Knives- recommend yours

[thewop]

Does anyone have a good everyday chef's type knife or set they absolutely love?  The set we got from BB&B for our wedding just isn't cutting it (hey oh!) and I want some new ones, even if we have to collect a really good set over the next few years. DH and I cook a lot so we're willing to spend a little bit of money on something that will last us a long time.  Are knives at Williams Sonoma worth it?  Someone I know loves their Pampered Chefs knives, but I don't know. 

[bunnymendelbaum]

We have a Wustof set I like, but we also have this Global knife from Williams Sonoma. That thing is the shit! I love it.
This one:
www.williams-sonoma.com/products/global-chefs-knife/?pkey=cknives-global&

[simpsongal]

For an excellent budget knife - Victorinox. They get great ratings from Cooks Illustrated and they're under $30. I have a Victorinox chef's knife and fish boning knife. I also have a Wustoff chef's knife and paring knife, which are wonderful.

Knives are very user specific. Some people love Japanese knives (their edges are honed at a different angle). Other's love German. Rather than buying a set of knives (most of which you won't use), I would buy the most expensive chef's knife you can afford. Go to WS and other stores to see how they feel in your hand. You can get a more budget friendly bread knife to complete your set for now.

I also recommend Chowhound for discussions on knives. There's no right answer, it's personal preference.

[sierramist03]

I really like my Chicago cutlery ones but I also like my cruisnart block set from BBB.

[thewop]

Jul 25, 2013 9:57:16 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

For an excellent budget knife - Victorinox. They get great ratings from Cooks Illustrated and they're under $30. I have a Victorinox chef's knife and fish boning knife. I also have a Wustoff chef's knife and paring knife, which are wonderful.

Knives are very user specific. Some people love Japanese knives (their edges are honed at a different angle). Other's love German. Rather than buying a set of knives (most of which you won't use), I would buy the most expensive chef's knife you can afford. Go to WS and other stores to see how they feel in your hand. You can get a more budget friendly bread knife to complete your set for now.

I also recommend Chowhound for discussions on knives. There's no right answer, it's personal preference.

This is exactly what I want to do.   I was thinking I'd be able to spend $100 on a chef's knife right now and then build a really good quality custom set over the next few years of stuff we know we'd use and like. 

[TBM]

We have given up on all of our pricey knives and find that we reach for our kuhn rikon knives most often.

I bought them on a whim. It was a cute colorful set of four knives with a stand on QVC....I needed a new paring knife and the price was right. Now I want more from them, because we like them so much. I think in part we are big fans because they remind us of the Benihana knives that we got as wedding gifts. We wore those knives out, and had replaced them with a nice set with a very different feel, and didn't realize how much we missed them until I got the Kuhn Rikon set.

[ktzmoh]

This is my chef's knife:

www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-Trizor-8-Knife/dp/B001172C8O

I've been using it for 15 or 16 years now and I still love it and use it basically daily. It's got an amazing weight and balance, and it holds its edge beautifully.   I bought it before Wusthof was really out with their knives. I've since bought a few Wusthof and also love those, but they are pricier. I agree with the above advice, get the best chef's knife you can afford, then add what you will use regularly. For me, that's a chef's knife, 2 paring knives in different shapes, a bread knife and a tomato knife.

[wawa]

Jul 25, 2013 9:57:16 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

For an excellent budget knife - Victorinox. They get great ratings from Cooks Illustrated and they're under $30. I have a Victorinox chef's knife and fish boning knife. I also have a Wustoff chef's knife and paring knife, which are wonderful.

Knives are very user specific. Some people love Japanese knives (their edges are honed at a different angle). Other's love German. Rather than buying a set of knives (most of which you won't use), I would buy the most expensive chef's knife you can afford. Go to WS and other stores to see how they feel in your hand. You can get a more budget friendly bread knife to complete your set for now.

I also recommend Chowhound for discussions on knives. There's no right answer, it's personal preference.

Everything she said.  Yup.

[pitterwoo]

We got some Wustoff knives as a wedding gift and they are still one of our favorite things.

[FoxInFiji]

I agree with simpsongal knives are user specific. DH is very picky about knives so I let him pick what we registered for. We got the Calphalon Katana Series and we love them! Bonus they aren't bad to look at either.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Wustof fan here.

