chef knife on a cheapskate budget

Inevitability

Inevitability

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Hello friendly friends!
So I have R200 for a chef's knife.
Is it even worth looking for a decent one on that budget?
One day, when I'm big, I'll get the Victorinox Chef's Knife, but that's waaaaaaaaaaaay over my budget for the foreseeable future.
There are a few known bands that sell "forged" knives under R200 (Russell Hobbs being one of them), but I dunno if these are any good (edge holding, and whatever other qualities make a knife good)
so... any suggestions / advice?
 
Best comment from that link :

"I dont know what are you cutting in your kitchen but we cook 3 meals a day and have been using the same $5.99 knife from walmart we bought in 2001."
 
saor said:
Have you seen that specific one locally?
Click to expand...
Nope ... I have seen Victorinox knives locally, but when I ask for the specific ID# (or whatever it's called that uniquely identifies the model), it's never the same one as the one on the link :(
But even if it was... It would be 5x my budget!
 
Forget about the name brands if you cant afford them and go to a catering shop and ask what they have. Your butcher is also a good place to ask where to get a good one.
 
Dont laugh - but have you tried your local cash crusader/converter. I saw a Wusthof at a shop in Boksburg a couple months/year back. Think it was selling for R250 and looked in good shape...
 
Get a sharpener while you're at it and learn to use it. A cheap chef's knife will still get you good results if you sharpen it - which you'll have to do pretty often.

Sorry, no recommendations for brands. They're all **** :)
 
Beachless said:
Forget about the name brands if you cant afford them and go to a catering shop and ask what they have. Your butcher is also a good place to ask where to get a good one.
Click to expand...
skeptic_SA said:
Dont laugh - but have you tried your local cash crusader/converter. I saw a Wusthof at a shop in Boksburg a couple months/year back. Think it was selling for R250 and looked in good shape...
Click to expand...
Ejeckt said:
Get a sharpener while you're at it and learn to use it. A cheap chef's knife will still get you good results if you sharpen it - which you'll have to do pretty often.
Sorry, no recommendations for brands. They're all **** :)
Click to expand...
Thanks x3 for the advice!
 
Batista said:
Best comment from that link :
"I dont know what are you cutting in your kitchen but we cook 3 meals a day and have been using the same $5.99 knife from walmart we bought in 2001."
Click to expand...
hehe... my cheapie kitchen knife is total shee-yaat :D
Cutting edge doesn't last more than a few cuts after sharpening and I can bend it easily.
I could just go buy a random makro/checkers/takealot one, but I'd like to put some thought into it an buy a "keeper".
...For R200 or less :)

Rickster said:
I see builders have this ceramic knife for R200, give it a try.
Click to expand...
But don't they break as soon as they fall?
Google told me... must be true!
 
Wanting a 'keeper' knife for r200 is a contradiction in terms. Anything that's a keeper is valuable, by definition, and knives are no different. If you get something for R200 because that's your budget it's fine, but you should plan in future to get a better knife.
I'm not being condescending about it - I only have a R500 knife that I have to sharpen regularly - but one day I'll get a Rusthof or similar (I really want carbon steel) and that will be my keeper.
 
Last edited:
Inevitability said:
Hello friendly friends!
So I have R200 for a chef's knife.
Is it even worth looking for a decent one on that budget?
One day, when I'm big, I'll get the Victorinox Chef's Knife, but that's waaaaaaaaaaaay over my budget for the foreseeable future.
There are a few known bands that sell "forged" knives under R200 (Russell Hobbs being one of them), but I dunno if these are any good (edge holding, and whatever other qualities make a knife good)
so... any suggestions / advice?
Click to expand...

I have Grunter Victorinox and Freddy Hirche and freddy Hirche is the best i have used so far...
 
Last edited:
cerebus said:
I'm not being condescending about it - I only have a R500 knife that I have to sharpen regularly - but one day I'll get a Rusthof or similar (I really want carbon steel) and that will be my keeper.
Click to expand...
Which knife do you use?
It has decent heft?
 
cerebus said:
Wanting a 'keeper' knife for r200 is a contradiction in terms. Anything that's a keeper is valuable, by definition, and knives are no different. If you get something for R200 because that's your budget it's fine, but you should plan in future to get a better knife.
I'm not being condescending about it - I only have a R500 knife that I have to sharpen regularly - but one day I'll get a Rusthof or similar (I really want carbon steel) and that will be my keeper.
Click to expand...
Noted and I agree... bad choice of words in my part. I should have rather said "I wanna put some thought into buying a knife that's the best value for money I can get under R200" , cos that's the most accurate summary of what I want.
 
I would suggest looking out for sales on One Day Only, takealot etc.
My brother recently found these for effectively R300 at @home:
http://www.takealot.com/global-cooks-knife-20cm/PLID28005655

My current global knife is absolutely awesome.

Before I could afford something decent, I got a cheap Wilkinson Sword, which is now about 14 years old. It's still pretty usable, and better than what I find in most people's kitchens. It's so much better than a prestige knife I bought when I was in a pinch a while ago.
 
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