Thread: Kitchen knife suggestions

I'm looking to get a few nice knives to use around the kitchen. Since we have at least one resident chef here, I thought I'd throw this out for opinions.

What would a good "basic set" of kitchen knives be if I only wanted to get, say, two to five blades?

Any suggestions on some good quality but reasonably priced knives? I'm looking for something that'll take a good edge and have a nice feel. What's the "don't bother" price range?

Thanks,
Josh

Josh

i wouldnt be any kind of aussie if i didnt suggest these...

http://www.furitechnics.com.au/

national pride not withstanding... they are excellent knives

Greg Frazer

I think Mastro Livi sells a whole set of chef knives and steak knives for 1000$.

So either the straights are way overpriced, or his chef knives are underpriced.

www.japanesechefsknife.com

Japanese chef knives. Look at the Tojiro DPs. They are Japanese steel in a western style. I would consider a 240mm or 270mm gyuto (equivalent to chef knife) and a small parer to start with. Japanese knives need to be sharpened on water stones and can take quite low angles - 10-15 degrees. The steel is quite hard and they take a wicked sharp edge that lasts. I also really like my cheap Chinese cleaver - the Town Food Service #1 cleaver for about $15. That thing blows the socks off all of my "nice" German steel. I would NOT recommend buying a set. Just buy a quality knife or two to start with and add as you go. My Wusthofs now collect dust since I switch to Tojiro and Murray Carter knives.

Otherwise, wait for Dwarven Chef to drop in...

Dennis

I am hiding in the background to hear these suggestions. Also waiting for Dwarven Chef hehe..

These have gotten great reviews as the best bang for the buck. I personally love my Messermeister knives. The balance on these makes the knife seem to be weightless in the hand, but they are a bit more than the Forschners.


Wayne

Probably anything from Solingen won't be bad: Wusthof, Boker, Henckels, etc --- you know the game.

Justin

oh and Kershaw ----

What's your price range?

How much are you going to use them?

What type of cooking do you do - do you chop a lot of potatoes, root vegetables or not, etc.

As someone else said, a set may not be the way to go - you often pay for knives you don't want. Also a set often includes a very expensive paring knife - I've never seen the reason to have a really expensive one, as the stamped ones (Henckels, Victornox, Nogent) do just fine and cost about $10.

Also, don't be fooled into thinking that you need a set of Henckels most expensive knives - there's lots of good brands out there, as well as more industrial lines of knives (Forscher, in particular) that represent great value and work just fine.

I've also heard very good things about the MAC knives, which are often rated among chefs' favourites - and are quite reasonable.

I'm not an expert by any stretch, so am equally interested in hearing what any culinary professionals have to say on this topic.

One thing I think we can all agree on is that a good set of kitchen knives that is well maintained makes cooking much more enjoyable.

I am hiding in the background to hear these suggestions. Also waiting for Dwarven Chef hehe.. pilothaz

Totally. I actually logged in to find this exact topic and that exact blademaster as I broke my main kitchen knife.

When is Gimli going to get his ass out of Moira and lay some smack down on this thread.