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This almost sounded like an interesting article until the phrase "Cutco Cutlery" appeared. Those guys are only slightly less cult-like than Amway. My ex tried

This almost sounded like an interesting article until the phrase "Cutco Cutlery" appeared. Those guys are only slightly less cult-like than Amway. My ex tried working for them, years ago. Not a fun experience. Cost her money in the end -- the best salespeople at Cutco are the hiring managers, who begin by selling their prospective employees an expensive demo kit. Beware, beware, beware. And, in case you don't know, I should mention that even high-quality expensive cooking knives are a big ripoff. The first words out of every pro chef's mouth are "go to a restaurant supply store and buy a basic steel chef's knife, with sterilizable plastic handle and a brand like 'Global', for about $19. That's what all the pros use, and they chop more than you'll ever chop."

hugh 18y ago
Interesting advice on the knives. But perhaps a chef's needs are different from an ordinary person's, in that a chef has a lackey to sharpen his knives every night? For those of us who are too lazy to sharpen our knives regularly, perhaps a $100 knife is worthwhile?
- jonknee 18y ago
  There's that and the fact that while you do hear this advice a lot, chef's (at least ones that actually cook) and busy line cooks typically walk into work with a knife case. It isn't filled with $20 knives. If you're using a tool for many hours a day, it pays to have a really nice tool. Even if it's only marginally nicer, that margin adds up. (It may never add up for the home cook, but that's another debate.) But if you're making an order to fill out your kitchen, it's no surprise the cheap but fully functional knives will be ordered. $20 * 10 is a lot easier to justify than $100 * 10.
  - mechanical_fish 18y ago
    Okay, folks, you drove me to the books -- or rather to the Cooks Illustrated website, which no self respecting geek who cooks should fail to subscribe to. They ran lots of knives through tests and recommended the Forschner Victorinox Fibrox Chef's Knife, which cost $25.33 in 2005. So, I lied. You might not want to use a $20 knife. You shouldn't spend a penny less than $26. ;) Note that this is a brand-name product. Wouldn't be surprised to see the no-brand version at a supply store for $19. Note also that knives are a personal thing. If the cheap one doesn't fit your hand you'll want a more expensive one. C'est la vie. It's true that keeping your knife sharp is really important. Unfortunately, you can dull an expensive knife as easily as a $25 knife. You should get a steel and try to figure out how to use it. You should get your knife sharpened when you sense it's getting dull, or you'll injure yourself. You should use the right cutting board. You should have a knife that's all your own and hide it from other people, lest they smash the edge into a solid metal object. You should watch Alton Brown's show about knives to learn these things. Mr. Brown recommends pro sharpening because he thinks all the homegrown solutions suck by comparison. Cook's Illustrated, OTOH, recommends the $80 Chef's Choice 110 electric home sharpener, which you can afford with the money you saved on that $110 chef's knife. Pro chefs carry more than one knife, in a case. You also need more than one, but not many more. In his book, Anthony Bourdain (famous pro chef) recommended a chef's knife, a flexible boning knife, a paring knife, and an offset serrated knife. Alton Brown (famous geek pro chef) also suggests kitchen shears and a 4 to 5 inch utility knife. Cook's Illustrated suggests that you might want a slicing knife if you carve a lot of roasts (alas, I don't; I married a vegetarian), or a cleaver if you often make homemade chicken stock (see above). You'll also need some steak knives if you're not married to a vegetarian like I am. ;)
