What knife set to buy?

Lrdoflamancha

Any recommendations?

oldandhealthier

morning. I get mine online from Chicago cutlery. I had researched it and they have some of the top ratings in the business. I know they are my favorites in the kitchen.

paygep

Wusthof! I love my Wusthof knives

teresamwhite

I love my Ken Shun knives...! I've grown so accustomed to Japanese style chef's knives that I can no longer use a traditional French chef's knife.

What's your budget? There are a lot of good knives out there at each price level. I do not recommend buying a set for the average home cook (I don't even recommend it for my students)...but rather buy the knives you will need and actually use. Sure, a bird's beak is wonderful to have if you turn a lot of potatoes or mushrooms, but most home cooks don't do that, so why pay for the knife to be included in your set?

For my students, I recommend:
*7" santoku or 9" chef's knife
*bread knife
*boning knife
*paring knife
*meat slicer
*steel
*kitchen shears

YMMV

Just because a knife doesn't cost a bundle, doesn't mean it isn't a good knife or won't do the job for you...for Mother's Day last year, I got my mother some really great ceramic knives from Target, and she uses them all the time. They stay sharp for a long time, and look just as good now as they did when I bought them. I was so impressed with them that I bought a couple of paring knives and a santoku for my knife kit.

Rage_Phish

I would follow the advice of the person wearing chef whites in their profile

Baileysgirl6

I cannot recommend any knife sets so my reply is more of a Save your money reply:

I bought a set of Cutco Knives helping out a friends daughter as her first job selling the knives. Never used them really much as they are so fancy, but the day I did I sliced off several layers of my finger! I wouldn't recommend them at all. They cut thru pennies and ropes so not really needed in the kitchen and they are very expensive.

sportyredhead01

I would follow the advice of the person wearing chef whites in their profile

^^^^^this.

And here's my two cents..
I was given a set of Wusthof when I got married and I've used these for 5 years on a daily basis and they are still awesome.
It included the block, 8" chef's knife, bread knife, shears, paring knives and the sharpening steel.

I picked up a mini (like 4"ish) cleaver by Kuhn Rikon at Kohl's and that thing is great for herbs and garlic.

Oh yeah right or wrong, I never put mine in the dishwasher...ever.

CookNLift

Wusthof! I love my Wusthof knives

Lrdoflamancha

Thanks all appreciate the input...

aquarabbit

I got the Chicago set for Christmas and love it. They're really nice to hold. A lot of knives are really big for me and I cut myself. But with Chicago I can get a really good grip. Makes finer slicing a lot easier.

jr235

Are you sure you need an entire set? I have a whole set, but only use two. A regular sized seratted one for chopping, and a big one for when I need to cut things like squash or watermelon.

Besides that I have a regular peeler, this
http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Hand-Held-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B000YDO2LG/ref=pd_sim_k_1 for slicing onions, cabbage, and bell peppers I want very thin
http://www.amazon.com/OXO-SteeL-Chefs-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B003L0OP1G/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1376367049&sr=1-9&keywords=oxo+julienne+slicer for creating julienne slices.

jess4fun

Wusthof! I got a set as a college graduation gift 18yrs ago and they are still great. Use them every day and have only had them professionally sharpened twice. Just like our pots and pans we don't put them in the dishwasher. But I actually, I would go to a kitchen store and try some out. Knives can be balanced differently. I have a friend that swears by Henckles. And buy the best you can afford and you will get many years out of them.