Around a year ago I bought a knife set made by an American company called Füri.
They were nice knives I thought. Notice the "were". They're no longer nice knives.
Below is an email that I wrote to them a few weeks ago. An email that they as yet, haven't answered. So I thought I'd post my letter online.
The email was entitled "Füri-ous at knife breaking". I hope they understood the pun of their company's name.
Hi Füri,
Just over a year ago (March or April 2012), I purchased a 9cm (3.5 inch) Pairing knife. It was in a set along with an 20cm Cook's Knife. I decided to buy Füri brand knives as I was looking for some good quality kitchen knives; knives that enhance my enjoyment of cooking.
However, last week I was cutting through a potato (chopping it into cubes for a soup) with the 9cm Pairing Knife, when the knife just snapped! I've attached some pictures. A clean break in the knife - no twisting or bending.
I couldn't believe it. I was pretty angry about this. I bought this
knife little over 15 or so months ago, and had only 15 months use and
now it has broken chopping an potato! Granted, it was unboiled and so
slightly hard....but still, a knife chopping a potato. You'd never
imagine that a potato can triumph.
I was relieved of AUD$75 for the set of 2 knives, and one breaks chopping a potato! That is ridiculous I thought....basically a knife that cost AUD$32.50 cannot even handle a potato! I never even got to sharpen it properly either.
I followed all of the instructions for caring for the knife - I never put it in a dishwasher, never used extremely hot water to clean it, always washed and dried it soon after use. You can see from the pictures that it has been looked after well.
The Füri knife did get used once a day at least, but only for about 15 minutes in total......a week. That's one hour a month. 15 hours of use in total......and snapping....really?! I have other cutting knives that I've used way more than that and they are still very much intact.
I've also attached a knife that I bought in my local supermarket (my local Woolworths), nearly 3 years ago. This is now my temporary pairing knife. In the picture it's a bit dirty as it is fresh from doing its job of not snapping while cutting carrots, parsnip, turnips AND potatoes. I think this also cost 8 times less than the Füri one....this Woolworths knife was AUD$4 I think.
All in all, I'm quite annoyed at this. I'm down a small knife that I
thought was pretty decent. and so am looking to replace this knife and
possibly add some cutting knives, but now am quite reluctant to
choose Füri.
Yours frustratedly,
Kris
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Did I get a reply?
They were nice knives I thought. Notice the "were". They're no longer nice knives.
The email was entitled "Füri-ous at knife breaking". I hope they understood the pun of their company's name.
Hi Füri,
Just over a year ago (March or April 2012), I purchased a 9cm (3.5 inch) Pairing knife. It was in a set along with an 20cm Cook's Knife. I decided to buy Füri brand knives as I was looking for some good quality kitchen knives; knives that enhance my enjoyment of cooking.
However, last week I was cutting through a potato (chopping it into cubes for a soup) with the 9cm Pairing Knife, when the knife just snapped! I've attached some pictures. A clean break in the knife - no twisting or bending.
 |
| A clean break |
 |
| The knife is now extendable... |
I was relieved of AUD$75 for the set of 2 knives, and one breaks chopping a potato! That is ridiculous I thought....basically a knife that cost AUD$32.50 cannot even handle a potato! I never even got to sharpen it properly either.
I followed all of the instructions for caring for the knife - I never put it in a dishwasher, never used extremely hot water to clean it, always washed and dried it soon after use. You can see from the pictures that it has been looked after well.
 |
| Potato 1 Füri Pairing knife 0 |
The Füri knife did get used once a day at least, but only for about 15 minutes in total......a week. That's one hour a month. 15 hours of use in total......and snapping....really?! I have other cutting knives that I've used way more than that and they are still very much intact.
I've also attached a knife that I bought in my local supermarket (my local Woolworths), nearly 3 years ago. This is now my temporary pairing knife. In the picture it's a bit dirty as it is fresh from doing its job of not snapping while cutting carrots, parsnip, turnips AND potatoes. I think this also cost 8 times less than the Füri one....this Woolworths knife was AUD$4 I think.
 |
| Füri knife at the top, Woolies knife at the bottom |
 |
| Notice the potato and carrot bits still on the knife? Yeah...that's how a real knife deals with veggies. |
Yours frustratedly,
Kris
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Did I get a reply?
Kris, i was disturbed to read you poor experience, however was skeptical that you may not have been using a paring knife correctly. Based on this i decided to research how to use a paring knife and found the following article.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Paring-Knife
It appears your paring knife usage falls well within the parameters and infact, it may even suggest you were under-using the knife. As you will see in the article "Paring knives are extremely versatile and can be used in a wide variety of ways, making them one of the most frequently utilized knives of a chef's kitchen."
Good luck in your quest.
Thanks for your support and useful link Ben. I had a look at the guide you supplied and to my shock, well, I found that I have indeed been drastically under utilising my paring knife. I had not peeled a thin or a thick skin, de-foliaged a strawberry, gutted a shrimp. I've removed pips from a jalapeno though, so that is of some comfort at least.
DeleteI did get this lovely reply off the Furi guys however, last week.
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from: Furi Gbal Sales
to: Kris
date: 29 July 2013 06:44
subject: RE: Füri-ous at knife breaking
Dear Kris,
We are so sorry to read about your concern with Furi knives and the unfortunate incident of your knife breaking.
In order to rectify this for you quickly, pls feel free to contact McPherson Consumer Products at enquiries@mcpher.com.au and they will assist you with your claim.
Much thanks,
Furi Global.
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I've yet to chase it up.