I have a wide variety of knives, spanning a huge range in price and quality. The cheap ones are from when we had no money. The really expensive ones (high-end Henckels) were gifts.
Cook's Illustrated has a list of knives that they consider "best of breed" for each size and type. The recommend against getting any of the "complete sets" sold by most manufacturers because you end up with knives you don't need or use, and some of the knives, even from premium brands, are not necessarily the best.
Finally, that same source recommended a relatively cheap chef's knife which, on their recommendation, I bought. Wow is it good!! And, it is quite inexpensive.
Victorinox knife
Note the huge number of reviews, and the solid five-star rating. You don't often see products on
Amazon with that many review that also manage to get a full five star rating.
BTW, my big Christmas gift was the Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition knife sharpener. I've been sharpening knives since I was a kid in the 1950s, and I've used almost every sharpening device you can think of from stones to wheels to specialized gadgets like the Chef's Choice (a big disappointment). The Work Sharp produces results that are better than a factory edge and, even with my old cheap knives, produces an edge that is absolutely amazing. For me, it is a real game changer, making food prep a different experience.
P.S. Here is a link to the Cook's Illustrated recommendations via their TV show site. They just recently did an update to their a la carte knife set. Here's a link:
America's Test Kitchen Knife Recommendations
