CUTCO Petite Chef

Always wanted to be able to cut corners and pennies

Cutco is not quite mediocre, but sold at very high prices.  Cutco's advertising is extremely misleading without quite crossing the line into "false."  Take for example, how they brag about the miraculous properties of their blade alloy -- which is actually very low end.  They have a very few good points -- made in America, free lifetime sharpening, comfortable (for some hands) handles -- but considering the low overall quality and high tariff, those points aren't nearly good enough. 

Cutco probably is better than Slitzer.  But that's not saying much.  Slitzer is in no way "pro."  It's one of those companies marketing 20 pieces for $25 on ebay and Amazon.  You'd have to look hard to buy worse.   

Don't buy either. 

BDL

Come on now BDL. I sold Cutco stuff for over a year. You can't say that after I cut a nickel up for you, and then shave paper and food items using just the weight of the knife that it's completely garbage. LOL. I bought my first car, with my own money ($600), a '74 Ford Maverick, with what I made selling the stuff. If I would give Cutco stuff a particular quality, it would be that you can't hurt it. Any stupid thing you could do will be covered under warranty. I mean you could put a knife blade in a vice, and bend it 90*, and the company would send you a new one (back then anyway). Every product has a market, Cutco has lasted for a long time. Their customers seem happy, I think. It's not any fault of Cutco's that they service a generally not-too-brite market. 

I sharpened a straight edge Cutco knife once and was expecting absolute crap.  It actually surprised me given what I had heard about Cutco over the years.

The steel seems to be something in the neighborhood of a 440 stainless.  It does take a decent edge -- I took it to 15* as with most non-Japanese knives I sharpen for my friends -- and from what my friend has told me since, keeps the edge reasonably well with a microbevel at about 25*.

But when he told me how much these things go for, I bust a gut laughing.  It's not absolute crap but it is just not worth the money that they charge.  For the same money, you can get far, FAR superior knives.  I would not bother with them, especially the serrated edge ones that shred your food.

As BDL says Cutco is very overpriced salesman s commission is extremely high. and they are really not that good.

It's 440A.  So it is 440, but the cheap kind.  It's fairly fine grained and can be made reasonably sharp if the knife has the right geometry.  Cutco knives are stamped fairly thin, and thin is good for many knife things. 440A is a "value" but not a high quality steel.  Better than 420J I suppose, but not by much. 

And Ice, I never said they were bad knives, just way overpriced.  The OP's "Petite Chef" is a straight edged, wide, 7-5/8" chefs.  It retails for right around $100 (although you can find them discounted on ebay and a few other auction sites).  You can buy a pretty serious 8" knife for a hundred smackers. 

What Cutco's "straight edged" (aka fine edged) knives won't do is hold an edge very well.  That is they dull profoundly after very little use.  For a lot of cooks that's not a big deal because they expect knives to be dull.  

Cutco's "Double D" edges are a different story.  Not much happier, but different.  Serrated knives don't cut the same way as fine edged blades do.  They're really more saws than knives, leaving a ragged kerf rather than a smooth, fine cut.  The Double Ds aren't sharp in the same sense as... say... one of my knives, but they will efficiently cut.  Lots (most) people like serrated knives for cutting tomatoes for precisely that reason.  Like steak knives, the Cutcos don't cut well, but they cut at all.  And since those people can't sharpen, can't use a knife well, and have never used a good one, that works for them.

Now, I don't know about you but cutting nickles is not a big part of my prep.  Mirepoix yes.  Small change, no.

I can't tell you how many houses there are where the only usable prep knife in the house is a steak knife or Cutco Double D.  The homes of otherwise good cooks too.  That's the backstory behind why I'm so active talking about knives in Chef Talk.  You can do things with a sharp knife you can't with a dull or serrated one which make your food better.  Both the BDL persona and the real me are much more about cooking better and teaching others to do the same than hardware -- granted though, you can't always tell. 

BDL

PS.  Just like your Ice's first car, my current ride is a Ford.  Different year and model though.   

Thank you for letting me know.  I was just going by how it felt on the stones and how it sharpened, both of which seemed to me exactly the same many other knives I've sharpened, stamped with "440" but generally did not specify which kind of 440.  I certainly was not going to take time looking up the specs online -- Cutco knives are something that I probably would not throw out if I already owned it (but would definitely give away or eBay if I did), but I would absolutely never buy.  Just not worth the money.

btw it is technically illegal to cut up legal tender currency, is it not?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capsaicin 

btw it is technically illegal to cut up legal tender currency, is it not?

It is a felony

Why not it's worth nothing anyway.

Awright, both of you, BDL and Iceman, stop and read the OP's post again.

