Set of kitchen knives

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Brocket21

Joined
Dec 19, 2010
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Just moved in with my girlfriend and we need to buy a new set of kitchen knives. There is almost zero traffic on the kitchen knife subforum so thought I would post here. Should we just get a set of mid-priced Henckels and be done or what else would you suggest? Would like to keep it under $200 ideally but could go as high as $300 if I had to:D. Thanks!
 
I ended up going with the Al Mar Ultra-Chef line after I tried Shun, I like em both, but Al Mar makes a better knife.
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Personally I feel buying a set is a waste of money. All you really need is a 8-10" chef and a 3-4" in paring knife. Oh and a bread knife. I'd suggest a cheap $3 hecknels paring knife and a cheap scalloped bread knife. Then spend a couple hundred on a quality chef knife as that's the one which will be used the most. There's members here who make I'm sure excellent chef knives for around that price or a quality factory one. I'd stay away from the German companies (hecknels and wusthof) though. The steel they use is very soft and dulls quickly. Check out chef knives to go. There's a lot of quality knives in the $200 dollar range there
 
Shun 100% all the way. As the poster above me said all you need is a chefs (or santoku) a paring and maybe a bread knife if you really want it, seeing as many people will barely use this really you could get a cheap one. Shun uses VG-10 steel on some of their series and I can attest that their edge is superior to their german rivals, and if you have a leather strop you're set for life.
 
My advice would be to check out foodservice catalogs(US Foods, Next Day Gourmet, etc.). You'll find the best value in kitchen cutlery there, imo. German steel isn't soft, it's just not hardened to the same rockwell as Japanese cutlery. My favorite knife is a Henckles 6" chef. I do alot of cooking and it never lets me down. I go to that one more often than my 8" Global or 4" Shun and it doesn't need to be sharpened any more often than they do.

If you aren't married to a matching set, those foodservice catalogs usually have stuff on clearance. I scored some German-style Japanese made knives a number of years ago for super cheap. I'm talking 4 knives for $36. The 12" slicer and bread knife are the only ones I use anymore, but they are great. Some company called Serco.

Here's a set from US Foods(formerly Superior Products): http://www.usfoodsculinaryequipment...y-cutlery-roll-set.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=fn It'sa roll set, no block.
 
ok I'll rephrase that. I find them too soft. No they aren't as hard as Japanese cutlery. I just find the edge rolls too easily. Especially with the low angles I prefer for my knives. I know a steel is supposed to realign the edge but if the problem isn't there in the first place.... Plus I just can't figure out how to use those things and it either leaves the edge in the same state or worse. And for me German knives are too thick. Once you try a good thin hard edge you just can't go back. Plus I'm lazy and find stainless takes too long to sharpen
 
Vicv said:
Personally I feel buying a set is a waste of money. All you really need is a 8-10" chef and a 3-4" in paring knife. Oh and a bread knife. I'd suggest a cheap $3 hecknels paring knife and a cheap scalloped bread knife. Then spend a couple hundred on a quality chef knife as that's the one which will be used the most. There's members here who make I'm sure excellent chef knives for around that price or a quality factory one. I'd stay away from the German companies (hecknels and wusthof) though. The steel they use is very soft and dulls quickly. Check out chef knives to go. There's a lot of quality knives in the $200 dollar range there
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There are at least couple kitchen knife forums, which I am aware
http://www.foodieforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?6-Fred-s-Cutlery-Forum&
http://www.cheftalk.com/f/71/cooking-knives
Several years ago, when I realized that I am using kitchen knives much more than my folders and decided to upgrade my kitchen cutlery, I got there the same advice as as above. I kept my old Henkel bread knife, which I use about every two weeks. And I bought Kanetsune 8" Damascus with VG10 core Gyuto and Spyderco paring knife. I absolutely love my Gyuto. The only regret I have that 9" would be a little better in some occasions.
 
I can't remember the last time I used my steel. :) With the paper wheels in the workshop, sharpening kind of becomes a non-issue.
 
Ya me too except I use a belt sander. A couple quick passes on the loaded leather is usually all that's needed unless I actually do some damage to the edge
 
First things first. As other posters stated, a set is a waste of money. Small knife for peeling stuff, big cheff knife, cheapo bread knife and some kind of hatchet (for breaking bones and frozen stuff).

Then I think you should consider who is going to use the knife and how aware are of knife caring. It is going to hurt when you find your +$200 carbon steel blade with natural material handles stuffed in the dishwasher.

I was in the same boat than you when I moved out with my gf and and I ended up buying a big cheff knife from Victorinox (24€, very thin blade) and two paring knifes from Fishkars (10€ each). The Victorinox has a fibrox molded handle that doesn't get slippery at all even when bloody or oily. The Fiskars have nice two compound ruberized handles that also offer a nice grip.

Since they are stainless and have syntethic handles they don't crap out when my gf throws them in the diswasher when I am not looking.

I bought a ceramic steel from IKEA (works great for what it costs) and since it actually removes metal from the knives you don't need to truly sharpen them that often.

Mikel
 
I'll second the Al Mar over Shun suggestion. In my opinion Shun runs their VG-10 a bit too hard on their bigger knives for the average user. I love their paring knives though.
 
Al-Mar specs state 60-62HRC, Shuns are 60-61HRC, so if anything Shun will be a bit softer on average. I dunno what people are doing with chef's knives, but VG-10 even at 62HRC(e.g. Tojiro) is just fine for general food prep. Keep it away form bones and don't use it as a can opener. Average user generally speaking, does considerable damage even to standard western kitchen knives at 54-56HRC, I've had plenty for repairs/sharpening. If that's the case, then 61 or 62HRC won't make any difference.

P.S. I suppose this belongs in the kitchen forums though.
 
I forgot about them. A tojiro dp 240mm Guyoto would be a good first chef knife. Not much more than $100 either. And they're stainless with Pakka wood handle so no worry about water damage if you're a little careless and much better than any German knife for less money
 
Shun....if you can afford them: 8" chef & 3' Parer......and then a Victorinox 10" bread knife....with plastic handle for about $25.00 (works great on hard crust Italian bread). You'll be a happy camper.
 
I agree about sets being a waste. I have a set of Global knives and I only use regularly 3 of them, and I'm a serious home cook.

But then again, a set of beautiful knives is a good centerpiece in a kitchen. So buy one if you have the money.

Oh, yeah. I recommend the Global brand.
 
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