They are usually over $200 when on sale, at least $220 every where on boxing day.
Other Wusthof ikon knives are here
I have never used it but it seems everyone praised it on raddit.
CamelCamelCamel.
This or a yaxell mon 20cm ?
It's a very personal choice - depending on which type of steel you like, the angle of the blade and ergonomics of the handle. You really have to handle the knives for yourself and see which one suits your style better
This is more comparable to the zen than the mon. There's also German vs Japanese. Japanese are harder and hold their sharpness longer but are therefore more brittle.
Another thing that differentiates this from the wursthof classic is the short bolster which makes it lighter and allows for easier sharpening.
yaxell is a japanese bevel, finer taper but sharper, hence harder but more brittle steel. The german alloys are for a broader bevel, so less chipping, you can wack chicken bones with the wursthof, you can't with the yaxell
I'm a wusthof devotee. The company also provides complementary knife sharpening, once a year, for its products. You do have to foot the bill of sending them your knives and an additional $13.50 for the sharpeners to sent it back to you.
That doesn't sound very complementary.
We bought a Wusthof a while back and it is pretty disappointing - it seemed to be a little blunt out of the box and has only gotten worse.
I had heard about this knife sharpening thing here - was one of the reasons I bought one, actually - but there was nothing in the box to indicate that it was an offer.
Forgot all about it until reading this comment - do you have any more info about the sharpening service?
Here's the page with the form you need to fill out
Legend thanks heaps!
I have this Wusthof cook's knife and a pairing knife. Purchased during lockdown and paid $198 and $99 respectively. They were bloody sharp when I first got them but not long after, I was constantly having to sharpen them and now before any use.
Totally agree with inasero " You really have to handle the knives for yourself and see which one suits your style better " especially when forking out this amount for a knife.
In hindsight, I would have gone with Japanese knife's that stay sharper longer.
I had the same experience with Wusthof Le Cordon Bleu.
They're super sharp when new, but easily lose that edge (it still cut paper easily though, but not as smooth as new).
I thought I took care of it properly, (wooden cutting board, no bone cutting, etc), but I still have to hone it every now and then to keep it sharp
You should be honing it each and every time you cook.
Are you getting your knives sharpened?
No knife will stay sharp without sharpening indefinitely
I honed them every week. I haven't sharpened them yet.
I'm contemplating to get this wusthof knife sharpener or a 3000/8000 whetstone and angle guide
@OzBestDeal: All knives will need sharpening from time to time. I wouldn't bother with the pull through sharpeners, they're crap and you might risk doing more harm than good. Stick with whetstones or look into some sort of sharpening system. A decent starter would be something like the Ruixin 008, modestly priced and gives good results. Their stones don't last long though.
Yep. The upside and downside of German knives is that they have a softer steel. It means they have to be sharpened more often, but they are easier to sharpen and less prone to chipping.
I only have the cheaper grand prix 2 but that stays sharper than my global knife and both are using their onw brands pull through sharpener.
If i have to cut meat, will always grab the wusthof.
The interesting thing is that average home cooks gravitate towards Japanese steel knives - as their perceive these to be superior due to their higher HRC ratings (hardness) and ability to 'hold an edge' (i.e stay sharp) longer.
Whereas in reality I would contend that the VAST MAJORITY of these users, who also do a lot of things wrong towards their knives and do not have the interest in changing their practices/techniques would be MUCH better served with the more forgiving and durable Germain steel alloy knives.
The number of friends who went and bought Jap steel knives - and then I find who have them chipped, rusted (as they also rust much easier) or badly blunt - as they are more difficult to sharpen IF you completely lose the edge on them due to their harder steel is through the roof.
Other than blunt, I don't think I've ever seen anyone who's really ruined their German knives - and as with all these knife deals - the cheapest knife in the world will cut JUST AS GOOD as the most expensive if you're keeping it equally sharp - which is more technique and effort focused than the quality of the knife/metal/design.
Agree, heck even free Coles Masterchef knife are pleasant to work with
I think a lot of people have hardons for Jap knives because they're flogged on social media, especially the places flogging off cheap AliExpress shit as the real thing. Sections of Reddit are obsessed over the things too.
I was looking into knives recently and got the two-pack with this Wusthof and the matching paring knife in the end, they're solid without being too heavy, comfortable, and so far the edges are holding up really well. I'm no chef and they're going to get a little mistreated from time to time, but they should hold up well.
I own many japanese knives but am moving back to german for my go-to as they are less delicate …. will still use my japanese for carving and slicing but not for normal food prep.
I am in that camp, but then ended up getting some food grade mineral oil and whetstones. I keep the jap knives sharp and all that and my wife, the actual cook in the home, just keeps using the 18 year old furi santoku because that still cuts well enough when maintained.
Definitely agree. I also recommend German knives for home cooks because they are easier to sharpen and more versitile. If you start chopping with a Japanese knife, you're going to chip the blade resulting in many house of skilled sharpening to fix.
grats you stated the obvious after watching the same youtube video as everyone else.
tldr people that dont care about knives dont care about knives and just buy whatever is marketed to them so they can cut shit. not hard to understand
My Jap knife is still solid as but then again I treat it pretty well. Same as anything really don't treat your good stuff right and you're going to break it… I mean its not a product fault but the dope who's using it imo.
