Knife Kits: an informal survey

[Echo]

I've got to know, students... stamped or forged?

[IronChefATL]

I would have to say forged steel is a obvious choice for me. Forged blades tend to have better balance and durability. Stamped blades do not taper in thickness. Since a forged blade is molded, not cut from a larger peice, they taper and provide the balance.

[culinarian247]

Overall, Forged.

Now I do use my stamped Forschner quite often, though. For some strange reason I've been saddling up to my cleaver more and more.

[Echo]

That's what I get for posting on an empty tank. To clarify a bit, I was wondering whether your school issued knives were stamped or forged. Given a choice, I would prefer a nice set of forged knives for weight and balance, but it stands to reason that a number of schools might issue stamped in an effort to keep student's costs down a bit.

[KateW]

Shows how much I know... How can I tell which mine are?

[Jock]

Depends on the knife. Chef's knife, boning knife, fillet knife - certainly forged is better for the reasons stated. I wouldn't waste my money on a forged bread or cake knife for example. They simply don't get the kind of use the other knives do and a stamped blade is just fine.
Kate, a stamped blade is a single flat piece stamped out of a sheet of steel. (Hopefully the tang goes the full length of the handle and is rivited in place.) The blade is sharpened and that's about it.
A forged blade is tapered along it's length, getting thicker near the handle. It also has a bolster - that chunky piece of steel between the handle and the blade as seen on the chef's knife.
To answer the original question, CCA issues a mix depending on the use.

Jock

[chef1x]

I know FCI issues forged. I think most culinary schools would be doing the same and would probably be laughed out of town if they didn't with the exceptions already noted.
Not that I think stamped knives are useless; they certainly have a place even in pro kitchens, I'm just saying if you are spending a good amount of money on a school, they should issue the better quaility knives. If not I suggest you invest in a few. Priceless.

[IronChefATL]

The CIA issues a mix stamped bread and paring, pretty sure ("if memory serves me right") the rest are forged.

[KateW]

Ah, I believe JWU's are forged, then...

[Echo]

Just to add to the discussion. I found this page when I was investigating alternate means of prchasing my kit for school. Note the "Wales" sets. They look similar to pictures I've seen of the J&W student knife kits. Also note that it comes in two varieties, stamped and forged. I wonder whatthe standard issue of, or if students at J&W are given the option to purchase one of the other.

http://www.chefknifes.com/prod03.htm

[KateW]

We did not get a choice, but they sell both kinds in the bookstore I think, so you could probably go back and get anything you wanted. Not sure if they would let you use the other kind in class though, or make you use what was given to you at the beginning of the year.

[Echo]

Originally posted by KateW
We did not get a choice, but they sell both kinds in the bookstore I think, so you could probably go back and get anything you wanted. Not sure if they would let you use the other kind in class though, or make you use what was given to you at the beginning of the year.

Interesting. CSCA's policy on books and tools is that students can get them wherever they please, though they say they make every attempt to provide the best prices in the campus cookstore.

Due to the sheer size of the toolkit (needlessly large, IMO), I opted to just buy mine at the campus store, but they couldn't keep pace with online retailers as far as text book prices go.

[KateW]

I don't know if they sell our books anywhere else but I bought all my books used, for 5 academic courses, and it cost me $250.

[Moxiefan]

I don't have the NECI issued kit... they let you get your own if you want... but from what I've seen, I'm pretty sure its a mixture. The French knife is pretty hefty and I suspect is forged. Some of the other knives are definately stamped... the bread kinfe, for example... but do you really need a fordged bread kife? Probably not. Some of the knives are really quite crap... the school issued fillet is a tragedy. Most of the students end up suplementing their kits with different things they happen to like. There's rather a lot of students usuing Japanese style vegeable knives these days. Most of our chef instructors still have and use (day-to-day) their forshners from back in the day. I have a Mac french knife and I think its about the greatest thing EVER. Everybody's so jealous, even the chefs. Given the chance, buy your own stuff, and buy most of it as cheap as you can... things get lost. I've gone through three pair of tongs already, and my bench knife got all bent and I had to get a new one.