Customer Reviews

Chicago Cutlery Walnut Tradition 14-Piece Block Set

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This set was a gift, a nice gift and terrific starter set for beginners in the kitchen or for persons who do an ocassional prep. Easy to use, nice craftsmanship, and very reasonable price for a quality name. A bread knife would have been terrific addition to the block set but all in all, feel free to get this set for that young couple or child who is moving into their own place for the first time. I am happy with it, besides it was a gift.

I got this set for my mom for Christmas. She is a "cook", no t a chef, so the knives are fine for her purposes. Better than what she had. The biggest disappointment was the wood handles, I don't know if they were not treated or what, but right out of the box they were dry and rough. They felt like they would give you splinters. My mom put some oil on them and it helped, but had I seen the handles as they were before purchase, I probably would not have purchased them. Or at least made the handles more presentable myself. But - I paid $25 for them and can't really complain too much.

I am in the food industry and have some great "old" Chicago knives. Some of my knives are over 50 years old and still going strong. They have great blades that sharpen easily and wear well.
I bought a vacation home recently and one of the first thing I bought for the kitchen was this set of Chicago Cutlery. I was angry when I saw what Chicago Cutlery has done to the quality of their product. Poor grade thin steel blades that feel like toy knives with handles of cheap poor quality wood.
Stay away from these knives...do not reward them for destroying a great American Tradition.
They should be forced to give up the Name......

Sometimes in life, you can pay a little and get a lot. But not this time.

I've had this set for about 6 years. I received it as a gift from my sister. We cook A LOT and so we feel we know a bit about knives through experience.

The wood handles dry out quickly, so you need to buy some mineral oil and apply it often. They won't look like they do in the picture for long, soon they will look like driftwood.

The metal that the blades are made of is very cheap, and don't hold an edge. One knife broke within a year, the metal blade just snapped in half. My wife wasn't abusing it, I forget exactly how it happened, but its the only knife we've ever broken and we have some nice Henkels and some cheaper ones we bought from Walmart.

The block is fine, its sturdy and holds together decently.

The knife sharpener rod works adequately ... if you know how to use it. Its easy to dull your knife on it. I prefer to use a block to sharpen my knives, in comparison to this particular one that comes with this set.

Anyway if you are on an extreme budget, I guess its not a bad deal, especially if you buy it on a gold box discount. But you need to keep your expectations low low low if you buy this set.

When I read reviews about being knives of low quality I was worried. However they seem to meet my expectations so far.

I'm not a cook, but for a regular kitchen this knife set are more than enough.

Knives are easily steeled to bring edge back. The knives are very easily taken care of by washing off blade and drying. For those who think they must hve a different knife for every occasion then this will work fine. Having worked as a meat cutter since the 50's I can cut up any size beef with just the boning knife.( And a Hand Saw for the bones) It is nice to have a 12 inch blade for the Round Steaks, but can get by without.

If you get splinters from the handles, then it is obivious you are unaware how to take care of wood. I have knives from the 50's never one splinter ...of coure I have never washed a knife with a wooden handle in a dish washer either.

These can last a life time.

This set of knives is awesome! I love that it contains the couple of knives I consider essential (chefs, utility and paring) AND a set of 8 steak knives all in a block!

I'm normally good about reading descriptions... but somehow I missed that the large chef knife was just a litte biddy thing... Luckily for me, this happens to be my preference in knife sizes. The wood handles do need occasional oiling, no biggie there. I mainly bought the set for the 8 steak knives and am very pleased... and since was a sale item, it was defiantely cheap enough to be worth it.

Excellent product, and unreal price! I've used Chicago Cutlery for over 35 years, and am still very happy with their knives.

Great item for the prices. Superb quality, great set. Highly recommend this purchase