On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:58:16 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS 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 prefer a knife with the edge running all the way to the back of the
blade steel (ie: no bolster). It's easier to maintain the shape of
the blade when sharpening which is very important with chef knifes
especially.
Mark E. Williams

" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message
. ..
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 have the 5 star small paring knifes in the boat for bait cutting as well
as in the kitchen. My main knives are Forschner brand. I like the feel
better than the Henkels, lighter weight. They are made by the same people,
just do not like the feel of the heavier Henkel. Great knives, both brands.

" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message
...

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
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! *****
******************************************

Ouch. I would not use that on a set of fine knives.


Is a great sharpener. Not like most of the cheapies. As to the steel, is
different than a ceramic. One will remove metal to sharpen, but the steel,
just straightens the edge. Use it often, and you do not have to sharpen the
knife that often. Watch any bucher. He will have a steel hanging from his
belt.

Calif Bill wrote:
" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message
...
"JohnH" wrote in message
...
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! *****
******************************************
Ouch. I would not use that on a set of fine knives.


Is a great sharpener. Not like most of the cheapies. As to the steel, is
different than a ceramic. One will remove metal to sharpen, but the steel,
just straightens the edge. Use it often, and you do not have to sharpen the
knife that often. Watch any bucher. He will have a steel hanging from his
belt.



Bill,
So the Ceramic is actually a "sharpener" that grinds the metal? If so,
I agree with you, for home use, neither the ceramic or electric
sharpener should be used more than once a year. Use the steel before
each use, these high quality knives should hold an edge at least for a year.

Only the cheap knives have a problem holding an edge and actually need
to be sharpened more often. When using a quality knife, sharpening them
more often is detrimental to the knife.

--
Reggie
************************************************** *************
That's my story and I am sticking to it.

************************************************** *************

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?

My wife and I have a set, they're great. You MUST know how to properly
sharpen them, and keep them sharp. So, here we have a La Cordon Bleu
College of Culinary Arts. You can go eat first rate grub for not much
$$, so I like to go there once in awhile. While there, I found an
instructor/chef and asked him what it would cost to sit in on a
beginning class to learn to properly care and sharpen knives. That
wasn't possible, but he did bring me out all of the instructional
sheets!!

Harry Krause wrote:
JimH wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote in message
news
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.

We have several ceramic sharpeners already.........thanks for the tip. I
have always used them on my filet and kitchen knives.

Why didn't you like the Henckels 9" sharpening steel?

http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg...._1882_52475724




I'm just not a fan of sharpening steels. I think the ceramics do a
better job.

Steels aren't the same. Steels just brighten the edge, where after ANY
use, the edge tries to curl over. The ceramic sharpeners are more
aggressive.

" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message
. ..
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?


They seemed nice, but the Wusthof Classics fit my hand better, and the
quality is every bit as good. That being the case, it comes down to personal
choice. And, with regard to the steel, you don't choose either that or a
sharpener. A steel is for touching up the edge BETWEEN sharpenings. If
knives are sharpened correctly and not abused, the steel will do its job
correctly. Look at a professional chef's toolsl and you'll see that the
steel is used constantly.

As far as buying a whole set, that might not make sense. Do you have any
kind of set now? If yes, do all the knives get used, or does your wife focus
on just one or two? You can do almost anything in the kitchen with the
3-knife set shown horizontally in this pictu

http://www.wusthof.com/en/classic-knife-set.asp

Cook's knife, carving knife, paring knife. Add a scalloped bread knife and
steak knives and you're in business. If you cook lots of large roasts, add a
longer carving knife. If she likes to do cute things with fruit & vegetable
shapes, she might like one of these, by Global:

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=7831

A chef friend got me one of these. Odd, but it's more maneuverable for some
tasks.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message
. ..
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?


They seemed nice, but the Wusthof Classics fit my hand better, and the
quality is every bit as good. That being the case, it comes down to
personal choice. And, with regard to the steel, you don't choose either
that or a sharpener. A steel is for touching up the edge BETWEEN
sharpenings. If knives are sharpened correctly and not abused, the steel
will do its job correctly. Look at a professional chef's toolsl and you'll
see that the steel is used constantly.

As far as buying a whole set, that might not make sense. Do you have any
kind of set now? If yes, do all the knives get used, or does your wife
focus on just one or two? You can do almost anything in the kitchen with
the 3-knife set shown horizontally in this pictu

http://www.wusthof.com/en/classic-knife-set.asp

Cook's knife, carving knife, paring knife. Add a scalloped bread knife and
steak knives and you're in business. If you cook lots of large roasts, add
a longer carving knife. If she likes to do cute things with fruit &
vegetable shapes, she might like one of these, by Global:

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=7831

A chef friend got me one of these. Odd, but it's more maneuverable for
some tasks.


I purchased a 7 knife set that has all the basic knives we use. We have a
good carving knife already and don't really use it that often.

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message
...
"JohnH" wrote in message
...
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! *****
******************************************
Ouch. I would not use that on a set of fine knives.


Is a great sharpener. Not like most of the cheapies. As to the steel,
is different than a ceramic. One will remove metal to sharpen, but the
steel, just straightens the edge. Use it often, and you do not have to
sharpen the knife that often. Watch any bucher. He will have a steel
hanging from his belt.

Bill,
So the Ceramic is actually a "sharpener" that grinds the metal? If so, I
agree with you, for home use, neither the ceramic or electric sharpener
should be used more than once a year. Use the steel before each use,
these high quality knives should hold an edge at least for a year.

Only the cheap knives have a problem holding an edge and actually need to
be sharpened more often. When using a quality knife, sharpening them more
often is detrimental to the knife.

--
Reggie
************************************************** *************
That's my story and I am sticking to it.

************************************************** *************

My local grocery store will sharpen your knives for you. No charge.
Raley's Grocery store. I use the steel a lot.