@norman8 It’s bad luck to give someone a knife, lest it cut your friendship. It’s also bad luck to shoplift knives, lest you be caught. So you’re only left with buying them, making them yourself, or slicing vegetables with the edge of your extended forefinger, “cut the pickle” style.
One of the most disturbing Tales of the OR I have ever read. It was called The Swamps of Dagobah, and one of those stories that made me glad I decided to step away from my nursing studies.
They don’t even look like they’re full tang, and there’s not anything about it on the Amazon page. These knives are perfect for this site. They’re shit.
@jibbyjam1 Better than dollar store knives? They’re already cheaper than dollar store knives. Probably good if you’re teaching a knife sharpening class and want something the students can fuck up while trying to learn.
@mollama I’m partial to Wüsthof Trident myself, though I also have a couple of Sabatiers. And I found an excellent bread knife by Victorinox for $40 (cheap, as these things go). Victorinox also makes some other kitchen knives at reasonable prices. For Wüsthof, prepare to take a 2nd mortgage, but they are truly excellent and could last a century+. My brother swears by some Japanese ceramic knives by Global, but he’s not too sharp. Hint: Do NOT buy knives in sets, it’s a waste of money and you get some crappy/useless ones. There are only about 4 knives you will ever need: http://lifehacker.com/dont-buy-expensive-knife-sets-these-four-knives-are-al-1698973316
@mollama I personally use Wüsthof at home. J.A. Henckels, Shun, and MAC are also great knives.
In my opinion, the 3 biggest things to keeping knives in good working condition is
Buy quality steel
Never run the knives through the dishwasher
Cut on a proper surface (i.e. a wooden cutting board).
Unfortunately, from my experience $15 knives will not keep an edge even if you follow the other two pieces of advice above because the steel is total shit! Look closely at the knives you currently have at home, I would bet that the edge of the knives has a lot of “folds” or “scallops” in the steel.
If you want to do some extra homework, I find that there is a lot of great info out there from people smarter than myself that generally is worth reading. Couple links if you’d like to dive deeper are below.
@mollama if you aren’t in the market for expensive knives and just get cheap ones, also get an electric sharpener to sit next to the knife block. You’ll need it often!
@mollama-
Wüsthof Trident. Take care of them, hand wash, proper cutting surface, professional sharpening, store in a block and they will last forever. Mine are over 40 yrs old and don’t look it! And I agree don’t buy a set, buy the knives you need & will use.
@MrNews The term ‘Sabatier’ is as meaningless as ‘champagne’ - any company use it on their knives, whether they are from Theirs, France or not (see Wiki).
Individual brands have additional trademark names or symbols. My own knives are non-stainless ‘**** Elephants’, manufactured by Thiers Issard Sabatier back in the 70s - and they are still going strong.
@rpstrong Sorry, didn’t know that, as I inherited these. They say “Maitre de Cuisine / Sabatier.” They do say Made in France, they are full tang, seem very well made and hold an edge well, though are a bit thinner than my Wüsthofs.
@MrNews Looks like they are Four star Elephants, perhaps privately branded - see you can buy a set here. By the way, are they stainless steel, or are they high carbon (will tarnish)?
@rpstrong I actually have two different ones. The Maitre de Cuisine one has an image of a chef, and apprars quite new, although I have had it at least 22 years. The other one has more of a boning knife shape, no icon, and says “Professional / Sabatier / Made in France / Stainless.” It appears much older, has larger rivets, and the tang thins slightly from bolster to butt. It is probably 45 years old at least…
@MrNews - I often appreciate the experienced advice others offer here. There is a Wusthof-Trident 8" chef knife on Amazon for only $28. Are there differing levels of quality within that brand?
Thanks!
@KDemo The Victorinox blades are nice, though the one on my 10" bread knife is a little thin, and does stain easily. (Must clean and dry immediately after use.) The handles are not to my liking- it’s a roughened rubberized plastic. But for $40, the 10" bread knife is way better than the $8 one I found at Big Lots. And cheaper than the Wüsthof $130 version.
The $28 Wüsthof Trident on Amazon is a much cheaper version of the brand: plastic handles, carbon steel (not really stainless), and probably not well balanced. Most of the Wüsthofs on Amazon are lesser versions for mass retail- I would go to a high-end kitchen store and look at (and handle) them there. The “Classic” line is probably their best, (though they may have a pro line). They’re expensive, but you only need one or two, for a lifetime. 95% of the time I use a 6" utility knife, similar to this $95 one: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Utility-Knife-Blade-Length/dp/B007HZHDEM
I also own a $180 Wüsthof 8" chef’s knife (wedding present), which I use 2-3 times a year…
@MrNews - Ah. I kind of expected they were relatively low quality when I noticed there were none of those fasteners in the tang as with more expensive knives.
