In the market for a nice top quality kitchen knife set any suggestions?

[gixxerman]

don't know a lot about the different brands and their quality. price range is less than 3 bills, I don't mind paying for quality.

Thanks in advance!!
C

[richard thurman]

do you remember the on as seen on TV sale?? I got one of those 19 piece knife sets over 10 years ago and I am still using them to day. It is not a high dollar set.

[Free2game]

You don't really need a set of knives. You're better off just getting a good chef's knife and a paring knife, you don't need much beyond that, for example a proper full flat ground chef's knife with a good sharp edge can slide through bread without deforming it. That eliminates the need for any kind of bread knives. Japanese and American knives are the best imo material wise, German knives are nicely finished but most are made with cheaper 4116 steel. For half the price of a Wusthof or Henkels knife you could get something like a Richmond Artifex which uses 13c26 sandvik steel for half the price and get a better performing steel. With all of the money you save, even going with a $180 ZDP-189 knife for example, you could get other stuff you actually would use, like a decent cutting board and a ceramic rod for honing.

[macmiddlebrooks]

You don't really need a set of knives. You're better off just getting a good chef's knife and a paring knife, you don't need much beyond that, for example a proper full flat ground chef's knife with a good sharp edge can slide through bread without deforming it. That eliminates the need for any kind of bread knives. Japanese and American knives are the best imo material wise, German knives are nicely finished but most are made with cheaper 4116 steel. For half the price of a Wusthof or Henkels knife you could get something like a Richmond Artifex which uses 13c26 sandvik steel for half the price and get a better performing steel. With all of the money you save, even going with a $180 ZDP-189 knife for example, you could get other stuff you actually would use, like a decent cutting board and a ceramic rod for honing.

Yes to all of this, well said.

[gixxerman]

THANKS for the replies they are excellent....

[timbit]

My suggestion is don't waste your money on a 300 knife set with bonus pull through sharpener and meat grinder.

Buy 3 knives.
1 pairing knife, a petty knife or santoku, and a chef knife or gyuto.

Brands to look for are MAC (Excellent Quality, Good price, Fujiwara (Made in Japan. Very good quality, amazing price. Japanese styles only), and Shun (Nice knives, over somewhat over priced) All these brands come with very good steel and good fit and finish.

I personally use a MAC santoku (7" i think) , a Shun Pairing knife (3.5"), and a Furiwara 12" chef knife. With those three knives, I can prep 99.9% of foods with style.

[CapitalizedLiving]

Dave Loukides makes mind-blowingly good kitchen knives. I own a gyuto and a petty from him that do almost all the work I need, but I also have a German chef and slicer from him as well. He makes top shelf stuff for good prices and you can find him on this forum.

[tomsch]

As mentioned above I would suggest a solid chef and paring knife and send money on a good cutting board and a sharpening system. I would pick up a Forschner chef and paring knife, Edge Pro sharpening system, and a Boos cutting board. From there if you decide to upgrade to a better knife at least you have the basis to sharpen with the Edge Pro. The cutting board is also key because it will preserve the edge on your knife and provide a great platform to cut on. I've had my Boos for a while know and it will last a life time if taken care of.