Recommendation? Kitchen Set

Travis Talboys

Travis Talboys

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Messages
442
I was thinking about doing a set sometime in the future. I was curious about what would be the ideal knives to include. I'm not looking to fill out an entire block, I just want to cover all my bases. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Travis
 
There is little you can't do with a bread knife, chef's knife (gyuto), and paring knife. That being said, I do like using a 150mm petty for prepping snacks, a 270mm sujihiki (slicer) for carving meats, and a 170mm s-grind nakiri for certain types of vegetable work.
 
For my family starting (or refreshing) a set, I have recommended a Santoku, petty (utility), and a paring knife. Most people really like the santoku! Hoss is right about the chefs knife (basically same as gyotu) , but I guess my observation is that it was/is really intended as a general purpose knife for the professional/experienced Chef .. and intimidates others. To the above three, if you do a lot of thin slicing of meats (or sushi), add a slicer (sujihiki) ... but the santoku goes a long way in that regard if the slicer can’t be had
 
chef, slicer, utility, and parer less the buyers are looking for a nakiri or some other nitch use blade
 
A traditional western trio is a Chef’s knife, a utility blade and a paring knife. A recommended professional choice would be 10”, 6” and 4”, respectively. YMMV.
 
Travis Talboys said:
I was thinking about doing a set sometime in the future. I was curious about what would be the ideal knives to include. I'm not looking to fill out an entire block, I just want to cover all my bases. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Travis
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Travis - I think what is missing from this discussion / set of recommendations is what / who will these proposed knives be used for? Are they for you, or a customer? I agree, a "typical" western set would be something like a chefs/utility/paring combination ... but I (personally) think this is a result more of marketing than a real statement of what is needed. As I said earlier, the traditional Chefs knife was originally designed as a general purpose tool (the tip is used for paring, the length for slicing, the thick heel for chopping) ... but it really is a rather unwieldy thing. I have both a chefs and a gyuto, and truth be told, I almost NEVER reach for either of them (when I do it is to cut through a big head of lettuce or cabbage) ... but then again I am almost never doing something like cutting slices off of a big roast meat. As I also said, friends and family love their santoku's .... but there again, they typically are just not doing the type of cooking where they are doing a lot of slicing of big pieces of meat.

If this set is for you - what kind of cooking do you do, and what types of food do you need to cut up?
 
Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the great info/suggestions.

Cushing H. said:
If this set is for you - what kind of cooking do you do, and what types of food do you need to cut up?
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An old friend of mine recently discovered that I'm a smith, and mentioned that his wife wanted a set. He's a bit flighty and hard to pin down for any sort of a discussion. I am mostly trying to get an idea what they might want and what I might offer so I can provide sound advice when I finally get to speak with them. Also, I want to surprise my mother with a set at some point.
 
Travis Talboys said:
Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the great info/suggestions.



An old friend of mine recently discovered that I'm a smith, and mentioned that his wife wanted a set. He's a bit flighty and hard to pin down for any sort of a discussion. I am mostly trying to get an idea what they might want and what I might offer so I can provide sound advice when I finally get to speak with them. Also, I want to surprise my mother with a set at some point.
Click to expand...
Hah. That makes it hard then. Hopefully the various comments above will help inform your decision...
 
3-4" parer, 6-7" petty chef, and 8-10" chef

in my kitchen:
parer gets used primarily for opening packages -- i like to use 1/8" stock but with a wicked distal taper, make sure the point can easily slide into seams but not be fragile.
petty gets used the most often for everything from making sandwiches, slicing onions, peppers, tomatoes to slicing chicken breast -- thin flat grind to .020 behind the edge and then convexed to zero, put a fresh edge on with a water stone.
the chef for larger items like breads, pizzas, melons, squash etc -- I grind this same way as petty but perhaps with a bit more convexity or maybe even a hollow s-grind.
 
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