Henckels Kitchen Chef’s Knife, 8 Inch

Forged Stainless Steel Twin Four Star

J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star Chef's The workhorse blade of any kitchen, the Henckels Twin Four Star 8" Chef's Knife has been a popular and proven choice since the introduction of the product line in 1976. Although it's still a reasonable choice for the modern kitchen, the forged construction, heavy bolster, and flat grind are not equal to the slicing efficiency of other more modern styles. Lying somewhere between a heavy butcher's blade and the lighter Santoku, this is still a useful knife when you tackle something more substantial than vegetables. For lighter work, a Santoku with a thinner graton ground blade is more efficient.

The Henckels is still a high quality knife, ice hardened for high strength, edge tested by laser measurement to ensure uniform taper, and with the substantial one piece forged rat tail tang design that has served Henckels well for decades. The seamless construction of the wrap around polypropylene handle is dishwasher safe, but to preserve the finish and the edge of the high carbon stainless steel blade, hand washing in a mild detergent should be standard cleanup procedure.

Performance will definitely be enhanced if the taper grind of the blade is preserved. Running it through a hand sharpening tool with a coarse bevel is not the right approach to maintenance of this laser guided edge. Sharpening with a flat stone, at a low angle, is much better; that should seldom even be necessary if the edge is touched up regularly with a sharpening steel.