HENCKELSInternational Elan 14 pc Knife Block Set

As someone who enjoys cooking, having the right tools is essential. This set of knives has been a great addition to my kitchen. Each knife, from the chef's to the paring one, feels balanced and comfortable in hand. The self-sharpening block is a standout feature, keeping the blades razor-sharp after every use. I particularly enjoy using the santoku for slicing vegetables – it glides through with minimal effort. The steak knives are a nice touch for dinner parties. The forged bolster construction offers durability, and I've found the transition from blade to handle smooth, enhancing the ease of use. For a keen cook, this set covers all the bases, making food prep more enjoyable.

This Henckels International set of knives is a very substantial and quite heavy collection, not least the very chunky solid wood block they live in. The pack I received was called the 'Graphite' set and not the Elan set mentioned in the product title but looks pretty much the same compared to the images. The quality is mostly excellent and the knives are razor sharp, as you'd expect, with ceramic sharpeners built into 4 of the slots on the block. That block is large and heavy and is more horizontal than some so it takes a good depth of worktop space if you leave it sitting out - you'd need to allow about 50cm front to back for easy use. It looks great and is nicely finished solid wood with a high-end stainless steel finial over the main knife slots, each one is also labelled with the knife that lives there. The steak knives live in uncapped slots just below the rest and you might want to insert them carefully to avoid scratching that part of the block.The blades of the knives are excellent and they look and feel very good quality with a nice weight and little flex which makes them easier to control and great for harder produce like squash or root vegetables. The handles look like solid brushed metal but they don't seem quite heavy enough but it's probably aluminium or similar and they are very securely bonded to the blades. The knives, despite the deceptively light handles, are nicely balanced, especially the smaller ones. Speaking of the smaller ones the steak knives are excellent as slicing and dicing knives too because their blades are quite straight, serrated and very firm and perfectly good for general kitchen use.The only minor disappointment is the kitchen shears which don't feel like they match the quality of the other components, that said they're sharp and comfortable to use. Overall a very impressive set that's going to be a real statement in most kitchens, you might want to put in a cupboard out of reach of young children but it will have to be quite a deep and capacious one, otherwise having spent this much money why not keep them on show?

Fantastic big chunky knife block with a great variety of knives.The block is big, heavy and chunky so be sure to have good space on the worktop for it!Sharp, oh boy are they sharp! Fantastic for slicing fruits and vegetables super duper thin. And the self sharpening mechanism when inserting and removing the knives works really well.The serrated steak knives are great, they cut through cooked meat really nicely and without much resistance.The handles feel great in the hand - seemingly solid metal, and the larger knives are well weighted to not feel to heavy on the blade.The best knives I've ever used.

Although I ordered the Elan 14pc set I received the equivalent Graphite set which to be honest I am not too bothered about as it is worth more and I prefer the all steel handles, but worth mentioning and the only reason I am knocking off a star on this review.The knifes themselves are exactly what you would expect from the Henckels brand which is under the umbrella of the Zwilling company (the three men on the logo as opposed to the one of Henckels) and offers the same German steel blades but are manufactured outside of Europe as far as I can gather. This set was manufactured in China which in its self is no bad thing as long as the quality control is up there and I could not really fault this set at all.The handles (on the Graphite set) have a brushed and lacquered finish which has a slight texture to look at but smooth to the touch. The transition between the handle, bolster and blade are all smooth with no defects and the blade and bolster seem to be forged together. The balance on all the main knifes was good and I like the Santoku knife which is my usual go to whilst cooking. I was also impressed with the steak knifes which usually end up being an afterthought in sets like this, but feel every bit as crafted and balanced as the main knifes and are great quality.The scissors are a little bit of a let down with the plastic moulding on the handles just not quite up there with the quality of the rest of the set, but that is about the only negative that I can think of. The block is nice and the main knife slots (except for the serrated knifes) have built in ceramic knife sharpeners to keep your blades razor sharp.The whole set impressed and for the mid ranged price tag you get some quality blades and most importantly the quality control seems to be there (minus the scissors.) They feel like they are going to last and although may not be quite the same quality of their big brother, and more expensive, brand Zwilling (which was the first knife I brought for myself aged 20) they are perfectly good quality for their price point with the steak knifes especially impressing.

Great and very high quality knifes with very sturdy block .Knifes blades are solid and handles are very comfortable to hold .Im not sure how self sharpening block will work as its something i have first time but time will show.Excellent product and definitely quality can be appreciated.Definitely recommended