I spent forever researching knife sets and I'm glad I did! These knives are truly top quality. For reference, I'm comparing them to a vintage set of Zwilling J.A. Henckels Friodurs. (These are the good Henckels, made in Germany, with the two-person logo.) They feel cheap in comparison to the Top Chef knives. The Henckels blades are thinner, and you can bend them easily from side to side. The Top Chef blades seem about twice as thick and very sturdy. The integrated handles on the TC knives are smoother and look and feel nicer. They just ooze quality! The Henckels are just a thinner blade with handles tacked onto either side. The TC knives feel good in your hand ergonomically and have a nice heavy weight to them. They are made of X30CR13 steel, which is the German equivalent of 420 steel. The legend on the blades say they are Ice Tempered, like all good knives (the manufacturers dip them in liquid nitrogen after forging to completely strengthen the steel). I should also mention that the scissors are amazing quality. My impression is that most knife sets include a cheap pair of scissors that are not meant to last but just to round out the set. The TC scissors blades are heavy and thick, the handles are smooth and solid and feel good in your hand, they are very sturdy and I think they will last a long time.

The only downside, and this is minor and should in no way dissuade you from purchasing these knives, is that the block they come in is rather crowded. Everything fits, but just barely and the scissors touch the steak knife in the row below them, and the sharpener's collar bumps up against the knife you have next to it. I'm planning on purchasing magnetic knife strips for my kitchen counter back splash to display these beautiful knives. That being said, the block is functional and looks like a good quality knife block in your kitchen.

On the first test run, I put a slice mark in my desk! I had purchased a sandwich for dinner and they had forgotten to slice it. Perfect opportunity to test my new bread knife, right? It's on wax paper, and I wasn't thinking. Well the bread halves came out more cleanly sliced than any sandwich I've ever had outside a good restaurant, just beautiful. However when I went to throw away the paper I noticed there was a slice through it, and thought - Uh Oh! Sure enough, there is now a small slice line in my desk. D'Oh!

This knife set very much exceeded my expectations and I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase. I would give this knife set my highest recommendation. (Note: I purchased these for full price and this is my honest review - I am thrilled with these knives)!

I don't know much about knives, but from looking up different models on Amazon, I ran into this top chef santoku knife and decided to try it out. From using it for a couple of months now, this is a quick summary of my experience with it.

The look: It's a very nice looking knife, with a two-tone design and a comfortable solid grip. the blade has a little curvature to it, which makes rocking and shopping with the knife much easier than with something like a chef's knife, which has a much more angled blade.

The feel: Holding the knife is very comfortable, since the handle is for their up from the face of the blade. I used to hit my knuckles on the chopping board, but with the santoku's shape, it hardly ever happens anymore! The blade is much sharper than my typical store knivess and the indentations on the blade keep food from sticking to it.

Using it: From my short research online, santoku knives are made for vegetables and boneless meats, so I've not tried to cut bone or anything to solid. It works on everything from tomatoes to chicken, and often times it's the only knife that I use in my food preparation.

Summary: Not having a wide selection of knives, I found this santoku to fit a lot of my needs for cooking and food preparation. It's very comfortable to use and hold, very sharp out of the box for normal cooking needs, and looks very sleek. I Would buy other knives from the same line of products, and would recommend this knife to anybody looking for a useful comma high quality,

If Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Signature Cutlery ($369.99 Amazon) were to write and perform a rockin' 80's ballad to any of the new and proud owners of the Top Chef Master Cutlery ($110.76 Amazon), it would go something like this:

Well I heard it on the street
I heard you mighta found somebody new, yeah
Well who is he baby, who is he
And tell me what he means to you, oh yeah
I took it all for granted
But how was I to know
That you'd be letting go
Now it cuts like a knife
But it feels so right
Yeah, it cuts like a knife
Oh, but it feels so right....

Bryan Adams - Cuts like a Knife --- Utube it!
Lyrics - Cut(s like a TC knife.. get it?) and pasted from some random lyric site.

