Knife Set - Recommendations?

[buckeye024]

Does anyone have a recommmendation for a good knife set that is NOT overly expensive? I'd like to stay under $100 bucks...the farther under the better!

 

[bbq addict]

I absolutely love my Shun knives. They hold an edge forever and boy are they sharp! Admittedly, they are expensive, but they'll last a very long time.

 

[homebrew & bbq]

I just bought some new knives, but after doing some research I decided not to buy a set.

I ended up getting Dexter-Russell knives. They seemed to fit my hand well as well as feeling comfortable for my wife.

I bought an 8-inch Chef's Knife http://www.dexter1818.com/Item_Detai...=12145&line=IC
... a 7-inch Santoku Knife http://www.dexter1818.com/Item_Detai...=12144&line=IC
... and a 6-inch utility knife http://www.dexter1818.com/Item_Detai...=12147&line=IC

The prices at this site are quite a bit higher than I actually paid. I got all three for under $100.

 

[mavrick813]

I was looking at some Henckel Knives (SP) but I can't justify the $$$ right now.
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/hepros23pcbl.html

So I settled on these based on my love for my Field Knife and my Fishing knife. I actually really like them.
http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=353

Mike

 

[pitrow]

Make the splurge and buy a decent set of knives, you'll thank yourself later. I was in the same boat as you a while ago, strapped for cash but needing knives. So I saved up a little and found a sale on the Henckels 4-star 7piece set. I think it was around $125 on sale back about 8 years ago. It doesn't have a large selections of knives but it has enough to get just about any job done. Good strong steel that takes and edge and holds it for quite a while and it feels good in your hand.

If you buy cheap knives you'll just end up frustrated with them and sooner or later buy a decent set anyway. Might as well start out with the right stuff to begin with. Get a small set and add to it as you need it, would be my recommendation.

 

[buckeye024]

What about the Henckel knives sold at Target for about $100?

 

[heapomeat]

I've read many pro chefs say "DON'T buy a set of knifes" Just buy the 3 most used knifes for your needs, and buy quality. How often do you really use each knife that comes in a 7-9 piece set? We all use the one or two knifes that fit our needs all the time, the rest typically just sit there in the block or drawer.

 

[cinnamonkc]

I have a 8 inch chef's knife, a 7 inch Santoku and a 4 inch paring knife

If you have Kohl's, they have 50% off sales on their kitchen stuff all the time and I got great knives for half off.

 

[rob989_69]

I love my wustof's, having said that I have an aunt that is a chef and she uses the "cheapo" restaurant knives and they work fine.

Couple recommendations. Find a knife that feels comfortable in your hand. I won't say don't buy a set but I've found that if I had a knife set I would still use the same two knifes I use right now. I have a $10 bread knife, a set of cheapo steak knifes that came with my silverware, and 2 wustof grand prix 2's, a chef and a slicer.

Other than that, get a good sharpening stone and steel and your all set. It's also a good recommendation to actually learn how to sharpen your knives correctly, doing it wrong can seriously damage a big investment.

 

[supervman]

My friends at Leite's Culinaria have some insight here.
Homebrew bought some GREAT stuff and I'd toss in a boning knife into that mix, but he covered the most used basics.

Part One:
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/blog/...uh-part-1.html

Part 2:
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/blog/...uh-part-2.html

I'm also a fan of having a good stone system AND a hone as well.

Good luck man.
HEY - FYI - that stuff that says "Never needs sharpening" is Billy Mays speak for serrated blades that CAN'T be sharpened.

One more thing: Wife and I got a set of Wusthof Trident knives when we were married 20 years ago and they are as good as they were the day they were new. GREAT knives.

Can't go wrong w Henckles either. One step at a time like Coyote said.

