Chef Knives Reviews

While these knives are not as good quality as the Henckels Pro-S knives my husband uses at his restaurant, the Sabatier Copper Balance is a good set for the price I paid. I actually bought a second set as a Christmas gift for my parents and they love them!

The value for price was good, but I still use my
Henckels 4* more - this was just to have the extra
knives and steak knives, which are great for dinners.
And the block alone is worth all the money

As starter set it is unbeatable - is is good set of knives to
get used to good knives.

I bought this set to use as a gift because the price was too low to turn down. For young/beginning cooks on a tight budget, it's a very decent starter set and a good way to become accustomed to using straight-edge (versus serrated) knives in the kitchen. But these knives are made in China -- I wonder if perhaps there is just one big factory in Shanghai turning out dozens of brands. They will not come with, nor ever take, the same edge you get with Sabatier's made-in-France Grand Chef or Provence series, or with Wusthof's or Henckel's made-in-Germany knives.
I strongly recommend hand-washing these knives. A few trips through a hot dishwasher might just peel the protective shiny coating from the handles. I think that, relative to their cost, these knives rate four+ stars. But head-to-head with other knives, including much-more-expensive ones, three stars is tops.

While this set of knives does look pretty cool (and for that reason alone, I've rated them as worthy of two stars, vs. none). They were not even remotely sharp upon arrival-I was able to run my finger across any one of the blades without having fear of injury. Right then I should've sent them back, but my failure to do so has understandably left me "stuck". Even so, my opinion would've been somewhat positive if they could be quickly sharpened by using the steele included, or else if they held an edge once sharpened, but that's not the case ... not by any stretch of optimistic imagination. Fortunately, they were obtained at half price during a Yahoo sale; if not for that, I'd be thoroughly disgusted.

I own a restaurant in southwest Arizona with the rest of my family. I've spent years in and out of kitchens. Recently, I ordered the Sebastier Balance set listed above here.

Here's how I see the knives:
First, the good-
The handling on the set is fantastic. These are very good-quality knives overall, especially at amazon.com's listed price. I'm impressed with the level of dexterity afforded by the blades, I'm VERY impressed with the quality of the utility scissors included, and of course, the set is easy on the eyes, and would make a beautiful display in the appropriate kitchen.

Now, the bad-
The blades themselves are, perhaps, a bit thin for my tastes, but I *have* worked with thinner and been satisfied, so I think that most cooks will be equally happy. As many people have mentioned, the blades aren't very sharp upon arrival. DON'T, for the love of GOD, use the sharpening tool included in the set. It's no good, it's not worth it. I actually wish that Sebastier would have left that piece out or replaced it with something a bit higher quality. However, a counterpoint to that arguement: These are $$$(m.s.r.p.) knives. Were you to spend $$$ on knives at home, you would probably have a pretty decent sharpening instrument, yourself. I suggest purchasing one: they're not all that expensive, and they're worth the money.

This is definitely a 4 out of 5 star knife set, in my opinion. They're by no means the best knives out there, but for what you're paying, they're worth every cent.

I'm not really much of a cook, so I have made do with a drawer full of cheap knives for a long time. What attracted me to this set was the appearance and the price. I'm not the type that is going to spend $250 for a set of knives at Macy's. I have no idea if the 'list price' on the Amazon page is anywhere near a real number, but at $35 this set seemed to be a bargain. And I was really struck by the appearance of the copper handles. I wasn't disappointed. They look just as good sitting on my kitchen counter as they do on the Amazon page. Better really. And for the money, I haven't seen anything to beat this set.
The knives are lightweight relative to their appearance. They are nicely balanced. I find myself inventing things to chop just to hold them. The knives were very sharp right out of the box. I haven't had to sharpen them yet. I have had to learn to be a little careful, however. I am not used to sharp, efficient blades like these, and I have a small puncture wound in one pinky to prove it.
I don't think anyone would be disappointed in this set of knives. They are really beautiful, a pleasure to hold and cut with, and for the price I don't see how you can go wrong.

After reading up on what great knives Sabatier made, I was ecstatic to find this set so cheap. I bought it over [online store] (brand new) and upon opening the box, I found that the wooden block was poorly assembled. It was not aligned and you could see the leftover glue residue on the block. The are also decieving, saying that you get 12 items. I thought that meant 12 knives, turned out to be 11 knives and 1 block. On the wooden block however, there are 12 slots for 12 knives/scissors, not 11. The handles are ok, not the most comfortable, I grew up with Cutco knives (which are really sharp and have the most comfortable handles ever but with a hefty pricetag: 800). The Sabatier knives are pretty sharp compared to the cheap store knives. After using this set for the past few months, the best thing I got out of it were the shears. They are very sharp and can cut almost through anything. I think next set of knives I purchase will be from Henkels.

