My mantra in life is somewhat similar to the Socratic Paradox of “I know one thing: that I know nothing.” The Daily Dealer version is “I know one thing: that you can never have too many knives.” Whenever you can find a deal like this on a knife as highly rated as this one, you have to act.
Right now, you can save $57 on this chef’s knife. To give you a hint about the quality of the knife, a large majority of the 421 customer reviewers have given it 5 stars.
This chef’s knife is only $35 right now (Photo via Amazon)
J.A. Henckels International Classic 8-Inch Chef’s Knife on sale for $34.99
To get a sense of the quality of this knife, all you have to do is read the reviews. This customer considers it the “best knife I’ve ever used”:
I don’t know why anyone would spend more on a knife, unless they were looking for a status symbol rather than a useful tool. This is by far the best knife I’ve ever handled or owned. If you haven’t updated your chef’s knife for ten or twenty years (I used to have a ’70s Sabatier), check out the new ones.
The high-carbon stainless steel used here sharpens and cuts as well as old knives without staining. It has scratched slightly during washing, but still shines spotlessly. The knife is stiff and thick — the blade is about a quarter-inch across at its base. The handle is longer than I’d like (since I grip the base of the blade, like many chefs and wannabes), but it serves to balance the knife very well. The balance is actually a bit handle-heavy, so if the knife falls, it falls handle first.
A great cutter, but a bit heavy for everyday slicing — I’m getting the 6″ version too.
(Update: Henckels’s warranty service also deserves praise. Eight years of continuous but gentle use after getting this knife, the handle began to separate from the steel tang. I dropped Henckels an email, they requested that I mail the knife in, and two weeks later a brand-new replacement was at my door.)
Debbie Lee Wesselman, a top 100 reviewer, had this to say:
This mid-priced line of Henckel knives, called “Classic” by the company, is a full-tang, single-piece, three-rivet line with sturdy black plastic handles. The handles are notched at the end to prevent the hand from sliding off during use. Although they are not razor sharp right from the package, their edges are sharp enough for the average cook. According to Henckel, all knives in this line are dishwasher safe, but you should expect more rapid dulling under the harsh conditions.
The chef’s knife is perfectly weighted toward the blade for efficient chopping, especially if you use the chef’s technique of lifting the base of the blade but not the tip. The arc of the curve falls more toward the middle of the blade than it does on my other brands of chef knives, creating more of a rocking motion than a straight up-and-down. The handle is ample for even the largest of hands, but not so large to be inconvenient for those with smaller hands like me.
And J.F. Rick says it is “one of my favorites”:
It’s important to note that this knife is not made in Germany (the 4 Star, 5 Star, and Pro-S series are). I started my good knife collection with a set of 3 of these International Classic knives. I later decided to get a larger set (9) of the 4 Star series, some of the finest knives in the world. However, I prefer this chef’s knife over the 4 Star one. The grip is heavier and makes the balance a bit nicer. For the paring knife, I much prefer the 4 Star one, so I wouldn’t recommend the set of 3, but this knife is great. I use it all the time. If you are starting out on a knife collection, I recommend these things:
-a 4 Star 3-inch paring knife (or 2 if you are lazy with clean-up)
-this Chef’s knife
-a cheap and large bread knife
-a medium sized 5-6in utility knife (good quality)
-a honing steel (good quality)
-a wood block to put them in (good knives should not be shoved into a drawer with other knives)
-[optional]a carving set of knife and fork, if you need carving utensils (I don’t much)
I’d weigh the cost of these together against getting a more expensive set (if you are on a budget).
With over 400 customer reviews, the sentiment of the above folks is rather widespread. I’d probably get this knife at the full price of $92. At under $40? It’s a no-brainer.
The chef from the movie ‘Chef’ knew you could never have too many knives (YouTube screenshot)
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