The design is clearly Japanese, from handles to blade. There are 101 layers of steel on this knife! Cryodur steel core (hardened SG2 microcrabide steel) is surrounded by 50 layers on each side. The result is this beuatiful Damascus style with 63 Rockwell.

The Miyabi Birchwood 7 Piece Knife Set includes:

• 8″ chef’s knife,
• 7″ santoku,
• 6″ utility knife,
• 3½” paring knife,
• sharpening steel,
• stainless-steel shears,
• bamboo block

Authentic Japanese knives that you will fall in love with, and will love to use every day. Each knife’s blade of this set is hand honedn using a 3 step process called honbazuke. It consists in custom grits wheststone sharpening twice, and a using a leather wheel for mirror polishing.

You get a real hamon edge. A hamon edge shows the excellence of crafsmanship: when you can see the line where the outer layers meet the inner hard core. These baldes cut like scalpels and have a superb edge retention.

Handles are made of natural Masur birch and have a D-shape for a comfortable grip. Comfort enhances performance, and you will cut effortlessly, with no tiring.

These Miyabi Birchwood knives are unique masterpiece.

You can find the Miyabi Birchwood 7 Piece Knife Set at Sur La Table, for $999.95 (save $505).

The integrated bolster and ergonomic handles securely and comfortably set the grip and you will cut and slice with ease, thanks to the full blade involvement.

The Calphalon Katana 18-Piece Knife Set includes the following elements:

• 3.5″ paring knife,
• 7″ santoku knife,
• 8″ chef’s knife,
• 5.5″ serrated utility knife,
• 7″ slicer,
• 6 steak knives,
• kitchen shears,
• 9″ diamond sharpening steel,
• Bamboo knife block

Buy the Calphalon Katana 18-Piece Knife Set from Amazon with free shipping and savings.

Calphalon Katana knives are made from VG-1 Japanese steel, that has proven its superb sharpness and ability to keep the edge sharp longer. The blade is clad with 33 stainless steel layers. This gives the knife a unique style, but also makes it stronger. This is a good and complete Calphalon set, at an affordable price.

Calphalon Katana Review

Here’s what users have to say about Calphalon Katana knives:

Calphalon Katana 18-Piece Knife set also available at Cookware.

Also, if you’re looking for lightweight knives, Global has some of the lightest knives you can hold. This doesn’t prevent those to be super sharp and highly resistant with the proprietary CROMOVA stainless steel: Chromium, Mobdylenum and Vanadium.

Most people will hesitate between the 2 following Global 3-Piece Knife Sets, for reference on the left is the Global G2338, and on the right the Global G48338:

They look very similar, the only difference is that the main knife is either a traditional 8 inch Chef’s knife or a 8 inch Santoku with hollow edge, the Japanese chef’s knife.

The 2 other knives in both sets are a 5.25 inch utility knife and a 3.5 inch paring knife.

This will be a matter of choice and taste as even the price is very similar.

Global 3-Piece Knife set with Chef’s Knife: $223.95 – Click here to get this set on Amazon

Global 3-Piece Knife set with Santoku : $228.95 – Click here to buy this set from Amazon

Global Knives Review

Here are what some customers have to say about the Global 3-Piece Knife Sets above:

These Global knife sets are also available at
MetroKitchen: with Chef’s Knife – with Santoku
Cookware: with Chef’s Knife – with Santoku

It includes:

• 3-inch kudamono parer
• 5-inch serrated utility
• 5-inch hollow-edge santoku
• 8-inch chef’s
• Kitchen shears
• 9-inch steel
• hardwood block with 4 extra slots

Henckels knives are highly durable, the experience they put in their knives is amazing. They are the most experienced premium knife makers in the world, with about 300 years of craftsmanship.

These knives are forged from one single piece of steel, made to last for years. Resist to stain and very strong blade that have been ice-hardened. Made even stronger with high carbon steel, and thus resist to rust.

Just like most premium kitchen knives, Henckels Twin Cuisine knives are super sharp. Blades are laser controled and precision-honed. You will keep them sharper for a longer time.

Tha’s not all. Their design (full horizontal tang without rivets, bolster) ensure optimal balance and weight to provide more comfort.

Henckels knows how to make great knives, period. If a starter set of excellent quality is what you’re looking for then you’ll get entirely satisfied with this Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Cuisine 7-Piece Knife Set that comes with a Block.

You can buy the Henckels Twin Cuisine 7-Piece Knife Set with Block at Amazon at the best price: Save 49% and get free shipping!

Henckels Knife Set Reviews:

What users of this Henckels Twin Cuisine 7-Piece Knife Set have to say…

Also available at:
Cookware
MetrolKitchen

These steak knives are 4-1/2 inch.

