Hey home chefs: teach me about knives.

About 15 years ago, I splurged on a high end Henckels knife set. They stay super sharp and are great to work with, but I think I coughed up around $600 and I don't want to do it again.

I went with a cheap Target set for my place in CA, and they're useless. They don't hold an edge and need to be constantly sharpened to be almost sharp.

Is there something in between? I found the Kamikoto stuff online but seems too good to be true. Anybody have good luck with those or something else? Preferably $200-300 range.

 

Just buy one 8" chef's knife.
https://www.zwillingonline.com/31021200.html

Or, if you want to get fancy: https://shun.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/classic-3-piece-build-a-block-set
If you just want the knife: https://shun.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/classic-8-in-chefs-knife

This is a filtered link to just the "classic" portion of their knives. They have other lines that are more expensive. Kai and Kershaw are under the Kershaw group.

I have this one. Sharp as you can get.
https://shun.kaiusaltd.com/knives?shun=529

I have prefer the Shun Chef's knife when I'm doing a lot of meal prep stuff.

 

Spend the money (again) and don't waste your time with shit knives.

I like the classic series from Wüsthof. Buy a piece here and there and it'll lessen the sting. A 8" chefs knife is the place to start.

I'm picking up a Nakiri in a week or so and I'm done. Well, except for that 4.5" prep knife and their. . .

 

http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/chefs-knives-school-me.328021/

http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/knife-sharpening.331867/

No idea what's in those threads. But you never know what a random exploration might yield. This is the BBS, after all.

 

I have a bunch of the Shun knives. Highly recommend

 

The one time I don’t search...

Jed and Dave’s suggestion makes sense. I’ll just buy them piecemeal. You don’t really use them all, and a target bread knife works just fine anyway.

 

Shun. You have to take care of them. Wash and dry as soon as you are done, keep in a block, sharpen with waterstones. I have two with chips in the edge (wife dropped them). I'll regrind them one day.

 

I got lucky & found a city auction lot that had 5 or 6 Wusthof & Henckels knife sets, along with several other items. I can only guess it was from a shoplifting trial. (?)

Anyway, I bought it legit, kept a 12-piece Wusthof set & sold the rest of the stuff on Ebay & cleared 400 bucks for my trouble.

 

Buy the Cutco knives at costco. American made and just good enough.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

I want the Shun Kanso series, the 6 piece w/ the block is around $600 which seems fairly cheap for a good set of knives.

 

Duh? Knifes have lots of blade size even if they are small so sharpen instead of buying new! Or do what we did, find the specialty sharpening shop/guy and use them. The knife guy at the local farmer's market has a 2 week waiting list, so he's good.

 

I am by no means a home chef, but this is the set I bought and it works perfect for me. Plenty of knives for what I need to do and the wood block includes self sharpening holders. And you can save 20% on it if you use the coupons you get in the mail.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...VCBgMCh3QGgGTEAQYBSABEgJ9T_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Recently purchased a 3 pc set of Wusthoff Icon line. I’ll probably piece it out from here. Working on building a block for them now.

 

Skip the big block sets. You need a good chef’s (pick your style drop point or sanguine) and a utility knife. I love Shun, but there are some incredible knives coming from companies you have never heard of. I like the Asian style stuff, but I want it coupled with a bit of heft. Utility needs to be able to debone a chunk of meat, filet things, and do good detail work.

You can easily spend $250 on just a solid chefs knife. I would budget about $120 for a chefs and $70 or so on a utility if you are shopped no sales. Spend some money on a good steel too. Watch Williams Sonoma and sur la table for sales. Local kitchen stores can be good for deals as well.

 

While most of the advice here has been sound, the lingering idea you only need a couple knives is rooted in the notion that basic prep is all you do. If you break down primals (or even subs), if you slice bread, if you fillet fish, if you do a number of things, you need unique knives to do the job right. And even if most of your mise en place is chopping and dicing vegetables, the single, most-used, and versatile knife in my collection: a $40 (now about 60) carbon steel Chinese cleaver from CCK. Easy to find right on the right edge.

 

Just when I did not think it was possible to further ghey up this thread...

 

That's some Dexter shit right there.

 

check out japanesechfsknives.com, its pretty much knife porn. I bought a mr. Itou custom with abolone handle. The knife is sharp as hell and beautiful but to fragile and expensive. Gut a shun or miyabi for your normal wear and tear use

 

Also, if you are getting a butcher block, go to GoodWill. They have shedloads of them.
Less than $10 for decent ones.

 

And as important as the knife - buy a good cutting board. No glass, as it will wreck the edge. Make sure it is big enough that the knife isn't crowded for space. Boos makes really nice stuff, and it is worth the price.