Thanks so much for the info. I guess it goes to show once again that you get what you pay for. Mostly.
I’d wager that these knives are sold under the “Quickut” branding because “Ginsu” knives’ defining feature is that funky near-impossible-to-resharpen serrated edge.
@Turken I zoomed in on the photos of these to see if they were the same. That serrated edge is great for about a week, or one lead pipe and one tomato. After that it’s pure shit.
Anyone who has any idea what to do with a “birds beak” or finishing knife wouldn’t touch shitty knives. Guarantee that carving fork will bend and possibly break if you tried to use it on anything bigger than a couple of pounds. That tomato knife is nonsense, you’ll get better results with the serrated bread knife.
I would consider it for the block and steak knives, but it doesn’t look like the steak knives are serrated meaning they’ll dull into uselessness way too quick even for this price. And the knives look like stamped steel so the slots on the block are probably all way too thin for any real knives.
@Oneroundrobb can you reco a knife set? Am in the market but don’t have much to spend (I’m set for a layoff in Dec) which is why have kept w mediocre annoying current set for a yr while i try to find a deal.
@mollama I wouldn’t bother with a set. Start with a quality chef’s knife or santoku. Learn how to use it, care for it, and sharpen it. Add a good paring knife, a solid serrated slicer, and maybe a good boning knife if you deal with a lot of fish and you’ll be pretty much set. Don’t worry about all those specialty knives.
Check out the lower end Victorinox (of Swiss army knife fame) or J.A Henkcels for bargains. Read the reviews, they’re quality knife companies, but not always perfect.
A gif of “Boyhood” would be the best gif ever made because it took 12 years to make. Everyone knows that the best films in history are based on quantity rather than quality.
I’ve purchased too many crappy kitchen knives in my day. About 10 years ago I got an upper-end Cuisinart set, which consisted of about 6 knives - Long carving, 2 chef, bread, paring and a santoko. All I need. I keep them sharp, dry and oiled and they work better than new.
quikut…Yes! I knew that name sounded familiar. I have some of their knives from the 50’s. That’s all I can tell you. I sharpen my knives regularly, so…
You know, there’s so real negativity in this thread.
Someone reviewed him like he was looking at a handmade sushi knife. I’m not paying $300 for it, I’m paying $15 for a set and for the wood block. (And besides, if meh was selling $300 handmade sushi knives, people would be bitching about that.)
It’s $15! I think I’ll buy one just to spite the naysayers. I can always give it as a wedding present to someone I don’t like that much.
I remember that tomato slicing commercial, he said like “It cuts tomatoes so thin, your mother-in-law will never come back”, lol.
Anyway, something interesting here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginsu
I wish I had seen some of these comments before I ordered. My set just arrived and I will admit to being somewhat disappointed. As others have pointed out they appear to be made of stamped steel, are on the thin side and appear to be rather flimsy. The block is nothing to write home about either. I guess time will tell on whether or not I wasted $15 ($20 once you add shipping.)
I am guessing that this also a case of “all sales” are final and a return/refund is out of the question.
Wow, these things… This things are like, criminally flimsy. Is like I went to Ikea and stole the props they put on the displays.Turns out my mom had a set of these once that she promtly threw away. She even correctly guessed how much I payed for them. So I’m stuck with this, I would be embarrassed to give these away to someone I don’t even like. These knives are not even meh, they are just bad.
Wow, these things are terrible. I didn’t expect greatness but usually me delivers something that is a better than what the price would imply. Not this time. Even with free vmp shipping these are not worth 15 dollars and I would be embarrassed to gift these to anyone other than Leona Bobbit.
Specs
What’s in the Box?
1x 8” Chef’s Knife
1x 7” Slicer
1x 7” Bread Knife
1x 5” Boning Knife
1x 5” Santoku
1x 5” Carving Fork
1x 4.5” Utility Knife
1x 4” Fruit & Vegetable Knife
8x 4.5” Steak Knives
1x 3.5” Paring knife
1x 3” Bird’s Beak Paring Knife
1x 2.5” Garnishing/Decorating Knife
1x Wood Grain Storage Block
Pictures
Knives in block
Knives out of block
Knives in block in box
Irk’s hands are not at all canon
Price Comparison
$55.90 List, $40.29 at Amazon
Warranty
1 Year Quikut
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 8 - Wednesday, Aug 10
a cut above!
