These really do cut the mustard (as well as everything else!) (Victorinox Knives)

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	Victorinox Knives
Date:	16/07/09 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sharp, comfortable non-slip grip, excellent value for money

Disadvantages: None

I am currently doing a 4-week cooking course at the Tante Marie School and included in my fees was a set of Victorinox knives. I've never had a decent set of sharp knives before, but I've used other people's and I know how much of a difference using a sharp knife can make to the pleasure of cooking.

Before I started my course I enquired what knives we would be getting and when I was told they would be Victorinox I was pleased as I associate the brand with good quality. They are well known for making the original swiss army knives, but Victorinox are commonly used throughout professional kitchens due to their sharpness. They are created using high carbon stainless steel and they are hand finished in Switzerland using a special tempering process.

In my set I got a 20cm Cook's Knife, a smaller Paring Knife, a serrated Fruit/Tomato Knife and a Palette Knife. These are kept safe in a canvas storage wrap, along with a great peeler made by Oxo.

All of the cutting knives are razor sharp and are an absolute joy to use. Chopping though vegetables is a breeze and even carrots can be cut into a uniform size, which I couldn't achieve with my old knives. The non-slip Fibrox handles are very comfortable to hold and allow you to have a good grip on the knife.

I prefer to use a large Cook's Knife for most jobs, but the smaller Paring Knife has been extremely useful too. For example, we had to cut up a whole rack of lamb into individual cutlets and the paring knife made removing the chine bone very easy. We also had to French Trim them, which meant scraping all the meat off the rib bones, which is quite a time consuming job and it's something I would never do at home, mainly because it wastes so much of the meat! But it was a great skill to learn and it was made easy by the sharp and easy to handle Paring Knife.

We also had to skin plaice fillets and this was much easier to do than I thought it would be. We didn't have Fish Filleting Knives, so we used our Cook's Knife for this and because they are quite flexible it made removing the skin incredibly easy. The blade isn't too thick, unlike my old Santoku knife, so I find it a lot more versatile. I think this knife has a good weight to it, not too heavy and not too light, so it suits me down to a T. There is a nice curve to the blade, so finely chopping things like herbs is very easy to do as you can hold the point of the knife on the board and get a nice rocking motion going.

The serrated Fruit/Tomato Knife makes cutting through soft fruits very easy without crushing them and its small size means I have total control.

I have found the Palette Knife to be an incredibly useful knife, not only for spreading icing over cakes, but also for cleaning my board when making pastry or bread dough. It is also handy for mixing dough ingredients together in the bowl before you get your hands stuck in.

Because my course fees were so expensive, I expected the cost of the knives to be quite high. But when I looked them up on online, I was surprised that they are so reasonably priced for the quality that you get and I must admit to being a little disappointed that my school hadn't spent some of the £2,600 course fees on the more expensive forged knives!

However, it just goes to show that you don't need to spend a fortune to get a decent set of knives. My Dad owns a set of Henckels knives, which cost around £250, but you can build yourself a good set of Victorinox knives for around £50. I would highly recommend Victorinox knives, as they are superb quality and are excellent value for money.

All I need now is to invest in a sharpening steel to maintain the razor blade sharpness!

Summary: They make cooking even more enjoyable!