A 4-piece or 6-piece steak knife set will help you save some precious money. Click here to get all the details on the Classic Ikon steak knives you can see on the left.

Or see more Wusthof Classic Ikon Steak Knife Sets

Classic Ikon steak knives have the black handle, but you may also prever the Wusthof Classic Ikon Creme steak knives, which have the white handle.

It’s a smart choice to buy a Wusthof Classic Ikon Steak knife set, notjust for the quality, design and ergonomy they provide. But also for the price. Just one steak knife is $89.95! The Classic Ikon Creme steak knife is $69.95.

Wusthof Classick Ikon Steak Knives Review

Here’s what one user had to say about these steak knives:

Also you may be interested in a complete Wusthof Classic Ikon knife set that include the steak knives in the bottom slots of the block. Here’s an example:

The Wusthof Classic Ikon line is at the top of the range in Wusthof kitchen knives, they are of course forged from one piece of steel, the tang extending through the handle. A synthetic, triple riveted and double bolster handle.

A Wusthof Classic Ikon Steak Knife Set will give you entire satisfaction.

Blades are razor sharp, with incredibly strong steel: the Special VG10 stainless steel clad, this steel has 16 layers of high carbon stainless steel on each side. Beuatiful knives with a stunning look of Damascus.

The Pakkawood handle has the famous D-shape for more ergonomy.

Here’s what included with this Shun knife set:

• 8-inch Chef’s knife
• Utility knife
• Paring knife
• Sharpening steel
• Taskmaster kitchen shears
• Bamboo storage block

The bamboo block is 11 slots, so it’s ready to welcome more Shun Classic knives in the future.

These Shun knives are made in Seki, Japan, and come with the Shun lifetime warranty.

You can buy the Shun Classic 6-Piece Knife Set with Bamboo Block from Amazon save 30% and get free shipping!

Shun Classic Knife Set Review

Here is one review on this Shun knife set:

“…Shun knives are beautiful creations period[...]The shape fits my hand perfectly, and the wood does not get slippery when wet – providing a very secure hold. The steel is of utmost quality and sharpness[...]Having something so beautiful and yet so sharp and perfect – it makes my time cooking just that much more enjoyable.”
actual part of customer review from amazon

Also available at
Cookware
MetroKitchen

There are few different of types of whetstones, and it is easier to picture those by their roughness. A whetstone can use be rough grit, medium grit or fine grit. The rougher, the more metal it will remove from your blade, the finer and you will use it for polishing your edge.

This also means that you will not sharpen your knives with rough grit everyday. Rough grit are for the big sharpening you’d have to proceed with when your knives really become dull. For everyday sharpening, if needed, you will prefer the fine grit.

Whetstones commonly comes in a block style, and can have two sides, each of a different roughness (rough/medium or medium/fine, medium/super fine, etc).

To keep your stone longer, it s recommended to use a bit of water on the surface of the stone, though some people use oil too. This will also keep too much roughness to scratch your blade. Remember, when you sharpen a knife, you are removing some metal from your blades, and then re-polish it. Adding water will lubricate the stone and facilitate cleaning.

Global have a very nice choice of whetstones, here are few ones you can use for your knives and that you will keep for a long time. Rough grit whetstones can last a lifetime as you will use these less often than others.

On the left is a Global Whetstone (Rough 240 & Medium 1000) and on the right you can see a Global Ceramic Whetstone (Super fine grit, 5000), from Metro Kitchen.

More Whetstones

You are a cooking expert, either a professional chef or a home cooking enthousiast, the kitchen is your kingdom. The gourmet inside of you knows the importance of having the perfect cookware. Among your tools, there should be your knives. Stainless steel knives, tools forged by skilled craftsmen, just like you, who can create an ideal dining environment filled of tasty gourmet food !

Does that sound like you ? Well here are some little tips, that will enlight you on the choice of the perfect kitchen knife set. This guide can also be followed by anyone looking for a gift idea.

What is the ideal cutlery knife set ?

There are no single answer to that question but if you had to keep one in mind, this would be the following one. The best knife set would be the one that you truly use, and need. What I mean by that is that you can get 7 piece knife sets which is very complete and does almost everything you need, or get a set of 25 or more knives if that’s what you really want. Professional chefs may need more knives than home chefs.

What cutlery sets should include is at least a chef’s knife, which is anyway most of the time. Then a vegetable knife, a paring knife, a carving knife, a bread knife, filet knife, a boning knife and a slicing knife should be well enough for most people. Some sets come with a cheese knife too, a honing steel, or/and kitchen shears which are always useful.

What type of knives ?

