quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
<snip>
As far as kitchen knives, you only need 3:

8" to 10" chef's knife, 7" santoku, or 6.5" Nakiri

3" to 4" Paring knife

8" to 10" Serrated Bread knife
<snip>

I’d add a 5 or 6 inch utility/boning knife to that list. I have a US-made Chicago Cutlery 62S that I use more often than any of my other knives.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
As far as kitchen knives, you only need 3:

8" to 10" chef's knife, 7" santoku, or 6.5" Nakiri

3" to 4" Paring knife

8" to 10" Serrated Bread knife

tatertodd's on point. Here's my $0.02 based on working as a cooking school chef's assistant:

To start, spend your money on a good all-around 8" chef's knife - that is the mainstay of a chef. DON'T get the "hollow-ground" blades. They say that they reduce friction and keep slices from sticking - BS. I have one of these knives and every slice of a potato sticks to the blade. Additionally, if you keep that knife a long time and sharp, you will eventually wear down the blade to the point you get into the hollows, weakening the blade. I have seen a few of these worn down knives at our school.

Get a decent paring knife, but I wouldn't spend a lot of money on them. They can sometimes get swept away into the trash or lost. Same for the bread knife - look into an offset bread knife to save your knuckles. They can be sharpened with a fine rattail file, if necessary, but you don't need to spend a lot of money on one.

After that, look into what other needs you have for knives as time goes on.

My personal favorite is Shun.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
The only knife you actually need. After that, I'd start here.

I'm a Henckel fanboy though...

We don’t have the Santoku knife that Skins recommends, but we’ve had a set of the Henckels Professional “S” series knives for quite a few years now. Quality, cost, edge retention and sharpenability (if that’s a word). Hard to beat

You have no idea on what you're missing. A 7" Santoku is an awesome knife for a lot of purposes. It blows away a chef's knife with veggies and is on par with a chef's knife for everything else. You really should get one......for Christmas and all!

I'm with 229DAK, the hollow ground style knives don't work for me. I use a 10" chef knife for 80% of my cutting.

I'm trying to talk a custom blade maker into building a nice boning knife for me. I use that second most in the kitchen but I do a lot of custom meats and charcuterie.

Knife #3 is a Dalstrong Shogun 12" slicing knife. It is used for brisket and when I cook a whole tenderloin or rib roast. It stays in my gun safe to prevent anyone from accidentally using it.

If it can't be done with one of those 3, I don't do it.

Cutco. I have had my set since 1990. I send the set every 5 years. They sharpen every knife and even replaced a few over the years. All for free.

Literally buy once, cry once budget.

I keep my Spyderco Z-cut around for the odd steak / prime rib cutting duties. Pointed tip, serrated for me. Great gifts.

I just ordered a Zwilling J.A. Henckels TWIN Signature 19 Piece Knife Block Set after reading this. I was looking at the smaller set but the wife asked why not get the bigger set. Who am I to argue?
Looking forward to our first real quality set.

A lot of great choices mentioned, one that was not mentioned is a small 4-5" fillet knife. I picked a cheap finnish one up in walmart years ago and it is one if my favorites.

Shun knives are beautiful but a little too delicate for me. I have one of their pairing knives and the handle just fits and it stays razor sharp well but it tends to get divots/chips in the blade easiest.

I am moving from mostly Heinkels to Victronox (sp). Good steel and I like their fibrox handles.

My current go to in the kitchen is a Shun Santuko. I almost bought this knife last year when we were in Kirkland. I wish I had. I’ll be ordering it sometime in the near future I hope.

https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=93725

quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
Is your wife going to use them? ... If so you're probably wasting your money.

Yeah, I gave up buying good knives (Wusthoff mostly), couldn't keep them sharp. I have a couple of good ones stashed away for the rare times I need to prepare food. She buys her own now, name brands but cheaper ones, and when they're dull she buys another set.

I'm a big fan of my globals. I like they are one piece handle & blade. No seams for bacteria or water to get into. Super hard steel. Light weight and fit my hands well.

