I tested a Misen 8" Chef Knife against a Zwilling Pro 8" Chef Knife. Interesting. 

Good on you, Jeff. Misen seem like great people so it doesn't surprise me that they looked after you. Send me a note at my email, I have something that I want to send you to try.

@@hepgeoff jed@cookculture.com

they use aus 10 steel

Messermeister is quality!

I find that cheap knives can appear to be a good deal "out of the box". After a some time however, not so much.. In scandinavia at least, knife sharpenning is expensive. If you do it yourself, it is timeconsuming to learn. With a premium knife, the time or money saved on sharpenning alone can often tip the balance in my opinion :)

@@RuneAbro Misen offers free knife sharpening. You just send it back to them and they will sharpen it and return it to you. But honestly if you are working in a kitchen it is your own responsibility to keep your knives sharp. Picking up a couple of whetstones is the way to go with any knife.

@@ling2186 You'd pay more for a couple of decent whetstones than you would for that Misen knife. An out-of-the-box knife test is pretty pointless anyway. Does it take a good edge? Does it hold that edge? How easy is it to sharpen? And what are you looking for from your kitchen knife? Do you want a workhorse that'll slice and chop everything from big root vegetables to fine sashimi fish? Or are you looking for a specific knife fior a specific task, ie, just the sashimi or just the vegetables?

I use the 15 degree Accusharp Asian Style Sharpener on my Victorinox 8 inch Chefs knife. The Accusharp has maintained a razor sharp edge on my knife for years. I’m sure it never gets dulled down like one being used in a professional Setting. I understand the point being made. A professional chef uses a knife so much for prepping everyday so the small difference in comfort is a bigger issue. The volume of items being prepped would dull the blade rapidly. The Misen would work well , stay sharp for the home cook. The usage for preparing meals even for a family of 4 - 6 would not dull the blade rapidly and the small difference in hand comfort would not be noticeable for most. Makes sense to spend a third of the price for a knife that will perform beautifully for the home cook.

Hi, thanks. That's a good concept of a different video.

The zwilling is made of "softer" steel, and more traditional European. The Misen of AUS-10 which is normally used in more asian style knifes. So likely the Zwilling's edge doesn't last as long. But the Zwilling is probably easier to sharpen and maintain, and has less risk of chipping, can be used on somewhat frozen foods etc.

@@jortpeters6419 I'm familiar with the construction of both. My comment was aimed at the lack of effort put forth by the creator. I'd be willing to bet thet the Misen performs very well after a nice edge is put on it.

Wusthof make excellent knifes and I'm a big fan. Misen is good for the money but apples to apples I would take the Wusthof.

Awesome!

Wüsthoff is overrated and overhyped. I'm not saying their knives are bad, but for the mediocre quality they're overpriced. You get better quality at lower prices from companies like Dick, Güde, Herder or Burgvogel (aka Messermeister). The lower hardness of German chef knives is a design choice. They're supposed to be used with a honing rod. Especially in the old days, when Dolinger Dünnschliff (blaupließen) was standard, you only needed the honing rod. The blades were so thin that using and honing the knife would slowly wear away the edge while creating a new one in the process. I also don't see a reason to use overpriced miracle steel for a chef knife that's made to be used. If you want something more exclusive and are willing to pay the price, there are numerous companies and knife makers willing to take your money.

@@berniem.6965 Matter of taste. Dick in their little bit higher end and Güde use the same steel. Quality difference is minimal if any. The brand that stands out here is Herder, at least with their carbon steel knives. I’m not saying Wüsthof is better or worse. They’re more or less all on par. Not sure where you’re from but where I live (Germany)similar series of Güde, Herder and Dick are more expensive last time I checked. For about 10-15 years I’ve been using mainly Solicut/Goldhamster, Wüsthof and Zwilling. None I consider fancy, but all good work-horses. Zwilling is my least favorite of this bunch. Few exceptions like Herder with their carbon steel, most decent brand German knives are extremely comparable in quality and it comes down to what suits your needs, what feels comfortable to you. I like the German steel. I like fancy Japanese steel and I like fancy modern sintered steels. Last couple of year I’ve come to realize that my favorite knives are the ones that with some good quality stones take a razor sharp edge when sharpening by hand with ease. For my kitchen knives that means the German X50CrMoV15 steel which is a very easy steel. I rarely need more than a few minutes to get a razor sharp edge on them. And I just maintain the edge with 2 Dickoron steels in between. My Japanese knives I gave away to family members.

Great knives

Keep checking on line, I found a 12 piece Henckel by Zwilling on sale for less than $200 recently and I love it.

Yes, great point. If you use Javanese knives on the daily then a Misen would be a great knife for cutting hard things

Yes, the specs should be posted/spoken of in a comparison video of any level. What's the weight of the knife? Heavier knife (especially blade) will ofc be smoother in the downward chop, as the weight of the blade is assisting. Balance on both being excellent, the width of the belly assists more in slicing of any kind, so the ZW should win out there, as well... As mentioned, the Misen are advertised as AUS-10 steel, and marketing showed "German steel." I forgot rn what the angle of grind is for the Misen, but that's another consideration, perhaps in a follow-up video, OP? Do a more Western* task and a more Eastern* for each knife and see how they both perform there. The ZW was fresh from box, yes? Having just bought a 3-set of Misen for my entry level kitchen & home work, I'm positive I'll eventually upgrade to Zwillings, or Wûsthof, being my preferred knives. Until then, it's Misen or kitchen-provided, I guess.

