Tramontina Knives
Scott Walker
experience with others.
I have recently become very interested in cooking and one of the things
that EVERYONE recommends is that you must have a good set of forged
knives. That having been said, most forged knives are quite pricey. I
don't mind dropping $200 for 3 knives if that's my only option, but I'd
rather get away with less, if possible. So I jaunted over to my local
library and looked up 'knives' in Consumer's Reports. Lo, and behold,
they suggested that a relative unknown, Tramontina, produced a pretty
good knife (Tramontina Professional Series) at a much lower price than
other forged knives. Although they suggested that these knives were
available at Wal-Mart, I couldn't find them in my local area. The best
price I could find for a set of 3 knives (8" chef's, 6" utility and 4"
paring) was $60 at Tavolo.com. I procrastinated for awhile and finally
decided to purchase them a couple of weeks ago. They were delivered in
two days and WOW, do I love them!! I understand that they are made in
Brazil and not in the Mecca of knife-making - Solingen, Germany - but
these knives really are phenomenal. They feel good in MY hand, have a
nice heft and balance, and cut like a ... well, a knife. I really do
love these knives, but I know how particular people are about Henckels,
Globals, Wusthofs, so I'll not run this into the ground. My point is,
for a third of the price of most other forged knives, you can get quite
a nice set from Tramontina. If you really want some of the pricier
brands, then by all means, buy them! However, if you hesitate to spend
that kind of money, try these. You won't be sorry.
Good luck and happy dicing,
Scott Walker
Scott Walker
knife purchase.
Moldy Moldy Man
priced at cooking.com. It's fantastic. Responds very well to the steel.
Stay sharp a good long while, too. I would definitely look for these, they
are great. I have seen some lesser knives at Wal-Mart that are also made by
them, but haven't tried them.
Moldy
Patricia Glenn
discontinued. It's a set of Chefmate Professional that I got at Target for
$60.00 on sale. It's a seven piece set, forged and made in China.
Sharpest, and easiest to sharpen, knives I've ever owned. I bought them on a
lark because they were only $60.00, and got the surprise of my life. My
son, who's a chef, even likes them as well as he likes his Henckel knives.
He says the balance and weight are good and the edge is superb! I agree
with him.
Every now and then you get lucky.
Pat
"Scott Walker" <*nospam*sdwa...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3A8F2938...@mindspring.com...
Gary O.
>I have a set of knives that is fantastic, but as far as I know they've been
>discontinued. It's a set of Chefmate Professional that I got at Target for
>$60.00 on sale. It's a seven piece set, forged and made in China.
>Sharpest, and easiest to sharpen, knives I've ever owned. I bought them on a
>lark because they were only $60.00, and got the surprise of my life. My
>son, who's a chef, even likes them as well as he likes his Henckel knives.
>He says the balance and weight are good and the edge is superb! I agree
>with him.
>
>Every now and then you get lucky.
>
>Pat
After reading about the Consumer Reports recommendation, and lacking
any other testimony at the time, I checked out the Tramontina at a
Target store. A clerk who happened to be passing by smiled knowingly,
saying, almost to himself, "You got a good knife there." He was
embarassed that he had been noticed, but he explained that he was
interested in cooking. On another trip, an enthusiastic clerk stopped
me from idly examining the same Tramontina, pointing out the Chefmate
Professional excitedly. As I had already purchased and embarassedly
returned the Tramontina, which was quite good, BTW, I didn't purchase
the Chefmate. But I was very impressed with the clerk's
recommendation. He was like, here is a find that NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT.
I checked out Tramontina Professional a few years ago. The Chef's
Knife was quite good. Not quite up to Henckels Professional-S or
Wusthof Trident Classic, but certainly nowhere near the price, either.
Quite a bargain, IMHO, which validates Consumer Reports'
recommendation (They do often go out on a limb in areas outside their
scope of knowledge), which has been echoed by numerous other sources,
i.e. cooking websites, food magazines, etc.
Gary O.
trac...@pacbell.net
Boron Elgar
wrote:
>After reading about the Consumer Reports recommendation, and lacking
>any other testimony at the time, I checked out the Tramontina at a
>Target store. A clerk who happened to be passing by smiled knowingly,
>saying, almost to himself, "You got a good knife there." He was
>embarassed that he had been noticed, but he explained that he was
>interested in cooking. On another trip, an enthusiastic clerk stopped
>me from idly examining the same Tramontina, pointing out the Chefmate
>Professional excitedly. As I had already purchased and embarassedly
>returned the Tramontina, which was quite good, BTW, I didn't purchase
>the Chefmate. But I was very impressed with the clerk's
>recommendation. He was like, here is a find that NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT.
