Chicago Cutlery 18-Piece Insignia Steel Knife Set with Block and In-Block Sharpener

We received our first set of Chicago Cutlery knifes (didn't include steak knifes) 30 years ago from my husband's aunt as a wedding gift. They had wooden handles. We still have them! They're still sharp and I still prefer the paring knife over every one I've tried. In fact I even bought a second paring knife - just in case!

On a lark when I saw this set, 18 piece Insignia Steel Knife Set, on the Deal of the Day (almost two years ago) I bought it for my husband for a Christmas gift. He's gotten into cooking and I thought it would look nice setting out on the counter. I think it may have been his favorite gift and one we use constantly. The knifes stay very sharp - still haven't needed sharpening two years later! We never put any of them in the dishwasher (per manufacturer instructions) and they have never needed polishing (other than hand drying) or any other care.

Everytime we use the steak knifes with guests they are amazed at the sharpness of the...Read more

These are our daily use knives, particularly the paring knife, and steak knives. We've owned them about four years.

They are beautiful, clean up well, but occasionally do need to be polished when water or rust spots appear. We don't dishwasher the chefs or carving knife, but we do dishwasher all of the other knives.

Stainless steel doesn't sharpen to as keen of an edge as some other high carbon steel knives, but then the high carbon knives discolor more readily. That is the trade-off.

As a result, for heavy veg prep, we'll grab the Global chefs knife. For raw meat, we prefer the Shun. At the dinner table. for roast or turkey carving, the Henckles outperforms the included knife.

The scissors come apart for easy dish-washing and sanitizing and cut chicken bone with some effort. They stay sharp though, we've assaulted many a double walled cardboard box with them and haven't deemed it necessary to sharpen them yet. The honing steel is...Read more

For years I've been using a cheap knife set. I got sick of taking forever to cut vegetables (and of always having my knife slip rather than cut), so I decided to get a more expensive set of knives. I've been skeptical for years of getting expensive knives because I'm not really a fan of washing dishes/utensils by hand.

Anyway, when they arrived my first test of them was to cut up an onion. The difference was night and day. Usually -- I diced the onion in probably no more than 15-30 seconds, tops (after peeling it). The cuts were so smooth and proper that I didn't even cry while I was cutting it. And as for washing these knives -- if you're prompt about cleaning the knife right after usage, it takes only a little bit longer to do it by hand than it would take to put a cheap knife in the dishwasher. And the built-in sharpener is convenient and easy to use.