Looking a buying a quality set of knives… not wanting to spend a ton but would like to have knives to carve up a prime rib or a turkey or briskets… tires of the cheap knives we have had for 16 years. I cannot even get a sharp edge on them again. What brands are good ones? Looking to get a small set of larger knives and keep it under $200.
Cutco and Henckels are the best I’ve used. Tough to buy a good set for under 200.00
Chicago Cutlery
I was given this set of Wusthof as a gift. I have been very pleased at the quality of the hardness and how well it maintains an edge with the abuse I give them. One feature I really like is the handles. I don’t like the flat back straight handle on typical chef knife. These are much better contoured and hit my hands perfectly.
I agree with Bryson on not getting a huge set. A few higher end quality knives are a dream to have. Even with my butchering and skinning, I only have about 4 or 5 knives I use regularly
Ditto on the Wusthof, plus their 8-inch cleaver is dang handy. Buy a few at a time, you will be pleased.
We have a set of Gerber’s received as a wedding gift from long enough ago that they were made in Portland. Love the knives, still can get a good edge on them. They will last longer than me.
Chicago Cutlery has served me well. Once I sharpened them with my Lansky I have been able to keep the chef’s knife sharp enough to slice ripe tomatoes with just a touch up on the steel occasionally. Stay away from the wood handles and if you buy CC go with the higher end knives. I have a chef’s knife a slicer a boning knife a paring knife a set of serrated steak knives [Moma’s steak knives] and a set of non serrated steak knives [Daddies steak knives]. I use my Chef’s Knife 90% of the time. These are the one’s I have. https://www.chicagocutlery.com/product/essentials-15-piece-block-set
I was given this set of Wusthof as a gift. I have been very pleased at the quality of the hardness and how well it maintains an edge with the abuse I give them. One feature I really like is the handles. I don’t like the flat back straight handle on typical chef knife. These are much better contoured and hit my hands perfectly.
<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe width=”850″ height=”550″ title=”Wusthof Classic IKON Three Piece Cook’s Set, 3, Black” src=”https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=ogi&ref_=k4w_oembed_cWE1D9jDR0gj8h&asin=B000SM76EI&tag=foodal02-20″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”” style=”max-width: 100%;” type=”text/html”></iframe></div>
I agree with Bryson on not getting a huge set. A few higher end quality knives are a dream to have. Even with my butchering and skinning, I only have about 4 or 5 knives I use regularly
I found a set of these knives at a garage sale for $5.00 and yes they came home with me. I also have three full sets of the original Chicago Knives in blocks too, one of which stays in the shop for deer processing.
I’ve heard great things about Wusthof. I think the knives in my block on my kitchen counter are the As Seen On TV special “The Miracle Blade III” set! 🤣 I kid you not, Billy bought this set on impulse probably 15 years ago and they still work great. Although now that I think about it, he could have been sharpening them from time to time and I would have no idea. 🤷♀️
I think Bryson nailed it. Check into Misen, which is a direct to consumer online brand. I own Misen and Wustof. The Misen knives are exceptional for the price and comparable to Wustof classic.
Tuo on Amazon are great knives as well. I just got the 8″ chefs knife and use it a ton. $29 for a quality knife that I’m sure will last a lifetime. For a free bucks not, you can get their damascus pattern in the same knife
Wusthof or Shun. If you spend a little more on a couple of these knives you WILL NOT be dissapointed.
Another vote for Shun. Amazing knives. I’ve been using ours everyday for over 5 years and they are still razor sharp. Remember, a dull knife is a dangerous knife. If Shun isn’t your style, Wusthof and global are good options too.
Whatever you choose, take good care of them. Hand wash, never put them in the dishwasher, and they’ll last you a long long time.
Stay away from wusthof’s gourmet line, they are made with cheaper materials and don’t hold up as well as the classic line.
