Review: Wusthof Classic 10" Chef Knife {4 ½ out of 5 stars}
I think I've had my knife for about 12 years now, and I use it almost every day. In my case, the 10-inch size was the optimal fit for me, and it's easily the best chef knife I've ever owned. It's sturdy, ergonomic, well balanced, takes a good edge, and is very attractive ... but it does have a few minor quirks.
The Good:
* CURVE: The gentle progressive curvature of the forward half of this blade works better for me than certain other knives I've used (some of them not curved enough, and others too curved). For the uninitiated, the curve is there so that people who've learned the proper cutting stroke can use the knife in a nice smooth fluid action ... similar to the horizontal elliptical motion your foot follows on an elliptical trainer (hence its name).
* STRENGTH: This is a sturdy blade, with a full length tang, medium spine, and a full bolster that gives the blade ample strength, and it's high-carbon surgical steel gives it a good balance of hardness, stain resistance, and sharpenability. Jam it into a large butternut squash or a wax-hardened bowling-ball-sized turnip, and throw your weight on it, or bang away on the spine with a rubber mallet, and it'll get the job done ... it'll flex and vibrate, but it won't shatter. Sharpen it, and it'll take a fine edge, and sustain it for a decent length of time, even with heavy use.
* SHARPENING: I've used some blades that are so thick that they split harder vegetables rather than slicing them, and leave wedge-crumpled top edges on delicate items. Picture using an axe blade to dice potatoes and slice fish fillets and you'll get an idea what I mean about thinness/taper. This blade offers a decent cross-sectional diameter and taper that allows it to take a good edge and cut a good spectrum of items with ease, without sacrificing too much strength by being overly thin, or too much precision by being overly thick ... it's not perfect, but it's definitely very good. {Incidentally, I use a pair of large sharpening ceramic stones made by "Global", in both medium and fine grain}.
* HANDLE: People are funny about handles, and opinions vary wildly, depending on people's hand size, hand strength, cutting motion, aesthetic sense, etc. I happen to like the classic handle ... it's not so round that it impairs your sense (and control) of the blade's vertical direction, and it's not so flat that it's uncomfortable to grip. It's strong, stainproof, oil-proof, impact-resistant, not-too-slippery, and doesn't harbor bacteria-friendly gouges. For me, it works.
Minor Nits:
THICKNESS/RIGIDITY: Knife makers strive to achieve a good balance between strength & control (read: rigidity) and flexibility & finesse (read: thinness), and different people's preferences tend to fall slightly to one side or the other on that balance point. In my case (and this may seem a tad picayune to some), this blade leans very slightly too far towards the former. IMHO, I think that if this blade were, say, a quarter or a half millimeter thinner, it would be that much closer to perfection ... as is, it's ever so slightly too rigid, and it sometimes tends to split/crumple the top edges when julienning largeish and optimally fresh (read: crisp) carrots and zucchini. It's close ... definitely well above average, but not quite perfect (for me anyway).
FULL BOLSTER: Love 'em or hate 'em, but bolsters do have a valid purpose ... they (as the term suggests) bolster the blade's vertical strength. Gothic cathedrals used flying buttresses to similar effect (albeit in the opposite direction), so they could build taller. However, bolsters also have their drawbacks - heavy regular users and professional chefs will usually bring their blades to a professional knife sharpener and have them grind down the edge-ward end of the bolster in order to permit the blade to be sharpened evenly, along it's full length. Why ? Over time, and with heavy regular use and repeated sharpening (especially if you prefer a really wicked-sharp extra-steep edge), a blade slowly gets narrower and narrower with wear ... the edge slowly creeping closer and closer towards the spine, like an incoming tide. If you're a really heavy user, you can expect to lose up to several millimeters per year. The next time you're in a well-established sushi bar, take a close look at the most frequently used knives by the hardest working chefs, and you'll occasionally see blades that have lost half or more of their original width (heck, I've seen henckel 10" slicers worn down so far they look like deboning knives, with the logo spilling off the edge). Anyway, if the bolster extends all the way to the edge, it eventually begins to get in the way of regular wear, tear & regular re-sharpening, so that unless you grind it back (to stay ahead of the recession of the edge), it'll begin to jut out, and the cutting edge will no longer sit flush against your cutting surface or sharpening stone ... kind of like trying to ice skate with a lump on the heel of your blade, or riding a motorcycle with the kickstand down. In any case, that's one of the easiest ways to tell an amateur from a pro is whether or not they've ever had to grind down their bolster.
Despite these 2 minor nits, I can highly recommend this knife ... 4 ½ (our of 5) stars.
Get more detail about
Wüsthof Classic 10-Inch Cook's Knife.
