Good, and good value, kitchen knives?

JimP42

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My daughter needs a set of kitchen knives. I told her to get good ones because they'll work better and last forever. She cooks well, and is off campus in college this fall, and will be cooking for herself.

We still have the 30 year old Wusthof Classic set that we got 30 years ago as a wedding gift and they have been great. We added a couple of Classics to the set, and added a Wusthof Gourmet set (not as high end evidently), which have also been good.

But I have no idea where the optimum value point is now. I suspect that the Classics are overkill (given that roommates will probably use them over the next couple of years). The Gourmet series may be fine knives for the price, or may be way overpriced. I have no idea. For all you real cooks out there - what brands/lines should she be looking at? Let's say a budget of $200 and it would be nice to get a versatile assortment of at least 7 knives and a block for that. The price and numbers are not set in stone though. For comparison, we found this:

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/wusthof-gourmet-10-piece-cutlery-set?ID=666230&CategoryID=31760

If they are good, that would be a nice assortment of useful blades. Is that a good set for the price, are there better for the price, or are there comparable for less?

Is there a Carolina Kitchen Knives Forum for this?

Thoughts?

Thanks
 
College? I wouldn't put a lot of money into it. Things get abused and walk off, particularly nice things.

I'm a fan of CUTCO for knives. I still have the set I used when I sold them one summer. And that was 26 years ago. And I've added quite a few too it. Speaking of cutco, to get good and cheap start trolling eBay and pick up some nicer looking used ones. Look for ones that have gone back to Cutco for refurbish, or you can always send them back for about $5. My last couple knives came from eBay. You could probably get away with 3 decent knives instead of getting a set of something. 4" paring, Petite Chef, and the Trimmer get the most use around here.
 
My take...

Global G-2, MAC, Shun... all great. All a waste of your money unless you just have it to burn.

Does she know how to care for good knives? Honestly 99% of people don't need half those knives. Get her a usable french-style chef's knife as large as she can handle, at least 8". Then get her a book, class, or video on how to use it. A simple Victorinox is easy to work with and will do any task needed in the kitchen when you have technique. From paring to cleaving and every chop and slice in between, it's all in the one knife.

If you're set on something a little nicer, check out the Misen chef knife. It's a great all around knife for the money.

After she's proficient, step up to knife for the rest of her life like one of the ones I mentioned initially...
 
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We've picked up several old Gerber Balance Plus kitchen knives off ebay. They are discontinued but are really good knives.
 
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If you go with the Henkles make sure it says "Germany" on the side of the blade and not China as Burned Out Geek said above. I'm not familiar with the Shun Edo above, but they look nice but the set is $600. I would NEVER keep my knives in the knife block like that either. You're cutting wood and dulling the blade every time you put it in the knife block. Turn it upside down. The Henkles set further up is correct on the side of the blade.

Chicago Cutlery makes some good mid-priced knife sets. My favorite chef's knife is a no-name carbon steel knife I've had for almost 50 years. It's good carbon and sharpens up nicely. Another brand I like is Rada Cutlery. High carbon stainless steel made in the USA. Open stock and usually available at the Dixie Gun Show (as well as online) I get mine from a country store up in Virginia.
 
My take...

Global G-2, MAC, Shun... all great. All a waste of your money unless you just have it to burn.

Does she know how to care for good knives? Honestly 99% of people don't need half those knives. Get her a usable french-style chef's knife as large as she can handle, at least 8". Then get her a book, class, or video on how to use it. A simple Victorinox is easy to work with and will do any task needed in the kitchen when you have technique. From paring to cleaving and every chop and slice in between, it's all in the one knife.

If you're set on something a little nicer, check out the Misen chef knife. It's a great all around knife for the money.

After she's proficient, step up to knife for the rest of her life like one of the ones I mentioned initially...

What he said...

Most important is care and maintenance. A good knife should not be washed in a dishwasher and should be professionally sharpened on a regular basis. They should be stored with blade guards in a drawer, not in a block as noted above. Mine are on magnets above my prep area.

I would also make sure she has a few antimicrobial plastic cutting boards. The cutting surface is as important as proper storage in maintaining the knives. Each of the boards should be labeled or marked in some way as to use, i.e green for fruit/veg, red for beef, yellow for chicken... This avoids possibility of cross contamination.
 
