Help me get some knives

[Stopsign32v]

So I'm ashamed to say, well no I'm not...I've been using some stainless knives that my parents used 40 years ago when I was a kid. They are passed on now so there's no way I'm tossing these knives.

With that being said they leave a...lot on the table as far as cutting meat goes.

I've looked at buying some knives from videos and such but it seems each knife is between $170-350 EACH! As a nice local southern woman once said "Ain't no way!"

So are there any good knives for cutting meat in the $40-80 range?

 

[DieselTech]

Good knives are expensive.

 

[ihocky2]

Carbon steel knives take and hold an edge better than stainless, but rusting is a concern. Some stainless is better than others, I don't remember which grades are better at the moment. Sharpening is probably more important than the grade of steel or cost of the knife. A dull $150 knife is no better than a sharp $15 knife.

For the price, I've been pretty happy with Victorinox.

 

[jcam222]

Check out the Brewin or Enowo knives on Amazon. They are cheap, razor sharp and gold and edge for a long time. Just keep them dry, hand wash no dishwasher and use steel after each use. I have a lot of much higher end knives in my knife roll but after putting a set of these out in the kitchen I rarely have to get out my knife roll unless I want a particular blade. Many folks on here have these knives. Pay attention to coupons on these and check the box. EDIT Looks like Enowo is no longer available on Amazon but the Brewin still are. I'm using Enowo in my kitchen but neighbors love the Brewin set I gave them for Christmas last year. They use them daily and are still very sharp. I say a fill set for around $50 and a 3 knife set with sharpener for $25 looking quickly. If you want more recognizable brands costing a bit more the Mercer are great too.

 

[Florida Chris]

FWIW, if you like the old knives and they're just dull check your area for knife sharpening services. ACE Hardware around me offers it (at least they used to, been a few years) for only a couple $ per knife. Then learn how to use a steel to keep an edge on them. A well cared for knife only needs a true sharpening every few years.

You might be able to bring at least some of the old ones back to life and then just spend some $$ on 1 or 2 to add to the collection.

 

[Hijack73]

Many of us bought a set (or 6) of the Brewin knives on Amazon. I particularly like the heavy chef's knife in the 3 piece set. Right now they can be had for $25. There is a 5 piece set that folks here also rave about.

Mercer boning knives are outstanding. The Brewin set is often even cheaper than $25 - I've bought 2, one set was under $12, the other was about $15

These 5 knives are about all you would ever need. Add a granton slicer and a bread knife down the road, but I use chefs knives for slicing 99% of the time.

 

[DougE]

Have a look at Victorinox, the same company that makes Swiss Army knives. They make good quality knives that aren't extremely expensive. I love my Victorinox knives.

 

[clifish]

Have a look at Victorinox, the same company that makes Swiss Army knives. They make good quality knives that aren't extremely expensive. I love my Victorinox knives.

Everything I have from them is awesome.

 

[civilsmoker]

I would also recommend Victorinox as well for that price point.

 

[civilsmoker]

You can have these under the tree! These would be workhorses

 

[Redicans]

Yep Victorinox and Mercer, can't go wrong with them. Also as mentioned look in to sharpening yourself or someone to do it for your old knives. I have Victorinox and mercer but I also have some older knives that I love that I sharpen myself. Doesn't take much to get an old dull knife back to a good sharp edge!

 

[ihocky2]

Follow up question, are any steel rods better than others? I have one that seems worn out and is not terribly old. Came with a knife set.

 

[jcam222]

I got this one for Christmas last year, far superior to the old Cuisinart steel I had. Keep a nice edge on my knives. KOPALA Efficient 12 InchES Round Honing Steel Magnetized High Hardness Sharpening Rod Knife Sharpener Steel for Kitchen Knives, Honing Rod with Gift Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5GBJ8H...ann_lstpd_3XJJKPW929XP7RXZ97K2&language=en_US

 

[PolishDeli]

Victorinox knives and a Chef'sChoice 130 electric sharpener

 

[whistlepig]

When I upgraded my knives a few years ago. I wanted the best blade steel that I could afford and that was VG10. There are better steels out there but they cost more. All my kitchen knives are Tojiro DP VG10. The take a good edge and hold it. Highly recommend Tojiro.

I have some excellent carbon steel knives made by Dexter. These take an edge well and although they don't hold an edge as well as VG10 they are very close. These blades have to be cleaned and dried immediately after use or the blades get pretty gnarly looking. Before I put the carbon steel blades in the drawer I apply KPL Knife Shield to the blades.

Brands - Tojiro (FUJITORA) - Tojiro (FUJITORA) DP 3Layered VG10 - Hocho Knife - Japanese Chef Knives | Japanese knives

www.hocho-knife.com

https://www.restaurantsupply.com/dexter-s114h-sani-safe-04053-heading-knife-7-1-2-stiff?srsltid=AfmBOopAVZvh0KpnNJTpS6A3h7MuqhO5y4VStsOkuwUmGfOeN90GBvAO

https://www.amazon.com/KPL-KNIFE-SHIELD-Preventive-skin-friendly/dp/B09ZFYPNJF?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1EYHM1MKF8M7M&gPromoCode=sns_us_en_10_2023Q4&gQT=1&th=1

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I

Check out the Brewin or Enowo knives on Amazon. They are cheap, razor sharp and gold and edge for a long time. Just keep them dry, hand wash no dishwasher and use steel after each use. I have a lot of much higher end knives in my knife roll but after putting a set of these out in the kitchen I rarely have to get out my knife roll unless I want a particular blade. Many folks on here have these knives. Pay attention to coupons on these and check the box. EDIT Looks like Enowo is no longer available on Amazon but the Brewin still are. I'm using Enowo in my kitchen but neighbors love the Brewin set I gave them for Christmas last year. They use them daily and are still very sharp. I say a fill set for around $50 and a 3 knife set with sharpener for $25 looking quickly. If you want more recognizable brands costing a bit more the Mercer are great too.

I still love mine!

 

[radioguy]

I just needed a good boning knife. Picked this one up from Amazon....12 bucks!

RG

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I did the "Buy once, Cry once" when I bought my Wusthofs.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

I would say invest in some decent sharpening tools for one. I just use a Lanskey kit and a leather strop but that is time consuming sometimes and has its flaws. Worksharp makes some great products that might be worth looking at. As far as knifes go I have all kinds but non or them are overly priced, Chicago Cutlery (never again just not what they used to be), Victorinox wood handle boning knife and a Dexter plastic handle boning knife then some various blades in my Havolon Talon hunting kit. For butcher and majority of the work I do the Dexter gets used the most in the kitchen and think it was like $15-20.
Like I said invest in good sharpening tools, start with learning on cheaper knives and in the future if you want "higher end" knives you can upgrade then.

 

[nomoreusmc]

As a custom knife maker, you have to pay to play. A good carbon steel knife will last hundreds of years. Great grandkids will be using my knives long after I'm gone. Large knives are $320-350. Have 9-14 hours labor and at least an hour in an annealing furnace, and about 60$ in steel and belts. Small is $120 about 1\2 the resources so half the price. And I'm cheap. FYI. But the head chef of Nakato is using my knives (hibachi grill). These are 6-10 years old