The Chef Club 8″ Chef Knife Review
November 13, 2019
Star Rating: 5.0 Stars (out of 5.9)
Overall Rating: Excellent Quality Professional Knife
Knife: The Chef Club 8″ Chef’s Knife
Brand: TheChefClub
Made In: China
Steel: Matrix Powder Steel combined with 1.4116 stainless steel and coated with Titanium.
Rockwell: 62 HRC
Blade Construction: New generation technique using Matrix Powder Steel technique
Edge: 13° degree double-beveled blade
Handle: Knife and handle are crafted from the same piece of steel
Tang: Full length tang because the knife is made from one piece of steel. Tang is hollow.
Weight:
NSF approved: Unknown…but its quality and clean lines certainly suggests that it is
Cleaning: Dishwasher safe but highly recommend hand-washing only
Cost: About $100
Availability: Currently available via a Kickstart offer (November 2019)
Warranty: ??
Knife Stats and Review
TheChefClub sent us their 8″ chef knife to run through our tests and give our review. The packaging surrounds the knife with an internal cardboard liner which is adequate to protect the knife during shipping, but other knives in the same price range come in boxes with a foam internal liner which adds a little extra protection for the blade.
Removing the blade from the box, it has heel & tip guards as well as a plastic sheath. The design is very attractive, modern looking, minimalistic. It is one single piece of steel from tip to handle, sliver in color (It is also get it in black or gold).
The Chef Club Chef Knife is very comfortable in the hand, with a smooth, tapered bolster which works well with the pinch grip. Unlike the Global Knives steel handles which feel a little slick or unstable because of their oval shape, TheChefClub handle is “D” shaped which I like because it feels secure in the hand.
The construction of the blade is unique. It uses Matrix Powder Steel which is considered a new metallurgy process for creating high performance tools including bearings for windmills and tools which cut steel. Powder steel is a process invented by NASA and is made in a very different way than normal steels: the alloy is melted at high temperatures until it liquefies, and is then sprayed in a vacuum and cooled down very quickly using nitrogen.
Matrix powder steel is then combined with stainless steel 1.4166 to form blades of high hardness, high yield strength and superior corrosion resistance. The blade is then coated with Titanium. This process is what makes The Chef Club knives exceptionally sharp, extremely durable.
For the cutting test this knife did an exceptional job on the basil chiffonade and the paper test. It also performed well on the free-hand tomato slices, the carrot pull test, and the minced shallot. It did require a little extra effort for the horizontal cuts on the onion, but the vertical slices and dicing of the onion was easy.
On the horizontal onion cuts I have run into this now a number of times where a knife has a very sharp edge but still requires extra effort for this particular cut. I believe that if a knife struggles on the horizontal onion cuts (either a little or a lot) it may be because of the edge angle, or perhaps the acuteness of the angle where the blade edge meets blade body. The more narrow the angle (around 9°) the less the blade tends to require extra effort. Or if the area where edge meets blade is slightly rounded or smooth (rather than a sharp angle) then perhaps there is less resistance. If you are a knife maker please comment.
Availability
The Chef Club 8″ Chef Knife, along with all their other knives, are currently being offered via a kickstart fund raiser which started in November 2019 with an expected ship date of purchased knives in February 2010.
Chef Knife Video Review
Watch the video! The knife performed exceptionally well on the cutting tests using the pull cut through a carrot, basil chiffonade, free-hand tomato slices, and the paper slicing tests. And on the shallot and onion test it performed average to above average.
| TheChefClub 8″ Chef Knife Review | |||
| Possible | Actual Rating | Test | Notes |
| Sharpness | |||
| 5 | 4 | Carrot-Lengthwise Test | It pulled easily through the carrot with a minimal amount of resistance. |
| 5 | 4 | Shallot Test | Performed pretty well on the shallot w/ just a small amount of resistance on horizontal cuts. |
| 5 | 3 | Onion Test | Performed about average on the horizontal cut, requiring a little extra effort to make the cuts. |
| 3 | 2 | Tomato Test | Cut nice thin slices of tomato on the free hand slicing test, but had to “pamper” it just a little so as to not push the tomato while slicing. |
| 3 | 3 | Basil Test | Fabulous job on the basil chiffonade w/ no bruising or tearing. |
| 3 | 3 | Paper Test | Fabulous job on the paper test! |
| Comfort | |||
| 5 | 5 | Comfortable Handle | Very comfortable ambidextrous handle with nicely tapered bolster for the “pinch grip”. Has a good “feel” in the hand, is not slick, doesn’t have edges which “bite”. |
| Quality Materials | |||
| 5 | 4 | Steel Quality | Matrix powder steel is considered the “next gen” of knife metallurgy but at this time I don’t know how it’s reputation compares to VG-10 and Damascus blades. |
| 3 | 3 | Durability | This knife should hold up well for professional kitchen work. |
| 3 | 3 | Handle Quality | The handle is made from the same metal as the blade, i.e. one piece of metal. |
| Quality Construction/Design | |||
| 4 | 4 | Overall Construction Quality | Overall construction is sleek & smooth of high quality steel. |
| 3 | 2 | Design, Engraving, End-cap, etc | The knife has a modern, minimalistic design, free of pins, endcaps, etc. |
| General Ratings | |||
| 5 | 3 | High-end Knife? | 1 = under $25; 2 = $26 – $75; 3 = $76 – $150; 4 = $151 – $300; 5 = $301+ |
| 5 | 5 | Utility | Nicely designed chef knife with kiritsuke style tip. The edge has a good roll to it (not too flat), the handle is comfortable and doesn’t slip |
| 7 | 6 | Overall Impression | This knife has a sleek, modern look and is comfortable in the hand. The edge is very sharp and will perform well on most daily chef knife tasks. My only hesitancy is on the onion test…if you have to dice lots of onions then the horizontal cut is a little restrictive. But slicing onions is effortless. |
| 5 | 4 | Our Star Rating | Overall this is a fabulous knife. $100 for a knife of this quality makes it a good value |
| Total | |||
| 69 | 58 | 5.0 Stars = Excellent Quality Professional Knife – See Overall Ranking Below formula: (actual score/total possible*6) |
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