Yep! Top Chef is cutting my poultry, beef, and other stuffs... I am glad I saved myself $$$ and went with the Top Chef Cutlery Block set. As long as you don't allow yourself to get lazy and throw it in the dishwasher to do the scrub-a-dub-dub for you. It will stick with you through the thick and thin of the toughest cuts of meats. =D!!! You can't open a Butcher Shop with these but they are sharp enough to make a day in the life of your kitchen o' so more pleasant! These are sharp little tools. They also have a nice bit of weight to them - feel wise. -- Oh, do not "soak" your knives in water, either. That goes for the shaving (razors) blades. Try to remember to towel (clean towel is always the best kind) your sharp stuff dry. Dry them happy and they will return the favor by staying sharp longer and saving you some extra coinage.

I should figure out a way to hide the "Top Chef" logo so guests and family will assume I spent a fortune on my set of sharp sticks. You of course can purchase a much more HQ set of cutlery and it is recommended to do so since a knife can be one of your BFFs in the kitchen as it was to Lorena Bobbitt in her bedroom... Too crude? I apologize if I offended. A thousand apologies! A N Y W A Y S!!! If you can afford all those $$$ signs then do it. But if you're like me and are on a budget and want/need a good set of cutlery to stick it out with you for a decent while, these are a great buy! Just do your research on how to care for your cutlery. You will be surprised at what can dull a good blade. I started off researching on how to care for my cutlery and ended up doing a boat load of research on cutting boards. Certain boards can dull a knife and you don't want to end your research there because for safety reasons you will also want to learn how to care for your cutting boards. Some reviewers may knock off a star or two for reasons as simple as a manufacturing issue or because one just appreciates a much finer line of cutlery. But this set of cutlery will surprise most and it could even go up against some of the better "designer" cutlery if you take the time to read up on some of the cutlery usage and care tips posted out there on the interwebz. Those tips may even help you win a Daily-Double on Jeopardy one day! Okay, maybe a trivia game of some sort is more realistic. I wouldn't be surprised if Top Chef or the Food Network folks come out with a cooking trivia game. That's an idea to bank on... Or you can spew out a few of those tips when you want to feel pretentious in some sort of "foodie wanna-be" way. Spew out a tip randomly to fill one of those long silent awkward moments at a corporate dinner party/function. Make sure you spew it out as awkwardly as that long silent moment felt so you'll think you're the funniest person in the room and won't be able to stop yourself from laughing =S I dunno. I just typed those out of thin air.... Okay, I will stop trying so hard to be funny and witty. It doesn't hurt to try!

Bottom line: Pretty epicurious cutlery set for the cost! Take the time to learn, love, and care for it and it will return all that love to you.

Thank you to anyone that bothered to take the time to humor me and actually read this review. May your pockets always be overflowing with magic cupcakes that actually knock off the pounds instead of packing them on! One day....ONE DAY!!!! They will exist!

Ok so strange review story, but I sliced the heck out of my hand on one of these reaching into the dishwasher and damn. DAMN. They're sharp enough that I honestly didn't feel it, just saw blood. Kind of impressed by that. Also they're super great knives in general. Will absolutely buy again (and you know NOT stick them point up in the dishwasher).

I brought this knife mainly to take apart whole free range chicken for soup. Whole means the neck, head and feet are still attached. Free range chicken bones are tougher than caged ones.

The good:
sharp, got good heft. Easily cut through the chicken bones and joints.

The bad:
Poor handle design. As I take apart the chicken and got grease on to my hand, the smooth surface handle gets slippery. I had to wash my hands and the knife with with soap several times during a session so I can get a better grip

The handle is too small. I wear large men size size gloves. After finish cutting up the chicken, I notice the muscles near my thumb and "life line" is sore due to the handle being too small.

This knife is much heavier than most, I would not recommend it for normal vegetable or meat cutting as your hand/arm will tire easily.