European or Japanese ? Well that’s a good question again however, I’d say this is a matter of style. The design is certainly different, but the results you can achieve are probably the same. Premium knives usually have great ergonomics and offer comfort, balance and strenght. They are also, as you have guessed, extremely sharp.

Japanese knives often have a great design, very stylish, almost pieces of art. They use a blade that has a single bevel, meaning one side of the blade is completely straight. This makes the cutting very thin and precise. Global knives don’t have any bevel at all, just straight edge upto the spine of the blade.

European knives, and more particularly German knives, are represented by the two major brands J.A Zwilling Henckels and Wusthof. Both make awesome knives, very resistant and well designed. They are very balanced too and are used by many chefs around the world.

What steel is better ?

Most of the knife manufacturers use their proprietary formula to create stainless steel cutlery, or use several different ones depending on the type of knives they create. What you just need to keep in mind is that these stainless steel knives are very resistant, they are forged from one piece of steel, they are then ice hardened.

To be stainless steel, steel should have at least 10.5% to 11% Chromium in its composition. Did you know stainless steel is also 100% recyclable ?

There are too many different alloys of steel to list here, but we can say that high carbon steel are often prefered by knife makers to improve strenght of the blade. As an example Shun uses their own formula called CROMOVA 18, a high carbon steel that is composed of Chromium (18%), mobdylenum, and vanadium.

Is that kitchen knives cutlery enough ? Do you need more ?

Well, as for knives, the biggest knife sets will include 6 or 8 steak knives, which will be also of some use. Great knives for everyone for dinner. Maybe a nice way to show your beautiful cutlery to your guests . Depending on your cooking style or preference, you may want some Japanese knives. Their cutting is different, the blade is often very thin, and use a single bevel edge. You can either simply buy a Santoku (the Japanese chef’s knife) if you have German knives or a complete set of Japanese knives.

But I’d want to express my recommendation as for some little accessories that will be a nice, if not necessary addition to your knife set.

Accessories

First, the cutting board : choose a WOODEN cutting board. Hardwood, bamboo, a wood cutting board is the way to go. Plastic can also be considered but please, forget glass, marble, ceramic or steel surfaces. These are hard, while wood is easy on your blades. Hard cutting surfaces will damage your blade and prevent them to be sharp longer.

Also you woul need some kind of knife sharpening tools. Well, there are different ways to sharpen a knife. The traditional way would require you to get a honing steel, so you realign the blade, a whetstone to sharpen the knife and polish it.

The simplest one is to use an electric knife sharpener. An electric knife sharpener can take care of all those steps in few seconds. If you have many knives or want simplicity and speed, go for one, that’s a smart investment. Some are very expensive, but you’ll find most between $100-$200 (Chef’s Choice electric knife sharpeners are the leaders and most recommended everywhere).

You can also use manual knife sharpeners which basically do the same things as electric ones, it’s just… not electric, and smaller in size.

Knife Care and Storage

A knife set, could come in various format. Usually, because it is the most convenient, you would choose a block, in which you can store your knives safely. A block knife set is usually what I recommend the most. If your set of knives doesn’t have any storage, get a block to put them inside and protect your blades as well as your hands

You can also get your cutlery knife set in a tray. This is still a nice way to store them, however the block will certainly be the most convenient.

Lastly, it maybe a box set, well not the best thing to store your knives. You certainly won’t put back your knives in their box everyday after each use and take them ofut of it the next day. A box is generally made for the gift purpose, or for a 2 or 3 knife sets, or a steak knife set that will not necesarly go into the block.

One tip that you may already have encountered already here : don’t push your premium knives in the dishwasher. Here’s the truth… you could do it. But you don’t want except you’re okay to damage them, most of the time the manufacturer tells you they don’t recommend it. You’re taking the risk of having your knives in contact with other knives and cookware supplies.

Scratches on your blades will not be cool. It will reduce the stain resistance, there is a lot of water and heat inside, and as resistant as they are, blades are also delicate part of your knives. It’s not hard at all (really) to wash your knives with water and mild soap and immediately dry them with a soft cloth.

There are NO STAIN PROOF STEEL. Your stainless steel knife rusts and stains less but with time and without care, stain may occur, though it can be removed. But when you take care of your knives you are almost sure to keep your knives in their factory state. A bit of sharpening and you’re ready to cut like crazy again.

I hope this information was good to you and worth of interest. You should know have some kitchen cutlery essential tips in mind. If you were searching for gift ideas then a knife block set will be warmly received by the person you offer it to. Every chef needs kitchen supplies and a cutlery set will be used every day for years to come !

Now go browsing a bit the pages and discover some beautiful cutlery knife set, there are some great chef knives in these home appliances, and you are going to love what you see.

