Kitchen knife set

buying a set of knives is not always, or not even very often, the best way to get your kitchen knives.
Not every brand has the best of all sizes and styles. You are usually better off if you analyze the cooking you do, and the style/type of knife that you like best for the tasks involved.
I have knives in my kitchen that are one off custom blades, and a number of factory knives that were chosen because of the steel, the style, the shape and the grind.
Here are some of the kitchen knives I have, but by no means all of them.
knives002.jpg
 
Thanks again, everyone for your guidance. In that buying a complete set is not optimal, how does everyone store their knives. Are there particular knife blocks that are recommended which would accommodate knives from different manufacturers?
 
Mannlicher said:
buying a set of knives is not always, or not even very often, the best way to get your kitchen knives.
Not every brand has the best of all sizes and styles. You are usually better off if you analyze the cooking you do, and the style/type of knife that you like best for the tasks involved.
I have knives in my kitchen that are one off custom blades, and a number of factory knives that were chosen because of the steel, the style, the shape and the grind.
Here are some of the kitchen knives I have, but by no means all of them.
knives002.jpg
Click to expand...

That's a very impressive collection.
 
There is an easy answer here: SHUN...Classic

If you are wealthy, take a look at the very upscale Shun offereings at Williams Sonoma and Sur Le Table. They are similar, but not quite the same.
 
Avoid purchasing a set as most contain knives that are either redundant or not useful. Start out with select few core knife such as a chef’s knife, a paring or petty, a serrated bread knife, and meat slicer. As the need arises, you can add on from there.

The bread knife and meat slicer are likely to be the most used “occasional” usage knives. For a bread knife (10+”); the reversed scalloped edges (MAC Superior, Shun, Wüsthof Super Slicer) work better than a typical serrated edge (particular on hard, crusted artisan breads), but any decent (~$20) serrated knife will work and just create a few extra crumbs. For a meat slicer; longer (12+”), narrower, stiffer blades are better. Go with either a Carving knife with a curved tip for ceremonial tableside stuff or Slicing knife with a straight or blunted tip for cutting board.

The Paring (3-”) or Petite (15cm) when you need something less cumbersome, more precise than a larger chef’s knife. I find a petty more useful than a paring knife, but most choose a paring knife. Paring knives normally aren’t used against a cutting board or for difficult items, so a high quality blade is not needed. The better ones usually have thicker, harder blades that don’t follow contours well. Shun and Mac have excellent petties and paring knives. The Forschner and Kuhn Rikon paring knives (<$10) have stupid good finely grained, thin, flexible blades.

The Chef’s knife will likely be your main workhorse. Get the best one within your budget that fits your preferences. Chef’s knives come in various blade shapes; the most predominant are German and French. German design features a pronounced curve towards the tip of the blade which allows the knife to be rocked up and down, chopping the food with the belly and heel of the blade. The French design is more triangular, with much less curve at the tip and a longer straight section of blade; it is designed to be pulled towards the user, slicing the food instead.

European chef’s knives have the German blade shape, tend to have thick, heavy, soft (~52-56HRC) blades capable of handling heavy-duty chores (cutting around / through poultry / fish bones, splitting thick-skinned veggies), and withstanding misuse (dishwasher, sink drop) without breaking or chipping. The blade acts like a wedge & splits (as opposed to cut) foods apart; making it better at chopping and coarse cutting than finer cutting. Their steel is easily resharpened / dulled.

Japanese chef’s knives (aka gyuto) commonly have the French blade shape, tend to have thin, lightweight, hard (~58–65HRC) blades optimised for precision cutting and slicing. But are more difficult to sharpen, more susceptible to chipping and not made for chopping / impacting hard items (shells, bones, frozen food) or prying. They gain a tremendous advantage in agility, weight, and cutting efficiency but you have to use and maintain them – properly.
 
spoolup said:
Like my post above mentions it is one of the 6-7 main knives I reach for. It can do anything for a sandwich however I will not use it for spreading condiments... so be it could do it, I dont use any condiments, the scallops would cause a high and low points in the sauces, and some condiments are in glass jars... I dont use my knives near glass. But I am sure it would work fine.

I seriously use this knife daily. From opening rolls, cutting my daughter fried bolonga and cheese sandwichs or PBnJ into manageable kid sized portions, cutting salami for snack time... it does almost everything great... FYI one thing it CAN NOT DO, is cut decent slices from a block of cheese. You might be able to get away with it on the 8oz cheese blocks, but once you move into the 1-2 lbs block (I use these since a slice will cover a entire slice of bread) the width of the knife creates enough friciton/ drag to cause the cheese to stick and just break up. If you are just blocks of cheese its fine, just thin slices will have issues.

I have used it to cut tomatoes and onions with good results, I have used it to prep entire meals before... Its the knife I take camping since it is smaller and has such great uses and like all other Shuns "is wicked sharp".
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply.
I guess I missed your reference to the utility knife. I see now that it is the "U2" that you mentioned. Looks like I'll have to place it high on my kitchen wish list.
I too, have a Chinese chef's knife that I love to use, though I could stand to learn some more techniques in its use.
 
Cook's Illustrated and its sister magazine, Cook's Country -- as well as ConsumerReports.org and Choice magazine -- do thorough, unbiased testing of kitchen knives. ConsumerReports.org tests the most knives, but Cook's Illustrated offers the best commentary. Owner reviews at Amazon.com are also helpful.

seafood set
 
I'll second the Mac Knives suggestion. I'll even take it a step further. For the home you only really need 3 or 4 knives.

1) Get the Mac Mighty Santoku. Don't ask questions, just buy it now. You will thank me later. I will use this for 95% of everything I do in the kitchen. The only thing you shouldn't use it for is cutting hard things like acorn squash, or chopping thru bone.

2) Paring knife

3) Bread knife

4) Small cleaver

Also invest in a decent cutting board.
 
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