Emergency Recommendation: Kitchen Knives

The Kershaw set isn't bad for the price. I have a Cutco set and am perfectly happy with it as well. I haven't found anything outside of the Shun/Global stuff that I like better.
 
For years I would bring dozens of knives with me when our church team would prepare food at the local soup kitchen. I brought many varieties and sharpened them all by hand. The Japanese MAC original series knives had the thinnest grind and the finest alloy. Their performance stood out so much that the women volunteers would return other knives to me as "dull" or "defective". This is even though those returned knives were sharper than anything they had ever owned. The handles are tilted at a good angle for working on a cutting board and are slim enough to be comfortable for a woman's hand. A very good set of 4 can be found for under $170.00. http://www.houserice.com/mac4piecknif.html

I would include a cutting board with whatever set you give her.
 
i cook basically 7 days a week and i have kitchen knives that range from low end to high end, and in just about every size. the two most important things are the way the knife feels in your hand and keeping the knife sharp.

i would suggest using about $40-$50 of your budget for a good sharpening system (like the spyderco sharpmaker).

as for a knife set, the tojiro DP 3-knife set fits your budget: http://www.cutleryandmore.com/tojiro-dp/starter-knife-set-p117061
 
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Consumer Reports released their review on kitchen knives in the December issue. All the knives performed similarly well but the Ginsu Chikara series received a Best Buy. The Chikara series knives are forged, fine-edge blades, not the fully serrated blades that made Ginsu famous. A quick search shows that the largest set can be had for under $100 shipped, leaving plenty of budget space for a sharpening system.

Knife nuts will cringe at the steel: 420J2 (according to Amazon). However, since you mentioned that your daughter is not a knife nut or a chef, she won't ruin the knives by letting them soak in the sink overnight, infrequent use means that they won't dull rapidly, and the steel is easy to resharpen. This is why you should add a good sharpener with the gift.
 
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mrn8 said:
If you want a set, get some Forschner knives by Victorninox: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=14604634

I'd probably just buy some good individual knives and get exactly what I wanted, but Forschner is an excellent knife and there's really no throw-away pieces in the set I linked.
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For that price range, seconded. I am also very happy with our Shun knives and would be happier if my wife was a bit more careful about using them. And based on that experience, I would also suggest adding a thicker chopper for breaking down poultry and working with bones.

A paring knife, a utility knife, chef's or santoku knife, and a chopper. I don't see anything else that would be of use, apart from those 4.
 
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if you have a bed bath and beyond near you, check out it so many choices there. you can buy sets or just single knives and various choices at different price ranges.
 
A set is usually not a good choice. Most of the manufacturers will try to impose on you knives that are not very popular amongs those which are. In other words - you get one good knife and three POS-knives.

I'd like to suggest:

  • Chef's knife: Akifusa 24 cm (SRS-15 powder steel)
  • Bread knife: Victorinox (any. They are all good)
  • Fillet knife: Frost's of Sweden (any)
  • Paring knife: Victorinox 8 cm
~Paul~
 
It's all about how she'll take care of them. Sure, it's nice to give someone a Ferrari, but what's the point if they're gonna use it for farming (with all due respect)? You've indicated that she's not interested in knives, so I'll have to assume that those blades are going to get nicked and rolled quite quick.

My point is that there is no use in buying something expensive with this or that steel or whatever, because she'll only appreciate it until the knives are dull, which will be within a month or two. My girlfriend has IKEA knives which I sharpen for her. I've told her a million times how to care for the blade by not putting it in the drawer with other kitchen utensils or to not lay them down in the sink among porcelain items and whatnot. In the beginning I would find them in all of the worst places, which I explained was disrespectful toward me, since I had spent around an hour of freehanding on each knife (nine hours!), taking them to a hair-popping sharpness. I explained that if she wants sharp knives then there are rules to follow.

Now she is really good with all of this, with a few exceptions. Those IKEA blades are very sharp all the time. I occasionally strop them on newspaper at her place, which works great. Her girlfriends that come over are always impressed by how sharp her knives are when the cook together. I guess it's because they don't expect IKEA knives to be so sharp and they themselves have fancier knives at home which are dull in comparison (which their parents and friends have probably given them).

Many of my friends have really expensive kitchen knives like Shun, Global, Porsche, Sabatier or Wusthof, but none of them know how to use them properly and they for sure don't know how to keep them sharp. They can't use them to their full potential, so those types of knives are not for them as much as a proper race car is not for your average driver.

Get your daughter some regular knives like Victorinox (which are great) and buy her a nice gift for something that she's actually into. Is she a swimmer? Get her some good goggles. Is she a horseback rider? Get her a whip. Is she a social-o-holic, who only hangs out with friends 24-7? Get her a nice leather Filofax calendar.
 
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If you have an Ikea near you, I just picked up a Damascus Patterned 8" VG-10 Chef's knife for fifty bucks. I took the time to sharpen it, the first time my wife used it all she said was "Wow".
 
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