Quality Kitchen Cutlery

Well, in our last blog we talked about the handles of your kitchen knives.  Let us think about your choices of blades and consider what to look for.  Of course that will have to do with the brand you choose and there are many qualities and name brands. You can only make a product just so good.

 There are many companies making superior quality kitchen knives.  Some are pricey and others are more conservative in price but you cannot always gauge the quality by the price or the brand. Check out the reputation and performance of the manufacturer. Check on the quality of steel used and their process of manufacturing.  German made knives go through some stringent tests, but so do Japanese made and American made products like Chicago Cutlery.  Many manufacturers with products available today have been in the business for many years and have proven track records. A good proven kitchen knife manufacturer will offer you a good choice of handles as well as excellent blades on all the knives.

If you are interested in price and quality check out the web.  Many websites are very informative about their products and give detailed information about the product.  You can usually buy the product much cheaper on the net than at the store.  With the stiff competition most web sites are trying their best to offer you the best price possible.

Choosing the right knife or knives set can bring many questions to your mind.  Do I choose color  i.e.,  red, blue, green, or some other color of handle?  Should I choose Stainless Steel Handles?  Would it be better to choose a lovely black Polymer or a beautiful wooden handle?

Well, I am sure it is a matter of personal preference to you.   I just visited my daughter in Louisville, KY, who recently purchased some Chicago Cutlery Santoku Knives with a combination of Stainless Steel and Black Polymer handles.  Believe me they were beautiful and she could have found no better match for her new black counter tops and black stovetop.

Just keep in mind,  though you may be a little partial to red, blue, or green, they may not always match your decor should you move or change your kitchen colors.  One thing for sure, you would be safe with the Stainless Steel Handles on your kitchen knives, or the wood or the black polymer. 

This salad is easy for the whole family to eat and boasts a color palate that will appeal to everyone at the table.

Recipe Ingredients:
1 romaine lettuce heart
4 to 6 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked until crisp, cool and chopped
½ pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
½ cup chopped walnuts
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Salad dressing of choice

Chop the lettuce heart into 1- to 2-inch pieces with kitchen cutlery.  Combine it with the bacon, nuts, and other vegetables in a large bowl.  Toss mixture well.  Keep the salad refrigerated until serving time.  Toss it again with enough dressing to lightly coat the vegetables, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves: 6

An everyday set of chef cutlery knives for food preparation for the average cook would probably include a 6” chef’s knife, a 5” santoku knife, a smaller utility knife, and a paring knife. 

This selection of knives is great for everyday cutting and chopping, with that famous Ginsu quality that is known throughout the world.

Chicago Cutlery provides a knife block set that gives you a choice of various styles and sizes all contained within blocks made of natural hardwood.  The coloring in the block may vary somewhat but most will be nearly the same natural color.  The size of the block will depend on the set of cutlery.  The block sets could contain as few as 7 pieces of kitchen cutlery up to 24 pieces of cutlery within one block.  Chicago Cutlery has varied styles such as their Basics, Classic Chef, Metropolitan, Forum, Insignia Steel, Insignia 2, Walnut Signature, Walnut Tradition, and Landmark.  Each has their own unique styling.

Likewise, Ginsu also provides knife block sets, but unlike Chicago Cutlery, their blocks come in either a black or natural colored hardwood, but also in a Bamboo Block.    The one unique thing about the Ginsu blocks is that some can be mounted on the wall or under the counter for saving space as well as the traditional counter top block.  Ginsu knife block sets come in different sizes ranging from a 5 piece (including the block) up to 36 pieces (including the block).  Ginsu, too has a selection of styles to choose from including their unique Chikara Series, Stainless Steel Sets, Bakelite Handled Sets and the Home Basics Set which is the one to contain the 36 pieces.

 No matter what your choice might be of either of the two different brands, either one is of high quality and lasting value.

The kitchen knife block set is usually a wooden block with slits to contain all the knives of the set.  These sets can range from the very basic sets to a full set of every knife needed in your kitchen.    The kitchen knife block set is usually conveniently  stored with all the knives within your immediate reach during food preparation with every knife for each job available with the block set.  There are block sets that are the traditional type where they are set on the counter, but there are also those available that can be mounted on the wall or under the counter as a space saver.  Ginsu provides these wall or under-the-counter space saving block sets while Chicago Cutlery provides the traditional block sets.  Either brand would be an attractive addition to your kitchen as well as a very useful set of tools within an organized block and in your convenient location.

I was highly impressed with the many innovations made in the Swiss Family Robinson movie and display at Disneyworld and the famous tree house.  Man has always had the ability to adapt and make new innovations to make his tasks more simple.  Kitchen gagetry is no exception.  Manufacturers make knives and cutlery, cookware and more for every common task man faces.

I was impressed this morning as I cut up a rather large Indiana cantelope.  I enjoyed the ease of using the famous Chef Knife as a sliced through the thickness of the cantelope and then I used a 4 inch paring knife to dice into small chunks. It would have made the task more difficult to slice and dice this melon with the larger chef’s knife.

The next time you browse through the small appliance department of your favorite Department Store observe the many new gadgets that are displayed and the new innovations that are available to us.  You will find everything from new coffee makers to can openers, toasters, blenders and every sort of gadget imaginable.

If you have observed some new gadget that interests you tell us about it in our comment section below.

Until next Blog—The KitchenKing

There are so many brands and tastes for almost anything you may buy and each person is certainly entitled to his/her choice.  Sometimes the quality of a product lies in the name or brand because of a company’s many years of reputation and good workmanship. Price cannot always be the determining factor these days.  Usually you pay more and should be able to expect more in quality, but this is not always so. There are many times in changes of management and buy outs when a company lets it’s guard down and begins to offer less quality.  There are also times in changes of styles of product when the new is not as good as the old.  This is a good reason to shop wisely when you shop.  Consider the materials and workmanship as well as the recent reputation of the company.

If price and quality is a factor to you choose brands like Chicago or Ginsu which are two companies who have not let down their guard and who still offer high quality knives and cutlery at reasonable prices. Surely you can choose brands with longer standing names and good reputations but you will find the quality of these two companies very comparable to some very expensive brands.

Shop wisely and save more.

at reasonable