 Excellent Knife and NOT high-priced! |
| Review Date: August 18, 2005 |
| Reviewer: T. Denman, Florida USA |
| This knife is such a value. I have always had a hard time accepting the high-prices on Wuesthoff or Henckel knives because I never felt the VALUE was worth it. Boy am I glad I held out for the Victorinox knife! This knife, also known as Forschner, is consistently sharp. Just a few swipes of the sharpening steel and its good as new again. I use this knife and a 6" every day. The handles are comfortable and do not get slippery when wet. They are practically the only knives I use. I wash and wipe dry after each use (NEVER put in the dishwasher). I think you'll be as pleased as I if you try this knife. |
Cooks Ilustrated is right -- again!
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| Review Date: October 4, 2005 |
| Reviewer: D. Walker, |
| This is the chef's knife I've been looking for. The blade is the right balance between stiff and flexible. The perfectly curved shape automatically starts that rocking motion that makes chopping a breeze. I've been skeptical about ever developing the ability to chop like the chefs on cooking shows. No longer. And to think -- it was my bad knives to blame all this time! I'm buying several of these to give as Christmas gifts this year. |
Outstanding Product!
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| Review Date: April 13, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Ronald W. Hoskinson, colorado springs, co |
| I to bought this knife because of the rating in Cook's Illustrated. I have Henckels and was interested in something to use in more utilitarian situations. I didn't want to baby it; I wanted to use it and then put it in the dishwasher and forget about it. After using this knife I realized that I made a mistake in ever buying the Henckels. They now seem heavy and clumsy in my hand. Every time I reach for a knife I grab this one. I only bought one knife because I wanted to see if it would hold an edge and to see how hard it would be to re-sharpen. Well after a year of constant use I still don't know how hard it will be to re-sharpen because I haven't had to do that yet. It was yesterday while slicing tomatoes that I realized just how fantastic this knife was. Here I had a knife that hadn't been sharpened in a year and I was slicing tomatoes like I was using a seriated utility knife! The only reason I don't have more than one is because my magnet is full of Henckels that I don't like to use. Anybody want to buy a set of totally babied Henckels? I need more knives I like to use. |
Sharp knife and comfortable to use
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| Review Date: November 22, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Diane Frank, Colorado |
| I selected this knife because it was recommended by Cooks Illustrated as a lighter weight french knife. The handle is easy to grip and the knife is very sharp -- a delight to use. |
You can't go wrong with this one
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| Review Date: November 29, 2006 |
| Reviewer: JM, TX |
| Have lots of knives and all were more expensive by far than this gem and yet this is the one I reach for more often than not. I was afraid it might feel flimsy but it doesn't. It holds it edge nicely. I'd be happy to own more than one. |
Great Home Chefs Knife
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| Review Date: March 27, 2007 |
| Reviewer: mining engineer, Peru |
The knife length is determined by the size of the cutting board, and it is rare to see anything larger than 18 X 24 inch boards in a home kitchen, which is perfect for an 8 inch knife.
In commercial kitchens, we tend to use 24 X 36 inch laminated maple cutting boards 2 inches thick, and these work well with a 10 inch knife.
A professional entre-metier can chop about a ton of vegetables per hour with a 10 inch knife, but home cooks are more likely looking at a about a pound per minute, thus the 8 inch knife.
I have tried almost every knife ever invented for over 30 years now, and I have never found anything even close to Victorinox for balance, edge, and value, even in knives that cost 10 times as much, that are often good only for squashing tomatoes.
Plus, knives are always kept razor sharp (always buy a coarse/fine carborundum oil stone and sharpening steel), and attempting to wield a 10 inch or larger knife can be extremely dangerous for those that have not been professionally trained (they are also dangerous to those that have been professionally trained, and I have a few scars to prove that). Best Regards. |
Excellence!!
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| Review Date: October 9, 2007 |
| Reviewer: A. Pavel, NY |
| This knife is a pleasure to use. The blade is deeper than most chef knives, allowing for a more natural cutting position, and less strain on your wrists. The knife comes razor sharp from the factory and seems to hold its edge well. The blade has a very smooth polished finish that helps you glide through food easily. You get full use of the blade because it does not have a bolster. The plastic fibrox handle has an excellent medium sized grip (good for small or big hands) that is very sanitary. The knife is a little on the light side, which I think is good, because maneuvering is less exhausting. All this for a fraction of the cost of a German knife. |
Incredible value for the money
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| Review Date: December 9, 2007 |
| Reviewer: John Brook Monroe, DeLand, FL United States |
I'm not a professional chef, but I know my way around a kitchen. One thing I never stint on is knives. Cheap knives are a waste of time--good knives are a joy forever. By "cheap" I mean badly crafted knives, not inexpensive knives, because it's always possible to find a moderately-priced knives that outperforms knives double or triple the price.