Dexter Russel Sani Safe. I'd bet half the restaurants in the country use these. Every restaurant I've ever worked at has. They are inexpensive, not the best looking, but are good sharp knives that keep an edge. Check out amazon for them
 
Even if you do have $$$$$ to burn the Victorinox line of knives has been rated "best of category" and "best value" in numerous reviews. They are fairly east to re-sharpen, easy to use and she will only need 3. The 8" chef's knife, an 6" gen purpose and a 4" paring knife. A magnetic strip on the wall to hang them and you're set. Total cash outlay for everything should be less than 100.00. And another plus is that they are usually available at gun shows which gives you an excuse to attend and drool over other stuff while you're there.... You're welcome....
 
http://ontarioknife.com/cutlery/old-hickoryr.html

Made in the US, 1095 steel, full tang...with a budget of $200, should be able to get whatever she needs.

For the price, they are damned good knives and with a relatively easy bit of prep work*, they'll last.

* Heat a gallon of apple cider vinegar to boiling in a 6 qt. pot. Pour it (slowly/carefully) into a 15x10 baking dish. Submerge the knives into the vinegar, leave them until the steel darkens up. Take the knives out of the vinegar, rinse them with water, dry them and give the entire knife, especially the handle, a heavy coat of mineral oil. Let them sit overnight. Wipe them down well to remove all the excess oil.

Use the knives, wash/dry them by hand, put a thin coat of mineral oil on the blade after each use and around once a year, give the handles a treatment with mineral oil.

She'll have knives that, years from now, she'll be able to pass down.

@Geezer beat me to it
 
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My take...

Global G-2, MAC, Shun... all great. All a waste of your money unless you just have it to burn.

Does she know how to care for good knives? Honestly 99% of people don't need half those knives. Get her a usable french-style chef's knife as large as she can handle, at least 8". Then get her a book, class, or video on how to use it. A simple Victorinox is easy to work with and will do any task needed in the kitchen when you have technique. From paring to cleaving and every chop and slice in between, it's all in the one knife.

If you're set on something a little nicer, check out the Misen chef knife. It's a great all around knife for the money.

After she's proficient, step up to knife for the rest of her life like one of the ones I mentioned initially...
This is why tagged you, you keep me grounded. Lol

I get so easily distracted by really sharp and shiny things... I'll go sit in the corner now.
 
It's hard to beat an Old Hickory knife.

View attachment 18167
I picked up the second knife down at an estate sale for 50 cents. No tellin' how old it is but the edge was sharper than any I have ever seen, and keeps an edge the longest. I use that one knife probably 90 percent of the time in the kitchen.
 
Want amazing, cheap knives? Work at Williams Sonoma or Sur la Table over Christmas. The really expensive, exclusive knives, like Shun Fuji or Zwilling Kramer? If they come in with a chip, there's no RMA process for those, so they have to be thrown away. :)

Now, as to knives:
99.99% of the knives out there people are using are complete and utter crap. You can't get 12 knives for $50 and expect to have quality knives. Most are made in China with inferior steel and bad heat treating. It means you have a knife that gets dead dull fast, and is almost impossible to get a decent edge on.

The good news is that you can get a good set of knives for cheap, and you don't need that many. You really only need three knives in the kitchen:
1.) Multipurpose knife(chef's, santoku, banno bunka, kiritsuke, china cleaver, your choice) - useful for about 90% of the stuff in the kitchen. If you have just one knife, get this.
2.) Paring knife - the most dangerous knife in the kitchen, as it breaks the old rule of "never point a knife towards you." Useful for about 5% of the stuff in the kitchen.
3.) Bread knife - useful for about 5% of the stuff in the kitchen.

Everything after that is pure specialization. A carving knife will make cleaner cuts of meat, but a bread knife can do it. A utility knife can do some things better than a paring or chef's, but either of those can do the tasks. Same with a boning knife.

The next thing you need to consider is western vs eastern. Western knives use softer steel that can't get as sharp, but takes more damage and keeps on ticking, think denting vs chipping steel. Japanese is harder, sharper, edge lasts longer, but more brittle. I prefer eastern, but I know how to sharpen knives, so YMMV. For German, I like fully riveted forged knives. Not actually really any better, but the handles will stand people abusing them in the dishwasher(don't do that) better, and the weight will help people power through when you're lazy and wait too long to resharpen your knives.

So, good for the money sets:
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/topr2pcset.html
https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Classic-7-Piece-Cutlery-Storage/dp/B003MU9F4W
https://www.amazon.com/Shun-DMS0510-5-Piece-Classic-Knife/dp/B00C4VN4WO

Multipurpose knives:
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/tojiro-dp-f-8081.html
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpsakn17.html
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/richmond2.html
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/ya24gywa.html
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/pro...knife/?pkey=ccutlery-chef-knives&isx=0.0.3313

Paring knives:
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/todppakn90.html
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/riar80pakn.html


Bread knives(I choose these two knives becasue their scallops are much easier to resharpen):
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/macsubrkn.html
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

Also:
Will 2nd CUTCO knives...we have 3 different sets...made in the USA, sharp as hell, durable...knives that become heirlooms you can pass on.
Ewwwwwwww


At the end of the day, a great chef can do amazing work with a $30 knife, and a poor chef will do crappy work with a $300 knife. Get knife skills, and keep your knives sharp. Resharpen, say, every 6 months for western, 8 months for eastern. Hone your knives regularly, and test the edge on paper.
 