Can ye both not hear the entire crew of Monty Python merrily singing "spam, spam, spam, spam, and spam"? 

Beware the auto mnfctr that brags that their gasoline engines never needing an oil change

Beware the knife mnfctr that brags that thier knives never need sharpening......

It's a freaking hacksaw blade, and everything you cut with it, the blade will leave scars and scraches on the surface.

It is waaaay overpriced, possibly 3rd party mark-up?

Quote:

Originally Posted by foodpump 

...It is waaaay overpriced, possibly 3rd party mark-up?

 

Naw, 20% sales person commission, 20% manager over-ride, 20% distributor over-ride, 20% reserve for lifetime warrantee, pretty soon you're into real overhead BINGO $$$$$
 

Pump,

Could be, but I don't think it's that clear.  If she is spamming us she told us a lot about herself and waited a few posts before doing it.  I'd prefer to take her at face value  and chalk it up to the fact that some people just like them.  Even if mistaken, I haven't lost anything by assuming the best of motives on her part. 

BDL

Quote:

Originally Posted by littleladychef 

Someone talked me into buying a CUTCO Petite Chef tested and recommended by members of the Cooking Club of America. It works great, The handle grips well because of the wedge-lock design. This knife is better than these professional chef knives I've used in the past like one made by Slitzer. For a little over a hundred dollars, CUTCO Petite Chef is worth the investment with forever sharpness and performance guarantee. CUTCO makes pastry spatulas, ice cream scoops, shears that can cut pennies and trimming knife that cuts paper-thin slices of tomatoes. 

I don'tknow bout you, but for meit sure walks and quacks like a duck.........................
 

Let's all just maybe give the benefit of the doubt and, you know, live and let live. OK? So come on now people. Let's stay on topic here. 

Let's be serious too. I'd be willing to guess that over 95% of the basic home-type people using knives for the regular type food preparation of their daily meals would be all sunshine and butterflies with Cutco knives. The greatest percentage of people (>95%) are not geeks. Knives is knives, and what they got pretty much gets the job done. I have absolute faith that the people buying Cutco knives will be just happy with them. 

IceMan's point is excellent. If you compare Cutco to the average American kitchen knife, they are superior.

My daughter sold Cutco while in college. Every thing was hunky dory until she came home one weekend and we compared Cutco and MAC.

She quit Cutco the following week.

Ice and Pete -- I agree with both of you;, but purely to push the conversation along would like to point out that what's in most peoples' homes is not the point of CT's "Knife" sub-thread.  While Cutco may be better than the very worst, there are much better choices.  People come here for advice, and deserve to be pointed towards those better choices and warned away from Cutco.

Meanwhile I'll try to pull the honing rod out of my [pop!]

BDL

Oops! Didn't look at the forum title, my bad!

Originally Posted by PeteMcCracken 

BDL

Point taken BDL. I guess however, that since my persona is not well enough known, I need to be more explanatory a little bit when I'm not being as serious as I might be taken. I'll try to forward more clues next time when I'm in a joking attitude. Compared to stuff I would suggest, at a fraction of the price (Victorinox Forschner), Cutco blows. I made a good buck selling the stuff a long time ago. Nobody was hurt in or by the transactions. The people that have purchased Cutco from anyone else probably are very happy, and don't know any better anyway. Hey, it is what it is. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. 

Hey Ice,

If the shoe fits? If  it's good for The Cooking Club of America and a Little Chef Lady from Pennsylvania, It might be right up you alley.

After so many years in the business, knives are basically like insurance. It's a good thing to have, unless you need it.   If I break out my personal

knives in the kitchen, something going to get ruined.

a '74 Maverick??? Sure it wasn't a Pinto?

I keep a Cutco in the ranch truck. Great for changing tires and cutting radiator hose stabbing feral hogs and open Shiners.

In the kitchens,  I've always been a bigf  Dick  guy. 

lol @ "bigf Dick guy" :D

I happen to be a big fan of F. Dick as well.  Even have a large promotional poster from the early 1900's.

Wonder if the moderators will let me post of picture of my big Dick poster?...........

I'm a former chef and an avid home cook, and I have used a lot of High end Cutlery and, while Cutco isn't the best out there and is a little overpriced, It certainly isn't total crap either.  To make some things clear about the blades, handles and overall quality, Brand new straight edges from Cutco, like the French Chef, are very sharp.  They aren't forged, or the top of the line steel, but they do give you a terrific edge to start with.  They hone up pretty well too.  They, of coarse do lose their edge over time and do need sharpening, but they hold an edge a bit longer than something like a Wusthof of comparable price with regular home use.  The "serrated" edge actually does cut pretty cleanly and doesn't rip or tear through food as long as it's used right.  If you glide the double d edged blades through the food with the full length of the blade and don't press, they work great.  The design also protects the cutting surface of from dulling over time.  I personally like the handle design and prefer it to other more traditional designs, but that's just a comfort thing.  I also like the balance, especially with the chef's knife and the santoku.  

