trIed and tested

Soho Vs Flint & Flame

So I’ve been in the kitchen since I was 14…I’ve come across so many diferent types of knives along the way, some amazing and some downright rubbish ( I won’t mention any names). You have to start somewhere when you join a kitchen or college and I think most young chefs start with a set of Victorinox. I still to this day use a Victorinox boning knife as it’s the one I feel most comfortable using, like a comfy pair of slippers I suppose! My old boss and mentor Simon Haigh taught me a lot of butchery and he used one, so I think you naturally follow in your mentor’s footsteps…

Since then I’ve moved onto being a head chef in a couple of different places myself and you teach your chefs on their sections how to do things fish prep, butchery, larder work. It’s interesting as I always reach for my own knives instead of using the chef that I’m teachings knife. This just shows how important a set of knives is to an individual chef, they’re an extension of us and we have to feel comfortable using them to get the best results.

So along the way I have found the best knives for me to suit what sort of job I’m doing in the kitchen, I think of the top of my head I use 6 diferent brands of knives. Each one does a diferent job and all of them are perfect for me. This brings me nicely onto Flint and Flame knives, I was introduced to the Steve Mould Co Founder and Sales Director when buying a Ceramic BBQ through his company. He gave me one of his knives to use and I fell in love with it! I’m always very wary when I get to grips with new knives as to be honest I like

what I have, and why try and mend something that isn’t broken!

So Flint and Flame, to be honest I don’t have to sell to you the way they look... they’re sexy! Very comfortable to hold and well balanced, the handle is smooth which for me is good as you don’t get too much irritation , knives I’ve used in the past have caused blisters etc. The main feature for me with these are they are made with high quality German carbon steel which stays

sharp and is easy to sharpen. Which for me should be the main feature of every knife, that it is easy to keep sharp. This obviously comes with a price….This is where Denny’s Soho knife range comes in, to be honest I’d not heard of them but I hadn’t heard of Flint And Flame a year ago. So when Chef Magazine asked me to do a comparison I was interested as I wanted to see how they stand up to other brands that have been manufacturing for years. So on to the look, I got to test out the rosewood handled ones which I always think are more attractive to look at, the knives were well balanced and super sharp. Fully forged and comfortable to hold the only down side for me was that the handle was a little square which could be improved for comfort. I prepped and chopped with both knives and the only major diference was fint and fames slightly curved blade which made chopping more fuid. I would have to invest in a soho to see if the edge was easy to sharpen and maintain as I already know the fint and fame is.

To sum up the two knives I would recommend any chef or serious home cook to try out both ranges of knife and come to your own decision as your tools in any trade are personal. From a professional point of view the Soho range shouldn’t be ignored and would hold their own against any entry level knife on the market today. The price point is excellent and should appeal to young chefs and college starters. Flint and Flame for me just make me feel like I’m driving a Rolls Royce when using them, utter luxury. Happy Chopping!