Customer Reviews

Victorinox 48042 Cutlery 3-Piece Paring Knife Set

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I almost didn't buy this set because I figured I'd have no use for a gimmicky curved knife and a serrated blade, I only wanted the normal paring knife, but the set was only a little bit more expensive than an individual paring knife. As it turns out I use the curved knife more than any other knife I own, and the serrated one more than the normal paring knife- I was fully prepared to hide those two knives in the back of my drawer and never look at them again, but they are really great. I'm sure you can get better knives somewhere, but not at anything remotely close to this price. I am pretty picky about knives, and Forschner's are definitely the best I have used. I also strongly recommend the 8 inch chefs knife. I guess the best way to sum up my feelings about these (and the 8 inch chef's knife) is that I would have happily paid 4 or 5 times what they cost.

I've ordered this set and other Foschner knives and I highly recommend them.

They are reasonably priced, keep their edge, and are balanced.

I think they are better than my high-priced, over-rated Henckels knives.

It's great to find a reasonably-priced quality product.

This is a wonderful, very sharp, set of knives... perfect for cutting up anything from deli meats to put in a salad to veggies, etcc... Wash in the dishwasher... great price... Watch when handling... they are sharp

People say these knives are sharp. I agree. They are sharp out of box. However, the sharp edge holds about a week or two, by only doing light duty work, such as peeling fruits and slicing meat. It doesn't become dull, but the the sharpness wears out. To prove my point, I took a few photographs on the edge of the 3.25-inch Straight Edge Parer. They are uploaded to the customer images section. Each one show a section of the blade. As you can see in the first picture, the edge near the black handle is least used. It still maintain the original sharpness. The edge is very smooth in the picture. The the left, you can see the edge becomes fuzzy through out the rest of the blade. Remember, this is only after two weeks of light use.
Update:
From a technical perspective, I stand by what I wrote about reduced sharpness in light use. But after a couple years of use, I have changed my mind about the value of this knife set. It is indeed one of the most handy tools in the kitchen. The advantages of the paper weight become clear. Even though I have another forged paring knife, I prefer to use Victorinox for ease of maneuver. The cutting edges, although losing the factory sharpness initially, never become too dull to use. For practical purposes, they are holding up very well. I'd be giving it a more positive rating today, and recommend it to other shoppers.

The standard paring knife included here is wonderful. It's thin, lightweight, flexible, and sharp. It slides through vegetables as easily as it does through butter. It neatly conforms to the contours of what you're cutting, if you so desire. I cored some tomatoes last night, and didn't have any issues. Great, too, for mincing garlic.

Honestly, I haven't really found much use for the other two knives in this package, as they're specialty knives, and I don't do a whole lot of the peeling which they're useful for. The normal paring knife is fine for most non-peeling sorts of tasks.

But, for $10, you're not going to find a better paring knife. The only way you're going to get something better is to spend four or five times as much, and I'd rather just buy a new one of these every few years (under heavy use). (As another reviewer said, they're quite thin, so sharpening would be a pain -- I haven't had to do so, yet.)

I purchased these on somewhat of a whim as my older paring knives were getting worn. They have quickly become the first knives I reach for. The varied selection fulfill most of my daily needs. They are sharp and lightweight which is especially handy for a woman. I'm very satisfied with my purchase and it didn't "break the bank". I think they will sharpen easily when needed and last for many, many years.


10/09- I've used these knives now for over a year and they sharpen up quickly and easily with this handy little sharpener: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002JENO8/ref=cm_rdp_product I am very happy with both of these purchases and recommend them.

3/11- I still have and use these knives daily. They hold their sharpness quite well for my needs, (though I am not a professional chef), and are very comfortable to use for me. I am an average sized, middle 50's woman, and use these knives for a multitude of tasks.

I am very happy with these great all around knives, use them for everything, all the time, very handy

For about $10 you can have three great knives, one of which was rated by America's Test Kitchen as best paring knife hands down regardless of price. I use really just the paring knife as it is easy to use in many small tasks and is light and flexible. at around $4-5 a piece separately you are basically getting a free knife with purchase of two.

As for the wavy edge and the birds beak i do not really use that often. For fruit I sometimes use the birds beak parer but generally find the straight edge easier to use.

This set is not perfect though, the handles are not the same type of grippy fibrox used in the larger kitchen knives, I really liked that feature like in the chef's knife when things got wet or oily. another thing, though the knives were sharp out of the box, the thinness of the metal, which gives it flexibility, creates an edge that gets worn easily, for the straight knife thats not much of a problem, but for the other two sharpening I imagine would be a hassle. Then again you can always just get another set as they are priced so low.

Though cheap, they are really worth at least 3 times their price. Would buy it again. Keeps the edge well. Light to the feel, plastic handle allows dishwasher usage. Well balanced. Swiss made, who can complain?

Great, sharp knives. Thanks to Americas Test Kitchen for the great review which encouraged me to purchase these knives. They are the best I have had and great value.