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I have some old Henckle's some Cutco and some Victrionix. When new they are work great. So I would agree with suggestions above saying get a smaller collection and maintain them properly. Either on your own or by a professional. And unless your daughter is way different than most college kids I'd save the expensive stuff for graduation, marriage etc. their likely to be abused or lost during the college years. Unless she's in culinary school. Then just ignore me.
 
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My daughter needs a set of kitchen knives. I told her to get good ones because they'll work better and last forever. She cooks well, and is off campus in college this fall, and will be cooking for herself.

We still have the 30 year old Wusthof Classic set that we got 30 years ago as a wedding gift and they have been great. We added a couple of Classics to the set, and added a Wusthof Gourmet set (not as high end evidently), which have also been good.

But I have no idea where the optimum value point is now. I suspect that the Classics are overkill (given that roommates will probably use them over the next couple of years). The Gourmet series may be fine knives for the price, or may be way overpriced. I have no idea. For all you real cooks out there - what brands/lines should she be looking at? Let's say a budget of $200 and it would be nice to get a versatile assortment of at least 7 knives and a block for that. The price and numbers are not set in stone though. For comparison, we found this:

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/wusthof-gourmet-10-piece-cutlery-set?ID=666230&CategoryID=31760

If they are good, that would be a nice assortment of useful blades. Is that a good set for the price, are there better for the price, or are there comparable for less?

Is there a Carolina Kitchen Knives Forum for this?

Thoughts?

Thanks
So, to respond to your direct question, there are two real issues to consider:
How they are cleaned, and how they are maintained.
If they are always handwashed, just about any knife is fine. A dishwasher kills knives. The detergents and banging against forks kills the edge, the grid breaks off the tip and, most importantly, the hot water will seep into the handle, causing it to rust where you can't see it, and eventually make the handle break off.
If you don't trust your daughter or roommate not to put in the dishwasher, spring for the full tang classic. Check in at the end of the semester. If the rivets have this dark Grey look, they've gone through the dishwasher.

Next, have her bring back her knives at the end of each semester, and have them professionally sharpened. Once a semester is good enough. Show her how to use a honing steel, and tell her to use it every time she uses it, expecting it to get done once every ten times.

You're around Raleigh? Call the closest Williams Sonoma, sign her up for the knife skills technique class, they have one once every three months or so.

If she does that, everything should be fine.
 
Lots of great info - thanks! I will talk to her and prioritize the pros and cons.
 
Ewwwwwwww

Ewwwwwwww? What, you don't like my 40 year old kitchen knives, made in America, family heirlooms, or are just you grossed out by old stuff that is still functional...:D
 
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Ewwwwwwww? What, you don't like my 40 year old kitchen knives, made in America, family heirlooms, or are just you grossed out by old stuff that is still functional...:D
I'm grossed out by the ripoff.
1.) The steel. It's 440a steel. Not SG2, not VG-10, not AUS-8, not even 440C. It's cheap 440a, the bottom barrel steel.
2.) The price. It retails for $130-$145(https://www.amazon.com/Cutco-7-5-Petite-Chef-Knife/dp/B002XPZNP2), but it's actually on par with a $20 knife. It costs the same as this knife(https://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0706-Classic-8-Inch-Chefs/dp/B0000Y7KNQ), which is ten times better.

It's like charging Sig Legion prices for a Hi Point. They take advantage of people that don't know any better, or are trying to help their friends college aged kids.
 
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Ewwwwwwww? What, you don't like my 40 year old kitchen knives, made in America, family heirlooms, or are just you grossed out by old stuff that is still functional...:D

If they work for you, great! My sister has Cutco knives. They don't work for me. I have to pack my knives up and carry them with me when I go to visit.
 
I'm grossed out by the ripoff.
1.) The steel. It's 440a steel. Not SG2, not VG-10, not AUS-8, not even 440C. It's cheap 440a, the bottom barrel steel.
2.) The price. It retails for $130-$145(https://www.amazon.com/Cutco-7-5-Petite-Chef-Knife/dp/B002XPZNP2), but it's actually on par with a $20 knife. It costs the same as this knife(https://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0706-Classic-8-Inch-Chefs/dp/B0000Y7KNQ), which is ten times better.

It's like charging Sig Legion prices for a Hi Point. They take advantage of people that don't know any better, or are trying to help their friends college aged kids.

