Chef Knives Reviews

Well, these knives start discoloring pretty much right away, as they are supposed to.

Who cares??? Unless you're a TV chef, pick up a couple of these babies. They hold an excellent edge and feel pretty good in the hand (but not great).

My Henckels are more comfortable, but I have been using the carbons almost exclusively since they landed on the step six weeks ago. (I also bought a boning knife.) They feel like serious knives, more professional than most of the upscale blades I've tried. They're certainly easier to control, more finesse. Sharp is better.

I have had this knife for twenty-one years and it is a faithful kitchen companion. Watch out with its care however, they do stain and must be washed and dried immediately. You may see some dicoloration when cutting fruit or onions with this knife but it is a true chef's knife.

I have a collection of Sabatier Au Carbone knives, all at least 30 years old; few days go by when I don't use the at least the paring knife. They do rust, they do stain, they can leave dark residue on very acid foods, and they can't go in the dishwasher. But in my humble opinion, there is no knife which will cut like a carbon steel knife. A stainless steel knife will solve all the above problems, but will never have the sharp edge of the properly sharpened carbon steel knife. A couple of passes over a sharpening steel will restore that edge on a carbon steel knife, but, again, in my opinion, a stainless steel knife, takes a lot of work to sharpen and will never be as sharp as a carbon steel blade. So if you want a pretty, easy to care for knife, buy a stainless steel. If cutting with ease with a razor sharp blade is more important, get carbon steel. The Sabatiers will last a lifetime if cared for properly.

After waiting for nearly two months for the knife to ship, I finally canceled the order. Do not purchase this knife from Amazon if the shipping status does not say "Usually ships within 24 hours." Go to other online vendors for this knife, it is worth owning.

Have about 40 kitchen knives of all sorts, use them all actively, have several chef's knives, this is by far the best, heavier than standard sabatier chef knife, great knife, holds edge cuts well, comes back to cutting edge easily with just a few strokes of a steel

When the knife arrived, I knew I was going to have to work with it a bit to get it in the shape I wanted. First, it comes pretty dull, but I have a good collection of oil, water, and diamond stones so I got to work. First a diamond stone to reduce the angles, for a sharper but more delicate edge - that's how I like them. That done, I find that I like the effect I get with a rather coarse oil stone because it makes the cutting edge just a little toothy, but if the blade responds to different techniques, so you can do "custom" sharpening if you're into that. As other reviewers have mentioned, carbon steel will get far sharper than the grades of stainless most people probably use. The next thing I did was get out the Wizard rotary tool and reduce the full bolsters down to about 2/3 so that last back part of the blade can be sharpened and used for chopping and so forth.

After the reworking, the knife is a joy to use. Some American knives (Dexter) are good. German knives, forget it, stainless forged pieces that really don't sharpen that well. If you want the most beautiful and sharpest knives, get laminated Japanese ones with carbon steel centers that are exquisite and expensive. But this knife is made to work. It's staining up now, and starting to look good and used, but that adds to its character. The shape is perfect for chopping, slicing, or mincing, and I like the thick and heavy weight of the blade, which is a perfect compliment to the thinner lighter blades on my favorite Japanese knives.

The 8" size can do both small and large jobs, and if you were only going to have one kitchen knife this would be a great choice for all around work. Considering the utility and the quality, the price is very fair for this classic piece of kitchen equipment.

The Sabatier Au Carbone 10 - Inch Carbon Steel Chef's Knife, is lighter and sharper than most German made Stainless Steel knives. And because of it high carbon content, it requires more care in terms of frequent sharpening and immediate cleaning after use. However, you will find that it will take a sharp edge quickly and easily and the blade has bite and balance, making slicing, cutting and chopping easy and safe.
Care for this knife by washing it, by hand, immediately after use. Dry with a soft towel or cloth and then gently rub the blade with paper towel lightly dabbed in vegetable or olive oil. Rub away any excess oil on the blade with a clean paper towel before putting your knife away. This will help prevent, but not eliminate discoloration and prevent or eliminate rust. Prior to each use true up the edge on a steel. This will become one of the best knives you will ever use. NEVE PUT THIS KINFE IN THE DISHWASHER.

