner kitchen knives. Good quality stainless steel blades and a very reasonable price for the quality that you get.

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My kitchen knife collection is divided between Wusthof Grand Prix and Victorinox/Forschner with the Fibrox handles. When I decided to acquire some high-quality knives, I bought Wusthof for the "core" knives -- 10" chef's knife, 11" bread knife, 7" santoku and a 6" utility knife. Then, based on online reviews, including America's Test Kitchen, I bought Victorinox/Forschner for the second line knives, a 12" slicer, a heavy cleaver and a 6" flexible boning knife.

I like my Wusthof knives. They have the heft of a good full-tang knife, take a really keen edge and are comfortable to use. The Victorinox knives are stamped, rather than full tang, so they don't have the same heft. I have to admit that I like the texture of the Fibrox handles even better than the smoother finish of the Wusthof blades. There's no doubt, that on a performance per dollar level, the Victorinox knives are a tremendous bargain.

JoeR

JBinDC said:

Edgeworks in Frederick - good for fondling all kindsa knives...

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I second that. Only been there once, but it's a nice place with plenty of brands there.

As for kitchen blades, Spyderco has the new utility k04s serrated, and k04p plain.
They also have a new line of their Seto knives, but they're only available through the SFO.