Customer Reviews

Sabatier Grand Chef 10-Piece Knife Set in Wood Block

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I collect forged kitchen knives and enjoy gourmet cooking. I own knives or sets from all the major manufacturers. That's a lot of knives.

Amazon sells this set for 7vnt to 8ty percnt off the normal p rice all the time. At that price it's the best value in forged knives. These are French, not Chinese made Sabatier and are top of the line quality. I prefer Wüsthof Grand Prix or Wüsthof Classic to all lines, some prefer Global, Henckels, Dick or even Sabatier.

Considering the price (you can get this set for the cost of an 8" Wüsthof or an 8" Dick) you can't beat the Grand Chef sets at Amazon. You get six top of the line quality French forged blades and four other pieces for the cost of a single good blade. Most cooks would never need those six blades let alone the odd mezzaluna.

I titled this review "6 fine blades" because only six pieces are French forged blades; the other pieces are made in China. The scissors and mezalluna are typical B tier Chinese cutlery, the block is ok. The sharpening "steel" is the higher quality Sabatier sharpening steel, but it still is worse that the sharpening steel you'd get from other quality manufacturer. For some reason, Sabatier sharpening steels stink. The one they package with the cheap set is even worse. For this price, you can buy an open stock steel if you get a particularly bad sharpening steel with your set.

And, if you want good kitchen shears. Shop Henckels! The Sabatier shears are guaranteed to be a little bit off but you'll probably still be happy with them and for this price who can complain.

I disagree with the reviewer who prefers the Calphylon set. Calphylon knives are of lesser quality than top of the line German, Japanese or French forged knives. The reason Calphylon knives are so heavy, is the lesser manufacturing techniques. That weight is not quality, it's the opposite. I give Calphylon knives as presents to friends with pressed knives. They are the "B" team with Farberware forged; great value but not top of the line. If you ever used top of the line German/Japanese you'd see why Calphylon is too heavy. It's cheaper to make them too heavy, that's why the list price and street price is so reasonable for Calphylon knives. If you web search to find this Grand Chef set, you'll see it really sells for the list price on other sites. Unlike many Sabatier sets, this one does actually sell for close to the list price in other venues..

I own this 10-pc. set in the Provence model (rosewood handles versus the Grand Chef's traditional black) and am delighted with it. The knives are beautiful -- they should be kept on a knife magnet instead of hidden away in a block.
These Sabatier knives are made in France -- most of their lines are not, just as most of Wusthof's and Henckel's are not -- buyers need to check carefully. The simplest advice is that only the most expensive sets are made in France or Germany, respectively.
This set competes head-to-head with Wusthof's Classic series and Henckel's Professional "S" (Pro-S in the trade lingo) series. I own the Wusthof set and a number of the Pro-S knives. While I have a slight personal preference for the Pro-S ones, they are much more expensive than this set and the current difference in price gives Sabatier the nod hands down. The Sabatier handles are more squared off than the others, but you're not likely to notice that. If you can buy a 10-piece set of Sabatier Grand Chef knives for $$$, do it. I think it's the best relative value in a knife set today.

Like other reviewers, I did not receive my knife set in mint condition. However, unlike some of them, I have good things to say about the knives as well.

The Bad:
--All of the handles were slightly battered when I received them.
--The wood block is obviously not of the highest quality--the varnish job is uneven and the block smells like glue.
--As mentioned by others, the scissors included are not the ones advertised. They're high quality, but don't have the notches in the blade and handle for opening bottle caps, etc.

The Good:
--All of the blades came in perfect condition. Others have suggested that their sets may have been used before. Mine clearly had not.
--Despite some cosmetic defects, these are still really, really good knives. The balance is fantastic, and they are quite sharp. I haven't had them for long enough to comment on durability
--The selection of knives in this set is excellent for me, though I don't know how much I'll use the mezzaluna (note: this, as well as the block, is made in China, not France. The quality of these two pieces is clearly not as high as the rest).

On the whole, this is still an excellent deal despite the cosmetic defects and other minor complaints. Recommended (with a few reservations) for those like me who can't afford Wustof or Henkels but want high-quality forged knives.

I concur with knife collector, the 6 French knives are as good as any German or Japanese forged knives I've used.

The knife handles are not wrapped in plastic and come into contact prior to opening in the shipping box (foolish Sabatier). This leads to very very minor surface scratches on the handles, hence the scratches leading some reviewers to mistake the product for used. Knives are really not damaged from such things but I can understand how that would make someview view an item as imperfect. However, these people are being very picky. You get scratches like this on Henkels and I assume those come from the factory and I've gotten Wustof knives with grind defects on the handles (so even the best get it wrong sometimes).

When this set in Seven-ty percnt or more off it's the most incredible knive value on the Internet. In general, the Grand Chef sets at Amazon when deep discounted are the most consistent best buy in forged cutlery.

Unlike some reviewers, I got the same block and scissors illustrated on the box and the web site pictures. If you dont' get what you order you can trust Amazon to give you a refund and make the return relatively painless.

