Jalen Sigh Tech

REVIEW – A good set of kitchen knives is an indispensable tool in any kitchen and having an equally sharp and durable set of steak knives is important too. The PAUDIN 14-piece Kitchen Knife Set has a full cutlery set and a convenient storage block. I have one to review; read on to see what I think!

What is it?

The PAUDIN knife set includes 5 of the most often used kitchen knives, a set of shears, a sharpening stick, and 6 steak knives, all stored in a wooden steak block. The knives are made from a high carbon stainless with at least 54 Rockwell hardness. The blades are sharpened with a hand-applied 14-degree flat grind. The blade finish of each knife includes a laser-inscribed Damascus pattern to enhance the style of each piece. Each blade is bolstered for added safety. The knife handles are made of Pakkawood and the steel pommel is stamped with the PAUDIN seal.  If any knife should fail there is a lifetime warranty on the set.

What’s included?

• 8″ Chef’s Knife
• 8″ Carving Knife
• 8″ Bread Knife
• 5″ Utility Knife
• 3.5″ Paring Knife
• 6 Pieces of 4.5″ Steak Knife
• Kitchen Scissors
• Sharpening Stick
• Wooden Knife block
• Knife descriptions 
• Warranty Card

Tech specs

Design and features

Unboxing

The knife set comes in a gift box with a full-color picture of the knives on the front. The front of the box is labeled “PAUDIN: Universal Collection, The Top Selling Knives Set.” (at the time of this review, Amazon has ranked this #10,956 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining) and #237 in Block Knife Sets)  The sides of the box show contact information and certification labels. The back of the box is labeled “Better knife, better life” and highlights the blade specifications.

Inside the box, the knives are all provided in a small box inside the main carton. The tips and base of the bolsters are capped with protective plastic guards and each knife is sheathed in cardboard. The other box inside the arton holds the knife block. It is protected by bubble wrap and contains a desiccant packet in the shears slot.

Knives

The PAUDIN knives are fabricated from stamped steel with a composition of 3cr13MoV/5cr15MoV.

This signifies 0.25% to 0.5% Carbon, 12.5% to 15% Chrome, 0.6% Molybdenum, 0.1% Vanadium, and 0.4% Manganese. The knife is laser etched with X50Cr15Mov, the German equivalent of the Chinese standard quoted above. It is unclear exactly how much carbon there is in the steel. The steel can be hardened to the levels claimed by PAUDIN and can take a fine edge, but it is not renowned for staying sharp for a long time. However, this being a kitchen knife, and one that comes with sharpening steel, that isn’t a problem. The stain resistance to the steel improves with a higher quantity of nickel. A knife with 12.5% Chrome may stain or rust more easily than one with 15% Chrome. The typical 18-8 steel used for cutlery is 18% Chrome and 8% Nickel. 

The GearLab site has a host of testing equipment for measuring knife characteristics, and they verified the blade angle to be 15 degrees and the hardness to be 57 Rockwell. I found that the blade was sharp out of the box, but running the knife across the sharpening steel improved its ability to slice through paper. The spine thickness of just 1.9 mm means that the knife easily slices through foods.

The steak knives and the bread knife are serrated with a wide-toothed pattern that helps with the sawing action for cutting but keeps sharp and will not get caught on meats like micro serrations. 

The blade is half tang, but you would hardly know it thanks to the big comfortable Pakkawood handle. The resin-filled wood resists bacteria, is moisture-proof, and is easy to hold, even when covered with grease. The knives have a good balance and are lightweight thanks to their construction. The handles of the shears and the sharpening steel are made of plastic similar to the look of the knife handles but have a different texture and lack the appearance of directional wood grain. 

Each blade has the same laser-etched Damascus pattern but the pattern is scaled to the blade dimensions.

If you look closely you can see that it is a continuous sequence of laser bursts that move back and forth to fill in a darker area, representative of the different grades of steel that are folded into a Damascus pattern on blades forged in this manner.

This is a completely cosmetic feature and while it provides an interesting touch to the knife’s appearance there may be some downsides to the process. Laser marking can potentially increase the risk of corrosion by disrupting the passive oxide layer on the surface, exposing the underlying metal to oxygen, and accelerating rust formation. The potential of this effect depends heavily on the etching parameters.

Maybe it is the combination of the wood handles, the half-tang design, or the etching of the blade, but the manufacturer recommends hand cleaning.

Block

the knife block is a laminated solid wood storage block with slots for each knife, a round hole for the sharpening steel, and a cut-out for the shears. The exposed sides are laminated with an attractive veneer but the bottom shows the true construction material. There are rubber feet that are stapled onto the bottom. 

Performance

The handles of each knife are very comfortable. The profile is smooth from pommel to bolster and the shape and heft of the handle feel great in either hand. The handles are waterproof and even though they are not contoured or knurled. When holding the top of the blade the thinness of the blade and the stamped manufacturing process make the edges on the top of the blade very sharp. I might even go so far as to take a file to this to round out the edge a bit.

The unevenness of the grind can be appreciated by the waviness of the light reflections on the blade’s face.

This might only impact the performance of the knife in long full cuts, but the edge is not as precise as other more costly options. The blade also tended to adhere to foods more often than with other knives I have. Perhaps it is due to the thinness of the blade, or maybe it is due to the Damascus print acting like a fingerprint, but food may adhere to the steel when slicing. 

The serrated bread and steak knives have a nice cutting pattern and work well on bread and steak, respectfully. 

The knives are easy to improve with a few strokes of the sharpening steel or a strop. 

The shears are comfortable and have ambidextrous handles.

What I like about the PAUDIN 14-piece Kitchen Knife Set

• great handle
• thin blade can hold a sharp edge
• good serrated cutlery
• lifetime warranty

What needs to be improved?

• pronounced edges on the blade spine
• unevenness at the cutting edge
• recommended hand wash
• not “razor sharp” out of the box but holds a nice edge after using sharpening steel or strop.

Final thoughts

There are a couple of considerations for this item. The target audience for these knives is people who need kitchen knives and steak knives but are not professional cooks. I do not recommend these knives for people who use them for more than an hour daily. The Damascus Pattern gives the knives a style that is en vogue these days and adds some character to what would otherwise be a simple looking blade. If you are looking for an entry-level set of knives with a storage block this set may serve you as well as other options like Henckels. One other option is to go a-la-carte, especially if you do not plan to use the block. In that case, the steak knives and the bread knife are the best parts of this set and are available from PAUDIN here. 

Price:  $179.99
Where to buy: PAUDIN and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by PAUDIN. PAUDIN did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.