Sabatier chef's knives

[DinkyToy-boy]

I'm looking to get some Cook's knives for my son who is a budding chef and have decided on Sabatier. They seem to do a few ranges.. Stellar Sabatier,Richardson Sabatier,V.Sabatier etc. I appreciate that there are differences and some knives could easily be £100 each or more, but I am looking at 'mid priced' ranges whereby an 8" cooks knife might typically cost about £30 or so for example.

Can anybody shed any light or opinions about which ones I should be looking at? I expect to spend about £100 or so on 4 knives (Cook's,Paring,Boning,Filleting).

[Tom_C76]

DinkyToy-boy said:

I'm looking to get some Cook's knives for my son who is a budding chef and have decided on Sabatier. They seem to do a few ranges.. Stellar Sabatier,Richardson Sabatier,V.Sabatier etc. I appreciate that there are differences and some knives could easily be £100 each or more, but I am looking at 'mid priced' ranges whereby an 8" cooks knife might typically cost about £30 or so for example.

Can anybody shed any light or opinions about which ones I should be looking at? I expect to spend about £100 or so on 4 knives (Cook's,Paring,Boning,Filleting).

Knives are a very personal choice thing, might be better off taking him to a decent cookshop and seeing what suits him best interms of balance and handle shape.

TC

[scotal]

Errrrrm Sabatier is not a brand name, or rather it is, but its a name a number of different manufacturers use to try and denominate quality in their knives.

So Richardson Sabatier are knives made by Richardson (of Sheffield, not France) that are meant to be top notch.

Be careful trusting Sabatier as a mark of quality.

[rhinochopig]

The only thing you need to know about knives is that whatever you buy it MUST be MASSIVE and be so sharp if you dropped it, it would slice its way to the centre of the earth. A light sabre may also be used as an alternative, although they tend to wilt the lettuce.

[fadeaway]

As scotal says, Sabatier is not a brand and there are some lower quality knives available that are marked as being "Sabatier". Have a read of this for some background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier

I would suggest doing some research into particular brands/manufactures of knives marked as Sabatier before picking one.

However, if you want to get your son some knives he's going to love using and keep forever then he needs to pick them. The type, style and balance of a knife is very personal. Doesn't make for a great surprise present though unfortunately.

[st_files]

I've bought my missus some IO Shen knives for Xmas - thought they were a little bit different and seem very good quality. As is said above though, its a personal choice for a chef....

This was a useful site...

http://www.kitchenknivesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/cata...

as was this

http://www.hartsofstur.com/

[prand]

Sabatier is not a guarantee of quality. Judging by the very old french sabatier knife I have, there are many imitators around now using the Sabatier name wthat just don't cut the mustard, as it were.

Have a look at Wusthof Classic (expensive) or Henkel Pro (cheaper), they both do a traditional (i.e rivetted black handle) range, there are a few deals on sets around on the web. I got a Henkels Pro medium chef's and small paring knife set for about £60, but they sharpen very evenly and and are a very precise cut. Compared to the couple of V, or stella sabatiers I bought a while back which sharpened unevenly.

[DinkyToy-boy]

Thanks a lot. Some great replies so far chaps.. Now I've learnt that 'Sabatier' isn't simply a respected manufacturers name and a guarantee of quality as I first assumed, I'll be sure to look into it some more. Though I am mindful that I'm not going to be getting real high end product for the budget I have in mind and don't want to be get obsessive about it. I'd still like to get as much bang for my buck as possible!

I'll have a trip down to the Cookshop in town with Mi-Laddo.

[collateral]

prand said:

Sabatier is not a guarantee of quality. Judging by the very old french sabatier knife I have, there are many imitators around now using the Sabatier name wthat just don't cut the mustard, as it were.

Have a look at Wusthof Classic (expensive) or Henkel Pro (cheaper), they both do a traditional (i.e rivetted black handle) range, there are a few deals on sets around on the web. I got a Henkels Pro medium chef's and small paring knife set for about £60, but they sharpen very evenly and and are a very precise cut. Compared to the couple of V, or stella sabatiers I bought a while back which sharpened unevenly.

+1

Wusthof for me thanks

[uncinqsix]

The best sabatier is widely regarded to be the Thiers-Issard ones, with the elephant logo.

[g77]

Apologies for being slightly O/T as completely ignoring price consideration of OP but John Lewis at weekend had a Global knife set of 5 with block for sale at £250 which was 1/2 price.

Good knives - I've got a small paring knife.

But do love my Wusthof chef's knife.

[lazy_b]

Knives are very much a personal choice.

My favourite is a Global GS11 slicing knife; but I have given away other Global knives because I couldn't get on with them. On the other hand, my second best knife is a department store own-brand chef's knife; pretty much at the other end of the price spectrum. The important thing is that both of them feel comfortable to use, and keep a good edge.

AIUI, "Sabatier" just describes a particular design of knife. Dozens of companies make "Sabatier" knives; some are good, but others are crap.

[auditt]

Im far from a professional but need a couple of knifes, i tend to use a 4inch knife to do everything and sometimes cutting onions is a pain because it's just not long enough nor is it safe.

Can someone say "buy this" and "buy this" and that will do for the majority of cooking.

Sorry to take over this thread.

[munky]

Are there any good single piece knives, or are they just for show and black riveted handles are the only way forward?

[collateral]

munky said:

Are there any good single piece knives, or are they just for show and black riveted handles are the only way forward?

The aforementioned Global are all single piece afaik. No personal experience but others seem to talk them up

[collateral]

auditt said:

Im far from a professional but need a couple of knifes, i tend to use a 4inch knife to do everything and sometimes cutting onions is a pain because it's just not long enough nor is it safe.

Can someone say "buy this" and "buy this" and that will do for the majority of cooking.

Sorry to take over this thread.

I just have a 4.5" and an 8". The 8 doesn't see much action though tbh

Some people swear by having a short serrateds, but it can be hard/impossible to sharpen them.

[uncinqsix]

collateral said:

auditt said:

Im far from a professional but need a couple of knifes, i tend to use a 4inch knife to do everything and sometimes cutting onions is a pain because it's just not long enough nor is it safe.

Can someone say "buy this" and "buy this" and that will do for the majority of cooking.

Sorry to take over this thread.

I just have a 4.5" and an 8". The 8 doesn't see much action though tbh

Some people swear by having a short serrateds, but it can be hard/impossible to sharpen them.

8" is a bit short for me. I like my 240mm (9 1/2") chef's knives I would always recommend a short paring knife (4") and 8-10" chef's knife (8" if a german make, 9 1/2"+ if japanese) to do 99% of all jobs (with the chef's knife doing the lions share).

[jbaddeley]

I have sabatier, but tried a knife by a company called Global at the good food show last week. Unreal but 50-70 quid per knife.

[rhinochopig]

Just a word of caution on the Global knives. If you've got big hands they may not suit you. I have, and fortunately I opted to buy just one before indulging in a set. It's a lovely knife - although I have cheaper and better (in terms of how long they hold their edge) - but it's simply too small for my shovel like hands.

[mav 1]

Costco do a Global knife block - 6 knives for about £200-ish IIRC.