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Decent kitchen knife set?

woods

woods

I probably did it wrong.
Joined
May 22, 2020
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Making up a Christmas list of things to get for the house. Knife set is something we could use. Something in the $100 range. Don't need 12 knives or anything. Maybe like 5 or so for food prep. Any brands that are recommended?
 
100 dollar range and decent doesnt go together


but i like caphalon for cheap, or henckels (but not the chinese made)

id love a miyabi birchwood :smokin:
 
Oh wow, $100 is low huh? Just looking for like a couple knives. Hrm. Maybe I'll pump those numbers up then.
 
Calphalon Or victorinox or go to a restaurant supply and buy something with a forged blade and ergonomic handle. As long as they aren’t cheap serrated blades and you know how to put an edge on a knife, you’ll be fine.
 
I am looking at Old Hickory, The Chicago Cutlery I bought mom back in the 90s won't hardly hold an edge and are a pain sharpen, my Old Hickory is cheaper and sharpens fast and holds an edge
 
Should be able to get some chinese one man Henckels at that price. Get a 8" chef's knife, 6" utility knife, carving knife, pairing knife, boning knife, and maybe a bread knife. Those are the ones I use the most often and get something to sharpen with.
 
I have never spent alot of money on knife sets, maybe $60 at the most, and they all been fine. All my sets are still in use by other people. No fancy shit needed to cut food unless I was a chef or someone who used them multiple times a day.

Use, wash, then dry. Don't let em soak in the sink. Sharpen as needed.
 
I bought this set a couple years ago and have liked using them. Not pretty, but knives don't need to be:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004I...91812054244-20

Edit: my girlfriend used one of the knives from this set last night on a cheap cutting board and it cut through the cutting board. She was not amused. I told her a sharp knife doesn't need pressure and don't nick yourself with it because it can cut deep very easily.
 
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pdangerp said:
As long as they aren’t cheap serrated blades and you know how to put an edge on a knife, you’ll be fine.
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This. I have a cheap Henckels set from years ago, and they are fine, just need to be touched up every now and then.

EDIT: I use the Santoku and paring knife almost exclusively, so YMMV.
 
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And remember, Santoku knives are not cool unless you are a WOMAN. It's the Japanese woman knife.
 
I am partial to the Henckles Zwilling brand. Full tang with bolster. Riveted scales. Made in Germany. I've been sharpening ours and my parents Henckles for 30 years and they are still going strong. Look for the black square with the two stick figures in it. There are several different line of Henckels. Some oursourced to Spain, some to China.

These are a good starter pair. We use them the most. https://www.amazon.com/ZWILLING-J-H...s=home-garden&sr=1-21&th=1&tag=91812054244-20


Not a fan of molded plastic handles that are popular on cheap knives.
 
I like Tojiro. Hits the price/quality sweet spot for me. This starter set can be had for $99 if you look around or wait for Black Friday sales.
 
Johann said:
I did not know knives had a gender preference...
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The more you know. Ok, I admit it's a bit misogynistic. It's the Jack of three trades knife, aka for the "home" setting. But a chef will have three knives.

Here is an overview https://blog.chuboknives.com/making-the-best-cuts/

I'd rather have the proper tool for the job. Also I'm not very fashionable, nor Japanese, so I'll stick to the traditional chefs knife.
 
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Johann said:
I am partial to the Henckles Zwilling brand. Full tang with bolster. Riveted scales. Made in Germany. I've been sharpening ours and my parents Henckles for 30 years and they are still going strong. Look for the black square with the two stick figures in it. There are several different line of Henckels. Some oursourced to Spain, some to China.

These are a good starter pair. We use them the most. https://www.amazon.com/ZWILLING-J-He...91812054244-20


Not a fan of molded plastic handles that are popular on cheap knives.
Click to expand...

Henkel, and Zwilling - make aure you look where they are made. Only the top lines these days aren't Chinese.
 
fyi my calphalons have been Awesome, an 8" chef and 5" i think. You have to take care of the knife too, use proper board, and make sure the edge doesnt make contact with anything its not supposed to
 
I have had both henkels and wusthof, currenlty have a full set of wusthof p-tec and love them been 7 years and they are still like new and are used daily.
 
Perhaps my best bang for the buck knife has been this cheap $5-10 santoku w/holes that I bought at 99Ranch/Asian grocery store, looks like junk but it holds an edge and is comfy in my hand enough to have somehow stuck around 15yrs now among my MUCH more expensive knifes.
Kuhn Rikon - for a cheap knives I don't care about destroying, I have a handful of their paring knives which get used quite a bit in our house and seem to hold a decent edge for what they are. I gave a few of their knife sets for friends/family who had particularly shitty knifes, just so I'd never have to use their junk again when I needed to cut something that's not my finger, lol.

Wusthof classics - great knifes. We use the serrated utility knife frequently, had a 10" cook's knife but somehow chipped it real bad.
Henkels/Zwilling - pretty great. Know a few people with the Henkel (single man logo) sets - they're alright, but I have a couple Zwilling (double-man logo) and these are noticeably better knives.
Shun classics - awesome. I have a 6" chef, 6" utility and 6.5" nakiri. Owned over 5yrs and regularly use a honing steel on them and they stay sharp as fuck. These are my preferred knife these days
 
Right now I'm using some crappy set I bought from a yard sale for like $5 eight years ago. We have a decent ceramic(?) knife that gets used now and then. But at this point, I think anything would be an upgrade. Kind of flipping between something like a three piece set, or should I just drop ~$100 on a single chef's knife?
 
Once I passed my "serious knife collector" phase in the 80's I wound up with about half a dozen knives in the kitchen. One Vic/Forschner paring knife one no name paring knife, a Sabatier carbon steel 8" chef's knife, a 10" serrated bread knife, Zwilling I think, a 12" sabatier carbon carving knife (now called a ham knife) extremely flexible, a Zwilling boning knife also very flexible and finally a cheap no name chinese vegetable cleaver That is all I ever needed.

What everyone really needs is to know how to sharpen a knife to it's task.

Honorable mentions, I keep a hatchet to use as a meat cleaver if needed and I have a Kikuichi hammered damascus gyuto, a one off my daughter (pro chef) had made for me while in Japan. I'm scared to use it though.

Edit: All my knives excluding the Gyuto are at least 40 years old. Forschner $10, nn $2, 8" Sabatier $60, Bread $40, ham $60, boning $120 ouch, veggie cleaver $7, Gyuto more than all the others combined🤪
 
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