The reality is that a large % of users will from time to time ATLEAST do things to their knives that are likely to cause issues e.g cutting cooked bones, cutting frozen food, using the tip to pry something out, cutting on improper surfaces (ceramic plates etc), putting in dishwasher, putting away wet, not resharpening/honing blade until it literally is blunt.
German knives are that chilled out Uncle who listens to the Beach Boys and wears colourful shirts - they're easy going and will not hold these mistakes against you too badly.
Japanese knives are the Aunt who's a stickler for detail, never married & if you mess up you will have consequences.
I have a lot of Japanese & German alloyed knives - and use the latter as my daily drivers as they're just reliable, problem free and I am incredibly pedantic about usage.
A lot of people have to learn this the hard way and 95% of the time when blade is chipped, you may as well bin it - ruins cutting and grinding out is near impossible.
German = Mr Average everyday Joe Blow
Jap = Best left to the experts or at least those that know what they are doing
Got a 10-piece set of Ikon's back in 2007 for $720, still going strong. Goes without saying keep them out of the dishwasher, regular honing, occasional sharpening. They cut stuff.
10-piece: 9cm Paring Knife, 12cm Utility knife, 20cm Bread Knife, 18cm Cooks Knife, 14cm Sausage Knife, 20cm Carving Knife, Pull Apart Shears, Gourmet Meat Fork, 23cm Honing Steel and 9-slot block?
I got an 8-piece classic set in 2013 for $300. Has these: 9cm Paring Knife, 12cm Utility knife, 16cm Sandwich/Utility Knife, 20cm Bread Knife, 20cm Cooks Knife, 23cm Honing Steel, Pull Apart Shears and 7-slot block.
Check out r/chefknives on reddit for buying guides and such
There's a bit of knife porn on that site and I think the Japanese knives get a lot of airtime because of the patina and how well they photograph.
However, they do also ask prospective enquirers if they want to spend the time to sharpen and oil their blue steel tho.
Like most Reddit "communities" they turn into echo chambers, and most of the vocal people in places like /r/chefknives touch themselves over Japanese blades.
I prefer Japanese knives for my small hands
If you're a home cook and want a German knife, I would lean towards Victorinox. Wustoff are definitely better, but they're much more expensive, even when on sale. And Victorinox is slightly easier to hold for most if you're a handle holder.
For home chefs, defintely German over Japanese - german knife angle means longer life and less lethal. Having a 20cm decent chefs knife is a joy in the kitchen. I have owned a Wusthof Classic for over 25 yrs and it has pride of place. I always hand wash, dry properly with a tea towel, and put away where it does not touch any other metal. Never put in dishwasher (water will get into rivets and ruin). It holds it's edge very well, but i have a sharpening steel which is easy to use. A few runs on the steel every few months, or maybe before a tough job involving meat. I have never regretted for a minute this knife and will last a lifetime and makes your kitchen prep easy. The 20cm is the perfect size for most jobs. Re Ikon vs Classic i am uncertain (blade the same, different handle) but i would go to a shop and pick both up to try the handle for personal preference. https://prudentreviews.com/wusthof-classic-vs-wusthof-ikon/ By the way this price appears excellent, mine was $200ish all that time ago after a 30% DJs discount.
These are the cheaper versions - want the Classic version imo. Also, Wusthof provide a free sharpening service in Australia.
The ikon is normally about $40 more than the classic. Same knife but ikon has a shorter bolster (for easier sharpening) and amore comfortable handle
Your thinking of the gourmet line thats made in china. ikons are an upgrade to the classic, better handle and no fat heel makes it stone friendly.
ooh only just noticed the cleaner heel design to make sharpening easier …..
I have a Japanese Global $100 knife and bought a $6 copy from Kmart a while ago. I prefer the Kmart one and they have both been good after a good ol session of sharpening.
Both knives are close to 10+ years old.
Have one, its brilliant and fits very comfortably in the hand. Would recommend 👍
Which knife deal qualifies for TRS?
read through the comments - I have wusthof knives and do sharpen them and then strop them in between sharpenings. They really do have fragile edges and I sharpen at 20 degrees. We use boards and only scrape with the spine of the knives. I just looked at the yaxell - it was mentioned here. They have a model called the mon which is vg10. This is the better steel on paper; it definitely isn't brittle as others have said. Also these are made in seki city - same place as many spyderco vg10 knives - the mon would be my choice.
Also, I wouldn't use a steel anymore; stropping with compound seems to be the common consensus. Fine steels are used "on floor" in the food industry for sanitary reasons.
if you want german steel alloy, and actually made in germany, the 2 major brands are wursthof trident and zwilling henckel……in australia we are more familiar with the wursthoff due to marketing and they have been on australian shelves longer … henckel have a much much larger range of knives once you look off-shore and they also own brands like miyabi in knives and and make various lines of cookware, problem is the australian distributor doesn’t do much with the henkel product lines outside of staub enamelled cast iron.
big decider would be which handle you like ….ikon is the ergonomic version vs the wursthoff classic.