Episode 8: WUSTHOF: The Best Knives In The World

 In this episode of the 1Percentile Podcast, we explore the artistry of Wüsthof — the German knife maker known as the best in the world. I break down the precision, heritage, and craftsmanship behind every blade. Whether you’re a collector or just curious, join me as we uncover why Wüsthof stands in a class of its own.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome to another podcast. The main basic thrust of these podcasts is those who are watching my podcast for the entire time that I make a presento is they're going to notice something that 99% of the American public doesn't know. And that's why it's called the One Percentile. So what I'm going to try and do is have you join the One Percentile. Now, normally I talk about American inventions and how America has uh created uh items and inventions and and and processes and stuff and how it's uh it's helped the United States, but also the world, like the Wright brothers inventing the airplane. I mean, there can't be anything more revolutionary than that, but it was an American, or Thomas Setison inventing the light bulb. I mean, he lit up the world. Okay, so today what I'm going to talk about is a German company uh that has been uh uh is in uh uh West Germany, and they have been making uh some of the finest knives in the world, and it's called Wustoff. Now, uh what's interesting about the German language is that uh when you uh see the name, uh it starts with a W, but it isn't Wustof, it's Wustoff. The W is pronounced uh uh as a like a V, V, uh, which is kind of funny because I like classical music. And one of the great uh composers uh in Germany is uh Richard Wagner. However, those who have heard Wagner's music for the first time, they go to a record store or anybody else says, I would like to uh buy a uh a record or a CD or something about uh Richard Wagner, and they all say Wagner, and of course the the people who are you know who know about the classical music they'll they'll kind of chuckle and say, no, no, no, no, no. The W is pronounced V. It's Richard Wagner. Okay. Now, uh enough of that. So anyway, this this company is called Vustoff, and uh they have come out with a new line of knives, and I'm gonna show you what they are. The first one uh that they have is called the uh chef's knife, and uh it is uh a particular kind called the icon, and what they've done is they've taken this knife and they've taken the handle right here, uh, and they have uh attached to the knife what is known as African blackwood. Now, African blackwood is one of the hardest woods made, and it is absolutely gorgeous. So this is the knife that uh you uh if you're a chef uh working for a restaurant, or if you are uh a uh a person who likes to cook, this is the knife that you would start with. Now, this is the biggest one that they make. This thing is uh about 10 inches. Then uh if you uh have a uh a wife or uh uh teenager or somebody else like that that also wants to use a chef's knife, you have this one. And this is a standard size chef knife. And then got a little uh somebody else who uh is also working in the kitchen with you. Here's their other little knife that they can use. So these are the first three knives that if you're gonna get any, uh you get a complete set. Uh they they make about 20. All of these with the same handle. Now, this is uh a bread knife and it has serrated edges. And what you do is when you when you cut the bread, it'll just go right through it. That that bread crust isn't going to collapse on you or anything else on it to give you a nice clean uh cut. This is one of the most beautiful knives I've ever seen. Look at that. This knife and every one of these is stainless steel, will not rust. They're all forged, which means that they're not stamped out. These are real, honest to god, forgings. And take a look at how strong that they're made. Here's the blade. The blade goes right between the uh the handles, it's attached at the back, goes all the way through, and that is real construction. All right. Now, uh not too long ago, the Japanese invented a special knife, which is this one right here, and Wustoff is gone, and they've copied it, so you can get it again with the blackwood uh handle. Now, what they do is they have made uh what is known as uh a uh sharpening steel. You do not take one of these knives and try and sharpen it uh on a on a stone of where you're gonna rub off the uh the steel. This knife is made to be able to go on this kind of steel right here, and you put it at an angle, you run it down like this, and you're sharpening it all the time. But what you're doing at this kind of angle is you're not removing any of the steel, you're not taking any of the uh the thickness away, any of the strength away, or anything else. All you're doing is when you use this special uh sharpening uh steel, is you're taking all the molecules that are along the edges and you're you're aligning them right back of how they used to be at the factory. They'll never get old on you. They have little knives like this uh that are also serrated, and you use this to uh, for instance, if you're making a uh a BLT, uh bacon lettuce tomato, and you want to slice those tomatoes really thin. Here it is, nice and small, serrated. So when you cut it, it'll be a nice clean cut. You can make nice now. They have uh other ones which are uh and you'll find this is hard to see, but they are they're machined out, they have these openings uh right up the way here. And so if you're taking a block of cheese, for instance, and you you use this and you start to slice slices from the uh the cheese, you know what cheese does, it just loves knives, it just it just hangs right onto it, let go. But the point is is that when you have these kinds of edges against that, all you do is you just lift it up and that cheese block stays right down there. That's how clever they are. Clever those chickens. They also have um scissors, and these are stainless steel scissors, they are indestructible. And you know, uh, when you you you get a set of these, uh, and and it comes in, you know, you buy a block and they all fit in there, there's a place for the steel. It goes right here for the scissors, and it goes right in there, and so instead of looking around, you you know where they're they're gonna be in the kitchen, and you go right to the block, pull out the scissors, and you're ready to go. Last but not least, if you like to have dinners uh for uh you know your for guests and stuff like that, they uh this this company is a very classy company, and what they do is you get you buy this box and they're all sitting at the table, and you you're serving them steaks or you know, or lamb chops or something like that, and this is what you do: you place this in front of them, and you open the box, and there you are.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Pick your own steak knife, and you know what? It's of the same construction, same wood, same forged steel, everything.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

There's their own, but you don't want to take them home because these are really expensive.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Okay. That is real class, expensive. That is real class. Now, how do you get 'em?

