What is the best brand of chef's knife on the market?

Global. Great knife, plus good looking.

Global drop forged range.

I have two that I love. My smaller one is a Sebatier that I got in 1974, and my bigger is a Henckel. Both take a great edge, are perfectly balanced, and do everything I need.

Yep, Global…but personally, I prefer blonde on wine with Ginsu.
Adds flair to the slicing and dicing! lol

I like the Henckels that I have but my friend had a set of Wustofs that were amazing.

Never did get to play around with a Global knife though…

@uberbatman For the price, Wusthof is not the best I would say, but it has gotten me through my career, school, and holds and edge. And it just feels better than any other to me.

Wustofs the best!

@classykeyser probably true, just talking from my personal experience. The price is retardedly high on them though. Which is why I dont own a set :P

What about the amount of carbon steel necessary to maintain a keen edge?

I have a large and medium chef’s knive and a 6” all-purpose beauty from the 1960’s. They are 100% carbon steel, and I hope that I go before they do. Blades are getting thin, however.

I prefer Henkels – my teeny little girl hands and lack of upper arm strength tend to get an ass whoopin’ from Wustofs.

Global is my preference. I have Wustofs that I like; none can replace the no-named knife I received from my Dad. That knife glides through meat.

My daughter almost stuck a 10 inch blade up my left nostril last night while in the passionate throws of slicing the ‘festivus’ happy brownies! ;-)

I was hovering over the pan taking in their baked to perfection essence as she was carefully drawing and quartering the bounty. Whew…..narrow escape!

Maybe I then would be FORCED into considering a face lift. haha

Aaah…the genetics of throwing the same precarious knife wielding genes. lol

@Coloma: Wait, I seem to remember you need to stay away from sharp objects!

@cak

Yes, and fire. lol

This beauty

I’m happy with my Wusthof.

I loved my Henkel’s 5 Star.

I used to have a Global. The blade was nice… but the handle SUCKED! It got very slippery, which was outright dangerous.

I absolutely love this Victorinox knife. The blade is just as good as Global, the handle is way, way better, it’s perfectly balanced, and it’s also cheap as hell. Cook’s Illustrated has rated it their top chef’s knife for some time.

In the end, it comes down to very few factors. Price is not one of them. There are very good knives you can buy for ten bucks in Chinatown, and there is crap you can pay through the nose for. With that in mind, if you aren’t sure what you need, go cheap.

The main factors are
Quality of steel: how often will you need to resharpen it/how well will it hold an edge?
Comfort: Does the handle fit perfectly in your hand? Does it feel natural and easy to chop/mince/slice/dice with?
Style of knife: is this style (length, serration, scalloping, etc) appropriate for the tasks I will need it for?

In the end, it comes down to a lot of personal choices. No one can tell you which blade will feel the best in your hand or what style of knife your cooking style requires. Steel quality is a bit more empirical. Making a good choice comes down to experience using many different knives. If you are just starting out, do not blow your money on a set of high end blades. There is no guarantee they are appropriate for you. I find knives very much like wine. With the exception of about 5% of the population, people’s opinions of knives are inflated proportionally to how expensive they are.

Personally, the best knife I’ve ever used was a handcrafted blade made of tool-grade steel with an elk antler handle. The steel kept its blade much longer than stainless (though greater care was required when getting it wet), and there was something “just right” about the antler’s feel in my hands. Pity it was only a loaner.

@Smashley: Great answer!

@cak: thanks! It’s something that even some chefs I’ve known could stand to read.

There are many things that go into deciding what knife to buy. But me and most of the chefs I know focus one one thing at the store. Does it feel good in your hand? I never buy a knife without holding it first.

I don’t know the brand, but my favorite knife is an Inupiat style ulu that I got when I was travelling in Alaska. It has a reindeer antler handle and is the most versatile kitchen knife I have used.