I am going to cherish these knives for a long time
Main takeaway: This set is better than the $1200 set from Global because it uses harder steel that is sharper longer. Global uses 58 hrc Cangshan 61hrc. Cangshan cut tomatoes easier than Global proving is it sharper even though both are extremely sharp and both worth are the money. Both companies did a good job with the edge going to Cangshan because of better metal and sharpness which is what the cost of making knives comes from. Superlative quality definitely worth the money over Global 20-piece set. People are saying there are sets as good as this for less money? Not likely as cheaper price indicates cheaper steel and therefore worse performance. This set earned its money so I am not going to insult them by comparing them to inferior brands. There are brands that have higher value or perform well but they are no where close to this in terms of performance. I am not a knife snob so would use those sets and have but I am at a point where I have money to buy nicer things so do not see that happening. I only bought these because I received a huge discount. Without it I would have bought something from Global, either a 7 piece set without the steak knives (adding them later) or individual pieces and make my own Italian style knife block with holder for cutting board. Before buying I was hesitant so compared to other high end brands. Shun was too expensive, Wustof did not have as nice aesthetics, while Global was very close competitor. I decided to buy this set based on its icp (initial cut performance) and tcc (total cut count) numbers. I compared other brands numbers on catra.org. The impression I had was this set is very sharp and will stay that way so I do not have to worry about sharpening it often. Expensive as it is I did not want to buy a lesser set that was sharp at first but then dull later and hard to get back to factory sharpness. After all my research I bought this set and the Global 2 piece carving set. I wished that they offered this set in a 23-piece like their 17-piece Swedish steel set but since they didn't I bought the Global because I needed a carving fork. I choose this set over the 23-piece set because of the higher quality steel and claims of superior edge retention. According to catra.org these knives are better than Global but the Global are so nice I might prefer them over this. Both the Cangshan and Global cutting knifes slice paper and shave hair off my arm. My old Ginsu set can not do that. The sharpness of both brands is impressive as well as the aesthetics. I like the ergonomics of the TK handles over other Cangshan sets and I do not like the hollow handle set because I am paranoid about having to clean it if it gets dirty or oily in there. I much prefer the Global knives weight as they are lighter and easier to control. The Cangshan feel much heavier but apparently some people like that. I would not want to cut for a long time with heavy knives nor use heavy knives for intricate cuts. Both Cangshan and Global are scary sharp but Global has all metal handle and lightweight due to not having a bolster. Cheap Cangshan knives have a full bolster like Wustof and as you go up in price they change to half or demi bolsters. Bolsters are used to balance the knives but they add to the weight and interfere with sharpening. Asian knives do not have bolsters so are easier to sharpen and are lighter which is a good thing. In general a better metal allows for less metal thus lowering weight. I like looking at the Cangshan knives but enjoy holding and handling the Global knives much more. The Global seem more professional. I would not need a huge wood block with every knife if I went with Global. I would buy only the essentials as most huge sets contain knives that are redundant and not necessary, they just get in the way and complicate your work space or go unused. For all purposes a complete set would be: chefs knife, utility/prep knife, paring knife, boning knife, meat slice with carving fork. A chef knife can do everything except small intricate work of a paring knife. A chef knife and santoku are about the same in fact I never used my chef knife from my Ginsu set because I was always using my santoku. A chef knife replaces a meat slicer, bread knife, utility knife, cleaver, vegetable chopper, and santoku. A santoku is nice to have but if you can get a chef knife with the grooves (Granton hollows) on the blade I do not see the point in maintaining both a chef and santoku knife. A paring knife is used to make small cuts to trim veggies and fat from meat. A chef knife is too big to do this easily. With a chef knife and paring knife you can do anything. This is why 3 piece sets are common as they are all you need. Anything else is just for prestige or bragging rights. It is nice to have a free set of steak knives included with a knife set and have it fit in the block but I am changing the way I store my cutlery. I tend to keep my steak knives in a drawer next to my cutlery. A smaller block with just the essentials looks smarter on a countertop and saves space. The trade off in buying a few high end pieces versus a complete set of low end pieces is clear: The high end pieces will last and look good longer while the cheap ones won't plus there is no need to have a "complete" set. If people bought only what they actually use and had generic storage options they would opt to own less knives instead of more knives. Initially I was biased to to say that the Cangshan is not worth the money since Global sells a 20 piece set for the same money giving you 3 more knives but after doing a cut test the Cangshan ARE sharper. The three extra knives Global gives you are: a meat slicer, a mini chefs knife and a mini santoku. All but the slicer are redundant. Instead of giving you a curved paring knife Global substitutes a larger paring knife, instead of a cheese knife they substitute an Asian style prep knife (deba). Debas are good for cleaning chicken and stripping meat from drumsticks to use in teriyaki. I did not really like the cheese knife thinking Boska or another dedicated cheese brand would be better and do not know how to use the curved knife for paring would probably use a swivel peeler for peeling veggies and almost anything to peel citrus fruits. I would find the deba useful and more fun to use. Final thought: Cangshan is a sharper knife with longer lasting sharpness but I would still buy Global and save money by buying strategically getting only what I need then make a custom holder. Finally I would buy the non serrated steak knives from Global ($240 for four $350 for 6) since the block set has the serrated knives. I think Cangshan is a better as a set but Global is better for growing as your needs increase. That way you can avoid extraneous pieces. Global also sells forks/spoons so I would buy their cutlery and keep the steak knives in a drawer with the rest of the cutlery and the cooking knives separate on the counter. Read more