Thanks for the clarification...I knew there had to more to it
 
I'll had that one of those easy sharpener things is handy for the lower quality knives. I am meticulous about hand sharpening and honing any cutting tools I have, but the knife set my wife and I were given has a pretty poor steel. I tried sharpening and honing them, but the steel is very soft. One of those pull through carbide and ceramic sharpeners has been a headache reducer until I decide to just bite the bullet and get a nice chef's knife and paring knife. A couple pulls through and you are good to go. You just have to be careful about using the carbide side very often because of the amount of metal it removes from the knife each time.

I just mention that because I know how college life is and it's possible that some lower quality knives with a sharpener will make it through college a lot easier than some nice knives. Just another option to put on the list.
 
College? I wouldn't put a lot of money into it. Things get abused and walk off, particularly nice things.

I'm a fan of CUTCO for knives. I still have the set I used when I sold them one summer. And that was 26 years ago. And I've added quite a few too it. Speaking of cutco, to get good and cheap start trolling eBay and pick up some nicer looking used ones. Look for ones that have gone back to Cutco for refurbish, or you can always send them back for about $5. My last couple knives came from eBay. You could probably get away with 3 decent knives instead of getting a set of something. 4" paring, Petite Chef, and the Trimmer get the most use around here.
Cutco knifes are over priced, in my opinion. No way I would have bought them but for it being my son's friend making the pitch.
Might be cheaper through Costco. They recently started having them in for a "road show."

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
The conclusion to this...

I am going to give her some of my second tier knives along with a couple of added inexpensive but good value knives to more than make a sufficient set for college.

And once I got interested and researching knives I bought myself 4 more Wusthof Classics I found for good deals and sharpened everything up nicely with my Spyderco Sharpmaker. I don't quite have the water stone skills to do better than the Sharpmaker.

I have enough Wusthof now for both daughters to get a complete set eventually.
 
I had a kid come by and try and sell me some Cutcos. He had a young girl with him he was trying to impress/train.
He had lots of sales techniques. For ex.: he took out some tiny very ripe tomatoes and challenged me (after slicing tomato):
"Go ahead, let's see you do this with one of your kitchen knives". So I grabbed my Wusthof (which he then called a "worstoff") and sliced it up thinly and easily.
He then did a "rope test". Same results. Perfect clean cut through the rope.

After it was all said and done, I felt sorry for him. I said "well, maybe I'll take the scissors and the Kabar".
It was like 288.00 or something. I laughed out loud. Man I couldn't believe it.
He kept trying to pound that "free lifetime no questions warranty". But I was like "I have a kabar in the garage from the 60's and it's still perfect..... but I can get a BRAND new one with better steel for 60$ son."

I can't even begin to imagine what a whole set costs! I'd have to make payments!

At any rate, a decent chef knife and a decent paring knife is all you need, imo. Hundred bucks should get that done easily.
 
The 3"ish RADA paring knives(2or3) and a noncarbon steel 8" Chef knife like NKD mentioned. The Radas have a cute lil sharpener that works well and is quick and safe. Knives that will survive a dishwashing for sure.....or layin in the sink.
 
I like antique French/German high carbon steel knives. They are easy to get razor sharp and can be found on the cheap. That said they are not dish washer safe and need to be whiped down after each use.
 
I got my knife's from the dollar tree, sharpen them with a cheap Stone from HF.... It works for me! Lol but I'm not a hard core cook either. What I cook is edible and it's just me so I'm happy :)
 
My wife's grandfather worked for Cutco, he gave all of his grandchildren sets of Cutco knives. They are good knives, they are overpriced, but once they cease to be sharp, it is hard to keep them sharp. I would not buy a set.
 
I am a BEAST in the kitchen...seriously...my family thinks I should get on "Chopped" or something....
I have a heavy butcher knife, a bread knife, and an 8" chef's knife that I absolutely LOVE! All of them came from either Wal Mart or Harris Teeter...the chef's knife in particular...Harris Teeter. Holds an edge better than my danged Gerber work knife! You can sharpen them yourself if you have the patience. 3 grits of stones, a little water, and a good, tanned leather strap....


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I am a BEAST in the kitchen...seriously...my family thinks I should get on "Chopped" or something....
I have a heavy butcher knife, a bread knife, and an 8" chef's knife that I absolutely LOVE! All of them came from either Wal Mart or Harris Teeter...the chef's knife in particular...Harris Teeter. Holds an edge better than my danged Gerber work knife! You can sharpen them yourself if you have the patience. 3 grits of stones, a little water, and a good, tanned leather strap....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
b1c017b071625a0e206114b5362d40fb6a851ed450bad90bde99aba3cadd2fcf.jpg
 
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