Question for culinary students... Knife kits

[crane]

For those of you who have gone through a culinary school, or those of you in culinary school right now. What do the knife kits they give you usually consist of? What type of chefs knife do they give you? What other knives do they give you? What type of luggage do they give you?
This is just a question I have been curious about for a while.

[Greg]

Welcome to Cheftalk, crane! I went to J&W in '95; the kit they gave me was all F. Dick. It consisted of a honing steel, fillet knife, boning knife, 8" chef, 10" chef, 10" serrated, cake spat, braising fork, Parisienne scoop, channel knife, zester, paring knife, tournee' knife and a vegetable peeler. It came in a funky fold out plastic case that I can't begin to describe in words. One of my cooks that is a culinary arts student showed me her school-issue knife kit and it wasn't as extensive and came in a more standard knife roll; the brand of knife was "Chef", which I am unfamiliar with. Your best bet would be to call schools that you would potentially be attending and ask what you are getting.

[Leo R.]

Hello Crane, the knifes that Greg in St. Paul mentioned are well made and are widely sold in Britain by reputable suppliers. F. Dick knives are worth the price. There are other major names like Gustav Emil & Henckels these are German made and last for years. Global, made in Japan, are also endorsed by a number of leading chefs here in the U.K. These are also made to a very high standard but are expensive, well, over here they are! The "Chef" brand of knives is part of a range of products that a U.K. based company sells. I`m not sure if they are worth buying as i don`t know anyone who has a set. They also sell chef uniforms, hats, skull caps, baseball caps,etc that have their logo on them. I`ve been a chef for 18 years and prefer German made knives, maybe i`m a "stick-in-the-mud. I would suggest you ask the opinion of some other chefs before you get a set of knives. Some look great when you first get them,but aren`t worth 2 cents! And that`s on a good day! They are blunt very,very quickly. Good luck with your training and remember, the first 10 years are the hardest. After that you`ll get better!( quote from Richard Shepperd,Chef/proprieter - Langan`s Brassierie, London. Leo R.

[crane]

Thanks for the replys. I am not planning on attending Culinary institute for at least a couple of years. I am still a junior in undergraduate school, and would want to work at least a year or two after I graduate to get some real experience. Not just summer jobs, or part time during the school year. So the knives that I would get would be mainly just for me to have and use for the next few years.
One other question. Are knives that culinary students recieve usually forged?

[april02]

Crane---
Thanks for asking this question, I'm looking into schools right now too and was wondering the same thing. But, could you tell me, where are you planning to go? ---april---

[crane]

April, I haven't looked into too many different schools. I know of a few, but haven't researched any too extensively. But I'm not planning on going to culinary institute right after I get my undergraduate degree. I want to get some expereince working in the industry. I think that most schools require a certain amount of experience anyway. I know that some even require letters of recommendation from industry professionals. Plus, from every chef I have ever spoken to, they say that cooking in as a career is absolutely nothing like cooking at home. There is a good thread in the inside scoop forum about why people want to be chefs.

[Thirteendog]

the knife kit they give us is a huge suitcase thing... actually it's the Chef's Executive Knife kit from that catalog. But inside we have everything plus some. They gave us Silpats!!! The knifes themselves are pretty good, actually. I have F. Dick at home and I like them a whole lot, too........

[-d-]

This was mentioned in other posts by Thirteendog and others, but some restaurants provide you with cutlery. Typically nothing fancy, but they do work. At the restaurant I'm at, eveyone uses the communal knives - even the chef.

However speaking of knives, I have a set of Wusthof Grand Prix that I enjoy the weight of. But the knives I use most often are my Forschners. These knives are great - solid weight and edge. And on the very plus side, they don't cost an arm and a leg. If they get beaten up a little bit, you won't be in shock cause you scratched a $100 chef's knife.