Kitchen knives?

DrRollinstein

DrRollinstein

Gold Member
Basic Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2018
Messages
1,702
Currently almost through with the process of buying my first house, and im obviously going to need a knife block. What are some of the decent, and decently cheap options out there? Like preferably under a hundred bucks, but im open to whatever.
 
tim37a said:
Google knife blocks.
Click to expand...
Sadly it seems that Google discontinued their knife blocks a while back.

DrRollinstein said:
What are some of the decent, and decently cheap options out there?
Click to expand...
Fortunately, Bladeforums is full of helpful people. I'm sure someone here will have a good suggestion for you. After all, if the past decade has taught us anything, it's that algorithms are no replacement for human curation.

NmU0nKV.png
 
Love the search bar posts and google posts. They never get old, :p

I personally prefer the magnetic type, they allow me to see the knives i like and enjoy.
I also believe that there is a possible bacteria issue thst can occur with the classic blocks that knives get inserted in to if they ever go in wet or not fully cleaned.
As for brands, there are many to choose from but similar to this:

images
 
morvlorv said:
Love the search bar posts and google posts. They never get old, :p

I personally prefer the magnetic type, they allow me to see the knives i like and enjoy.
I also believe that there is a possible bacteria issue thst can occur with the classic blocks that knives get inserted in to if they ever go in wet or not fully cleaned.
As for brands, there are many to choose from but similar to this:

images
Click to expand...

What a great alternative to a wall mounted knife strip. I've never come across those before.
 
If you bumped the handle on a magnetic knife block, wouldn't the knife go flying through the air? It is an interesting idea because I do not use knife blocks either. Not only due to the bacteria issue mentioned above, but I also don't used any matched set of knives that I can reasonably expect to find a block to fit. And I also only use two kitchen knives.
 
The problem with a magnetic bar is that if you don't take your flat grind knives super carefully you will dull them quite badly.
 
Skip the block sets. You either get too little or too much crap. And they can be nasty things after a while.

You need something like an 8" chef's/cook's knife (or gyuto, santoku, etc.) as your general-purpose-do-most-all-of-it knife. If you like western style knives the Wusthof Gourmet line is excellent. Great ergos, same blade shapes as the higher end models and just slightly softer steel but no worries. The Richmond Artifex is a gyuto in BD1N at ~$75 and if you search you can find it going with a "complimentary" bread knife right now. And you'll want a bread knife. I don't have the Richmond but I do have a gyuto in BD1N and I love it. It has supplanted my Wusthof. BD1N is a great kitchen steel.

Then get yourself a decent pairing knife. Again, the Wusthof Gourmet is nice but there's a lot of options here.

And, as I mentioned, a bread knife is the third one to get.

And I'd get them in that order if you can't afford them all at once. These are knives, even at their price points, that will serve you well for years and years. Get a magnetic strip to hang them on and then think about how you're going to maintain and sharpen the edges.

I don't splurge on steak knives as all too often in my house they tend to be used as general purpose knives and they get tossed in the sink and such. So I just get some half decent serrated ones.
 
i looked for a good knife block for a while.
i thought about the magnetic strip but a friend had a bad experience with one.
he went to japan and dropped more than a few bucks on a knife. he had a magnet strip with very strong magnets that pretty much pulled the knife from your hand with an audible slap. one day when the blade hit the magnet it popped a fairly large chunk of steel off the edge. he was gutted. I don't know details on heat treatment or anything else, but it was a very expensive knife. kinda scared me off of those.
i bought one of those universal knife blocks with the plastic bristles in there. it was great for about 6 months then the bristles bent inside and the knives didn't go in all the way. plus i think it dulled the knives, although the maker claimed otherwise.
my wife found this one at ikea ( i think). about 17"x6". just sits in the drawer. i think its perfect.
kxKqso4.jpg

uAhKLxt.jpg
 
DrRollinstein said:
Currently almost through with the process of buying my first house, and im obviously going to need a knife block. What are some of the decent, and decently cheap options out there? Like preferably under a hundred bucks, but im open to whatever.
Click to expand...
Are you looking for just the block, or a knife set with block?
 
TpHnLjS.jpg


A cook's drawer.

This is all personal preference but I've had knife blocks, magnetic strips, and wall mounted blocks. Without debating the relative merits of each (they all work and all can be periodically cleaned), my current set up reflects a desire to keep limited counter space free for workspace.

YMMV
 
Last edited:
I have a drawer full of kitchen knives, and use most of them. Still, I miss having the magnetic bar I had previously, and am considering going back to that.

Most of my kitchen knives (nowdays) are custom, with some older ones mixed in. You can find some really nice knives here on the makers sales site.
 
I like wall mounted blocks and protected mag strips. I just don't have the wall space in my present home kitchen to hang them. Counter top blocks always took up necessary work space.

Quick story. When my youngest daughter was still a toddler I once had her in my arms while reaching down to get something from the fridge. I had a wall mounted block on the adjacent wall. She leaned forward and grabbed the blades. I raced her to the ER with minor, but still sickening, cuts across her four fingers. 26 years later I still shake my head over my inability to foresee the calamity.
 
marchone said:
I like wall mounted blocks and protected mag strips. I just don't have the wall space in my present home kitchen to hang them. Counter top blocks always took up necessary work space.

Quick story. When my youngest daughter was still a toddler I once had her in my arms while reaching down to get something from the fridge. I had a wall mounted block on the adjacent wall. She leaned forward and grabbed the blades. I raced her to the ER with minor, but still sickening, cuts across her four fingers. 26 years later I still shake my head over my inability to foresee the calamity.
Click to expand...

I turned my back for a second last week and my not quite two year old grabbed a cheese grater and started running away from me. All I could envision was him face planting on it. Fortunately I snagged it before he did any damage.
 
I still prefer wood blocks. They come with different numbers of slots - you just need to pick the one that matches your number of knives. Much better than a knife drawer where knives bump each other, unless the drawer is a dedicated one like shown above. I think it is also better than the magnets where knife edges are exposed (a potential safety hazard). You do need to clean and wipe your knives before putting into a wood block, which you'll have to do regardless of what you choose to hold/store your knives.
 
I will second the Victorinox option. I do not have their chef's knife but I do own and use their small paring knife, boning knife, and another butcher's knife (the model name escapes me). They are an excellent value for the price I paid and function flawlessly. You should be able to get a chef's knife, bread knife, paring knife and perhaps another within your budget. Congratulations on the new house, I hope this helps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top