Ken Onion Cutlery by Chef Works

As you have guessed,both Ken an I have tested amny steels over the years, nad to daye the one we like best is SG2, made by takafu corporation in Japan. however i was stunned at the quality of the steel being made by Carpenter Steel in reading PA. Their BDZ1 was a great surprise, and they have a new steel that we are going to launch this year that could change everything. Stay tuned.

as of now, there is no plan to offer theses

The Ken onion cooks knife was orrigionally inspired by Sarah Molton, and Bobby Flay. It was specifically designed to work with the motion that all professional Chef’s were trained to use and culinary school. what makes it great is the fact that a lay person will now pinch grip becasue the design of the knife forces them to. that is the genius of the his designs. It makes you beter becasue of the way it is designed. You just have to hold it to understand. all of the shapes are useful depending on how you cook.

@deaomega: Thanks for all of the fantastic information.

After buying one of these knives, I went to Chef Works and was quite surprised that this is not the same knife sold there for $200. This is a MUCH cheaper version–handle suitable for dishwasher–who in their right mind puts their knives in the dishwasher? Not the same quality blade. Why didn’t the description say it was made similar to the original and not pretend it was THE original Ken Onion cutlery? Very disappointed.

Ken Onion lost his contract with Kershaw knives which contracted with Shun to make their and his kitchen knives. I think it is Kershaw’s loss.

I like a six inch utility knife for a lot of chores, but paring knives around four inches are very good too

These seem ridiculously overpriced for what they are. You can get Shuns for these prices, and you know you’re getting good steal with those. These look really cheap and gimmicky.

What is the rockwell hardness rating on these knives, the filet knife in particular.

Hi, since I was the head of shun, when ken left, I can tell you he quit and wasn’t fired.

As the product developer, I recommend the Santility

You are simply wrong. Shun Ken onions were two and a half times the prices here. I should know I was the head of shun at the time. I am now the product developer for these. The materials are way more advance than what was used then. They are a great value.

They are a 58 Rockwell.

I’ll be happy to try it out. I cut a lot of meat at work and will try to post more on it after I use it for a while.

I’m assuming these will be popping up every other week until the first lot is sold out. If not, oh well. I’m looking forward to a boning knife with a blade shape I like that isn’t as soft that I will have to sharpen it every other week. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations and the hype associated with the Ken Onion name.

deaomega, nice to have you here helping people.

On a separate note, I bought a Shun set a few years ago here on woot. burglar stole one of the two large knives, and I inquired to at least find the model number, and Shun support could not offer any information other than that they’re not available.

I was a bit disappointed that they couldn’t at least look up the model number so I could watch for buying a used replacement to re-complete the set.

Mmmm. . . bread.

Kudos to the photographer here.

Filet knife showed up. So far so good. Tore through the sirloins and filets at work. It will never slip from hand. I’m looking forward to using it on some whole hogs in a few weeks.

Grip was great, factory edge was good. I just washed it and sanitized it, no stropping or honing. It should be easy enough to sharpen, no weird curves to deal with.

Tip tip has be worried it will break off eventually but so far so good.

I purchased 3 of these knives. Originally I thought they were going to be the rain series. I was disappointed when I opened the boxes and saw what they actually are. Thanks for posting this information on these knives.
First Impressions
I bought the reverse paring knife because it is truly unique. Should make paring easier with a more natural motion.

The slicer and bread knife, well time will tell. My current slicer is a MAC, so I will compare against that. The bread knife, I think the offset handle and slight curve blade should make things easier.
420HC - Latrobe specialty steel. Fairly good performance at a cheap price. I would expect a better grade steel on an $80 knife, and a $50 paring knife. I do not anticipate good edge retention, particularly on the slicer.

Just adding to my prior post. I bought these mainly for my wife to use, thinking she would love the ergonomic design…WRONG!
She won’t use them. I bought three of these…Slicer, Bread, and reverse parer.
Well I decided to sell the slicer which I used all of twice. Looks like new. Put it up on Ebay for 2 weeks now at $39.95 and free shipping. No bids. I dropped the price to $34.95 and it sold. After I paid the fees and the shipping, I ended up with $20. That is one quarter of what I paid.
So much for the great value I got.
This is what happens when you buy kitchen cutlery where the profit margins exceed the cost of production.
I am keeping the bread knife and reverse paring knife since I already know no one is willing to pay even half of what they cost new.
Oh and by the way, the RAIN series knives are all over Ebay and UNSOLD to boot. I am very glad I did not buy one of them.
Caveat Emptor!