I bought this set for my best friend who'd recently been delving into the world of cooking. She was struggling with her junky $12 set of knives and was lusting over my Henkels Pro-S series. Judging from the description on this Sabatier set, I figured they'd would be an adequate starter set for her. Turns out, they're great! Not the perfect balance compared to my Henkels, but the knives have good heft and construction and the blades hold an edge. My friend was ecstatic and prepared a vegetable platter for my New Year's party just to show me how cutting cauliflower, carrots, and almonds with the knives was like slicing through warm butter. She's happy, and I'm happy. I'll probably buy another set of these for my dad's apartment. He's got some terribly junky knives, too!

I love to cook when I ever get some free time. But, it was a chore to do the type of cutting and chopping that I needed to do to get the food prepared properly to cook and serve. A friend mentioned that it might be the 'junk' culery that I had accumulated in my cutlery drawer. I saw this Elite set on sale at Amazon and figured that it would be worth a try with some good knives. Boy, was I ever right! The difference in the kitchen is unbelievable! The parer cuts and feels great in my hand. The Chef knife chops like I never thought I could! It's even more fun in the kitchen now when I cook with these Elite knives. I can't afford the expensive French cutlery, but, the Elite forged knives are as close as I can get to the best without breaking the budget. Highly recommended if you like to play 'chef' in the kitchen and can't really afford the French Sabatier. The Elite set is worth every penny I paid for it!

All these Sabatier Elite Knives are NOT symmetrical, uneven, NOT well balanced, NOT smooth at all and NOT straight on both handle and blade. I went to a local store and looked at 3 new sets on the shelf, none of them look identical. The salesman said they are hand crafted. Umm.. So the look really disturb me. Compare with Henckels International Classic, Henckels are perfect on the blade, straight and slick, handles are not perfect but far more even and symmetrical then the Sabatier Elite.

Cutting and Slicing feels smooth and effortless, really beyond my expectation and worries. I will keep the set.

Well, it's not quite.
I was excited to get my first set of decent knives. These come from a reputable brand, and a 7-piece set sounds like the right amount of pieces.
Well the set I received look like it missed quality control. The steel is totally misshapen and flawed on every knife. The chef's knife, for example is crooked and has a few pits in the tang. It's still functional, and it's still high carbon steel (I hope), and it's still triple riveted, but someone wasn't doing his job, and these should be sold as factory defects. These knives are made in China and have synthetic handles, so I guess you get what you pay for. Don't think you're getting a deal, though.

You get what you pay for....... I wouldn't have bought these if I could have put my hands on them. Actually the handles are OK, although maybe a little large for a woman's hands. The blades are way too thick for my liking. Typical Chinese quality.

I bought this along with the 8", the 6", the parer and the Santoku (what a dog!!!). I have previously reveiwed the 8" and the 6" and I can't add much more to this one other than it's 2 extra inches of "mess"...Pass on this over priced but beautiful piece of steel.
Some people love this knife...be objective when you consider it.

We love to look at but hate to use...a 2 mojo*z for this big ol' loud barker!!!

Honestly I don't like this knife and its almost entirely due to the handle. I found the handle uncomfortable and the balance to be off. The fact that this is a stamped blade, as opposed to forged, also didn't help matters any. At the price they are asking for this chef's knife I'd expect a forged blade at the very least. Honestly, I'd pass on this over priced and overly trendy knife for the Wusthof Grand Prix at the same price or a bargain chinese cleaver.

Beautiful Junk...see my review of the 8 1/4 inch Fuso

I purchased this knife a year and a half ago on impulse, taken in by it's minimalist design, it is a beautiful concept but I paid RETAIL. It IS beautiful but... after 18 months of everyday use in a commercial kitchen I am selling it (at half price) to a younger sous chef that was taken in by the design. I hope that he can cope with it.
This knife is very high maintenance. Once I sliced some cured meat, Genoa Salami I think, plunged the knife into scalding hot, soapy water, rinsed and wiped her down with a clean cotton towel just as I do all of my knives after use. I guess that I didn't wipe hard enough along the cutting edge because after only 10 hours the "cure" had eaten three tiny pin point notches in the blade's edge. It's been a downhill relationship ever since. I can't cut this or that, the knife has a balance point too far back for a pro's liking, the edge is sooo delicate that it requires twice the "steeling" that my forged knives do ... it's a pain...good ridance.

Please , spare yourself some misery and DO NOT buy this product.
It is not worth your penny. I am not a chef , just a regular guy and my standard when it comes to kitchen products is really relatively low. But this one is way below substandard.

This product is good because you can make your kitchen look complete for just fifteen smackers. It's also nice because it includes a block, so you have a place to put decent knives as you grudgingly purchase them one at a time.

The blades are not ground in a way that makes them cut well. I give the set 2 stars because you might want to buy it to have when you hide your good knives from the company. Other than that, you will be happier buying a half-decent single knife for the same price. There isn't much point in having 7 knives if none of them are usable.