Help making a choice

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Casey_C

Joined
Jun 10, 2013
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My girlfriend has a cheapy kitchen knife set. They’re low-end knives. I’d like to upgrade her kitchen cutlery but I’m out of my depth. I’m thinking about a set in a knife block. First, is Forschner a Victorinox-affiliated company? As far as brands I’m familiar with, I know Henckels makes sets like I envision, and I know Forschner does.

I can’t spend huge money (because I don’t HAVE huge money. Lol). But I’m thinking a budget of $200-ish. I’m not necessarily a steel snob, but the right steel done properly and heat treated correctly is important. Can somebody help me make a choice between Henckels and Forschner. Or is there another choice I’m not familiar with that you’d recommend? I’d like her to pick up a knife to cut veggies with, or slice meat with, and immediately get turned on thinking how amazing I am. 😁
 
my opinion is to Not buy a knife set.

I think most sets fill them with unwanted knives.

I think you should buy her a nice chef's knife.
Sized accordingly to her, and her skill level.

and maybe a paring knife.


*I do all of my cooking with just a few knives.
 
I agree with Crag, you don't necessarily need a knife block with a bunch of steak knives that you won't use or a filet knife you won't use if you never use those certain knives.

I'd definitely get a very nice Chef's knife, a pairing knife and maybe something with more of a belly for rocking.
 
샤프닝을 잘한다면 웨더나이프나 브래드포드 나이프를 추천합니다
샤프닝을 잘 못하신다면 Why don't you buy a sharpeningstone and a protractor
 
Everyone knife preferences in the kitchen are different. I always hear people writing to just buy a nice chefs knife, but I myself almost never use a chefs knife. I do most of my cutting with a santoku and pairing knife.

Find out what knives she likes to use, and then get her those. Personally I prefer a magnetic holder on the wall over a block. If you end up buying only 2 knives or so, this might be a better option. Otherwise they'll probably end up in the kitchen drawer.
 
Most kitchen knife "sets" result in one or two being used constantly and the others ignored.

A Gyuto (chef knife) or Santoku, and a Petty are probably all anyone needs.
 
i've bought 3 Tojiro DP sets of 210 mm gyuto and a paring knife from chefknivestogo. looks like they(chefknivestogo) don't have the popular 2 piece set in stock at the moment. cutleryandmore has tojiro dp 2 piece chef's and paring knife set : tojiro DP 2 Piece Chef's & Paring Knife Set fpr $139. they are incredibly sharp, VG-10 steel and look great. they are what i would buy today if i didn't already have them. my daughter likes the dp Nakiri also but the 2 mentioned do 98% of what i need.
 
Regarding your Victorinox/Forschner question, this is from Wiki:
Victorinox has long produced other kitchen cutlery under their own name and the Forschner brand name. In 2011 Victorinox stopped using the Forschner name and has since manufactured the same knives only with the Victorinox name.

I'm not a fan of knife sets, for mainly the reason that KenHash mentioned above. The ones that I use the most are:
- honing steel (I know it's not a knife, but I use it more than any individual blade)
- chef's
- paring
- bread
- slicer

Depending on your timeframe, available tools, and inclination, you might consider buying knife blanks of the shapes that she uses the most, and put handles on them yourself. There are a lot of sites that sell kitchen knife blanks and handle materials (stabilized wood, micarta, G10, etc). The steels won't be the flashy supersteels whose names are bandied about as being "best", but are quite serviceable. And, the gift will be very personalized. Be sure to follow all of the safety rules when working with the handle materials: good ventilation, ventilator/mask, etc).

Good luck on your hunt.
 
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