@yakkoTDI More like a cut way below…
Cutting in before the knife puns.
@Thumperchick Too late! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
@yakkoTDI way to slice in there.
@Thumperchick That’s some edgy humor there.
@yakkoTDI @Thumperchick @mike808
They are likely to become a “chip
pedoff the old block” before too long…I get the point. This is a sharp deal.
I thought it was bad luck to buy knives.
@norman8 especially these
@norman8 It’s bad luck to give someone a knife, lest it cut your friendship. It’s also bad luck to shoplift knives, lest you be caught. So you’re only left with buying them, making them yourself, or slicing vegetables with the edge of your extended forefinger, “cut the pickle” style.
I thought it said stinging fish…
That last photo is incredibly disturbing.
/giphy steaming pile of poop
@somf69 well that’s something
@somf69 What in gods earth…
@somf69 Yet another good reason to wear a mask. I think this needs an Irk soundtrack, “Something Went Terribly Wrong!”
@somf69 So you want to a doctor when you grow up?
@somf69 Ugh. That gif reminded me of this:
@LaVikinga Makes me glad I work in IT.
The wooden block alone is worth $15.
@cengland0 I was considering getting it mainly for the block. Do you think it will fit most knives?
@Pantheist That’s a good question and I’m not sure so I wouldn’t take my word for it.
Where’s our Shun deal?
$15 is a steel…
Almost bought just for the Belmont New Hampshire reference but meh. Now if the model number was 03801…different story
They don’t even look like they’re full tang, and there’s not anything about it on the Amazon page. These knives are perfect for this site. They’re shit.
@jibbyjam1 tang? What do I look like an astronaut!
@jibbyjam1 You get 20 knives worth $15 so you get exactly what you pay for.
@jibbyjam1 They don’t need to be excellent, just better than dollar store knives. I don’t think dollar store knives have videos made about them.
@jibbyjam1 Think of them as disposable knives that come 20 to a pack.
@jibbyjam1 Better than dollar store knives? They’re already cheaper than dollar store knives. Probably good if you’re teaching a knife sharpening class and want something the students can fuck up while trying to learn.
Sensei says, don’t buy shitty knives that don’t hold an edge.
@jjohns71 what knives do you recommend? Am in the market.
@mollama I’m partial to Wüsthof Trident myself, though I also have a couple of Sabatiers. And I found an excellent bread knife by Victorinox for $40 (cheap, as these things go). Victorinox also makes some other kitchen knives at reasonable prices. For Wüsthof, prepare to take a 2nd mortgage, but they are truly excellent and could last a century+. My brother swears by some Japanese ceramic knives by Global, but he’s not too sharp. Hint: Do NOT buy knives in sets, it’s a waste of money and you get some crappy/useless ones. There are only about 4 knives you will ever need: http://lifehacker.com/dont-buy-expensive-knife-sets-these-four-knives-are-al-1698973316
@mollama I personally use Wüsthof at home. J.A. Henckels, Shun, and MAC are also great knives.
In my opinion, the 3 biggest things to keeping knives in good working condition is
Unfortunately, from my experience $15 knives will not keep an edge even if you follow the other two pieces of advice above because the steel is total shit! Look closely at the knives you currently have at home, I would bet that the edge of the knives has a lot of “folds” or “scallops” in the steel.
If you want to do some extra homework, I find that there is a lot of great info out there from people smarter than myself that generally is worth reading. Couple links if you’d like to dive deeper are below.
Reddit buy it for life discussion 1
Reddit buy it for life discussion 2
Knive Edge Discussion
Decent reviews of a few different knife brands
@mollama if you aren’t in the market for expensive knives and just get cheap ones, also get an electric sharpener to sit next to the knife block. You’ll need it often!
@mollama-
Wüsthof Trident. Take care of them, hand wash, proper cutting surface, professional sharpening, store in a block and they will last forever. Mine are over 40 yrs old and don’t look it! And I agree don’t buy a set, buy the knives you need & will use.
Not all “professional” sharpening services are created equal.
@MrNews The term ‘Sabatier’ is as meaningless as ‘champagne’ - any company use it on their knives, whether they are from Theirs, France or not (see Wiki).
Individual brands have additional trademark names or symbols. My own knives are non-stainless ‘**** Elephants’, manufactured by Thiers Issard Sabatier back in the 70s - and they are still going strong.
