Victorinox 12-Inch Chef's Knife, Rosewood Handle

Good size, very usable, Victorinox quality blade. My favorite and most used knife.

The title goes without saying. But I've been fooling around in the kitchen for over 15 years and always used cheap knives thinking, "What's the diff? If it's sharp.. it's sharp." I always knew one day I'd need to get a good knife and wanted a Shen for awhile until a professional chef told me she felt they were too brittle. I looked for a Forschner because my old man was a butcher for over 35 years and told me, "Once you've reached the level of Forschner (outfitted with what is now known as the Fibrox handle) you've passed the point of diminishing returns in a knife." Victorinox had long produced kitchen cutlery under their own name along with the Forschner name but in 2011 Victorinox discontinued Forschner and now only produces the (same knives with) the Victorinox name. So we know we need a good knife. We don't want (or if you do your research don't need) to spend a lot of money on one. We want it to be a quality piece that will last. After getting this knife I can tell you there is a HUGE difference in simply how the blade performs through the cut as compared to a cheap piece. After this beaut I'll never go back to a crap blade. I was so impressed I sliced some romas by merely holding the rosewood handle between my thumb and index finger putting zero pressure on the blade and drawing the knife towards me. This is right out of the package without any sharpening or steeling. Absolutely impressive. One thing I didn't see mentioned from other users is to consider how much downforce you will need to apply to a given knife while in use. Personally, I like a bigger knife because it's slightly heavier and thus requires less force while cutting. What someone else said about the most dangerous tool in a kitchen was right, my old man said the same thing. A dull knife is way more dangerous than the sharpest of the sharp ones in the block. For the person reading this who doubts me, buy a crappy 3 dollar knife sharpener and run your cheap blade through it 10-15 times. The difference you notice? Imagine a performance increase of at least three times that with a high quality blade like this Victorinox. Something I didn't realise until after I ordered this was that I didn't have a steel to draw and set the blade. If you're spending the money on a good knife, get a good steel. Further Reading: http://www.victorinox.com/us/content/cutlery/category/2

I have a nice set of knives my wife got for me in the 80's. Henckels with Rosewood handles. Can't get them any more. I wanted to add a larger 10" chef knife to the mix because I chop a lot of veggies. I saw this and the pricepoint was good for an experiment. On opening - IT'S HUGE!!! But I love it. I have an 18 x 24 cutting board and this thing uses all of it. Much nicer. One of the things that I noticed right away was the difference the thickness of the blade makes. It's very thin so it feels like it really cuts differently. My other knives sometimes felt as though you were driving a wedge and cleaving what you were cutting. It's my go to knife even for cutting garlic!

This knife is ultra sharp and long enough for the biggest job. I can easily butterfly a large chicken or turkey.

This a quality knife with good steel and a decent wooden handle. The reason I am giving 4 stars is because the handle comes pre-treated with some kind of chemical and smells horrible when touched with wet hands. When do you not have wet hands when you are in the kitchen? I had to get the first knife I bought replaced because the smell was overpowering! The company said that shouldn't happen, but the second one smelled too, although not as bad. The other issue with wood is that it needs to be treated with mineral oil on a regular basis if you'd like it to maintain that dark, shiny rosewood luster. Believe me, if you neglect this step the luster fades rather quickly (within a couple of months). If you're someone who uses their knife often and is not decidedly against plastic handles, I recommend getting the one with a plastic handle because it's just less hassle. It will also be dishwasher friendly, which this one is not. At least, not if you want the wood to keep its appearance over time. So basically: Higher-maintenance, no dishwasher, some smell - wooden handle. Lower maintenance, dishwasher OK (best if it goes into its own slot so your cutting edge doesn't bounce around other objects and get whacked out of alignment), no smell - plastic handle. One great feature of the Victos is the wide belly. The knife is at least 1/4" wider than other 12" all purpose chef knives out there. If you've never owned a 12", consider the Victo 10. The 12 really is a beast, and can be overwhelming if you're not used to it or do not have an oversized cutting board. Mine is 24x18" board and this knife just eats it up. It seriously just about takes up the width of the board when rock chopping (from the front-to-back part of the motion). I would say if you are comfortable with 10" knives already and are looking to step up, then get it, but if you've only used an 8" like me and want to go bigger, step to the 10 instead of the 12 for a time. This is a lot of knife.