Mercer Culinary Olive Wood 4-Piece Steak Knife Set

Great Knife and Sharpe

When we were buying our first set of knives I looked up which brand do culinary schools use in the US and purchased a set of 6 knives and a honing rod from Mercer. This was 6 years ago. We paid 120$ for the whole set. Since then, these knives have seen daily use and have been mostly washed in the dish washer. I've sharpened them more times than I can count. The steel got just a tad softer shortly after being cycled through the dishwaher, but has not deteriorated since. If you sharpen it to a razor sharp edge it will cut well for about 6 months before needing resharpening. The only part that is showing wear are the rivets on the handles, but still have plenty to go before they wear out. This is from the heat and detergent. If you hand wash these they will last a life-time or two.As for the olive wood steak knives, there is nothing significant to point out. They are well finished. The handle feels smooth in the hand. Can't tell if they use some sort of coating on the handle, but it's not a thick clear coat so it won't chip off in time and the wood feels nice to the touch. You might want to coat it with some mineral oil or wax (any oil that won't go rancid) to keep it from cracking.In my view, stainless steel knives don't have to be very high end. There is no real wolrd difference between them as long as the steel is good enough. Mercer uses the most popular quality steel out there. It is 100% stain resistant, holds an edge just fine and is sharpenable without hastle. The ergonomics and balance of the knives are excellent.If you are looking for an exceptional cutting experience from a knife and are willing to spend good money on one buy a hand forged carbon steel knife. It performs differently than stainless - it's brittle whitch makes it slice through food with less effort, there is no edge roll which keeps the edge straight and sharp and there is no "suction" between the sides of the blade and the food like with any stainless steel, so when you cut through say onions a carbon steel blade just glides through with no effort while a stainless you have to force it through no matter how sharpe the edge is. Be prepared to baby it since carbon steel rust and breaks easily. So no matter what, you can't be without at least one stainless knife in the kitchen.I can't name any reason, other that the love for a beautifuly made knife, to buy a more expensive brand over Mercer.

I have long been a fan of Mercer. Great quality, reasonable price. Doesn’t hurt the finish is highly aesthetic.Update, 4 months in these needed sharpening after cutting nothing but chicken, 4 knifes, 1 guy, nightly use, not great, but a quick run over a sharping rod and cleaned up.. Hardness could be improved.

I replaced some fairly pricy steak knives with these. Best I’ve used! Extremely happy about this purchase.

Great hand feel, substantial and cuts meat like butter