>
I have Wustofs, Globals, Forschner's, Kyoceras & Dicks's, among
others. I also have Tramontinas.
The Tramontinas are just not anywhere near as good as my other
knives. They have two basic lines, one is much cheaper & of lower
quality than the one I own, so that isn't the problem. I am quite
dissappointed. They are not as well balanced and comfortable to use as
*any* of my others knives, either.
One of the sites linked from this thread mentioned that they do not
hold an edge as well as the higher priced knives, but that
hone/sharpen easily back to sharpness. I feel they do not even hold an
edge long enough to get through most common kitchen tasks & require
more effort than any other knife I have to keep in useable condition.
YMMV. I hate 'em.
Boron
Patricia Glenn
Too bad you didn't get them. They really are great knives, and inexpensive,
too. And, as far as I know, gone now. Of course, to be fair I have to
admit I sharpen with the Chef's choice sharpener.
Debbie Deutsch
<96pjib$5v4$1...@slb1.atl.mindspring.net>:
>
>Too bad you didn't get them. They really are great knives, and
>inexpensive, too. And, as far as I know, gone now. Of course, to be
>fair I have to admit I sharpen with the Chef's choice sharpener.
>
>Pat
>
>
>> After reading about the Consumer Reports recommendation, and lacking
>> any other testimony at the time, I checked out the Tramontina at a
>> Target store. A clerk who happened to be passing by smiled knowingly,
>> saying, almost to himself, "You got a good knife there." He was
>> embarassed that he had been noticed, but he explained that he was
>> interested in cooking. On another trip, an enthusiastic clerk stopped
>> me from idly examining the same Tramontina, pointing out the Chefmate
>> Professional excitedly. As I had already purchased and embarassedly
>> returned the Tramontina, which was quite good, BTW, I didn't purchase
>> the Chefmate. But I was very impressed with the clerk's
>> recommendation. He was like, here is a find that NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT.
>>
>
[SNIP]
Okay, here's another brand to think about: Lamson-Sharp. I have several
Wusthof-Trident knives, some much older Farberware knives (Consumer Reports
liked them at the time). Recently I have purchased a few Lamson-Sharp
knives. They are definitely the softest of the three, but they take a very
good edge and I like the way they feel in my hand. I have the ones with
riveted black plastic handles. The grip is very positive when they and my
hands are wet. The balance is good too. I've found that Lamson-Sharp is
more reasonably priced than the more heavily marketed European brands.
Having said that, I am also very happy with my Global vegetable cleaver.
It glides through onions and just about anything else. It also is just the
thing to mince ginger or garlic. Anyone out there care to say something
about the Lamson-Sharp equivalent?
Debbie
MS
says...
>
> I have Wustofs, Globals, Forschner's, Kyoceras & Dicks's, among
> others. I also have Tramontinas.
Do you collect knives?
MS
Boron Elgar
Not is any true sense of collecting, but we have way more than tha
average bear. We adore kitchern knives & since my husband & I both
cook & our we each have "favorites," the collection has grown over the
years. We have two large blocks filled.
Don't get me started about all the pocket knives, too.
Boron
WStehlin
but actually prefer the shape of the Tramontina at times (less rock).
Tramontina will not hold edge as long, but certainly more than adequate. The
Tramontina utility knife has too small a handle for me--much prefer the Wusthof
sandwich (Henckels 6" utility personally feels too big. I like the heft/feel of
the Wusthof paring.
Nevertheless, if I wanted to buy the above 3 knives with the lowest
expenditure for the best performance (first time knife buyer or minimal
outfitting for cabin, and don't care what anyone else thinks--pure performance
for $) I would get an 8" Forschner chef's w/ fibrox handle which has an
incredible edge (or possibly the Tramontina if I wanted a bit more heft),
splurge for a Wusthof sandwich (unless Forschner now has something close to
that blade shape) and a Forschner utility or two. The Forschners have
unbelievable blades, with it's " bread knife being the best on the market
(ahead of Wusthof and Henckels). If you aren't familiar with Forschner, look at
Cooks Illustrated.