This is one of those knives.
I haven't been able to determine whether this knife is forged or stamped. The price makes me think it must be stamped, but the Victorinox site implies it's forged. No matter--either way, this is a fantastic knife.
It weighs a bit less than my Calphalon 8" chef's knife, and while I don't think the Calphalon is too heavy--many people do--I find that the Fibrox knife just feels better over the long haul--easier to manuever and control. It doesn't have a traditional bolster (another reason I wonder if it was stamped) but I find that it makes little or no difference--it's so well-balanced that gripping the front of the handle is perfectly adequate for control. (And you know what? The fibrox handle is very, very comfortable.)
Sharp? Yes, very. The reviewer who found hers to be dull must have had a knife that was damaged in some way, or somehow got past quality control, because out of the box this knife was exceeded in sharpness only by my Shun santoku.
Over the last two days, I've used this knife to trim and cube chuck steak and Boston butt, chop kale, slice chorizo, and dice roasted red peppers. I used it to carve our turkey at Thanksgiving, and it's equally at home doing a chiffonade of basil or dicing carrots. At this price, I'm likely to buy duplicates to keep both at my parent's and in-law's houses for when I cook there, because it's rapidly becoming the knife I can't work without in the kitchen.
Yes, I paid more for that santoku, but I think I like this knife better. |
The knife Chefs really use
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| Review Date: July 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Fredrick W. Oneal, Chicago, Illinois USA |
I actually learned of Forschner knives from my daughter who works for a caterer and as a prep chef at an Edible arrangements store. She uses the fancy so-called professional chef's knives at the catering gig where appearences and impressions are crucial and uses the Fibrox knives at the fruit store where function and performance are most important. She loves these knives and gives them as gifts all the time. She does own a set of high end asian knives but uses the Fibrox knives where it matters....on the job. It's kinda like when those really expensive German hand tool brands claim they are the choice of pros when almost all technicians worldwide use Snap-on hand tools.
I also own a few Japanese chef's knives but love the out-of-box edge on the Fibrox. The blade is deep enough so that I don't knock my knuckles and the handle is shaped so that I can hold it with a firm grip without placing too much downward pressure on the blade. I sharpen my own knives and the Fibrox is very easy to re-sharpen and maintains an edge as well as any kitchen knife I have used. Overall a great value and excellent tool. |
Absolute best buy in a Chef's knife
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| Review Date: January 26, 2007 |
| Reviewer: P. Fenton, Hudson, Florida |
| I bought this knife after reading a review of 8 inch Chef's Knives in Cook's Illustrated. They rated this knife above ALL others, including knives costing more than a hundred dollars. It arrives in extremely sharp condition. I've used some expensive Chef's knives, and even an expensive Henckels Santoku. None were as good as this knife. |
Best Ever
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| Review Date: September 23, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Colleen M. Boyd, Louisa, Virginia |
| My father has been a culinary educator for 32 years. Long before that he went to the Culinary Institute of America. He has owned knives like this since his own schooling, and still uses them every day. This knife was a gift from him when I got my first place. He said he couldn't let me move out without a good knife. I've owned it for 20 years now and believe that every household in America should have one. Know that for a few dollars you will have a knife that will truly last a life-time!! |
A great value for home gourmet cooks
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| Review Date: November 27, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Sara Woollen-danner, Cincinnati, OH United States |
| I have an entire set of these knives and I am extremely happy with them. They're a great value--a good knife without dropping big bucks. I do sharpen them on a regular basis, but I still highly recommend these knives. |
Another glowing review
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| Review Date: December 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Joanna T. Prout, |
I love this knife. For starters, Forschner made the very smart move to grind it properly in the first place so that when it arrived, it was hair-shaving sharp right out of the box. Good first impression. I loved the feel of the handle and the wide blade -- both good for someone with big hands.
But before writing this review, I wanted to wait for the blade to dull and then resharpen it, to get an idea of its edge retention. So I waited. And waited. (Note that I am not a professional cook, but I am a serious home cook who makes almost everything from scratch and routinely throws multiple-course dinner parties for 10-20+ guests.) About 4 months later, with only occasional stropping as blade maintenance, I noticed the slightest drop in performance -- the blade still shaved hair, but needed more passes to clear a patch. So I busted out the whetstones and got an arguably sharper-than-the-factory edge with only minor effort and my quite meager sharpening skills. This is without reshaping the edge or taking down the fairly conservative factory angle.
Now here I am to write the review. This knife is fantastic. The only complaint i could begin to muster is that it looks like a cheap knife. If i could, i would give it a 4.9 star review on that basis. But as I prize function and value over form, it's certainly no biggie.