I also own some chicago cutlery I like. I agree with PPs, though - you really need to hold them in order to know how they'll feel in your hand. Do you have an outlet mall nearby? They usually have a wide variety of kitchen stores with individual knives and you can save a lot of money that way. I bought my 9" wustof carving set for $35 a few years ago at an outlet.

[whitemerlot]

I have Wustof knives and love them. I had to cook at my brother's house and his knives were terrible. Good knives make a huge difference.

[prazenjc]

we like our pampered chef knives, the professional, most expensive ones they sell. i get them by having shows and getting the half price and they have a great warranty.

[michelelouise]

I think it is worth going to Williams Sonoma or a similar store so that you can test out some knives and see what you like. My SIL has a set of Global knives, like bunnymendelbaum linked to, that she loves. When DH and I tested out knives at WS we bought Shun Kaji knives. We love them!

[Deleted]

I have a set of Henckels I really like. I think they're super nice and they're definitely affordable with a Macy's coupon.

I had some PC ones...the best ones they sold and they ended up in my Goodwill pile. I thought they sucked.

[TBM]

Jul 25, 2013 11:55:12 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I have a set of Henckels I really like. I think they're super nice and they're definitely affordable with a Macy's coupon.

We had Henckels that we loved too!  I forgot all about them, but I did like them. We used to give them as gifts, and they were always very well received.

[mrslch]

Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star

LOVE it!

[redredwine]

I have a few Calphalon ones that I picked up at Homegoods for a great price, but used to have a Henkels set which I loved.

I learned about good knives from a butcher shop my XH worked out for a while. There are many different great knives out that, and you don't need to spend hundreds on a knife. It mostly comes down to comfort in your hand, but make sure you get forged steel that is forged throught the handle (vs. knives that are "cut off" at the handle) and   most importantly, learn how to sharpen your knives and NEVER put them in the dishwasher.Most knives that are pre-serated (with the exception of large bread knives) won't last a long time and you can't properly sharpen. You can get a "moderately" priced forged knife set and keep it forever if you know how to hone/sharpen them properly. I just use one of those steel rod things like this:

www.ehow.com/how_4540031_sharpen-knife-sharpening-rod.html

[ckinla]

We have a set of cheap crappy knives and one really nice Shun chefs knife (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/shun-classic-7-santoku-knife/s200697). I'm terrified of it, but it's a DREAM to use.

[thewop]

Jul 25, 2013 23:04:52 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

And, I will attest to the fact that you can get nasty cuts from crappy and/or dull knives, but rarely get cut by sharp knives unless you are careless. A dull knife requires more effort to slice through things, and is more likely to slip and cut you. So keep your knives sharp!

I know!  This is one of the reasons I want something nicer.  Ours are a hazard to use! 

We've never put our knives in the dishwasher.  Ever.  I had wash every single one. 

[heliocentric]

We have a Wustof 8" chef's knife. Our other knives are crappy, but we rarely use them. We got cheapo paring knives from Pampered Chef and they are great. For some reason, I don't think it's worth it to spend a lot on paring knives and have always had luck with cheap ones.

We also have a set of Henkels steak knives that I love.

[wawa]

Jul 26, 2013 7:56:49 GMT -5 heliocentric said:

We have a Wustof 8" chef's knife. Our other knives are crappy, but we rarely use them. We got cheapo paring knives from Pampered Chef and they are great. For some reason, I don't think it's worth it to spend a lot on paring knives and have always had luck with cheap ones.

We also have a set of Henkels steak knives that I love.

It's not.  It's relatively cheap and easy to manufacturer a small sharp blade.  The thing that makes a nice chef's knife relatively expensive is size, but also the fact that the weight, balance and handle design all have a big impact on ease of use.  Because the mechanics of using a paring knife are totally different from a chef's knife the weight and balance of it really don't matter.  You just need a sharp blade attached to a handle, and any tom dick and harry knife company can manage to turn out one of those.

[stumpy]

Wusthof Santoku Chef's Knife. Got it years ago for our wedding and we swear by it.
Way better than any other knife we have.

[boomkiss]

I really love my Cutco Knives, I also have a Martha Stewart knife I got at Macy's that is still really sharp after years of using it.

[stephm0188]

Wusthof here. We had a couple of Pampered Chef knives and they were garbage.