With a history spanning nearly two centuries, Wusthof keeps providing people with finely crafted kitchen knives and shears, pocket knives, and other accessories. Operating in Solingen, Germany, Wusthof is still in the hands of family members and now employs more than 350 employees, each of whom, you could presume are committed to making every Wusthof knife set as sharp as its character.
Product Lines
The Wusthof knives are made using two methods – forging for the higher-quality line and stamping for their low-end line. So, depending on your budget, you might be the very pleased owner of the legendary Wusthof knives albeit having different levels of sharpness.
The forged knives are used for the Classic, Ikon, Classic Ikon, Le Cordon Bleu, Culinar, Grand Prix, and Grand Prix II lines while the stamped knives are available in the Gourmet, Emeril, and Silverpoint lines. You will see a solid difference between forged and stamped cutlery in each expensive knife product line, with knife connoisseurs preferring forged knives all the time for their chef’s knives. Stamped knives are normally only preferred for steak and paring knives.
With regard to any Wusthof knives set you purchase, though, all Wusthof knives are an amalgam of 15 percent chromium, 0.5 percent carbon, and a small amount of molybdenum. When these distinctive blades are stamped with the company logo – a trident in a circle against a red background – the knives are easily distinguished from thier competitors’ knives.
Advantages
While we’re trying to avoid sounding like a sales hype for Wusthof, their knives were judged repeatedly to be just about the best blades on the market. Proof of this statement is Wusthof knives are the number one blade of professional chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and James Martin, as well as being annually judged among the the most valuable knives by Consumer Reports and Cook’s Illustrated.
For non-professionals, the easily controlled traditional handle corresponds well to a variety of hand sizes that, in turn, enables many guests or spouses to feel competent using the knives in your set. Of course, these knife blades are quite sharp and almost never rust, stain or lose their edge. More than anything else, top-notch construction and materials are the primary aspects of a quality knife.
Disadvantages
The main thing that could dissuade the amatuer from investing in a Wusthof knife set would be Wusthof’s exorbitant price. Considering the lowest priced set of low-end Gourmet paring knives sells for $35, you will easily locate different knife brands with more knives while charging the same prices. For the the more expensive collections, $300 is peanuts.
Also, Wusthof makes products that have thinner-than-usual handles such as the Wusthof Classic. Obviously, men are more concerned with this problem because of their larger hands. And of course, some do not like a stainless steel handle, and would rather use the polypropylene type.
By and large, Wusthof knife sets can offer more quality for your money. It cuts very nicely and precisely as all high-quality knives are expected to, does the job for many years as this manufacturer has done, and seems very professional when placed on your countertop. With a knife set as good as this, you probably will wish to buy another set as a gift for your favorite hostess.