One last thought. if you have a William Sonoma, Sur la Table, cooks of crocus hill, macys, or anywhere else that sells high end knives, go in and put a few in your hand. Everyone is different and a knife should feel like an extension of your hand. Oh, and practice good knife skills, they will keep you safe and make your processing faster.
We have a block of Wusthof on our counter. They have held up great.
Global are excellent quality knives and are often recommended by food pros as being a very good knife for the price.
IMO there are a lot of good knives out there, but way more important than the knife is learning how to sharpen and getting a good sharpening system. I don’t care how good your knife is, sooner rather than later, it WILL need sharpening. Knife sharpening has turned into this supergeek subject and been made way, WAY harder than it really is.
Get a set of sharpening stones and spend 30 minutes on YouTube watching tutorials. It’s really NOT difficult. The key is no shortcuts, work your way up the grit range and then the last step is to strop the knife.
Personally, for kitchen and hunting/fishing knives, I bought a set of these EZE Lap sharpening diamond hand stones for field use because the whole set weighs just ounces. Well, they are so easy to use and they produce such a sharp edge that now I use them for all knives and I have a whole set of pretty expensive water stones that don’t get used much anymore. It takes about 5 minutes to sharpen even a very dull knife.
Word of warning, use the above sharpeners right and you get a freaky-deeky sharp knife. Warn your spouse! And anybody else you have over that helps in the kitchen.
I’m not a fan of electric sharpeners. Yes they work. Yes, they also take off about 10 times the amount of metal that is necessary to sharpen a knife. Perhaps necessary in a commercial application where time is money, but at home spend the extra 3 minutes and save the knife from being ground into dust.
Grouse
Love my Wusthof Classics.
I’d say 80-90% of the time, I use a santoku or paring knife. The rest of the time, a bread knife, chef’s knife, or 6″ utility knife. Also have a carving knife that is awesome when needed, but that’s not that often.
Ginsu here. Can’t beat a knife that can cut a shoe’s sole and slice tomatoes so thin you can read a paper through it.
I have a Wustof Classic Chef’s Knife going on about 15 years and it’s still great (with occasional sharpening) and the knife I use 95% of the time.
Ginsu here. Can’t beat a knife that can cut a shoe’s sole and slice tomatoes so thin you can read a paper through it.
You jest but I have a serrated Ginsu that is decades old and still my go to knife when I need a serrated blade.
I’m sure that there are some quality knives others have mentioned, but I just wanted to put in a good word for Cutco Customer service and quality. My FW bought me a Cutco fishermans fillet knife over 25 years ago, along with assorted garden tools. She also has a couple Cutco kitchen knives.
I’ve sent these in to Cutco in New York for free sharpening (we pay postage) a few times over the years, after periodically touching them up myself in between. My fillet knife was getting pretty skinny , and lo and behold, this year I was very pleasantly surprised that they sent me a brand new knife and sheath at no charge. Now that’s great customer care.
Oh, and those garden tools; Not a speck of rust on any of them. Great products.
ED.WUSTHOF 4582 6″chef is my favorite knife and I found it at a garage sale for a buck. I use that at least 90% of the time now. I also have a set of Chicago Cutlery which I hardly use anymore.
Stay away from wusthof’s gourmet line, they are made with cheaper materials and don’t hold up as well as the classic line.
x2, the key in Wustof is to know when the only difference is the handle or handle & steel.
I have a set of ikons (see Randy’s pic) and one gourmet. They are not in the same realm. It’s been a few years but I think Classic and Ikon are the same steel. I love my Wustof Ikons!
Funny this post came back to life… I was using my old buck knife to cut some chops off a loin last week and decided that after all the cutting up of dead animals with the same 3 buck knives for at least the last 20 years, I looked and ordered a buck knives kitchen set. Figured if they are 75% as good as my old 110 I will be pleased. And $160 for a 7 piece set (2 of which I likely will not use) I am not out much if the are not up to standard.
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