Damascus BBQ Knife Set of 5 with Leather Roll, Black Handles

Four of these five make obvious sense next to a grill. The 9 inch bread knife does not, and it is the one that ends up in a hand every week of the year while the cleaver waits for a weekend. Five knives, Damascus over a high carbon core, black pakka wood handles, all of it in a leather roll that ties shut.

Specification

What is in the set

The steel

Damascus means layers of steel forge welded into one bar then etched, so the ladder pattern lifts out of the flats. Ladder comes from cutting grooves across the billet and pressing it flat again. It is decoration. The high carbon core underneath takes the edge. The bread knife carries the same pattern with a scalloped edge ground into it, which is the one blade here that never goes on a stone. Carbon steel darkens to a grey patina in use, and it will spot if it is left wet outside.

The handles

Black pakka wood is thin layers of wood laid up and set in resin, so it does not swell in a wet hand or dry out in a hot kitchen. It comes out near black with a faint layered line running through it, and it stays that colour, which is what lets five handles match across five different blade shapes. Each one is full tang, brass pins through the slabs, and nothing is glued on. Wipe them dry and they are done.

The knife roll

Vegetable tanned leather, hand stitched, one pocket per knife, which is what keeps five blades from touching each other. Basket weave is stamped across the face, driven into damp hide one square at a time. The strap goes twice around the roll and ties off. A 9 inch bread knife and a cleaver do not share a drawer politely. The roll keeps five edges apart, stores flat, and goes to somebody else's back yard and home again intact.

Who it suits

Most sets like this are bought for the grill and then quietly live indoors.

• Anyone tired of carrying knives loose to a cookout
• People who want a bread knife they can look at
• Buyers replacing five odd knives with five that match
• Anyone who cooks at other people's houses

What comes in the box

• The five knives
• The stamped basket weave knife roll
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

Every set is different

Every blade is forged and etched here in small runs. The ladder rungs land where the billet put them, so the spacing on the cleaver will not match the spacing on the boning knife. The five are cut from one run, so they belong together without being copies. Yours will not match the photograph.

Looking after it

Hand wash them, dry them straight away, and never leave them outside overnight. A light coat of food safe mineral oil before they go back in the roll keeps rust off, and the roll should be dry when they go in. Cut on boards of wood or plastic. Sharpen on a stone and strop after, and send the bread knife back to us instead. It is all set out on our care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Engraving runs 35 dollars for the set, a single flat price across all five blades, and it goes on here before checkout. Roughly 30 characters fit on a blade. Letters cut into the ladder pattern come out darker than the etch around them. You see a proof image before the laser runs, and the extra step adds 3 to 5 business days. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

Why is there a bread knife in a barbecue set? Because buns turn up at every cookout, and because it is the blade that stays busy the rest of the year.

Can I sharpen the serrated edge myself? Not on a flat stone. Send it back and we will do it, which is covered for life.

Will they rust? They can. Under the pattern it is carbon steel. Dry them after use and leave a film of oil on the steel.

How much does engraving add? One flat 35 dollars for the set, with all five blades included in that. Nothing is engraved unless you ask for it.

How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

Is the cleaver the heavy sort? A 6 inch square blade with weight in it, meant for chopping on a board rather than fine work.

Without the pattern there is the hand forged kitchen set in walnut, and for the board before the food comes off the grill there is the Damascus cheese set in burl wood. Rolls of every kind are in gift sets, with the knives themselves in kitchen knife sets and Damascus steel.