These knives appeared in my gold box, so I investigated. At the time I purchased them the gold box deal came to about $100, and Amazon was offering a $20 gift card, so the net cost to me was $80. I wanted to upgrade from the cheapie "never needs sharpening" knife blocks that show up under the tree at Christmas, but I didn't have a large budget for my transition to a real grown-up's kitchen.

What a great value for the money these turned out to be.

I agree with all the negative issues mentioned (cheesy block, crappy sharpening steel, chintzy mezzaluna, poor packaging that knocks the handles against each other). Once you overlook these annoyances, this is a great value for the six good knives you get in the set.

They are easy to handle, sharpen, wash, and they feel great. I also like the slightly smaller scale of the bread knife and the fact that there are 2 different paring knife sizes. Since I received the knife set I have not used any other knives in my kitchen.

If you see this set for $80, jump on it. Since I bought the set I have continued to comparison shop (department stores, cooking stores, etc.), and I can't believe what a deal these were. I hope to have these for a long time. Goodwill will be getting the rest of my "lifetime/never needs sharpening" [whatever] collection.

These can be had at about $100-$130 on special here so don't spend full price just check back often. I ordered these a few months ago and frankly I think they were a steel. People have had various complaints from the steel being too rough to the lack of packing on the handles. But realistically it's the blades that matter, anything else at this price is a bonus. After using them a few months you'll scratch up the handles a bit yourself anyways.

Needless to say my handles were in fine shape, the shears as pictures and burrs in the blade? Hah, I'm afraid to rub my finger on the blade as I might cut myself they're so sharp. Try em out, it's amazon you can always return them if you have any problems. Else there are some fine Henkels and Whustoff sets for $400 if your too busy to make an exchange and have an extra $300 to blow.

I'm definitely not an expert when it comes to cooking, but I like to pretend to cook like one when I get the chance. The problem with wanting to cook like a pro, is that you have to be willing to spend the money for the equipment. I'm all about value, so I'm constantly surfing the web for the close-out and clearance buys. I've found that The Grand Chef Series from Sabatier is probably pound for pound the best deal going right now on the web. The knives are worth their weight in Gold.

Currently I have the pleasure of owning boutique type knives forged in Germany (Frederick Dick) and Japan (Monzaburo), and have been piecing together my own set little by little (as you all know forged knives are quite expensive). Until I stumbled on the super deal here on Amazon. I've been cutting up everything in the fridge since I got my set this weekend. The Chef's knife is the champion in the set, blazing through anything I could put to it's edge! From slabs of beef to red ripe tomatose, the knives effortlessly carve through it all.

In comaparison to the my German and Japanese knives, the French set is right up there with the best of em'. Although the German knives are a bit more hefty and the Japanese Knives slightly sharper in edges, the Sabatier set has more balance and finesse. For overall performance, I give them 5 stars. 4 stars for aesthetics. The knives arrived a bit scratched around some of the handles, however, for the price I can't complain. I'm very pleased with the purchase. The four piece Grand Chef Steak knives are on there way...more to follow when they come.

First of all just give away the freebie crud like the made in China mezzaluna and honing steel (come on y'all, review the knives, not the stuffing). And burn the block in your wood stove. Now just admire the quality of these high carbon, forged French blades. For the price, which just went down on Amazon, you cannot get a better set of knives. Naturally, forget the dishwasher and just use a whetstone now and then. You will not be dissapointed.

In contrast to some of the pst reviewers I received my knife set in great shape with the exact equipment pictured in Amazon web site. The knives are well made and feel and handle great. The sharpening steel is not the best, but all in all a great value for knives of this caliber.

These blades are heavy, you can feel the construction. Like many have said the mezzaluna is china made, but good quality and shears are not what is shown (no bottle opener on the blade and no bottle/jar opener in between the handles)....the shears I am a little p!ssed about as even the box shows the 'better' shears, but I picked this up for a steel (misspelling and pun intended!). The shears are nice shears though.

These are nice knives, definitely equal the top of the line knives from Germany like the highest quality Wusthof and Henckels, yet I got them for less half the cost of their sets and at Amazon half the cost of the mall....I actually found my set there for twice the price I paid!

I was going to buy the Faberware set that was about 3/4 the price of this one with twice the knives. It was a best buy in Consumer Reports, but I am glad I got this one as it has all the knives I need and now can add blades as I find new 'needs' rather than upgrade what I have. My wife (she's Japanese) wants a 'hocho' which is called a Santoku here...

The only other possible drawback is the wood block is not form fitted to all the blades....this will actually work out for the best for 'most' cooks (at least I am happy about this) as only the two smallest knives (the 3 1/2 and 4" parers or the tomato/bagel blade) won't have a 'real' spot...these knives are better in a drawer anyway. I only mention this because a friend once was upset their knives were loose in the block that came with the set they bought.

The 'spots' in the wood block are really suited to the sizes of 1 8" chef, 3 8" slicers (with a hair more room for a very slightly larger knife), the 5" tomato/bagel, shears, and sharpener....but it works great for the set included. I am not upset at all it came this way as I want to add a bread slicer and carving knife anyway, and I have always kept my paring blades in the top drawer.

This was GREAT DEAL!!!!