Gotta love good knives.
@rpstrong Sorry, didn’t know that, as I inherited these. They say “Maitre de Cuisine / Sabatier.” They do say Made in France, they are full tang, seem very well made and hold an edge well, though are a bit thinner than my Wüsthofs.
@MrNews Looks like they are Four star Elephants, perhaps privately branded - see you can buy a set here. By the way, are they stainless steel, or are they high carbon (will tarnish)?
@rpstrong I actually have two different ones. The Maitre de Cuisine one has an image of a chef, and apprars quite new, although I have had it at least 22 years. The other one has more of a boning knife shape, no icon, and says “Professional / Sabatier / Made in France / Stainless.” It appears much older, has larger rivets, and the tang thins slightly from bolster to butt. It is probably 45 years old at least…
@MrNews - I often appreciate the experienced advice others offer here. There is a Wusthof-Trident 8" chef knife on Amazon for only $28. Are there differing levels of quality within that brand?
Thanks!
I think I found a better Victorinox at $45. Don’t think I’ve ever seen such good reviews on any item - 4.8 stars with over 5k reviews.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B008M5U1C2/ref=psdc_289857_t2_B0057MG1V8
@KDemo The Victorinox blades are nice, though the one on my 10" bread knife is a little thin, and does stain easily. (Must clean and dry immediately after use.) The handles are not to my liking- it’s a roughened rubberized plastic. But for $40, the 10" bread knife is way better than the $8 one I found at Big Lots. And cheaper than the Wüsthof $130 version.
The $28 Wüsthof Trident on Amazon is a much cheaper version of the brand: plastic handles, carbon steel (not really stainless), and probably not well balanced. Most of the Wüsthofs on Amazon are lesser versions for mass retail- I would go to a high-end kitchen store and look at (and handle) them there. The “Classic” line is probably their best, (though they may have a pro line). They’re expensive, but you only need one or two, for a lifetime. 95% of the time I use a 6" utility knife, similar to this $95 one: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Utility-Knife-Blade-Length/dp/B007HZHDEM
I also own a $180 Wüsthof 8" chef’s knife (wedding present), which I use 2-3 times a year…
@MrNews - Ah. I kind of expected they were relatively low quality when I noticed there were none of those fasteners in the tang as with more expensive knives.
Thanks so much for the info. I guess it goes to show once again that you get what you pay for. Mostly.
Ha, ha. Love cutting those meh faces people get in the Fukos.
Quikut … when you need to Ut things Quik.
@awk There’s a Mormon joke here somewhere.
@cinoclav There always is
@awk
@SpocKirk
Hey! Show some respect to the meh stress pucks! Some of us only dream of having one, and must live with extreme daily stress.
found 6 reviews here https://www.wayfair.com/Ginsu-Quikut-20-Piece-Knife-Set-GSU1216.html
@communist WayFair reviews are always positive, I pretty much ignore them.
@communist Including the informative five star “Great Job” review.
@communist & WayFair has them in purple
How long is a Yead? I’m curious about the warranty.
I’d wager that these knives are sold under the “Quickut” branding because “Ginsu” knives’ defining feature is that funky near-impossible-to-resharpen serrated edge.
@Turken I zoomed in on the photos of these to see if they were the same. That serrated edge is great for about a week, or one lead pipe and one tomato. After that it’s pure shit.
Dollar store quality here.
Is this some kind of portmanteau of year and day?
@djslack did you read the warranty? Send 2 dollars per knife to cover shipping when you return them. Better buy 2 sets then use the warranty.
@stilesja Sure didn’t. But to maximize your savings, better buy 3 sets.
@djslack Maybe it’s ‘year’ and ‘dead’. Bonus star for using portmanteau in a sentence
@mehcuda67 It’s not exactly the right word for whatever that would be, but you don’t get to throw that one around every day so I had to go for it.
meh… these won’t even match my clown costume for Halloween.
@alacrity
For inexpensive knives that work well and are made in the USA I go for Rada. They’re also lightweight but they work and are easy to sharpen.
The only thing that’d make this deal worse was if there was a 24 hour countdown timer. Mehhhhh
Meh:
Meh.
I’m going back to watching “Doogie Howser” on hulu.
Tl:Dr - meh
Anyone who has any idea what to do with a “birds beak” or finishing knife wouldn’t touch shitty knives. Guarantee that carving fork will bend and possibly break if you tried to use it on anything bigger than a couple of pounds. That tomato knife is nonsense, you’ll get better results with the serrated bread knife.