I bought a Sabatier au Carbone 10" chef's knife on Amazon a few months ago, and it's become my favorite knife. I hadn't owned a carbon steel knife before. They take more care. I have to wash it and dry it immediately after each use. I don't let it sit for long on the cutting board while I do other things. It's a little more hassle, but it's become my favorite chef's knife because it makes the best cuts, is easy to sharpen, and stays sharp. I have three 10" forged stainless steel chef's knives. One by Sabatier and two by Wusthof (a Classic and a Grand Prix). I prefer the feel of the Wusthof Classic line, but the Sabatier au Carbone cuts better than any other knife I've own. Potatoes and apples slide off the blade of the au Carbone knife, but stick to the stainless steel knives. I've never been happy with how difficult it is to sharpen a stainless steel chef's knife and how quickly they lose their sharpness. The au Carbone knife is easy to sharpen, takes a very sharp edge, and I just touch it up on my diamond steel before I use it to keep it sharp. I haven't used a real sharpener on it since shortly after I got it. To sharpen my knives, I usually use a Chef's Choice Edge-Select 120 (grinder), but on the carbon steel, it seems to take off too much metal. Next time, I'll sharpen it on my Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker (set of stones), another excellent tool for sharpening.

I bought every Au Carbone knife I could find. They will take, and hold a better edge than anything else, especially any stainless steel. I have not compared them to the Japanese ceramic knives, but these Au Carbone are superior to all of the highly rated German and other SS knives.

I've had this knife for 21 months. When I read Kitchen Confidential, there was a chapter where Anthony Bourdain states his belief that all the middling utility knives are unnecessary. All a good cook needs is a single large chef's knife. With a point for small work and the heel for large, there simply isn't a need for anything else (except a fine paring knife if doing intricate, artistic work). I took the advise to heart (perhaps a bit too much) and after research, purchased this knife.

Oh my! 12 inches of blade is far more steel than I ever imagined, and I worked hard to envision it. "Honey, it appears I purchased a scimitar by mistake." 17" of knife can't casually be laid just anywhere (on the other hand, you don't lose it among the ingrediants and other tools of a meal). Nonetheless, I stuck with it and I've discovered that Bourdain is correct, I don't use any other knives - with a single exception: this knife is thick (3/16" at the heel) and sometimes I need length and delicacy. At those times I turn to one of my shorter, high carbon knives. The rest of the time, this knife handles everything I do: mincing, paring, slicing, chopping anything from roasts to garlic, it does it all.

Following other advise, I have it professionally sharpened periodically (every six to nine months) and use steel day in and day out. It is only due to the pure carbon makeup that I can do this. The German knives require excessive maintenance, while the Sabatier takes and holds an edge beautifully and easily. This is fortunate since, despite my best efforts, I have limited success in actual, effective sharpening in any kind of timely fashion, but the steel keeps a beautiful edge even for me.

I am somewhat less dutiful than other reviewers in terms of immediately washing/drying/putting away my knife. Because of this and food reactions that stain the knife, I find it necessary to occasionally use Barkeeper's Friend and a green scrubbie. This combination easily removes surface rust and stains and makes upkeep of this knife reasonable.

In short: this is a huge knife (that my small handed wife uses anytime it's laying about) that requires some attention, but serves better and more easily than its "high carbon" counterparts. Additionally, almost no one (other than my wife) is willing to just grab it and use it when helping out, thus my high carbons still get used and I don't have to retrieve my knife (or suffer) when others are cooking with us.

I bought three Au Carbone blades to add to my (excessive?) kitchen knife collection. The 12" Chefs, the 12" slicer, and the 6" utility/filet knives. The quality of each is identical, which is to say that they are well built and finished examples of classic three rivet knives.

There are a few differences between carbon steel and stainless steel that account for the strong and weak points of these knives. On the good side, carbon steel blades seem to be able to take a much finer egdge ( very razor like, delicate taper that isn't as subject to chipping as a similar edge would be in stainless steel. The edge will deform, but that can be fixed with a few strokes on a steel. This makes for effortless cutting when kept sharp. That was the reason I went with carbon steel for the long knives (slicing a watermellon or a large roast has never been easier). They can be sharpened to make big cutting/slicing jobs a breeze.

The utility/fillet knife showcases another good quality of carbon steel. The blade is not only razor sharp, but it is incredibly flexible as well. It has the same thickness as my stainless steel utility knives, but the "live" blade makes it feel more like an extension of your will than something to simply slice with. I prefer it over any of my other knives for fillet duty.

Now the bad side of carbon steel knives. If you are used to the "always new" look of stainless, carbon steel knives will drive you nuts. They have to be kept clean and dry when not in use, and probably should be given an oil rub before being put away. When shipped, they are oiled and sent in a cardboard sleeve, but I'll bet that a few small pits appear somewhere on the steel before they make it to your home. Even when kept clean and oiled, it is likely that they will develop a patina of black iron oxide over the years. That's pretty much the nature of carbon steel, and I think it looks pretty good, but you still have to take precautions to prevent red rust and pitting from killing your blade.

