Now that i’ve started helping out in the kitchen it has become obvious that all our knives are w@nk.
Can someone point me in the direction of a decent set?
Prob wouldn’t want to pay more than £100, but don’t really know what they should cost.
ta

you’ll get more varied recommendations than a what tyre thread!

Go to John Lewis and waggle a few around.

you need to identify which types of knife you want first. I manage perfectly well with a carving knife, a vegetable knife and something that I can use for general everything work that falls between the two in size.

Sabatier used to be the best, but I’m not sure these days. Solingen make damn good blades and I own a Falkniven sheath knife with one of their blades. Holds an amazing edge and is useful for skinning, gutting and prepping wild game just about anywhere.

If you want something a bit different, try looking at the Kyocera ceramic knives. Expensive, but they never stain, don’t rust and hold an amazing edge. You should be able to get hold of three or so for that sort of money.

If you know what you’re looking for, TK Maxx can be good.

Just keep them away from my SO she can make a good knife bad in seconds

Best knife just sharpened and she cuts up a sanny on a plate with it 😈

ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS are my preference, you only *really* need:

a good Chef’s knife,
a good cleaver,
a good pairing knife,
a good boning knife,
a good bread knife,
two good “steel’s” (ceramic & steel)
a good chopping board,
a good peeler,
a microplane grater,
a good set of pliers,
a pestle & mortar,
a set of Peugeot pepper & salt mills,
a robot coupe processor,
a set of good whisks,
a set of metal bowls,
three large measuring jugs,
and a rolling pin.

add a set of pots & pans, a good even & rapidly adjustable temperature oven, a 4-6 ring stove and fryer and you can cook anything.

I have a Wustof classic chefs knife. I will add one or two others, but for now I love the versatility that I have using one really sharp knife.

Don’t think I’d compromise and buy a cheaper set

Get a set you feel comfortable with. Sharpness all depends on material and how you sharpen them. 😉

As said above Solingen in Germany is where the good knives come from, and the expensive ones!

If you do go with ceramic/carbide knives, be careful as they cannot be easily re-sharpened. Our company has to send ceramics off to another country for sharpening as they are classed as a carcinogenic (grinding dust).

This is really all you need TBH, Global G-2, for £70.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/G2-Global-Cooks-Knife-20cm/dp/B00009Y32A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295954847&sr=8-1

you need to identify which types of knife you want first. I manage perfectly well with a carving knife, a vegetable knife and something that I can use for general everything work that falls between the two in size.

+1, are you a chef or a budding chef?

No, then probably 3 or so knifes will suffice, a carving knife, a good bread knife and maybe a couple of short knifes for vegetables/meat (uncooked). I have no problem with then spending money to get decent one of these, my F. Dick carving knife has lasted me 10 or so years & won’t be replaced anytime soon. Just avoid those stupid ‘sets’ that include stuff you never use…

I have a set of sebatier -at the price they are very good but they do come in different qualities I believe – make sure you get the one piece forged ones.

I’d love a set of global tho – they are really nice

As an aside, can anyone recommend a good knife sharpener?

knife sharpener are the work of the devil 😉
you want to use a wet stone…

EDIT: I manage everything with just that:

Teh knife I use the most is the big chefs knife. If I only bought one thats the one I would buy.7″ blade

Definately try before you buy there are so many different weights, sizes, shapes.

I bought a nice knife that I like to use, but Mrs FD doesnt like it at all.

I steel (sp?) is the best way to sharpen. All the other gadget type things are just that.

Oh and don’t forget to carry it around in your back pack whist riding, you never know when you might want to slice a cake or apple apparently.

I steel (sp?) is the best way to sharpen

A steel doesnt really sharpen – it unfolds a curled edge, effectively reviving the blade.

The blade still needs honing now and then to get angular edge shape back once it has been rounded.

This chap seems to know a lot about sharpening, worth watching his other vids too

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWJMEWck3WI&feature=related[/video]

A bread knife.
A veg-prep knife.
A small chef’s knife.
A sharpening steel.
A really good pair of kitchen scissors.
Don’t bother with a big chef’s knife, they look impressive but you’ll seldom use them. Spend the money on two smaller knives and the scissors.

I’d recommend a ceramic bladed knife, amazingly sharp and don’t seem to blunt that easily. They are more brittle than steel though so you shouldn’t use for chopping hard stuff (does root vegetables fine though).

Here’s three of my four broken Global knives. All broke in the same place. Two have been replaced under Global’s ‘lifetime’ warranty, but I’ve been told the replacement’s are only warrantied for a year.

don’t ever put your knives through the dish washer.

I’m not a fan of global knives to be honest.

Here’s three of my four broken Global knives. All broke in the same place. Two have been replaced under Global’s ‘lifetime’ warranty, but I’ve been told the replacement’s are only warrantied for a year.

What were you doing when those broke?

What were you doing when those broke?

trail riding?

What were you doing when those broke?

All broke in (conventional) usage. The bread knife broke while slicing bread.

As Mr Nutt says, don’t put your knives in the dishwasher.
Why can’t women a) load the dishwasher sensibly, and
b) only dishwash the things that are meant to be machinewashed.

I’m a pretty accomplished cook and this Christmas I thought I’d treat myself to a new knife.

I love thin blades and I love carbon steel (yes you’ve got to keep sharpening it, but that’s part of the fun).

I went to TK Maxx and saw a carbon bladed knife with a blue plastic handle and a blue teflon coated blade, with little holes in for £7. I bought it as a laugh, really thinking it would be OK for camping etc.

It turns out to be an instant favourite in our kitchen.

Never rated Global, but mainly because they felt wrong when I picked up a few.

I was at an agricultural show a couple of years ago and saw a flyer for a set of Japanese knives floating round. Seemed decent quality, but I didn’t recognise the name, so I was a little dubious. Always buy a decent quality name and for goodness sake, don’t buy any knife that claims to never need sharpening! Or one that has teeth to help it cut better. Unless it’s a bread knife of course, then it helps cut bread without squashing it.

Seriously, just treat yourself to a few decent quality knives that you know you are going to use, not a complete set of lower quality ones.

I have these. Stupidly sharp and with a good weight/ feel.