ZWILLING J.A. Henckels Five-Star 8-Inch Chefs Knife

It is hands-down the most used knife in our kitchen. The balance is fantastic and it will cut through anything. Easy to control, sharp as (expletive deleted), easy to clean... did I mention sharp? As with any good piece of cutlery, take of it and it will take care of you. This knife is worth every penny. If you have one knife in your kitchen, this would be a hard one to top.

This would be a great line of cutlery except for one thing;The bolster eventually eventually protrudes lower than the actual blade edge after repeated sharpenings, no matter how careful you are not to remove extra metal. I bought almost the entire line of 5-star Henckels cutlery years ago from Amazon when I worked as a cook on the Las Vegas strip. If it weren't for this, they would be absolutely acceptable. Many German knives come with a full bolster for comfort while cutting. I got around this by grinding the bolster down on a Tormek sharpener, but I will never buy German cutlery again. FWIW, Japanese style cutlery, at least the higher quality lines, come with much harder steel. It's not as "tough", but it retains an edge quite a bit better, and can be honed extremely fine, with a mirror edge, if you have the right sharpening tools. I made these purchases many years ago, so my review probably won't show up as a verified purchase.

This is the best knife I own, really makes a difference when trying to work with the membranes on racks of ribs and on skirt steaks. I guess I expected a little more sharpness to the blade- I'm satisfied but not overwhelmed.

This is an amazing top-quality German kitchen knife for a great price (about $50). I went online and bought all three available. I believe they are no longer making this line (so buy them while you can; the price is right!).

It's not that this Henckels is a bad knife. Cause it's not.It's that there are dozens of better knives available for the same price ($120) or less. This Henckels employs a full length bolster that will only truly serve to hinder sharpening down the road. It is made of soft steel that will not hold as fine an edge and will require far more frequent sharpening than many of its competitors.The steel in the blade is no better than that in a Forschner. And while it may look a bit less handsome than a Henckels, a Forschner also costs 1/4 as much. And has better geometry (thinner behind the edge) to improve performance. Globals, also costing less than Henckels, use steel and geometry that blow this knife away. They are sharper than Henckels AND their edges last much longer before going dull. Tojiros, even less expensive, are better still. Shuns, costing about the same, likewise have better steel and geometry and also offer free sharpening for life.These knives (along with wusthofs) have benefited from a trio of false claims about what makes for a good knife. They are:1. A full length bolster is safer and helps balance a knife.- Not safer at all. A bolster gets in the way of sharpening and seriously limits the usefulness of a knife down the road. And balancing a knife is not some mystical endeavor like it's made out to be - it's the simplest of physics and the Japanese seem to have it worked out just fine without bolsters.2. A forged knife is best.- Was true once. Not anymore. There are laminated knives that far surpass the forged steel of the Henckels. There are stamped knives that are just as strong, just as sharp, and in all other ways the equal of forged steel.3. A full tang is a MUST in any decent knife.- A knife should be well attached to it's handle and never come loose or apart during use. That's it. A full tang is only one option of many to this end.I'm sorry for the rant. This knife is selling for far more than it is worth based on reputation and the misconceptions I mentioned above. A Henckels is a good knife if you want to use the same blade to chop through bones as you use to mince herbs (though if it was properly sharp before chopping through bones, it probably isn't afterward). If you want to bash a knife against hard surfaces and not have it chip, this is your brand. But if you'd rather have a little (or a lot) more performance for your money, you should look elsewhere.

Best knifes ever.

I have the cheap gene and not spending what the high end German knives go for new. I bought a used one. Remarkable shape, no scratches or damage, $25 shipped. I sharpened it to my standards. 5star handle little odd looking but it is comfortable to hold. I like a heavy kitchen knife, this being however about as heavy as I would want. It takes very sharp edge, just like the Henckels 4star paring knife and the Wusthof classic paring knife I had got earlier in abused condition. I found a cheap Spanish Henckels International utility knife mostly curious how it compares. Will say it took sharp edge, its an older International classic line and its heavy. Just didnt like the feel as much as the German ones. I could tell difference when sharpening it. Decent steel, but different than the German Henckels.Now saying that, my favorite chef knives are a Lion Sabatier and an old Utica cleaver. Sabatier lighter and lets one use lot more finesse but still has heft. they just got it right. I had bought it damaged and repaired edge. I mean looked like some clueless person tried to open paint can with it.... Was truly amazed how much I liked it. My daily driver the past couple years is a 1950s Utica Super Edge small 6 inch cleaver. It was nearly free in abused condition, plain carbon steel. I cleaned it up and put very sharp edge on it and use it like a Chinese vegetable cleaver. I dont whack bones with it. I have no problem owning all three, each has its advantages, though also somewhat interchangable. Though honestly got the Sabatier and the Henckels more out of curiosity than anything. The old Utica serves my purposes for most part and with daily use, at most only need to touch it up once a year. It holds its sharpness very well but edge only touches food and cutting board. Most reasonable knives if sharpened well and not abused will keep edge lot longer than people think. You dont need super high end knife for home kitchen use. You dont need some exotic super hard steel. But again depends on your individual need and use. The higher end knives are a pleasure to use. Goes beyond just sharpness and edge retention. So I am sure not going to fault somebody splurging on one.