Calphalon Chef's Knife 8"  Product Reviews

"I am no chef, just a granny who cooks huge meals regularly for a very large extended family. The knife was a gift over a year ago and I love it. It has become something of a workhorse for me and after all this time and use (almost daily) it has begun to lose just a little of it's edge. I also have very small hands(my eight year old grandsons hands are the same size as mine, which he finds amusing) and I don't have any problems handling the knife. This knife and an ancient, but very reliable faberware paring knife are practically the only knives I use. I cannot say about how a professional chef would view or rate this knife. I have a sneaking suspicion that our chopping and cutting techniques would be VERY different, but for the kind of cooking I do, this knife has been wonderful, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to others like myself."

"I bought this knife for my husband as an anniversary gift, and it is his new favorite knife. This knife is not only so sharp that it goes through meat, veggies, and anything else, but it is also absolutely gorgeous. The alternating metal textures in the blade are eye-catching. I did have trouble storing it though. I does not really fit in my knife block (the blade widens toward the handle). It would work well on a magnetic knife strip. Currently I have it in its box in a drawer (a shame because it is so attractive)."

"Since I was planning to spend a few days in a commercial kitchen, and my 6" Henckels knives are both embarrassingly small for serious work and embarrassingly dull because I'm too lame to sharpen them, I decided to grab the 8" chef's knife (at Bed, Bath & Beyond, with a 20% off coupon.) It worked extremely well for all the tasks I set it to today, including mincing parsley and chiffonading mint as well as the usual cutting tasks. Despite its shallow curve (I strongly prefer knives whose edges are mostly straight, rather than the curved French style) the blade rocked very well for mincing, and was flat enough to cut completely through the rolled mint leaves in one short stroke. Furthermore, the sharpness impressed the other people who used it, though we shall have to see if it can be REsharpened to the same degree. The handle design is clearly not for everyone, but I found it very comfortable when I held the knife as many cooks do, with the back end of the blade pinched between thumb and forefinger(s). In particular, most knife handles/bolsters seem to be designed for people who grip knives solely by their handles but the integrated bolster made it feel *right* to grip knife at the blade. The handle *seems* to be just the right weight to balance the blade, but I'll reserve judgment on whether it actually IS that well-balanced until I've spent more than a few hours using it. I'm impressed enough with the 8" chef that I'm considering getting the block set, which includes the chef and a paring knife (I have no idea if the handle design will work well for that, though) as well as three other not-entirely-useless knives: 5.5" serrated, 6" utility, 5" santoku (which probably would have been great for the chiffonade.) I must admit a 6" chef is probably marginally more useful than a 6" utility, but it's nice to have at least one knife you're willing to hand to your less skilled friends. It also has a diamond hone, which will actually sharpen knives, not just align their edges (though I use a DMT diamond hone for sharpening.) I find this assortment considerably more useful than many others, which include things like boning knives, carvers and bread knives--all of which are IMO far too specialized to include in a basic knife kit, especially for home cooks. The only shortcoming of the block set is the inclusion of laughably dubious kitchen scissors. I hope that Calphalon will see fit to add to the line at least a 10" chef, and a 9-10" santoku, but most of the funkily ergonomic (or just funky) knife lines I've looked at don't have those, alas. I have no idea if I'll continue to like this knife as it enters daily use. I hope that Amazon will let me revise my rating later if it turns out to be overly optimistic, but based on this one afternoon's use (and since they force me to rate it) I'll give it five stars. ~ Kiran "

"Pro: The raised handle allows firmer cleaving. Con: First of all, this is NOT a 'chef's' knife. Chef's knives have a rounded blade that allows the chef to rock the knife as it is used. This one is along the lines of the Santoku and is more cleaver-like. Stainless steel will eventually dull (Remember those cheapo 'Never Needs Sharpening' knives?) and will have to be professionally resharpened. The country of origin, although not mentioned (Japan is hinted at.), is likely China where virtually all the Calphalon cookware and knives are produced. Do yourselves a favor, spend a little more and get a real chef's knife from Wusthof or Henckels."