That's it in a nutshell. For ultimate sharpness, special applications, or just to have something unique in your kitchen, the Au Carbone line offers fine cutlery at a pretty good price. Just be sure that you understand that their benefits come at the cost of needing more attention than stainless steel. I think it's worth the trouble, and if you are willing to accept the extra work, I'd bet that one or two of these knives would end up among your favorite kitchen tools.

By the way, I ordered my knives at different times, and in each case, they were shipped without delay. Enjoy.

The review section is for reviewing the products, not Amazon's service. Nobody cares about you.

I got this set through a Gold Box deal on Amazon. I have a large set of Wusthof that I baby all the time. My wife is not a "knife person" and uses glass cutting boards, tosses my Wusthof's in the bottom of the sink(!), etc.
I'm giving this set to her, so I don't have to worry about them being abused.
As for the knives themselves, they are not up to the standard of say Henckle International (consumer line) or some of the other lower end, department store lines. But, I paid under the cost of a burger combo meal at McD's for a 14 piece set. So, for that amount they are a GREAT value.
BTW, there is a difference between honing steels. Just like blade steel, handle material etc in cutting utensils, there are high and low quality honing steels. To handle soft metal like this set of knives is made of, the hone doesn't have to be and isn't as good of quality as an F. Dick, Wusthof, Henckles, or even a higher end Sabatier knife set.

I consider myself a chef and when I was in school learning, carving and cutting, slicing and dicing, well all I can say is these knifes fit all my at home needs from cutting steak to slicing bread and even to cutting chicken into the parts I want it to be in... They seem to be VERY strong, and they STAY sharp. Not needing to use the steel to much for sharpening. I give this set a 5+ star rating. These were a GIFT but I am looking at the price someone paid for them and for this price you are getting a really nice sturdy durable set of knifes that also look very good. Have a GREAT day.

I am so shocked at the reviews I have read here so far - frankly I'm scared to put knives in the hands of some of these people. The set has THIRTEEN knives, 14 slots, 13 knives. They are good quality, decently heavy and sharp knives. Some of the comments like "I expected to cut tin cans and throw tomatoes on the blade" prove that some reviewers watch too many infomercials, or can't cut properly. Take care of your knives - sharpen them, HAND WASH them, and keep them nicely, and you wont have trouble, and a nice useful set of knives for [item price]. And for those of you complaining about having these made in China - read the product info before you buy! No, they are not french knives, no they are not professional quality knives that retail for $100 or more a knife. But they will get any family of cooks through their normal cooking incredibly well.

These are very cheap knives. Don't even pay attention to the brand "Sabatier" because they should be ashamed to sell junk like these. They come dull, and need sharpening very frequently. They rust if they are in water for more than a few minutes, or sometimes even if you don't towel dry them immediately after hand washing them. I don't mind hand washing quality knives, but these just aren't worth it. I got them for twenty bucks and I wish I'd just bought one quality knife or put that money towards a decent set.

Well as a avid online shopper i read many reviews of products that i am interested in buying people are so negative This set for instance i was so excited to order until i started reading all the bad reviews which now i can proudly say are wrong. Thats right WRONG!! I recived this unblivable set yesterday 09/29/03 and its unblievable. Now relize that its 20 bucks so just keep that in mind. Great knives, Sharp realy sharp look great clean easly nothing bad to report my order came quickly and it was so much more that i ever expected essecially after reading all the bad reviews. If you want chef grade 500.00 dollar knives you must spend 500 dollars If yo want good nice looking knives that regular people can afford you want these. Also for people just staring out what a great inexpenssive gift that they can really use!! Well take it or leave it a deffinate value for 20 heck even 100 dollars in my book

Another prefessional chef here. The box clearly states what is the case with ALL high-carbon stainless steel: Do Not Put In Dishwasher!!!! Have washed them at least 100 times now, no rust.

The handles are comparable to many higher end commercial/ professional, non-consumer knives. Polyproplene, or whatever, easy to grip, and slip resistant far more than wood ever is, and more hygenic. Fine cutting instruments should be sharpened each and every time they are used, on the included steel, at least a few strokes. ANY knife will loose its edge quickly, if one cuts with it on ceramic, glass, formica, corian, etc. Always use wood!

Is it well worth the $20 bucks? Heck yes! Would it be worth $150? YES! $300? No. They are well balanced, and look great, the wood block is hardwood, and nice looking. This is a great deal, and don't be put-off by people who are obviously used to a Ginsu knife, and not high quality knives which need care and attention, not a dishwasher and no sharpening ever...