     They are a very popular brand and have a very high customer satisfaction rating.  Again, they aren't perfect, but they are a household name and they have been making essentially the same product for 70 years now.  As far as steel quality and stamped vs forged, unless you're a professional chef who needs the perfect balance of feel and performance and are actually skilled enough to tell the difference, (and I don't mean against the basic home cutlery) there isn't much performance difference at that level of cutlery.  I've seen Cutco blades from the 70's that look like new, and if well maintained, perform like it too.  If you have some high end Japanese steel forged, hand crafted super knife, sure that will be superior, but at the home consumer level, it's a pretty well made, reliable and well performing line.  They also have a ton of options available for all kinds of knives and other tools.  Their fine flatware is pretty good and their gardening tools are really good quality.

With all of that said, I know they have college kids who know nothing about knives going around selling that stuff to friends and family at inflated prices, but you can get deals if you're smart and know how to find them, and any salesperson is going to try and tell you their stuff's the best and it's your job to be an informed consumer and know how to deal with tricky sales people.  (and trust me, those kids are by no means tricky sales people.  They're lucky if they can look up from their cheat sheet long enough to do a demo.  They also like to cut themselves a LOT at those demos because they have absolutely no knife skills training whatsoever!...And yes, Along with being a chef, I did used to sell the stuff, and I was pretty good at selling Cutco to people who already had high end knives)  

Anyway, I won't give Cutco a 10 out of 10, but for the home consumer, for the price and quality level they're supposed to be competing with, I say they're a solid 8.  Try and find them for a deal and you won't be disappointed, especially after continued use.   

Pigman,

I'm going to assume you're sincere... but even so a lot of what you're saying is BS and almost none of it is germane to this thread which died a few months ago -- until you sadly revived it.  The best thing about Cutco is their free, lifetime sharpening (assuming they still offer it), the worst things are the way Cutco exploits its college student sales staff, the mis-information disseminated by that same staff (with the best intentions), and the pressure those kids exert on their innocent relatives to spend way too much on knives they don't want or need and which aren't really very good anyway. 

Bottom line:  Cutco's are low-mid quality knives, made from an alloy which was never very good and is now well past its sell-by, sold at a high-mid price.  3/10, tops.

BDL

I've had a few Cutco blades come through and to me the steel sharpens like the steel on the ultra cheap Kiwi knives.

The Cutco handles are not my thing but then again I'm a big F Dick fan too in the handle department.

Jim

these knives suck a$#. my son worked for cutco for 5 days i checked out one of the knives, a petite carver and i tried a bend test tosee how flexible. i barely bent it  and 7t snapped in my bare fingers. i then tried to see how sharp the blade was and i ran it across my finger with no cut until i had to press down hard, then barely a slice. i checked the price for this knife, $88. kiss my a$%. its not worth $10. this crap sucks.

The OP is a shill.  Cutco has legions of sales people who start and maintain threads like this.  Even a lot of customers are true believers.

We have about five Cutco knives bought from my kids' friends when they were freshmen in college.  I know people who run Cutco operations in two states and have too many friends who own complete sets and love them.  The average home cook and a surprising number of professionals are naive about cutlery.  Give them a good gyuto and they're bothered by how sharp it is.  If they use it long enough, they might possibly appreciate what a good knife is all about.  My wife, who is a good cook prefers the Cutco handles and the serrated blades.  

People love that they're made in America and offer free sharpening and replacement.   Cutco can their lifetime warranty only because the knives are inexpensive to make.  We've received brand new knives instead of the resharpened ones we sent them because it's more cost effective for Cutco.  

Bottom line is they're average, at best, but are perceived as much more.

The very first knife I have ever owned was gifted to me by a fellow cook. His grandfather passed and at his grandfathers estate sale, he found a 9 3/4 petite french chef knife. Brass rivets, walnut handle. You have to admit, this is a beautiful knife. It's functionality is limited from any standpoint, but I've attached a lot of sentimental value to my cooking journey with this knife. I paid no money for it, and I've never had it sharpened. I've used it to practice knife sharpening, and because of how often I had to do it, it has been a pretty crappy knife that has taught me well. 

 It's a part of this countries shabby and short history, and I celebrate it like people celebrate carnival chintz on a first date. 

 If you paid for it... uh... 

 sucker.