Shun "Premier"s are my favorite knife line, I use their 7" Santoku for 90% of my cutting, my wife prefers the 5" Santoku, the 7" is fairly hefty for a Japanese blade, I use it for everything but chopping bone, I have an antique butcher's cleaver for that.

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:
Shun knives are beautiful but a little too delicate for me. I have one of their pairing knives and the handle just fits and it stays razor sharp well but it tends to get divots/chips in the blade easiest.

You're using your knives incorrectly if you're getting divots & chips. Chopping should be reserved for cleavers and robust chef knives. Shun's are Japanese knives, which have a greater bevel angle in their blades than Western knives, their blades are going to be thinner.

The Henckels professional knives are very good.

The Shuns are good.

Global makes a nice knife.

For good at a lower price, Mercer has some good choices.

There are good Japanese knives, but I am less familiar with them. I generally prefer a western chef to the Japanese shapes, but that is because it is what I am used to, so my technique is built around a western chef.

The Kramer-licensed knives are good. (A real Kramer is better, but those are out-of-reach expensive.)

Sorry guys, but Cutco are not good. They have a good guaranty, but the knives themselves are middle of the road, at best, and way overpriced.

quote:

Sorry guys, but Cutco are not good. They have a good guaranty, but the knives themselves are middle of the road, at best, and way overpriced.

Yeah...
My Mom bought a Cutco set in 1962, before she was married, and still uses them. She paid a fortune for them, as a percentage of her income at the time. I think she had to make time payments. She still has the receipt. It must have made an impression.
But I guess she got her money's worth.

I was at Costco yesterday. Cutco or a dealer had a table pitching these, and I handled one of them. It struck me as a cheap stamped knife. No bolster, didn't look forged. And the prices were beyond what good German forged knives go for.

No thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by Beanhead:
Cutco. I have had my set since 1990. I send the set every 5 years. They sharpen every knife and even replaced a few over the years. All for free.

Literally buy once, cry once budget.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BBMW,

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I was at Costco yesterday. Cutco or a dealer had a table pitching these, and I handled one of them. It struck me as a cheap stamped knife. No bolster, didn't look forged. And the prices were beyond what good German forged knives go for.

No thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by Beanhead:
Cutco. I have had my set since 1990. I send the set every 5 years. They sharpen every knife and even replaced a few over the years. All for free.

Literally buy once, cry once budget.

Cutco are laser cut, and not forged. Forging is a sign of a better knife, but there are good knives made out of bar stock too.

Cutco doesn't say what kind of steel they use, which is a sign they aren't proud of it. Some think it is 440A, which is the bare minimum for stainless steel knives. I can't say, but it could be 440A - my wife has one or two of them, and they act like 440A.

Great guaranty, mediocre knives at a high price. You can do much better for less money.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
The only knife you actually need. After that, I'd start here.

I'm a Henckel fanboy though...

We don’t have the Santoku knife that Skins recommends, but we’ve had a set of the Henckels Professional “S” series knives for quite a few years now. Quality, cost, edge retention and sharpenability (if that’s a word). Hard to beat

You have no idea on what you're missing. A 7" Santoku is an awesome knife for a lot of purposes. It blows away a chef's knife with veggies and is on par with a chef's knife for everything else. You really should get one......for Christmas and all!

Guess what I bought today?
For Christmas and all!

Our "go-to" for most vegetables has been the ZWILLING Professional S 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife, but I'm looking forward to the Santoku!

https://www.zwilling.com/us/zw...fessional-s#start=10

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
Our "go-to" for most vegetables has been the ZWILLING Professional S 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife, but I'm looking forward to the Santoku!

7"?

It's my favorite knife I own. I use it for everything, like 95% of all knife use. The knife is the perfect balance of quality and price. Personally never even use one of the super duper high end ones, but I can't imagine what they could do better.

Mine is beat to shit at the moment and needs sharpening, but still cuts better than most knives I use at friends and family's.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

quote:

7"?

Yes, 7".
Thanks for the recommendation and Merry Christmas!