On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 19:24:49 -0500, Reggie Smithers
wrote:

Harry Krause wrote:
JohnH wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 17:05:11 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

JimH wrote:
As a surprise gift for my wife I am considering upgrading our
kitchen knives to heirloom quality knives and cannot find anything
to match the quality of the JA Henckels knives, specifically the
'Pro S' series. They are definitely not cheap but come with a
lifetime warranty and I have yet to read anything negative about them.

Has anyone had any experience with these knives?


I bought a full set of Henckels "Five Star" line. I liked the feel of
the handles better. I also bought a "Five Star" dropped blade bread
knife, and eight "Five Star" steak knives.

These are terrific knives. You do not want to run them through the
dishwasher. You wash them in the sink with a dish brush and dish soap.

Get yourself a good sharpener. The sharpening steel tool they include
really is useless. You want a good ceramic sharpener, I use this one:

http://www.agrussell.com/accessories...sharpener.html



Spyderco makes a similar unit. Do not use any sort of grinder.

Be very careful with the steak knives if you order them. They are as
sharp as razor blades. The other knives are damned sharp, too.


The ham-turkey carver is really nice.

Oh...get yourself a good in the drawer wood "keeper" instead of the
block. Saves counter space.

Oh hell. That's two things we agree on. I don't have the steak knives,
but
I love the 5 Stars.

I disagree with your choice of sharpeners. I've used mine for many years
now, and it's great:

http://www.kitchen-universe.com/detail.aspx?ID=2698
--
'Til next time,

John H

******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************


I had one of those. I threw it out.

They are two different products. A steel (and I think the product Harry
listed is just a ceramic steel) is used to straighten out the edge of
the knife that gets bent over as you use the knife. The "sharpener"
JohnH listed regrinds the edge. Most people recommend using a steel for
normal use, and on the good quality knives you are discussing should
only ground every few years. Before you grind they knife the knife,
they use the steel to make sure the edge is straight. Most chefs only
have their knives "sharpen" by a professional, and use the steel all
other times.

The final grade of the sharpener is no more than a steel. It simply adds a
little coarser angle to the edge.
--
'Til next time,

John H

******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************