Good food is not just about good ingredients, it’s about good kitchen tools too. Just as the carpenter must have good tools so too must the chef or home cook. Knives are very important tools for cooking. They chop, slice, dice, fillet and skin. Two German knife makers Wusthof and Henckels have been in business for 100s of years making brilliant knives for various uses. So we can compare the two knife makers against each other along a few variables to help distinguish them. First, let’s learn a little more about each of our knife makers.
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Wusthof
Wüsthof, which has two divisions namely Wüsthof Dreizackwerk (German) and Wüsthof Trident (English), is a German knife-maker based in the city of Solingen. It is a completely family-owned business that specialises in the production of mid-range and professional knives. Wusthof knives are renowned as top-quality cutlery. They boast of their knives being sharp, long-lasting, and easy to use. Among the knives they make you will find a variety of cutlery basics, such as paring knives, carving knives, and boning knives. Professional chefs around the world appreciate their reliability.
Henckels
Zwilling J. A. Henckels is perhaps coincidentally also based in the city of Solingen, Germany. They manufacture kitchen knives, scissors, cookware and flatware. Henckels was founded in 1731 by Peter Henckels but the brand was later renamed by the brand’s namesake Johann Abraham Henckels. Henckels knives are formidable in their own right and known for quality. Henckels knives are revered for being made from high quality materials chief amosngst which is German stainless steel. The word “zwilling” is the German word for twin which is the symbol on the Henckels logo.
Blade Angle : Wusthof vs Henckels
What is a knife if not a blade? The angle to which a blade is sharpened is very important. In simple terms, a smaller sharpening angle makes a sharper blade. This is obvious when it comes to cutting especially in an exercise such as filleting that requires a sharper and narrower blade. The thinner blade is, however, a disadvantage in terms of durability. The thinner blade is more fragile. There’s a significant difference in the angle to which the blades is sharpened by our two knife makers. Henckels knives are sharpened to 15° per side on standard blades and specialty knives such as Santoku knives have their blades sharpened at an angle of 10°. Wusthof knives are sharpened to a narrower 14° per side on most standard blades. Their specialty Asian blades such as Santoku and Nakiri are sharpened to 10° per side , the same as Wusthof. With no difference in the Asian knives, the difference in the standard blades is very small too. With Wusthof the sharper but Henckels the more durable.
Blade Shape
Looking at the chef’s knives specifically there is a difference between Wusthof and Henckels approaches to blade design. Henckels blades have a more rounded design towards the front of the knife which makes them better suited to tasks such as finely chopping and dicing which require a rocking motion pivoting the blade at the front.
Hardness Rating : Wusthof vs Henckels
The Rockwell scale is a hardness scale based on indentation hardness of a material. The Rockwell test measures the depth of penetration under a heavy load (major load) compared to the penetration made by a lighter load (minor load) using the same indenter. Hardness in knife steels is most commonly measured using the Rockwell C test. Knife steels will range between 58 and 62 on the hardness Rockwell C (HRC) test, depending on the grade. Henckels scores a hardness rating between 56 and 57. Specific collections have scored as high as 61. Wusthof knives generally score 58. The higher the number, the harder the steel so Wusthof is likely to hold its sharpness longer, while Henckels knives will be a little easier to sharpen.
Handles
Handles are very important in knives as they contribute to grip, aesthetic and balance of the knives. There is little to pick between the knives in terms of handles. Both have the same sheet of metal running through the handle as the blade. Aesthetically the knives are even in terms of blades. Henckels knives tend to have a slighter shorter handle compared to Wusthof which gives them a better balance. This is not consistent in all knives.
Prices : Wusthof vs Henckels
Price matters, it’s only right we compare the two along the lines of pricing. Pricing, of course, varies widely depending on territories and retailers so determining which of the two is more expensive is not an easy task. After comparing individual knives and knife sets the conclusion was that Wusthof knives are more expensive than Henckels knives. In many cases, the differences are quite small but with sets, Wusthof can be as much as 50 – 60% more expensive than their contemporaries. On a price comparison level, Henckels is the clear winner.
Guarantee/Warranty
Anybody who is going to spend a pretty penny on knives would certainly want to know what guarantees or warranties are offered on the knives and this would likely have an impact on the purchase decision. All Wusthof knives are guaranteed for 10 years against material and manufacturing defects. They offer a very simple system for replacement of defective knives. Zwilling Henckels offers a lifetime warranty on material and manufacturing defects. While Henckels is a clear winner here it is worth noting that you’re unlikely to notice a manufacturing defect in your knives after 10 years let alone 1 year.
Availability
Both Wusthof and Henckels knives are largely available worldwide from various retailers so there is very little to compare between the two here. It may come down to individual markets but we would say the two are equally widely available.
Conclusion
If you managed to keep count Zwilling Henckels knives win 4-1 based on our points of comparison. Whichever you do choose to purchase you will still get good value as both are top quality knives.