I would consider it for the block and steak knives, but it doesn’t look like the steak knives are serrated meaning they’ll dull into uselessness way too quick even for this price. And the knives look like stamped steel so the slots on the block are probably all way too thin for any real knives.
@Oneroundrobb
/giphy tomato knife
@Oneroundrobb not what I was going for but super satisfying. No way in hell you’re doing that with these knives.
@Oneroundrobb can you reco a knife set? Am in the market but don’t have much to spend (I’m set for a layoff in Dec) which is why have kept w mediocre annoying current set for a yr while i try to find a deal.
@mollama I wouldn’t bother with a set. Start with a quality chef’s knife or santoku. Learn how to use it, care for it, and sharpen it. Add a good paring knife, a solid serrated slicer, and maybe a good boning knife if you deal with a lot of fish and you’ll be pretty much set. Don’t worry about all those specialty knives.
Check out the lower end Victorinox (of Swiss army knife fame) or J.A Henkcels for bargains. Read the reviews, they’re quality knife companies, but not always perfect.
Now I can replace the autoclave with a dishwasher for more efficient surgeries.
Whether it’s 10 years from now, or 25, I will be back everyday until I get the gif documenting the life of this humble knife.
You need to DEMAND it every day, @tahaboy123.
Every.
Single.
Day.
What’s with all the gifs in the write-up? Did @medz get hired on staff? Did someone just learn how to make high-quality gifs from videos?
@jqubed A picture is worth a thousand words and they already used up their quota in the description??
@jqubed Now that’d be a sweet supplemental gig! Alas, no job offers for me.
Oh shit I have so much paper I need cut!
Not aerodynamic enough… tsk tsk.
A gif of “Boyhood” would be the best gif ever made because it took 12 years to make. Everyone knows that the best films in history are based on quantity rather than quality.
I never thought I would see my tiny hometown being featured on Meh. This is a very mediocre day.
I’ve purchased too many crappy kitchen knives in my day. About 10 years ago I got an upper-end Cuisinart set, which consisted of about 6 knives - Long carving, 2 chef, bread, paring and a santoko. All I need. I keep them sharp, dry and oiled and they work better than new.
quikut…Yes! I knew that name sounded familiar. I have some of their knives from the 50’s. That’s all I can tell you. I sharpen my knives regularly, so…
You know, there’s so real negativity in this thread.
Someone reviewed him like he was looking at a handmade sushi knife. I’m not paying $300 for it, I’m paying $15 for a set and for the wood block. (And besides, if meh was selling $300 handmade sushi knives, people would be bitching about that.)
It’s $15! I think I’ll buy one just to spite the naysayers. I can always give it as a wedding present to someone I don’t like that much.
I remember that tomato slicing commercial, he said like “It cuts tomatoes so thin, your mother-in-law will never come back”, lol.
Anyway, something interesting here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginsu
Ginsu and Quikut may be owned by same company but so too are Maserati and Dodge.
These are not Dian’the, the Holy Burning Orchid Blade. But few things are.
Quick! Buy a set of these so you can play Notebook Paper Ninja!
/buy
@therealjrn It worked! Your order number is: ritzy-witchy-ball
/image ritzy witchy ball
I wish I had seen some of these comments before I ordered. My set just arrived and I will admit to being somewhat disappointed. As others have pointed out they appear to be made of stamped steel, are on the thin side and appear to be rather flimsy. The block is nothing to write home about either. I guess time will tell on whether or not I wasted $15 ($20 once you add shipping.)
I am guessing that this also a case of “all sales” are final and a return/refund is out of the question.
Wow, these things… This things are like, criminally flimsy. Is like I went to Ikea and stole the props they put on the displays.Turns out my mom had a set of these once that she promtly threw away. She even correctly guessed how much I payed for them. So I’m stuck with this, I would be embarrassed to give these away to someone I don’t even like. These knives are not even meh, they are just bad.
Wow, these things are terrible. I didn’t expect greatness but usually me delivers something that is a better than what the price would imply. Not this time. Even with free vmp shipping these are not worth 15 dollars and I would be embarrassed to gift these to anyone other than Leona Bobbit.
Wife hated it. Son loved it. Now the entire set is in his kitchen –– and he’s actually using it!
The knife should always be a little sharper than the wife’s tongue. So we have the best quality Best Meat Cleaver For Cutting Bone to purchase.
https://www.kitchenappliancepackages.com/2021/07/Best-Meat-Cleaver-For-Cutting-Bone.html