If there’s anything positive that’s come out of all this time at home is how much time we’ve spent in the kitchen. We’ve all seen it with our friends on social media. It seems like everyone has rediscovered, er…or discovered, cooking and baking everything from apple fritter cakes to sourdough breads to trying out new recipes in their Instapots. Myself included. It’s not so much about how to necessarily whip things up fast. It’s been a time to slow down and enjoy the process. From shopping and meal prep to getting food on the table, we’ve now changed our meal times, and hopefully for the good. We also took inventory of what’s in our pantries (canned tuna from 5 years ago, anyone?) and all our cooking utensils. We’ve replenished, replaced, and reorganized. One that is most often overlooked in many everyday kitchen is our knife sets. Quite literally many of us don’t really even pay that much attention to them for years. Kitchen knives are often what is overlooked and we continue using them even if they’re old and dull – which actually can be quite dangerous. Recently we learned about a new knife company called KILNE – and were surprised to learn that this line is from the same people behind ENDY – yes the mattress company.
What does a mattress company founder know about knives? Mike Gettis, Founder and CEO of Endy and Kilne, and his partner Noelle Hjelte, who serves as President of Kilne, began out of a need. They were in search of a good knife set, no actually great set, and were willing to invest in the idea hoping that it would last them for years. If you’ve ever shopped for knives you know that the there’s a broad range and even with price points didn’t necessarily dictate quality. Shopping for knives can be confusing and overwhelming. So, Gettis and Hjelte started researching the industry.
With trends of people cooking more at home, they realized that kitchen needs would follow quickly. What they were after were knives that could withstand the pressures of a restaurant kitchen but for home chefs. They asked some of Canada’s most well-known chefs including Claudio Aprile and Suzanne Barr to give them their honest opinions. Impressed they were.
The knives are all designed in Canada forged from high-grade Chromium-molybdenum-vanadium German steel to stay sharp and precise in use. Full tang solid steel from ‘tip to tail’ gives exceptional strength and perfect balance. Ergonomic handle and bolster provide a secure hold, even with wet hands. They also come with a lifetime warranty.
With their already proven successful business model of direct-to-consumer selling, they were already onto something. They knew that they could afford to keep costs affordable against the heavy players in the industry and recently launched the first in the Kilne Cookware collection: a six-piece knife set ($190 CDN includes shipping) with the most useful pieces including a sleek Acadia wood block to keep sharp blades safely stored on the countertop.
We’ve been pretty impressed in our kitchen with this set that’s been on heavy rotation all pandemic long. Check out kilne.com for more info.