Calphalon is a cookware brand, recognized for their high quality products that they permanently improve and they are an authority in everything you kitchen needs. It’s of course a cutlery brand, that has created few lines of durable, design and sharp knives. Here is a Calphalon knife set.

You can see on the left a Calphalon Contemporary set. The Contemporary line is a very useful one. Yes, it cuts with precision and comfort, but each knife features its name, etched in the end of the handle. You’re sure to know what knives you need to use and which one you’re pulling out the block.

This is the Calphalon Contemporary 21 piece knife set, certainly one of the most complete set you can getat this price (less than $300). The steel used is a german steel, from tang to tip. The full tang provides great balance and strenght. It includes : 8″ Chef’s Knife, 5″ and 7″ Santoku Knives, 8″ Bread Knife, 3.5″ Paring knife, 5.5″ Tomato Bagel Knife, 6″ Utility Knife, 5″ Boning Knife, 8″ Slicer, 6″ Fork, 8 Steak Knives and kitchen shears

The last pieces are the bamboo block of course for easy storage, and a 10″ sharpening steel, so you’re ready to keep the cutting edge for years.

NOTE : With all the sets we display on this page, 3 Free gifts are included ! A cutting board, a cheese knife, a 7″ Katana serie slicing knife.

Though Calphalon knows how to make luxury cookware and cutlery they still do have sweeter prices than many of their competitors.

The current Calphalon knives series are :

• Traditional
• Commercial
• Everyday
• Contemporary
• Katana

Another line to look at is the Katana serie, the latest one. The Katana line includes Japanese knives such as Santoku, the Japanese Chef’s knife.  These are very well designed knives that will let you cut with style, also, this serie is made with Japanese steel (VG-1).

Calphalon was established in Perrysburg, Ohio, in 1963. During their years of manufacturing, they never stopped to innovate in the cookware industry and provide some of the prefered tools for chefs at home and professionals. You have seen that they can use either German or Japanese steel for their knives, make things easier wth the patented labeled handles, and combine many other things into fair prices.

Calphalon is a recommended brand

As for all premium knives, handwashing is recommended, dishwasher should be avoided. Be nice with your knife!

Where to buy Calphalon knives ?

You can get your Calphalon sets and individual knives from Cookware, this is where we’ve seen the free gifts available. See all Calphalon at Cookware.

Global knives are immediately recognizable. Their full stainless steel design wit black dots on the handle make these knives very unique. Here is a Global set you might want to have a close look at.

On the left is a Global 9-Piece Knife Set with Block
that includes everything you will need to cut like a pro Japanese chef. Well to cut as effortlessly as possible any kind of food you encounter.

It includes a 7″ Oriental Chef’s Knife, 8 3/4″ Bread Knife, 8 1/4″ Carving Knife, 5 1/4″ Chef’s Utility Knife, 6″ Serrated Utility Knife, 5 1/2″ Vegetable Knife, 4″ Paring Knife, , 3″ Paring Knife. And just to store perfectly and safely your special tools, you will so have the stainless steel block.

The Global knife sets are really well designed and carry with them the purity style that you want ideally fit your kitchen. You can see some more Global knife sets on the right, you’ll notice a 25th anniversary edition, very limited.

Global lines are :

• G Series
• GS Series
• GFS Serie
• GF Series

Global is Yoshikin brand, created 25 years ago. From the start until today, the knives have been crafted by hand in Niigata, Japan, in the Samurai swords tradition.

Global are known for their sharpness, the blade being very thin, thinner than western knives. Indeed, though th blade is not a single bevel, this is not a double bevel either!  This is a straight edge, that goes on to the spine of the blade. This makes the entire cut very precise, and the knives will remain sharp longer than other knives.

Another quality of Global is their lightness. Though the steel thery’re made of is harder than many others, the CROMOVA 18 (chromium, molybdenum and vanadium) and thus very resistant, it’s lighter than most of all other knives. Some chefs would even say too light ! But this is a very enjoyable experience at the end of your cutting day. The CROMOVA 18 is a proprietary material made by Global, and only used in Global knives.

So Global succeeds to make knives that are different but with all qualities to please you, the serious chef. A strong steel to keep a cutting edge longer, and a light and sharp ensemble to allow you maximum control. It’s a brand that became highly popular among chefs in their (only?) 25 years of existence.

Also, Global knives have a Lifetime Warranty ! So that’s another reason to confidently purchase these stylish, light and sharp knives from Japan.

Where to buy Global knives ?

According to our research, MetroKitchen (again) seems to have the largest choice of Global knives and accessories. But we also would like to recommend Cookware who have over a hundred Global pieces and which, on every product page, give you the cleaning, storage and user guides.

See Global Metro Kitchen
or…
Global at Cookware