Messermeister Oliva Elite: Near Perfect German Chef Knife

This is my favorite German chef knife so far, and the best German knife I have used this year. German steel are not known to hold a sharper edge than Japanese steel, but can get razor sharp and if the knife is made well, they can produce a great knife. The Messermeister has a great handle design with a very good quality wood choice. The blade design is a standard German or Western style blade with a large rocking belly, but for those who enjoy rocking on the cutting board, it works.

[ronherman]

This is actually the knife I have at top of my list and have held back buying for a year now almost....very glad to hear you thought it was a best of the best for German knives.

[Mat-hrdg]

To anyone in Germany(or Europe in general): "Messermeister" knives are actually "Burgvogel" knives. They just use another brand name for their American/oversea export products.

[hawknives]

Olive wood is very nice wood, for chef's knives, and hunting knives.
Pretty too!

[Shehias]

Super glad that you finally grabbed one of Messermeister's higher end knives. I have the Meridian Elite and it's absolutely one of my top 3 knives that I own.

[EumlOriginal]

you should definitely test a "Windmühlenmesser" carbon steel knife
these are very classic German knives, only that there are hardly any manufacturers of this type of knife and they are more similar to the Japanese knives than the other German knives

[messerzeug]

Those knives are actually pretty amazing. Burgvogel(The company behind those knives) is famous for their very fine and easy to maintain edges. They are not quite as fine as Herder Windmühlenmesser, but much finer than those from most other big companies. Plus they are quite affordable. A good step up from a 10 $ IKEA knife, that makes cooking a more fun experience.

[shnooster]

Thank you I have been eyeballing this knife for a while now, might just order it!

[Justini]

You inspired me to make my own series on knife sharpening from knowing absolutely nothing to hopefully being good at it.

[Wpjgdmtu]

You speak pretty good English... For an American.

[bxf_]

I love Japanese knives & I own several (need more to complete my set) but I'm sentimental towards Messermeister because they were in my culinary school kit. I learned w/these knives! The bolster on them never impedes on the blade like other German knives. Love your channel, pretty sure I'm gonna buy some knives from you. I appreciate you reviewing a Messermeister & I appreciate all of your wisdom! You rock!

[finn]

Thanks so much for sharing this knife. I’ve been wanting a Japanese knife, but I felt that my cooking more suited a western cuisine that demanded a less ‘fragile’ knife. I understand Japanese knifes are designed for more care and precision when it come to food preparation, so I feel this knife is perfect for me because it provided a better style fit my cooking. Thanks again.

[johnscarborough]

It's a very good looking knife and olive wood is a great choice for a kitchen knife handle. Sounds like the heat treat is done as well as X50 can be done.

[thezionsoho]

What's the long term edge retention like? Isn't its steel supposed to be the worst edge keeper?

[jokinabadsbs]

The manufacturer is "Burgvogel" of Solingen. For your info 😉 messermeister is just a brand for USA

[mfreeman]

BTW had to smile your voice and speaking manner are very good for an anyone. It's important if you want strangers to spend eight or ten or twenty-three minutes in your company. I'm in the video biz myself and you could totally do voiceover work.

[londiniumarmoury]

For anybody who has trouble with raw knife handles, and want them to stop absorbing water, there's a couple of ways to do it but I prefer both one after the other. it will darken the wood though a lot, so don't do stage 1 if you want to keep a light wood. But for practical reasons this will give your handle a lifetime protection that you only have to apply once and you are done. First get a small chefs blowtorch or pen torch, scorch the knife until it turns dark brown / just below black. constantly rotate while scorching. Then get a hardwood or piece of bone and rub it over the knife handle quite hard (Burnishing) Then add any oil to finish. Or if you want to keep it's light colour just burnish and then oil.
Enjoy your waterproof wood handles :)

[einundsiebenziger]

About some of the things you mention: "Guests use it". You let outside people cook in your kitchen? "... in my knife drawer". With all your knowledge about storing knives, you still keep some of them in a drawer? I'm shocked😉.

[redangrybird]

5:46 Your little girl waiting for her share of the watermelon, 😁

[BughunterX]

The sharpest edge i ever got on a knife was on a german stainless Gustav Emil Ern from the 70s. Got it NOS from ebay. I also have 2 japanese in Aogami1 and Aogami2, but somehow i was never able to get a real hair popping sharpness on these.

[pawelkapica]

This knife looks very much like my Burgvogel Chefsknive. I wonder if they come from the same factory in Solingen. Even the shape of the handle is the same and the Burgvogel also comes in an Olive wood variant. I am very satisfied with the Burgvogel as well. Ok, I checked. It's, in fact, the same company just rebranded to the rest of the world under Messermeister.