I actually prefer the forschner to my old roommate's Henckles (though certainly not to his Hiromoto gyuto - that thing was a lightsaber). But comparisons to high-end knives are beside the point. Compare this knife to any other $20 piece-of-junk knife I've seen and used in kitchens. The difference in blade quality is downright hilarious, forged or not. Heck, compare this knife to anything whatsoever in your kitchen that you paid $20-$25 for. In terms of bang for the buck, I have not seen a better deal available in kitchenware.
Edit: One other minor drawback of this knife that I only remembered after posting the review --
The knife doesn't come with a sheath, even a cheap cardboard one. And it's too wide to fit into most wooden knife blocks (the width is a good thing otherwise). Making your own sheath isn't hard at all, but I would advise people to either do that or get a magnetic knife strip rather than let it bang around in your drawers uncovered. A blade this nice deserves better. |
Great buy
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| Review Date: October 20, 2006 |
| Reviewer: JM, TX |
| Love this knife. I use it and my Wusthof chef as my two favorite knives. I was concerned this one might feel flimsy for the price but it doesn't. Has a great edge and I'm glad I bought it over several others I was considering at 3 and 4 times the price. I strongly recommend it. |
My favorite knife!
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| Review Date: February 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. P. Smith, |
| I received this knife for Christmas after reading the review in Cook's Illustrated magazine and then requesting it on my gift list! My son ordered it through Amazon and it arrived before Christmas. It is now my favorite knife and is used daily. After cutting veggies, fish, meats, and fruit, this knife continues to be extremely sharp, well balanced, and easy to use. What a great gift! |
It Slices, Dices and Chops, but it still doesn't cost an arm and leg.
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| Review Date: October 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Future Southerner, Minneapolis, MN, USA |
| I love to watch cooking shows, but up until now, resisted buying a chef's knife. The ones always recommended, such as Henkel, might be nice, but no way was I paying $120 for a knife. Not in my budget! So, I was recently watching DVDs of America's Test Kitchen (PBS) where they compared various brands and price points of chef knives. Yes, their testing concluded that to get a fabulous knife, you need to spend over $100. However, their testing also showed that the Forschner 8 inch Chef's knife was ALMOST as good. It had slightly more flex than they liked, but for someone who was cooking for a small family or on a limited budget, it clearly was a good buy. Bought it and I agree! Mincing onions is SO easy now because the weight of the knife actually helps. My family was never happy with the large pieces of onions that I chopped and none of the gadget things really worked well. I totally understand why people love their chef's knives and I love mine too. If you cook for a lot of people, I do think you would be better off getting the more expensive knives, but for me, this is perfect. |
Great Value
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| Review Date: June 25, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Crunch, Chicago |
| Went to a "knife skills" class at a Chicago cooking school and realized what a good knife can do in the kitchen. But, then I gagged at the prices. Surfed the Internet and found the reviews for the Forschners, and decided to take a chance. Got the 8" Chef and 7" Santoku about a month ago. Fantastic knives. Light weight, very sharp and great balance. All in all, I think they are superior to the $150 to $500 knives we used in the class. |
The Test Kitchen is right
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| Review Date: February 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: W. Timm, |
I originally tried this knife after reading the review in Cook's Illustrated. I have several heavier, full tang chef's knives that I always thought felt good in my hand. Surprisingly, this lighter weight, 3/4 tang model felt so comfortable that I started buying them for all my knife-ignorant friends and relatives (you know, the ones that don't know that a dull knife is more dangerous than a very sharp one).
Along with each gift came a little bit of advice as to how to store and maintain the knife. Even though it can probably withstand the dishwasher better than most knives, I still recommend against it.
With a price like this, how can you beat it. Also, it holds an edge much better than my other knives. |
This brand across the board is one of my all-time favorites.
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| Review Date: July 27, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Candy P., |
| This is one of my favorite knives - and I have quite a collection of them, believe me. It's sturdy, sharpens easily, and seems to contour to my hand when chopping. I'm a faster sous chef for myself and others with this knife. Great price, I might add. This brand across the board is one of my all-time favorites. I've never been disappointed with a knife I purchased from Victorinox. |
Kitchen Victory with Victorinox
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| Review Date: March 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Joy Windle, Chester County, PA |
| I have long trusted America's Test Kitchen's opinion for all things culinary. So when they recommended the Black Fibrox 8 in. Victorinox Chef's Knife, as a best buy--right up there with blades at three times the price, I didn't think twice. I could not be happier with this knife. Light & easy in the hand, well-balanced, & razor sharp. Chops, slices, & dices with ease. I never realized how effortless a shorter blade makes everyday jobs. The 10" chef's knife is staying in the drawer. |
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