Calphalon files under the radar a bit when it comes to kitchen knives. Without the name-recognition of a Wusthof or the cachet of a Shun, people sometimes forget about them.
That’s unfortunate, since they make good knives. The Calphalon Katana set, for example, is a high-end set that stacks up well against the likes of Shun Knives.
This Contemporary set is aimed squarely at the lower-end, designed to compete with the Henckels and Forschners of the world.
How does this Contemporary stack up? This 15-piece set features an 8 inch Chef’s knife, 4.5 inch paring knife 8 inch bread knife and an 8 inch slicing knife.
That’s really all you need in a starter set, but this set also throws in a 6-inch fork, a honing steel, six steak knives, a kitchen shears and a six-inch utility knife. If you want to save money, look for a smaller set without those extra pieces.
The knife blades are made of a high-carbon steel and feature sharp-out-of-the-box, full-tang, full-bolster blades. That full-bolster can get in the way of resharpening over time so take that into consideration before purchasing.
Overall, this is a decent set of knives. It doesn’t quite stack up to our favorite low-priced small set — The Forschner Black Fibrox family — but it’s no slouch either.