- menloparkbum 18y ago
  Chefs don't have lackeys to sharpen their knives every night. $100 knives are vanity items. Working chefs all buy $20-$30 knives. Celebrity chefs have $200 knives because they get them for free.
- daniel-cussen 18y ago
  I'm not sure it's possible to put $100 worth of value into a knife. It would have to be rare isotopes of iron and carbon...no, I just don't see it. I mean, they're commodities. Paying $100 for a knife is like paying $30 for a gallon of gas. Why would you? Think about it: a kilo of steel is roughly 75 cents. A pound of plastic is less than that. I'm not being exact (commodity prices are hard to find online), but they are both >> than $25, which seems to be the consensus on the best you can get for a knife. And from an industrial point of view, it's really not that hard to assemble a knife. I don't see where the money goes. Maybe the handle? Besides, if you pay $100 for a knife, that means you are a) a squanderer, b) gullible, and c) someone who overestimates the returns of investing in cutlery. Wouldn't a boxcutter do? These traits are not entrepreneurial. I wouldn't fund you. Maybe I'm a little extreme (I have a really hard time paying an extra $.04 per can for significantly less unedible tuna) but I'm pretty sure $100 per knife is retarded.
mechanical_fish 18y ago
Oh, damn, it's too late to edit my post. I think I misremembered "Global" as a line of cheaper knives... they're a good brand, but I'm not sure they're cheap, so they're not the ones I was thinking of.
ibsulon 18y ago
The one piece I disagree with is that you should pick the knife that feels most comfortable to you, be it 19 or 99. My knife is a santoku that I bought for a little too much but as much as I use it, I can't complain one bit.
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  Actually, I agree with you. Fit is important. I just want to encourage people to look for the cheap fit before heading for the more expensive one. Really, the most important lesson is that you only need one good chef's knife. If you take good enough care of it (i.e. avoid needing to sharpen it so often that it becomes a matchstick) it will last a lifetime. So, really, go for it. Blow the $99 if you've shopped around and found the most comfortable knife in the world. It's not much money when amortized over your entire life. (Incidentally, the first irony here is that my own chef's knife was a gift, from someone who probably does not read Cook's Illustrated, so it's probably a $70 knife. The second irony is that, after a few years, I've concluded that my knife really doesn't fit me very well. So I'm probably going to end up buying another knife or two in an attempt to find something better. I'll be starting in the $26 range! Which brings me to my last piece of advice: Don't give knives as gifts. Give gift certificates to stores that sell knives.)
  - ibsulon 18y ago
    Actually, my daily knife is a Santoku-style German knife whose compromises I like better for much of what I do. It was amazing how much better at knife work I got (and how much more confidence I had cooking!) when I was liberated from my constantly dull knives. :)
steveplace 18y ago
If one wanted to do sales, I'd recommend using Cisco's Engineering Sales program. It's a little more... sophisticated than selling knives and tupperware.

