HENCKELS Forged Premio Razor-Sharp 8-Inch Chef Knife, Black, German Engineered Informed by 100+ Years of Mastery

You can certainly spend a small fortune for more expensive knives, but this knife is of great quality, looks beautiful, and sits comfortably in your hand. It is an AMAZING value for your money (I paid $39.95 in July 2021).As you can see from the packaging in my photos, " All HENCKELS merchandise is fully guaranteed against defects in material and/or craftsmanship." Make sure you go to their website to activate your lifetime warranty and you're all set. This is great peace-of-mind.Like many of their products, I guess you COULD put these in the dishwasher, but I would not recommend it - handwashing preserves & prolongs the quality of the blade and the integrity of the handle.The knife measures 13 inches long end-to-end, with the blade of 8 inches (as advertised) and a 5-inch handle. The end of the handle has the Henckels, single-person stick figure logo as part of the single piece of metal from end-to-end.My favorite part is the weight of the blade, which does all the work for you and reduces hand/grip fatigue with long cutting tasks, and also the curved shape of the handle (see pics). It is very comfortable to hold for a period of time whether holding it "properly" like a chef (holding the blade & handle, or just holding the handle.Store this guy in a decent container (a counter block or a drawer block) and it will treat you well for a long time. This was a great purchase at a great price!

Comfortable fit, well balanced and extremely sharp. Good quality knife at a reasonable price

I ordered this for a friend of mine who is need of some good kitchen knives, and I based my decision partly upon the mostly favorable reviews here on Amazon. I received it the other day, and though the packaging is rather basic, the product itself is very solid. The build, fit, finish and weight balance are all quite good, and the blade edge is very sharp out of the package. It passed the "Tomato Test" at a 20 degree angle (i.e. it was able to slice into the skin of an unpeeled tomato at an angle of about 20 degrees, which is one test of a sharp knife), as a brand new knife should. Also note that this is a forged knife, not stamped, meaning that it is hammered out of a single piece of steel, resulting in a very strong, rigid blade. As far as construction, the Premio is full tang, featuring an attractive end cap with the Henckels logo, and 3 rivets along the black handle.Buyers should be aware that this knife is made by Henckels International, which means it is made in China, which helps to keep the cost in the $30 range, compared to the German-made Henckels 8" chef's knives which run several times the price. The weight and feel of the knives feel pretty much the same to me though (I have a comparable Wusthof 8" German-made chef knife). I'm guessing that the major difference will be in the durability of the edge retention. This knife might need to be resharpened more often than its German Henckels counterparts, but I could be wrong. For regular home chefs using this knife under normal kitchen conditions, it should hold up pretty well. Just follow regular knife maintenance directions, such as keeping it dry, always hand-washing with a soft sponge or cloth (never in the dishwasher), and storing it either in a knife block, or on a magnetic knife bar.I definitely recommend this chef knife, and I'm very sure my friend will be happy with it, as opposed to the "butter knives" that she has now :-)

It was all I wanted. Sharp, heavy, easy to handle.Love it!!!

5-year update:Bought this in 2019 and wife and I really enjoyed using it. This is a great starter chef's knife for home cooks/cooking enthusiasts. If you've always had crappy knives that don't cut, this is the upgrade to go for. Friends who come over to cook at our place also enjoy using it.I got it so that we have a decent all around knife that could do "scut" kitchen work so we could save the more expensive knives for more delicate cutting tasks, but it slowly grew on me and now I use this knife more than the others.Out of the box, the knife came decently sharp but not razor. The edge was uneven which I had to grind down with a whetstone, the tip was bent which I hammered out. Might've been bad QC. I sharpened it up easily with a whetstone and it now shaves. It is made from a relatively softer stainless steel so it will hold a decent edge but nothing like a Japanese carbon steel gyuto. We only use it on a wooden or plastic cutting board, never on glass/ceramic/the counter, and only hand wash it. If you use it on a glass cutting board or plates it will dull very quickly. The knife maintains a very sharp edge for a decent for a few months before it starts to dull(this is expected for the price point), which we do hone it after every few uses. I have only sharpened it a few times/year to keep it nice and sharp. I appreciate the thickeness of the spine, typically, this makes cutting through tough and thick vegetables difficult(squash, gourd, watermeolon, etc) but we haven't had too much issue. Wife accidentally put it through the dishwasher a few times on "accident" (rolls eyes) but it held up okay. The handle is still intact and has not separated from the tang. We have not had any issues with rust/stains, but definitely do not soak this knife or run it in the dishwasher. Also, this knife is full tang, so the handle is pretty strong, the blade will likely bend/chip before the handle breaks, if you will.Overall aesthetics is pleasant. This knife has a German blade profile with a gentle curve up to the pointy tip, so if you're used to Western style knives, this will feel familiar. I find the curve very useful for slices and rock chopping. The bolster is very comfortable to hold onto if you use a pinch grip. Knife feels almost perfectly balanced in the pinch grip, but feels slightly handle heavy(some people like this and it's okay). The balance point is close to the bolster. The tip is very, very pointy, be careful. Handle design appeared strange to me at first, I didn't think it would be comfortable, but man, I gotta say this knife has one of the best handles out there. The handle is very comfortable and falls right into my grip.Pros: Easy to use, stainless, full tang, comfortable handle, feels well balanced, fun to use, dropped it a few times and it bends and does not chip.Cons: Does dull faster than more expensive knives, tip is very pointy and dangerous, full bolster may shorten sharpening life, Zwilling is known to have poor QC so you may receive a knife with some defects.Great value knife from Zwilling/Henckles if you're looking for something that performs well under $40. I would not spend more than $40 on this knife, for over $40-50, there are MUCH BETTER options out there.