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Decent knife for food prep (Chef or Santoku)

Favorite all-purpose knife

  • 8" Chef

    Votes: 34 54.8%

  • 7" Santoku

    Votes: 19 30.6%

  • Other

    Votes: 9 14.5%
  • Total voters
    62
B

B-More BBQ Junkie

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I'm looking to upgrade at least some of my cheap kitchen knives, and right now I'm torn between a 8" chefs or a 7" santoku knife. Specifically the highly rated Victorinox models for around $40 on Amazon. I really don't want to dump a ton of money into a forged blade right now, but wanted your opinions on a good all-purpose blade for prepping veggies, trimming meat, etc. Thanks in advance!
 
I really love my Cuisinart 7" santoku for vegetable prep especially. It gets more work than my chef's. It was inexpensive too, but still a decent knife.

Very similar to this one, but mine is about 9 years old and a slightly different handle:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-Classic-Triple-Santoku-7-Inch/dp/B00GIBK8L6/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1397845770&sr=1-1&keywords=cuisinart+santoku+knife"]Amazon.com: Cuisinart Classic Triple Rivet Santoku Knife, 7-Inch: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21IIE3kLn2L.@@AMEPARAM@@21IIE3kLn2L[/ame]


Got mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond in their kitchen section. The handle was a great fit for my hand and the balance felt right.
 
I have that knife^^^^^. I also like it. Too wide to really trim meats but slicing and dicing works well. Blade stays sharp and straight also.
 
B-More BBQ Junkie said:
I'm looking to upgrade at least some of my cheap kitchen knives, and right now I'm torn between a 8" chefs or a 7" santoku knife. Specifically the highly rated Victorinox models for around $40 on Amazon. I really don't want to dump a ton of money into a forged blade right now, but wanted your opinions on a good all-purpose blade for prepping veggies, trimming meat, etc. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

From your options, the only choice is the 8 Chefs knife.
The Santoku is good for veg prep and chicken but for veg prep and meat prep the chefs wins.
It also will replace the most other blades you own.
Hardy and versatile, it's a meat tenderizer, hammer, bone crusher, nut cracker as well as the cut and slice functions.
The blade is designed to be resilient in design for many purposes.
HTH
 
B-More BBQ Junkie said:
I'm looking to upgrade at least some of my cheap kitchen knives, and right now I'm torn between a 8" chefs or a 7" santoku knife. Specifically the highly rated Victorinox models for around $40 on Amazon. I really don't want to dump a ton of money into a forged blade right now, but wanted your opinions on a good all-purpose blade for prepping veggies, trimming meat, etc. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
First go somewhere and try out a bunch of brands. Go somewhere that you can use a demo knife and cut things up. Your chef's is going to be in your hands a lot and you want it to be comfortable. For my hands the Victorinox handle rubs the inside of my index finger raw when I pinch grip the blade over time, but that's just me. Unless you're prying bones out of bottom rounds or hacking through spines you don't really need a forged blade. The stamped & laser cut blades have come a long way.
 
I used to use my Santoku a lot, but these days it's my utility knife, paring knife, and Gyuto. That's about all I use. I've got a meat cleaver for hacking apart carcasses, it's an old stainless cheapo model that I don't really use for much beyond hacking apart carcasses for stock making purposes. My go to knife is the Gyuto though. I'd say Chef's knife, but I use one larger than 8". I never thought I'd actually like using a larger knife than that, but it cuts the work down by a lot.
 
TropicDad said:
Dexter knives, commercial knives that are affordable. I use them for everything.
Click to expand...

I second this, I absolutely love my Dexter boning knife, I also have a brisket slicer from them. Sharp as can be and very durable, also very inexpensive!
 
Take a look at the Mercer Genesis series. I have a 12" chef's knife and love it. It is a forged blade and very reasonably priced.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Cutlery-Genesis-Forged-Chefs/dp/B000OOQZMY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397893600&sr=8-3&keywords=mercer+knives"]Amazon.com: Mercer Cutlery Genesis 8" Forged Chef's Knife, Steel/Black: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21g-v4cGMPL.@@AMEPARAM@@21g-v4cGMPL[/ame]
 
I have both the Victornix 7in Santoku and 8in Chef. I use my 8in chef knife more than my 7in Santoku.

I love using the Santoku for prepping veg.

I use my Chef when prepping pork/beef, and then whatever else goes with it.
 
buccaneer said:
From your options, the only choice is the 8 Chefs knife.
The Santoku is good for veg prep and chicken but for veg prep and meat prep the chefs wins.
It also will replace the most other blades you own.
Hardy and versatile, it's a meat tenderizer, hammer, bone crusher, nut cracker as well as the cut and slice functions.
The blade is designed to be resilient in design for many purposes.
HTH
Click to expand...

Yep. Nothing beats my chef's on meat duties, except perhaps the slicer but that's a specific tool...but for veggies, which seem to take up most of the time in my kitchen, it's always the santoku. Really, I need both.
 
If you could only own one knife, an 8" Chef's is the way to go. I'd vote for Forschner or Dexter as well.

David
 
I have a set of Henckels vier sterne and the 8' chef is easily the most used knife I have.

VR,
Harold
 
buccaneer said:
From your options, the only choice is the 8 Chefs knife.
The Santoku is good for veg prep and chicken but for veg prep and meat prep the chefs wins.
It also will replace the most other blades you own.
Hardy and versatile, it's a meat tenderizer, hammer, bone crusher, nut cracker as well as the cut and slice functions.
The blade is designed to be resilient in design for many purposes.
HTH
Click to expand...
This holds for me also. I use a Santoku I got for Christmas for fruit and vegetable prep, because it was a gift I want to be seen using, but the knife I reach for most of the time is a Chef's.
 
For chopping veggies and straight cutting either one would work fine. I know people might laugh at this but I get very surgical with my meat trimming . (getting under that membrane without taking away meat) I use a nice quality filet knife. they are razor sharp and work VERY WELL. Best 20 bucks or less you will ever spend.
 
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