When our readers ask about cheap, high-quality knives (and they do frequently) the first knife we always recommend is the Victorinox chef's knife. It's a great knife for a great price, and it's used in many restaurants too. In fact, we just saw yet another chef recommendation for the Victorinox, and it only validates this choice again.
Read on to see what Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park had to say about his Victorinox knives.
Reader Jessica Glavin shared this recent interview she did with chef Daniel Humm for GQ. Humm is the chef at Danny Meyer's four-star Eleven Madison Park in New York City. He recently won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in New York City, and he's working on his first cookbook. He shared 10 things he can't live without, including his favorite olive oil and granola.
Victorinox knives made his list, too. He says, "I've been using these since my first days in the kitchen. They're such good, quality tools—they're very easy to handle and they keep a sharp edge for a long time. Over all these years, I still rely on them."
• Read more: Ten Essentials: Daniel Humm at GQ
Thanks for the extra validation, Daniel! We love our Victorinox knives, too.
• Find them: Victorinox 47520 Fibrox 8-Inch Chef's Knife, $29.54 at Amazon
Related: Product Review: Victorinox Ceramic Knives
(Images: Victorinox; Union Square Hospitality Group)
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In addition to my one expensive (Henckels) 8" chef's knife, I also have these Victorinox knives in 6", 8", and 10" lengths. I find myself reaching for the big one most for cutting up large melons, pineapples, and squashes. The 8" is great for dicing vegetables, and the 6" honestly doesn't get too much use.
I just got an 8in. victorinox chef's knife, and I really love it. I chose it based on the excellent review to price ratio. The one caveat is that it has a fairly large handle that doesn't fit well in my tiny hand- if you're buying a knife, try it out first. Even though I love my victorinox, I might have chosen something different if I had tested it first.
I'm convinced-- just ordered mine!
For the price, they're fantastic! I prefer the Forschner Rosewood line. The handles are pretty and they have a great light feel in your hand. Sharpen like a breeze too!
I have one and I love it. All of these knives are amazing and cheap. I have the santuku and the bread knife as well. I will never buy another 100 dollar knife when I can get three for under that! The only recommendation is that you buy a really good diamond steel!
I own a 10" one and I use it all the time. I recently read 'An Edge In The Kitchen' by Chad Ward and decided that this is the knife for me. Don't get me wrong, I have my eye on some nice gyuto and vintage carbon steel knives to buy in the future, but this knife is hands-down better than a $100 Wusthof or Henckels that has a bolster that makes it impossible to sharpen, and steel that is no better than what you'll find on the Forschner-Victorinox.
I don't feel guilty learning to sharpen knives with my 10" Forschner-Victorinox either. As far as I can tell, I've done no damage to my knife, but it's good to know that I can get practice learning to sharpen on something relatively inexpensive yet high-quality.
I don't think it's available anymore, but one of my favorite knives is Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger Santoku knife. Good, sharp edge. Nice weight. I picked it up at Target a few years ago for about $35.