A Cookware.com Product Review, Photos Included

Dear Friends,

On October 15, I received a package in the mail from Cookware.com. My husband eagerly opened the package for me and exclaimed, "Ginsu knives?! These are really good knives!" Yes dear, I know they are. :) Neatly wrapped inside was a Ginsu knife set. Even though he's not the chef of the house, I think he takes pride in the gadgets and gizmos we collect. At first sight, we were very impressed with the knives. The bamboo block is more compact, thus taking up less counter space than our older one. Each knife is a little heavier than what I am used to, but the smooth handles make them easy to control. Unfortunately the bread knife was missing, but we hardly ever use the bread knife we already have, so we don't miss this too much. The website described the Ginsu set as such:
Several decades ago a knife was created that is to this day known as the "Sharpest Knife on the Market". It was the Ginsu knife. Ginsu knives are a symbol of ancient Japanese traditions. The Samurai sword is renowned for being sharp enough to cut through anything. Ginsu knives were created to reflect that same quality, in craftsmanship and sharpness with Japanese stainless steel that will still cut through anything. The quality of Ginsu knives is not only known and respected by consumers, but also by all other premium knife brands. Bring home the quality and sharpness of Ginsu cutlery today.

I have to admit, I'm thinking that this knife set isn't actually a genuine Ginsu set... if it was, I don't think the blade would say China on it, being that Ginsu is Japanese... I'm pretty sure Japan is more advanced than the U.S. and doesn't have everything made in China... they've got their own thing going on. Nevertheless, this set is good quality and wears the Ginsu name proudly, even if the "Japanese stainless steel" mentioned above was clearly made in China.

Every knife, except for the 7" Santoku knife, is serrated in ways I've never seen before. Perhaps I should get out more, but even Glenn was impressed with the uniqueness of the serration, if that is such a word. Instead of the jagged edge we're used to dealing with, we were surprised to see this lovely design. It looks smooth and as if it wouldn't be able to cut through a cotton ball, but I was very surprised...

October 17: The very first knife I used was the 7" serrated chef's knife. I was torn between using it and the Santoku knife, but since I already have a small 5" Santoku and know the ways of it, I decided to give the serrated chef's knife a whirl on an onion I needed to chop for some chili. I admit, I smiled when I made the first slice into the onion. It was effortless and comfortable! I cried! (okay, that was the onion's fault...)

October 18: I tested out the 5" serrated utility knife on some chicken breasts at lunch. I don't know about you, but I find it much easier to slice up chicken breast with a serrated knife. Chicken is slippery and moves all over the place, and if your straight edge knife isn't super sharp, you are in for a lot of frustration. In the past I would use my steak knives for cutting chicken for that very reason. The utility knife is lighter than the chefs knife and easy to handle. It worked great on the chicken. The serrated edge is also different from the chef's knife.... I was surprised that the serration was actually different... typically a knife set is uniform, but I like that I actually have a choice when it comes to what kind of serrated edge I want to use.

At dinner time, I put the 3.5" paring knife to the test. As mentioned above, I'm used to whipping out the steak knives on a tomato or bell pepper because my old paring knife, if not sharp enough, just pressed into the fruit/veggie leaving an ugly scar instead of a smooth slice. I need to thinly slice up some bell peppers for taco night. When making really small slices of things, I prefer using the smaller knives for better control. The paring knife in this set lived up to its larger brothers... slicing was effortless and comfortable. I don't think I've ever had so much fun cutting up a bell pepper. I found myself wishing I had some more to slice up just for the fun of it. I'm sure if I looked hard enough in my fridge and pantry, I would have found something...

October 19: At 7 in the morning I needed to slice up some veggies for a crock pot roast. I decided to give the 7" Santoku knife a whirl because I love my old 5" knife, it just wasn't as big as I needed. This morning, the 7" Santoku sliced through red potatoes like butter. I knew I was going to absolutely love this knife. I do love the serrated chef's knife and will use it a lot on certain things, but this Santoku knife is definitely top notch. Even cutting through carrots was effortless and I hate cutting carrots. This one knife definitely has my heart.

The four steak knives that come with this set are serrated the same as the 7" chef's knife, so I already know, without using them, how they will cut. Steak season is a little out right now unless I whip out the broiler pan, so these knives have not been used yet and probably won't be for a while, but their comfortable handles and weight tell me that they will work just as beautifully as big pappa chef knife. The kitchen shears are really nice as well. I have only used them to open packages so far, not meat, even though I do enjoy shearing chicken, I think I prefer using the knives on the meat. :)

Overall, I have been very impressed with this knife set, especially with such a low price tag in tact. For $43.99, this is a good Christmas gift just waiting to happen. Know a couple getting married soon? Just an idea... :)

I'm pretty sure Cookware.com will receive business from me in the future. The website features a plethora of items in every price range. After seeing the quality of these inexpensive knives, I'm more apt to purchase in the future. I hope you take some time to look at the website and even consider these knives as a gift for the upcoming holidays... I definitely am.