I would add, the belly being as wide as it is on the Zwilling, and tip work will drive your wrist into a much more acute angle in the pinch than the Misen would, but that's the trade-off, I suppose.

If you love the Shun Classic you may find that the Zwilling Pro is a bit chunky. It's an excellent knife but not a thin Japanese knife. Have you looked at Miyabi?

I actually have a Shun classic kiritsuki and a Henckle 8" chefs knife. Very different feels but each are good for different things. *the Shun is the favorite though*

@@Bradimus1 That's a classic combo, and how most people lean, It's hard not to love the performance of a Shun (even though I'm a Miyabi fan!)

@@Cook-Culture I have not! I will do some research on Miyabi!

I've never regretted a knife purchase as much as I have my 8 inch Wusthof Classic Pro. Not because it's a bad knife -- it isn't terrible -- but today if I was going to buy an 8 inch German style chef's knife, I'd buy the Mercer. Pretty much identical in every respect (and significantly better in some) but it's less than half the price. I bought the Wusthof to replace a 40 year old carbon steel Sabatier that I'd used my whole life. Terrible sharpening technique had left it pretty unusable. But I found I couldn't get as good an edge in Stainless as I did in Carbon, so I bought a Swedish Steel Misono 8 in Chef's knife. This was world's away from the Wusthof and cost about the same price. Simultaneously, my wife bought nme a Kai Magoroku Santoku in stainless steel -- the damn thing cuts like a laser. I believe she paid about £30 for it while on holiday in Japan and it's really a fantastic knife. Fantastic edge, great edge retention, complete bargain. (Though it'll cost about £60 in the UK, it's still a great deal.) I've just bought my first Japanese blacksmith-made knife. An 8 inch Bunka in Aogami Super Blue steel with a Wa handle and a Nashii finish. It hasn't arrived yet but I'm so excited. That's it though. No more chef's knives. A petty next!

Lightness is not a bad thing. Try it out for a week or so and see how it goes

@@Cook-Culture I'll give it a try :P It's still brand new in the box

Yes, the Misen is indeed cut from a sheet of metal that is then sharpened. I have had the 6 inch utility for 2+ years. The knife is a nice tool. A few strokes on the ceramic rod and it is sharp enough. I use the knife often and it has been on the whetstone once. A good knife for home cooking. Not a good knife to impress your knife culture friends.

Maybe, reach out and see what they say

@@Cook-Culture Misen helped me out immediately. Super customer service.

Misen knives are a good value, for sure, but in this comparison Zwilling Pro was the sharper knife.

... the Misen* - how often does the brand have to be displayed to get the spelling correct?

By looking at the video, it's very obvious that the Zwilling was better at cutting. Looks like bias is strong with someone

The ZWILLING definitely looked like it cut a lot more effortlessly and smoothly.

Same, same. Both feel good in the hand wet. Nothing stood out.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels* is a conglomerate that owns a bunch of knife and cooking ware companies. Their higher-end knives are made in Germany at their headquarters, some of their cheaper lines of knives are made in Spain and some in China. Their most expensive knives are made in Japan by Miyabi, also owned by Zwilling.

@@einundsiebenziger5488 thanks!

Agreed. He seemed to be working harder with the Misen.

AUS-10 (older generation is made from AUS-8).

Interesting

Haha. That's a tough one. They are almost interchangeable. It comes down to personal preference.

Gordon uses Wusthoff.

@@richardharker2775 he used to but he's since changed to Zwilling Pro both in hell's kitchen and in his own home

@@PerthLuxury I wonder if the lucky bugger was given the knives as a promotional product.

Heston Blumenthal* and Gordon Ramsay both are paid by Zwilling to use and publicly feature their products. GR also used Wüsthof at some point, but switched probably because Zwilling made him a better offer.

@@richardharker2775 Zwilling pays better, that's why he gave up using Wüsthof*.

Classic!

We teach knife skills classes so they need to be accessible

Yeah, I can see that. There are some similarities but basically it's a high end German knife vs a medium quality Chinese made knife. I was interested to see if I was going to be impressed or not.

Yes, Misen, as in Mise en Place, which is a French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated...etc.

No. It's "Mee-Zenn"

@@einundsiebenziger5488 s-a-r-c-a-s-m

I’ve had a misen knife for over 6 months now and I have to say it has pretty good edge retention. As long as you keep it sharp which is a given with any knife. Obviously it’s not as good as the $120 knife I use for work, but for a budget knife I use as home it’s pretty good.

The Misen is made of AUS10 steel sourced from Japan which is tougher than the German steel. Once sharpened it will be superior in edge retention easily.

@@krishnancom Toughness and edge retention are not directly correlated to each other. Toughness is the ability to withstand permanent deformation, meaning bending and chipping. A chipped and bent blade can still be razor sharp.

And...?

Thanks. After 30 years of selling knives I can tell you what you need to know about a knife after 5 min with it. It's not rocket science.

@@Cook-Culture I believe you. I personally was missing more detail to comfort. Many reviews say it's uncomfortable because of the edgy/straight spine.

@@peterlustig8917 Fair enough. I didn't find that. My main beef is that the blade just does not cut as well out of the box, but, the Zwilling Pro is a more expensive knife