Boker Saga 4-Piece Kitchen Knife Set Review

Boker knives have been dated back as far as the 17^th century, and it seems that Boker tools have always been successful, because they ranked among the leading products in Germany and neighboring countries a hundred years later. Boker started in Germany and then slowly moved outwards to the neighboring countries. It was in the early 1900’s that the US market became the main customer of Boker production with H. Boker & Co. in New York. While Boker had been producing scissors, razors, and pocket knives, it was the pocket knives that won out in the US market. In due course, the Solingen capacities were exhausted and the New Yorkers started their own pocket-knife product line, to which pliers were added later. Since then, there were two different lines of Boker knives on the US-market, with identical logos and sometimes even identical item numbers, one line Made in USA, the other Made in Solingen.

However, during WWII the contact to USA died. The Solingen factory was completely destroyed with no remaining machines, tools, catalogues or samples. The company also lost one of its most precious commodities: the tree-brand registration was seized according to US law. John Boker Jr. bought it in New York to save it for the further sale of American and German products. Soon aft her war new life began to wake in the destroyed factory. The former craftsmen came back and helped to reconstruct building and production and to regain the high standard of quality.

Restoring their business relationship to Solingen the American cousins placed first orders. Within a few years Boker New York as the principle customer again.

In the early 1960s, Boker USA was sold to the well-known scissors-manufacturer Wiss & Sons, who kept up the production of Boker knives to sell them with Solingen products. Boker scissors disappeared from the market, being a competitor to Wiss. In the early 1970s Wiss sold to the multinational Cooper Industries. For Boker, this change proved beneficial, generating a close business and personal relationship with Cooper, who restore the name of Boker to its former greatness. Today Boker offers the broadest range of sports and collector’s knives with an unmatched variety of blade and handle materials. In July 1986, Boker USA, Inc. was established in Denver, Colorado with Chuck Hoffman, one of the original team members, still in position as general manager with a young, flexible team.

Boker develops premium made knives, and today we will be focusing on the 4-piece kitchen knife set. This set comes with four different styles of knives: the carving/paring knife, the all-purpose/utility knife, the Santoku, and the Chef’s knife.

The Blades:

Each of the blade’s in this set of knives have some similarities. The first similarites that these knives sport is the blade material. They are all made out of 440C stainless steel. This is an upper mid-range steel that was once considered the high-end in US knife steels. 440C is a good all-around steel that has been overshadowed by many of the newer super-steels on the block, but that does not take away from the high qualities that it possesses. This is a stainless steel that is commonly used on many mass-manufactured pocket knives and represents a solid affordable all around choice. It is reasonably tough and wear resistant, but it really excels at satin resistance, which makes it the perfect option for a knife that you will be using in the kitchen. This steel does hold an edge better than its 400-series counterpart, but this is at the expense of some corrosion resistance. Blades made out of this steel can be sharpened relatively easy. And, out of the 400 level steels, it has the highest levels of carbon and chromium. This steel is usually heat treated to reach a hardness of 58-60 HRC.

These steels have also been finished with a stonewash finish. Personally, the stonewash finish is my favorite steel finish. It has a variety of benefits that make it a great option to use in the kitchen, while also providing you with an appealing, rugged look to the blade. With a stonewash finish, the steel is rolled with pebbles or another abrasive material. You can achieve a variety of stonewashed finishes based upon the abrasive shape, tumbling motion, and the steel that is used. Once the steel has been tumbled around with the pebbles, it is removed and smoothed out. This creates a very rugged, textured look. Some of the benefits of this type of steel is that hides scratches a lot better than other finishes. This finish is one of the lowest maintenance finishes that you can get and the finish works to preserve the blades original look over time. This finish also provides a less reflective nature than a brushed or stain finished blade. Another very positive benefit of having a stonewash finish is that it works to hides the fingerprints very well, so you won’t need to polish this blade as often as blade’s with other finishes.

These blades are stellar for use in the kitchen because they are low maintenance, hide scratches well, and the steel is very stain resistant. These qualities will make your time in the kitchen much more relaxing and smooth, because all you have to worry about is how your food tastes, and not on upkeeping your knife.

 

The Handles:
Another thing that this set of knives have in common is their handles. All of the knives have handles made out of G-10. G-10 is how the knife community describes a glass-based epoxy resin laminate. In layman’s terms, it means that you take a glass-based cloth (usually a fiberglass) and soak it an epoxy resin. Then, using heat and pressure, the manufacturer compresses it into the shape that they desire. G-10 is a great handle material because of how strong it is. Fiberglass is already strong and durable, but weaving it makes it stronger. Then, that fabric is covered in an epoxy resin, which cures into a hard, plastic-like material. G-10 is also a very low maintenance material, which means that it is going to last for a long period of time. It won’t rust, it won’t become brittle, and it won’t soften over time. This material is light, easily workable, and does not expand or contract due to normal temperature and moisture exposure. It is extremely rugged, making it the ideal solution for your kitchen knife set.