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Um they have a uh uh uh uh a catalog, you can get them on the uh the internet, and uh they they sell these blocks, and and these blocks have uh various types of knives in them. But they make about 20 or or 30 varieties of knives, and you don't need all those. For instance, as an example, uh you have this. This is the this is the right uh Japanese knight to have. Remember, I was telling you about these uh cutoffs that they have? There it is, right there. But they also make a smaller one, but you don't need to, you it's being redundant, and these things are expensive, they run a hundred to three hundred dollars uh a piece, depending on how this is this is one of the expensive ones. Um anyway, you can buy them, and um uh my suggestion is that uh you you do want the three chef knives, you want the three uh sizes. You the next one is you've gotta have it as the uh the bread coat, and then this knife you use this all the time. Uh you'll use this to uh take tomatoes and and cut out the inside of it, or you have apple, you can cut an apple here and core it and everything else like that. It's it's this is a a delight to uh operate with. Uh let's see. One of the things that you may be interested in is uh if if you're having a turkey or something like that, uh this is part of the set if you want. You just you know you hold up the bird and and then you you you do some serious uh cutting with this this guy. Okay. Um I think uh that uh pretty much wraps it up. The other thing is that uh I'm going to show you uh a video, and what has happened uh with uh this particular company in Germany is that uh they pay their employees very well because they're all skill crashing. And uh they they found that uh they could uh automate uh and and and and this is where uh a lot of people are worrying about uh is uh on the internet uh the um artificial intelligence and robots, if there's gonna start replacing real honest to god workers. And what I'm gonna show you is going to scare the hell out of you because I'm gonna show you how, and and they take one of these chef knives right here, and they go through about 20 or 25 different processes. They they show you the uh uh the uh how how this is made. Um they show how the uh the handles are made, they show you the three rivets that go in, they show you how these robots go and and and they cut all of this out. And the thing is, is that uh everyone is exactly the same with the same uh quality. And uh you're gonna be amazed because you're gonna see these arms coming out and and the robots and and and and and the and the equipment which is being uh sent down uh in the warehouse and stuff like that, they have these little little dollies that just know where they're going and they deliver all the products. The only people that you see are at the very end, and that is uh they when they do a batch, uh they they go through and they look at everyone to make sure that uh uh all three rivers are fine. Uh they make sure that there's um that it has enough thickness here so when you start to put your hand on it and you start doing the chopping, you know, you're not going to um catch yourself. And the the last part is uh and and this is where they have this really skilled people. They sit uh uh and they'll go uh on these uh swirling uh grinders, uh very fine grinders, and they'll put that knife right through there, and they'll do it this way because there's a certain percentage of agle here, a certain percentage of agle here, and these are done by expensive craftsmen, and that's the final stage that they have. And and you're gonna see this now. There's also going to be the reason I want you to watch this uh piece of work, is it is not a commercial, I consider it an infomercial because Rustoff is going to show you the future when it comes to uh AI and robotic works. They have completely uh converted their factory over to this. And uh it's it's fascinating to watch, and uh, I'm not going to uh impose too much on what the uh commentator is saying because uh his English is a lot better than my German.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

After forgery, the steel is tempered to assure a long-lasting cutting.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

The knives are heated to one thousand degrees Celsius, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit, in a unique temperature.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

The knife is cooled instantly.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

It is now hard, but still too brittle for use. In another room at about 200 degrees Celsius, 390 degrees Fahrenheit, the blades are in need. Only now the strength requires fulfillment, an optimal hotness, a 58 degrees rock well, and the steel is still flexible.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Now the blade is taper grab.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

All the transportation from one production unit to the next is done automatically, so that the knives are careful all the way. The sharpness cutting edge first they sharpen the light on the stuff.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Then check the angle with the cutting edge by a laser beat. Now the final edges are the light is exceptionally sharp. Give me a piece of paper. That's how sharp it is.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Now I think you would probably be puzzled because, as I stated right at the beginning, uh I'm uh emphasizing uh inventions made by America and how it changed the world. And so why am I uh shifting over to a German company? And that is one thing that the Americans have is uh they have what are known as heirlooms, and they are of such quality that they are passed from generation to generation, from their uh parents to their children and uh their children's children. And these knives are heirloom quality. You do not throw these away. Now, you have to treat them uh with a certain amount of respect. And the reason I say that is these handles, which I talked about, which are the uh African blackwoods, um you cannot put these water uh these uh knives into a dishwasher because the heat and the pressure and everything else like that is going to go and it's the wood is gonna swell. So you have to treat them kindly. Um they're they're very solidly made and and and they'll last forever, but uh they they they they take some looking after. And when you have that kind of characteristic of looking after something of this quality that you eventually pass on as heirlooms to your children, that is an American tradition. Thank you for watching. And if you believe that uh the information that you received from this podcast brought you up indeed to the one percentile of where you know something that 99% of the American public doesn't know, then please like and subscribe the buttons below. Um you'll find some of my links, uh, which is uh my Patreon is uh now up and running, and we're going to be uh uh offering some merchandise, and uh they're gonna be uh some uh uh some Sweaters uh that will have little sayings on them uh that uh will be kind of provocative and and humorous, and uh will get uh the attention of uh other one presenters.