hugh 18y ago

Interesting advice on the knives. But perhaps a chef's needs are different from an ordinary person's, in that a chef has a lackey to sharpen his knives every night? For those of us who are too lazy to sharpen our knives regularly, perhaps a $100 knife is worthwhile?

jonknee 18y ago
There's that and the fact that while you do hear this advice a lot, chef's (at least ones that actually cook) and busy line cooks typically walk into work with a knife case. It isn't filled with $20 knives. If you're using a tool for many hours a day, it pays to have a really nice tool. Even if it's only marginally nicer, that margin adds up. (It may never add up for the home cook, but that's another debate.) But if you're making an order to fill out your kitchen, it's no surprise the cheap but fully functional knives will be ordered. $20 * 10 is a lot easier to justify than $100 * 10.
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  Okay, folks, you drove me to the books -- or rather to the Cooks Illustrated website, which no self respecting geek who cooks should fail to subscribe to. They ran lots of knives through tests and recommended the Forschner Victorinox Fibrox Chef's Knife, which cost $25.33 in 2005. So, I lied. You might not want to use a $20 knife. You shouldn't spend a penny less than $26. ;) Note that this is a brand-name product. Wouldn't be surprised to see the no-brand version at a supply store for $19. Note also that knives are a personal thing. If the cheap one doesn't fit your hand you'll want a more expensive one. C'est la vie. It's true that keeping your knife sharp is really important. Unfortunately, you can dull an expensive knife as easily as a $25 knife. You should get a steel and try to figure out how to use it. You should get your knife sharpened when you sense it's getting dull, or you'll injure yourself. You should use the right cutting board. You should have a knife that's all your own and hide it from other people, lest they smash the edge into a solid metal object. You should watch Alton Brown's show about knives to learn these things. Mr. Brown recommends pro sharpening because he thinks all the homegrown solutions suck by comparison. Cook's Illustrated, OTOH, recommends the $80 Chef's Choice 110 electric home sharpener, which you can afford with the money you saved on that $110 chef's knife. Pro chefs carry more than one knife, in a case. You also need more than one, but not many more. In his book, Anthony Bourdain (famous pro chef) recommended a chef's knife, a flexible boning knife, a paring knife, and an offset serrated knife. Alton Brown (famous geek pro chef) also suggests kitchen shears and a 4 to 5 inch utility knife. Cook's Illustrated suggests that you might want a slicing knife if you carve a lot of roasts (alas, I don't; I married a vegetarian), or a cleaver if you often make homemade chicken stock (see above). You'll also need some steak knives if you're not married to a vegetarian like I am. ;)
menloparkbum 18y ago
Chefs don't have lackeys to sharpen their knives every night. $100 knives are vanity items. Working chefs all buy $20-$30 knives. Celebrity chefs have $200 knives because they get them for free.
daniel-cussen 18y ago
I'm not sure it's possible to put $100 worth of value into a knife. It would have to be rare isotopes of iron and carbon...no, I just don't see it. I mean, they're commodities. Paying $100 for a knife is like paying $30 for a gallon of gas. Why would you? Think about it: a kilo of steel is roughly 75 cents. A pound of plastic is less than that. I'm not being exact (commodity prices are hard to find online), but they are both >> than $25, which seems to be the consensus on the best you can get for a knife. And from an industrial point of view, it's really not that hard to assemble a knife. I don't see where the money goes. Maybe the handle? Besides, if you pay $100 for a knife, that means you are a) a squanderer, b) gullible, and c) someone who overestimates the returns of investing in cutlery. Wouldn't a boxcutter do? These traits are not entrepreneurial. I wouldn't fund you. Maybe I'm a little extreme (I have a really hard time paying an extra $.04 per can for significantly less unedible tuna) but I'm pretty sure $100 per knife is retarded.

mechanical_fish 18y ago

Oh, damn, it's too late to edit my post. I think I misremembered "Global" as a line of cheaper knives... they're a good brand, but I'm not sure they're cheap, so they're not the ones I was thinking of.

ibsulon 18y ago

The one piece I disagree with is that you should pick the knife that feels most comfortable to you, be it 19 or 99. My knife is a santoku that I bought for a little too much but as much as I use it, I can't complain one bit.

mechanical_fish 18y ago
Actually, I agree with you. Fit is important. I just want to encourage people to look for the cheap fit before heading for the more expensive one. Really, the most important lesson is that you only need one good chef's knife. If you take good enough care of it (i.e. avoid needing to sharpen it so often that it becomes a matchstick) it will last a lifetime. So, really, go for it. Blow the $99 if you've shopped around and found the most comfortable knife in the world. It's not much money when amortized over your entire life. (Incidentally, the first irony here is that my own chef's knife was a gift, from someone who probably does not read Cook's Illustrated, so it's probably a $70 knife. The second irony is that, after a few years, I've concluded that my knife really doesn't fit me very well. So I'm probably going to end up buying another knife or two in an attempt to find something better. I'll be starting in the $26 range! Which brings me to my last piece of advice: Don't give knives as gifts. Give gift certificates to stores that sell knives.)
- ibsulon 18y ago
  Actually, my daily knife is a Santoku-style German knife whose compromises I like better for much of what I do. It was amazing how much better at knife work I got (and how much more confidence I had cooking!) when I was liberated from my constantly dull knives. :)

steveplace 18y ago

If one wanted to do sales, I'd recommend using Cisco's Engineering Sales program. It's a little more... sophisticated than selling knives and tupperware.