 

The Carving/Paring Knife:

Paring knives are designed specifically for intricate tasks because they have a thin blade of 3 to 4 inches that tapers to a point. They can be sued for these more intricate tasks because the user has much more control over them than they would by using a larger knife. However, paring knives can be used for many of the basic utility tasks in the kitchen. These are ideal for cutting garlic and small berries, for peeling fruits and vegetables, and for slicing small food items. This knife is going to be ideal for trimming, slicing (especially the smaller fruits and vegetables, such as garlic and berries), food that needs intricate detail, and coring foods. This knife is not going to excel if you are using it for harder vegetables, because eth knife doesn’t carry enough weight behind it to actually slice the food without applying too much pressure.

The blade on the carving/paring knife in this set has a blade that measures in at 3.9 inches long. The overall length of this knife is 7.3 inches long. The blade has a thickness of 0.1 inches. The handle measures in at 3.4 inches long and this knife weighs in at 1.8 ounces.

 

The All-Purpose/Utility Knife:

The next knife in this set is the all-purpose/utility knife. This knife is sometimes known as a Sandwich Knife, because it is perfect for slicing sandwich meats. This knife is slightly smaller than the chef’s knife, ranging from 4 to 7 inches long, but it is just as versatile as a chef’s knife. It falls right in between the chef’s knife and the paring knife and really gives you the best of both worlds. It is large enough to use on most things that the chef’s knife can be used for such as apples and squashes. But, it is small enough to be used for garlic, small fruits and vegetables, and herbs. This utility knife does have a straight edge which means that you will be able to do more with it; however, you will have to sharpen it more often. This style of knife is really great for all the everyday kitchen tasks. This knife will not excel at larger or heavy duty tasks, or super small tasks, such as berries.

The blade on this knife measures in at 6 inches, with the handle measuring in at 4.5 inches long. The overall length of this knife is 10.5 inches long, with a blade thickens of 0.1 inches. This utility knife weighs in at 3.5 ounces.

 

The Santoku Knife:

Santoku knives are a Japanese-style that is becoming more popular in the United States. Santoku actually translates as “three uses” and refers to the three types of cuts this knife is made for: slicing, dicing, and mincing. This blade has a flat cutting edge and the handle is in line with the top edge of the blade. The end of the blade has a rounded curve. Because of the flat blade, the Santoku doesn’t rock on the cutting surface the way that the blade of a chef’s knife does, so it might take some practice to get used to the style. Most Santoku knives have a blade that is around 6 or 7 inches.

The blade on the Santoku knife that is included in this set is 6.3 inches long, with a blade thickness of 0.1 inches. The handle measures in at 5 inches long, so the overall length of the knife measures in at 11.3 inches long. This knife does weigh in at 6.6 ounces.

 

The Chef’s Knife:

The last knife that is included in this Boker set is the Chef’s knife. Every single kitchen should have a chef’s knife. These are some of the most versatile knives in the kitchen and can really stand up to most tasks. If you could only have one style of knife in your kitchen, I would recommend that you choose a high quality chef’s knife. The average size of this type of knife is between 8 to 10 inches long, which can seem long, but with the extra length comes extra efficiency and more versatility. A spine on the perfect chef’s knife should be thick because the thicker the spin, the more durable the blade is. Chef’s knives are ideal for slicing, dicing, chopping, mincing, and for being used on vegetables, fruits, meats, and fish. Chef’s knives should not be used for skinning large vegetables and butchering and carving meats.

This chef’s knife is on the smaller size, with the blade measuring in at 7.8 inches, the blade has a thickness of 0.1 inches. The handle measures in at 5 inches, making the overall length of the blade 12.8 incest long. This chef’s knife weighs in at 7.6 ounces.

 

Conclusion:

The Boker Saga kitchen knife series is a premium German-made set designed by none other than Danish knife maker Jesper Voxnaes. Spearheaded by years and years of experience, Voxnaes set out to incorporate an advanced level of ergonomics that translated well with the high intensity culinary world. For starters, each knife was equipped with G-10 handles–ideal because this virtually indestructible composite is impervious to temperature, but more importantly, moisture. Furthermore, grip security is no issue thanks to the incorporation of flared handle bellies and pommels on the larger models. Each model features black G-10 handles which possess Voxnaes’s signature hollow rivets, stonewash finished blades which assist in hiding wear marks and the black display block allows for the magnetic attachment of each one of the knives. With the four knives that Boker has chosen to include, you will be equipped to take on any cutlery challenge.