Tramontina knives are a great option for quality cutlery from Brazil. The 14 piece forged contemporary set features high carbon German stainless steel, full tang, triple rivet handle construction, and full bolsters for safety and balance. The ergonomic, contoured handle shape provides a safe and comfortable grip. Overall, it’s a solid knife set at a reasonable price that looks and feels good.
Every kitchen needs a good knife set. This post reviews the 14 piece forged cutlery set from Tramontina. It’s a quality knife set at a very reasonable price.
Tramontina
Tramontina is a Brazilian company that has been around for over a hundred years (started in 1911). The company manufactures a wide range of products – cutlery and culinary utensils, kitchen equipment, appliances, agricultural tools, furniture, utility vehicles, electric hardware, and more. In 1986, Tramontina USA brought Tramontina cookware and cutlery to the United States. They are a big company – over 10000 employees worldwide.
Tramontina Knives
Many popular kitchen knives are manufactured in Germany, Japan, or China; Tramontina is unique as a Brazilian option. The forged contemporary set is a great mid range option for a home kitchen set at an affordable price. These Tramontina knives are:
- High Carbon German stainless steel
- Forged
- Full tang construction for good balance and sturdiness
- Modern ergonomic design for comfort and aestetics
- Full bolster and contoured handle for safety and ease of use
Tramontina Knives – 14 Piece Forged Contemporary Set
Tramontina Cutlery Arrival
The Tramontina knife set arrives in a single large box. The box contains the honing steel, a wooden knife block, and the cutlery. The cutlery itself comes within a flat cardboard box, taking up minimal space. The majority of space is taken by the knife block. The 13 slot Chestnut stained hardwood block is good for safe storage on the countertop.
The Forged Cutlery set comes with 14 pieces – the honing steel, kitchen shears, the hardwood block, and 11 knives. The knives include an 8″ chef knife, 8″ slicer knife, 7″ santoku knife, 6″ utility knife, 4″ paring knife, and six 5″ steak knives. All the knives are straight edge; there are no serrated edge knives in the set.
Knife Guards
Each knife comes with its own plastic knife guard. This is great in case you don’t end up storing the knives in the wood block, or if you need to transport the knives. If you end up storing the knives in a drawer, these guards are important for safety. The knives are very sharp and can be dangerous if stored or transported with blades exposed.
A nice feature of the knife guards is that, in addition to providing a safe cover, they provide other options for storage. There is a loop at the top of the guard for hanging, along with holes along the side of the guard that could be used for fastening. There are multiples pairs of holes at the bottom of each knife guard. A string could be fed through these holes and wrapped around the handle of the knife, in order to secure the knife within the guard.
Tramontina Knives Construction
The Tramontina knives are constructed from stain free, high carbon German steel. High carbon means that the steel is hard and able to hold a sharp edge. Stain free indicates the steel is resistant to discoloration (rust or patina) and will maintain a nice clean appearance (within reason).
The knives have a contoured, ergonomic handle design that makes them comfortable to hold. The handles utilize full tang, triple rivet construction. The full tang provides better balance and sturdiness during use. The knives also contain a bolster, a metal region between the blade and handle. This is good for safety, providing a barrier between your hand and the blade.
Tramontina Chef Knife
The most important knife in a knife set is the chef knife. The chef knife is the workhorse knife, capable of performing virtually any task in the kitchen. This Tramontina set has a great chef knife that is versatile, comfortable, and durable.
Like the other knives in the set, the chef knife has a comfortable, ergonomically designed handle, a full bolster, and full tang construction. The full tang balances the weight of the knife more towards the handle, providing comfort and ease of use. It also concentrates the weight towards the heel of the blade, where a lot of chopping will occur. This allows you to use the natural weight of the knife to help cut through food. The chef knife weighs in at 9.2 oz., which is a normal weight for a chef knife.
Tramontina Specialty Knives
In addition to the Tramontina chef knife, the set contains four other specialized knives: an 8″ slicer knife, a 7″ santoku knife, a 6″ utility knife, and a 4″ paring knife. These knives represent a good range of shapes and sizes to peform specialty tasks in the kitchen.
The santoku knife contains a granton edge, which refers to the dimples that run along the side of the blade. These dimples create air pockets that reduce the surface area capable of adhering to the food, allowing a smoother cut. The santoku knife is good for an up and down chopping motion (as opposed to a rocking motion) and is a great all around knife.
The 4″ paring, the 6″ utility, and the 8″ slicer knives are basically the same shapes but at different lengths. The different sizes optimize them for different tasks. The smaller paring knife is best for fine knifework, say peeling fruit, cutting off the tops of strawberries, coring a tomato, etc. The 8” slicer knife is best for large items in the kitchen or for slicing meat or fish. The long blade length allows you to cut meat or fish with one long slice, doing minimal damage to the ingredient. It is also useful for large ingredients like watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, etc. The 6″ utility knife is optimal for mid size tasks and ingredients, like tomato or citrus.
Tramontina Steak Knives
The set comes with six steak knives. Like the other knives in the set, the ergonomically designed handle is safe and comfortable. A full bolster separates handle and blade, providing a safety buffer. The blade is 5″ and straight edge, as opposed to serrated.
The steak knives are a good weight and feel good during use. They are sharp and durable and make a solid steak knife set.
Tramontina Set Accessories
Besides the Tramontina knives, the set comes with an 8″ honing steel and kitchen shears. The honing steel is solid and durable and will allow you to keep your knives sharp with a little maintenance. Honing your knives every couple of times you use them will keep them functioning optimally and only takes a couple of seconds. The kitchen shears are also solid and durable. Kitchen shears are useful for a number of kitchen tasks including cutting herbs, fabricating chicken, cutting flatbreads, opening food packaging, etc. Both the honing steel and kitchen shears are able to be stored in the Chestnut wood block along with the knives.
Conclusion
Tramontina is a solid choice for cutlery from Brazil. The forged contemporary set is a great mid range option for a home kitchen set at an affordable price. The knife set looks good, and the knives are comfortable and easy to use. The set contains knives with various shapes and sizes, so that you will be equipped with an optimal tool for various kitchen tasks. The ergonomic contoured handles provide a safe and comfortable grip. Finally, these knives are durable so they will serve you well in your kitchen for a long time.
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