Kitchen Knives, What to buy?

Calebklyne

Calebklyne

Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
1,117
hey guys im getting married in may and neither me or my fiance have a decent set of kitchen knives, so im wondering what would be a good set of knives and block that will last a long time and not require insane amounts of care?

Thanks
Caleb
 
Too many choices to really narrow it down.

But as for "easy to care for" you want stainless steel.

When we got married we received a couple sets of Henkels knives and a block. Those knives served us well for more than 20 years, and apart from a few that have been lost over the years, are still being used.

Our knife block now has selections from Hiro, Misono, Fallkniven, and Bark River in addition to the old Henkels. Most are stainless, but a few are carbon steel. I would be comfortable recommending any of them as high quality, capable cutlery.

The point being, there are lots of good brand names available spanning a wide price range, but you will need to decide for yourselves what style, size, handle design, etc. you feel will best suit your needs.

Kevin
 
Macy's sells some Henkels sets. It may be something to put on your register. I am not sure if they are a low quality Henkels, but I always check those out when my wife is shopping for housewares. I would not kick them out of the kitchen.
 
Costco sells Wustoff sets. If you are starting out, that would be an economical but very serviceable set that will last you pretty-much forever, or at least enough years before you will need to consider upgrading.
 
For the kitchen, I'm partial to Henckels, but only with the 'Double Twins' on the blade. Henckels farms out a lot of its stuff to other manufacturers so you need to watch the markings on the blades. Don't bother with the 'Single Figure' on the blade...

Wustof also makes excellent kitchen knives, but again, you need to aim for their professional lines.

There are plenty of fancier, more costly knives on the market, touting special steels and special treatments. Lots of good, but expensive Japanese kitchen knives too. If you are a professional chef you might want to look at those lines. For the average home cook, Henckels and Wustof better lines are more than sufficient. If you want to save some money, look for 'Chicago Cutlery.' Their stuff has been serving the rural communities for a lot of years.

You probably don't need more than 3-4 knives to cover all your usual chores; a 10" chef's, a 7" chef's, a 4" paring knife, and perhaps a bread slicer or large meat carver. We don't make large meats (Rib roasts, large Turkeys, etc.) more than once or twice a year so spending $150 for a good carver would be a waste. Bread knives are serrated any way so no reason to spend more than $9.95 for one in the discount store!

Stitchawl
 
Not Furi and Not Cutco for sure.
If you aren't willing to spend time maintaining knives go with western stainless.
Otherwise stainless, or better yet carbon steel Japanese knives are very good performers.
Alternatively there are very good customs as well.

Whatever I used so far, not all reviews are complete but it'll give you an idea - Kitchen knife Reviews
And mini how to pick the right kitchen knife.
 
Best bang for the inexpensive buck is the Kershaw line, IMO. Here's an example:
http://newgraham.com/store/product/1165/Kershaw-8-1-4%22-Deba--KS6621D/

I'm partial to Tojiro Pro myself which run about the same, price wise, as Henckels and Wusthof, but, I prefer the Tojiros MUCH better to the German knives. (Yes, I have both Henckels and Wusthof, so head to head comparison was made. Get a lot more work done between sharpenings with the Tojiros and they just feel better in the hand to me.)

The Japanese have got it going on in the kitchen knife dept. They are a tough act to follow in that genre of cutlery.
 
For Western style knives definitely be careful with the Wusthoff / Henkels because the upper-end models are very good but the "economy" models are not. I sharpen a lot of kitchen knives for folks and see a lot of cheapies, which are not worth the $$. The upper-end knives are quite good. Also, avoid Cutco, I am really unimpressed with the ones I have sharpened.
 
I agree with fishface5 and the others talking about the upper end Henckels and Wusthof.
There is a definite difference.

I would also like to add Forschner makes some very good kitchen knives for the money. They come in a couple of different handle styles. One line is Rosewood and the other is a sanitary type of plastic. If you look into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant chances are you'll see them using Forschner knives. They hold a decent enough edge and are not difficult to keep that way with a little TLC. Also, they are made by Victorinox, the Swiss Army Knife folks. Good stuff. Check in your area for a restaurant supply house if you want to handle them before buying. They are a staple there because so many restaurants use them.


OH YEAH, fishface5! I see your the designated neighborhood knife sharpener too. My neighbors bring all their knives over. Sometimes by the handful. Sometimes by the box.:eek: I don't mind. It allows me to keep that skill sharp. No pun intended.:)
 
I personally prefer Japanese cutlery in the kitchen more than German.

Shun knives from KAI, who also owns Kershaw and Zero Tolerance, has some excellent offerings.
 
As mentioned above, best bang for buck = Tojiro

MCUSTA Knives
Mac Knives
Korin Knives
Expensive but quality knives that will last and are well made.
 
You could also consider using Opinel knives in the kitchen. Besides larger dedicated cooking knives, I am using an Opinel nr. 8 Effile that I use mainly for cutting vegetables and smaller pieces of meat or fish. I am using it for years now and it is still razor sharp.
 
If you can find some classic Old Hickory knives, I've heard they do very well in the kitchen. If you want something with less maintenance, some of the best all-around knives that are inexpensive are the Forschner Victorinox knives, as well as Dexter brand. Most of the time, I just use a simple Henckels Four-Star 6" Chef's Knife in the kitchen. I just don't need much more in the kitchen besides a chef's knife, since I usually have a pocket knife that doubles for paring.
 
Hi congrats on getting hitched. Avoid purchasing a set as most contain knives that are either redundant or not useful. Go with a chef’s knife, a paring or petty, a serrated bread knife, and meat slicer.

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 == curved tip for ceremonial tableside work or Slicing knife == straight 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. Most males opt for a 8” or 10”, and women like a 6” or 8”. I would suggest avoiding going below mid-high level European knives (they suck) and above entry level Japanese knives. They’re great, but require committing to learning how to use and maintain one properly. The Forschner rosewood, Tojiro, and MAC are excellent.
 
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