 

[coyote]

Like some said..you get what you pay for..what I did when I 1st decided I wanted things that were nice but could realy not afford it.was buy one that I really liked and took care of it. then I saw one of those magnet knife holder that mounted on the wall. It was full soon enough.lol..then I bought the huge Chicago cutlery block years ago I belive it holds 13 knives, no steak knives on it. and the big french chef knife that came with it is not made in that length anymore.
those dexter - russel knives home brew wrote about are nice. I have some real old ones that I used for fishing and the kitchen they still sharpen up just fine and I use them alot.. good luck.. and the shuns..I would be afraid to use them. to pretty a knife. and I would be afraid my wife would cut cast iron pans with em then stick em in the dish washer..she has her own sets that I bought for her. I can not tell the dull side from the sharp side.

 

[travcoman45]

I own several Chicago Cutlery knives, Like them very much, hold nice edge. I wouldn't buy a set, nice chef's knife, one er two butchers knives, a parin knife an a bread knife. If ya do alotta meat work a bonin knife is nice too. They are not cheap, maybe not top end, but a very good knife.

If ya do some shoppin round in second hand stores, ya can find some green river knives, buy any ya can find, they were the knife most used by butchers.

Get yerself a good steal ta hep keep that edge keen, then a stone ta put the edge back on ifin a steel won't.

Remember, a dull knife is more likely ta cut ya then a sharp one cause yall er pushin harder.

Course ya can't beat a good cleaver ifin yer cuttin poultry an large cuts a meat. Not many folks use them anymore, I wouldn't be without grandpa's.

 

[bigbear]

I think knowing how to keep them sharp is much more important than the brand but... That being said I just read a knife review that listed Wustof at the top. These are expensive knives. I own Henkels and they are good also but apparently not as good as Wustofs.

Here is the sweet part. The Forster/ Victornox blades were very highly rated. These are stamped, not forged knives, which should be a serious drop in quality. But apparently not. We have a local wholesale food store Cash n' Carry (part of the enormous Unified Grocers association). They carry Forstner's in the $35 dollar range for large slicers. Compare that to Wustof or Henkel!! I'm going to give it a try.

 

[supervman]

Bear - POST the link to the review if possible.
I don't think you can go wrong w Wusthof.

 

[rob989_69]

Yep, like I said, the wustof's are awesome, but as others have mentioned, they don't come cheap. All together I paid $200 for 2 of them.

Having said that, I have an aunt who's a chef and she uses the restaurant grade and loves them. Basically if you know how to sharpen and take care of your knives it doesn't really matter how much you spend. Also, as was mentioned before, in general forged blades are better than stamped. One thing you really want to look for is that the knife blade actually goes through the whole tang. Basically that means the metal should go through the handle all the way. Alot of the cheap knives don't they just have a tounge that sticks into the handle and after heavy use they'll break

Look online, you won't find prices for anything decent any better than the internet.

I would rank Wustof and Henkel as the best, Shun are awesome but EXTREMELY expensive, I envy the man that can afford those knives (or woman as the case may be)

In your price range though you might want to take a look at the cheaper henkels, the chicago cutlery, even wustof makes some cheapys under the emril brand. Or at least they used to.

 

[bigbear]

Here's the link I was talking about.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/ki...itchen-knives/

 

[ronp]

I have a Chicago Cutlery set for at least 30 years. I take care of them, never in the dishwasher and are easy to sharpen using a Chefs Choice diamond sharpener. think I got that from QVC a few years ago.

 

[fishawn]

I use a mix of Wusthof & Henckles. The Wusthof Santoku is probably my favorite for general food prep, it seems to keep an edge better than the Henckles & fits my hand well. I have heard the Forschner knives are pretty good & priced well....Any CUTCO guys/gals out there?

 

[daddio]

my daughter bought me a set of chicago cutlery 3 piece with the chef knife, paring and i call it a general kitchen knife she got them at kohles on sale and i love these,check if you have a belks also we bought a 7 piece set of henckles for my mother for 50.00. alot of times they'll also have great specials.

 

[waysideranch]

I totally agree with the others. Start one knife at a time if you have to. But buy QUALITY. I live near this old time General Store and the old boy there sharpens knifes, industrial blades and such and he puts a sweet edge on for cheap. You only need two knives or so. Go buy the one you need know. Next paycheck the other.