Let's talk knives.

[strangedahlia]

Shopping around for a new set of knives and was wondering what anyone would recommend here?

Any shared preferences??

[RaeVynn]

If I had money for new knives, I think I would try a ceramic knife! :)

Whatever you get, make sure the tang goes the length of the grip. I prefer a wood grip on mine.

[Eva]

Knives are seriously a really personal thing! I've got two knife sets I use regularly because I teach group classes and like to demonstrate some variances.

1/ Henckels, forged steel, about $140 from Bed Bath & Beyond. Great set. VERY heavy and I love the way they feel in my hand. I teach a lot of classes and am comfortable with a heavy knife, but not everyone would be. Drawback is they need to be sharpened quite often, which I actually enjoy but can find tedious when I have 15 recipes to make and teach in 8 hours. Still, I really love these knives. My mom HATES using this set and says it's too heavy, and she feels like she'll get hurt.

2/ Chicago Cutlery, forged steel, about $60 from WalMart. Didn't come with a serrated knife, which annoys me. Otherwise, this is a fantastic set for the price. My mom feels comfortable with it, and I think it does a good job. I still sharpen them every time I use them, but my mom does not. This does not seem to be a problem when I use them after she has not sharpened them.

Keep in mind, these are both full sets and pretty good bargains. Everything has a purpose, and I wouldn't want to be without any of the knives. But most people will just use the knives I'll list out in a second (sounds like you want a set, anyways, but I'll share in case...).

If you just wanted to go with the bare necessities, I'd get: a 3" paring knife, 5" serrated utility knife, 8-10" chef's knife, and a sharpening steel. But by then, you may as well get a good set.

Henckels is pretty dependable in my experience and would be my pick if I had the money for either, but I am not too impressed with their pro series knives and definitely wouldn't plop down the $400-500 for them.

I hope that helps! :)

[sprouts2go]

Good knives should never go in the dishwasher. The little bits of dirt can nick the baldes. Never scrape the cutting board with the sharp edge of the knife (dulls it). You have a choice of cutting boards and you want a board that gives or else the knife blade has to give.

[strangedahlia]

Eva, thanks a million for your answer!

I guess my biggest concern was: What type of knives do you use the most often and would consider a necessity in a raw kitchen.

I wouldn't like to pay for knives I'd never use, and while I enjoy cooking a good meal, I've been raised in a huge meat-eater family so I don't have that much experience when it comes to the best knives to use for mincing/chopping/prepping fruits and vegetables :)

[Gittel]

One of my daughters sold Cutco a few summers ago. I really like them. While I'm no knife connoisseur, they are very comfortable in my hand (ergonomic design), have a good weight--not too heavy, not too light, and cut very well--nice and sharp.

Happy slicing and chopping!
Gittel

[DebB]

We've also got a set of Henckel's knives. We bought them at Costco for around $160.

I understand about not wanting to spend the money on a set - paying for knives you might not use, Alton Brown on the Food Network recommended not buying set for that reason too. However when I priced out the individual knives at BB&B - wow they are so blasted expensive! It was like getting half the knives for free in the set vs. the price on buying them separately.
So you may want to look at the price both ways...

As far as which knives I use the most. From my Henckels set, I use the paring knife and the chef's knife the most. I use the steel every time I use the knives.

I also love my cleaver that I bought at a restaurant supply store for about $25. I use it every day to open my young Thai coconut and for many other things. It's now what I grab to do most of my chopping where I used to grab the Chef's knife.

But if I had to choose say 2 knives, for me it would be the paring and Chef's. In fact if I had budget constraints, I would buy the best Chef's knife I could afford and buy a cheapy paring knife. I've got 2 paring knives that we keep in our cooler for m'cycle trips that actually cost $1 each and I love them - they even have a little sleeve the blade goes in to. My husband sharpened them and they are as sharp as a razor!

The Chef's knife is so great for all chopping. The blade is slightly bowed for ease in chopping. I just did a quick YouTube search and this is a nice knife skills video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqvwZrv0rQU)that shows how great a Chef's knife is. I'm loving his wooden cutting board too. Wooden boards are my choice - I love them.

When Alton Brown was asked, "What's your favorite knife?" He replied, "The one that I use." That sounds corny but it's so true. It's the one that fits well in my hand.

My husband's favorite knife is a Santoku that we ordered from QVC. For me it's too big and heavy. *Ü*

[strangedahlia]

Debb,

Thanks for all the insights, I will definitely shop around and see how comfortable I am holding the knives.

The set vs. no set thing is also something I'm going to keep an eye open for.

[Eva]

Eva, thanks a million for your answer!

I guess my biggest concern was: What type of knives do you use the most often and would consider a necessity in a raw kitchen.

I wouldn't like to pay for knives I'd never use, and while I enjoy cooking a good meal, I've been raised in a huge meat-eater family so I don't have that much experience when it comes to the best knives to use for mincing/chopping/prepping fruits and vegetables :)

The pieces I mentioned are the ones I use most -- a 3" paring knife, 5" serrated utility knife, 8-10" chef's knife, and a sharpening steel. But by then, you may as well get a good set. Just as DebB said too! :) There are 3-piece Henckels sets at places like Target, where you can get things like that for about $30, plus $20 or so for a sharpening steel. But by then, it's not Henckels or whatever, but you could just spend $40-60 on a full Chicago Cutlery set that works pretty well for most uses.

I will say -- I ALMOST bought a set at WalMart (Chicago Cutlery) that was a full set for about $40-50 just because it actually had written which knife each one was. That way in a class, I could have students using that one and could just say "Grab the 3" paring knife" or "Grab the 5" serrated knife to cut those tomatoes" or whatever. And they could just read the wood to see which was which! LOL.

Fun, fun. I really enjoy stocking a kitchen. I hope you'll tell us what you end up buying! :)

[shine72]

The pieces I mentioned are the ones I use most -- a 3" paring knife, 5" serrated utility knife, 8-10" chef's knife, and a sharpening steel. But by then, you may as well get a good set. Just as DebB said too! :) There are 3-piece Henckels sets at places like Target, where you can get things like that for about $30, plus $20 or so for a sharpening steel. But by then, it's not Henckels or whatever, but you could just spend $40-60 on a full Chicago Cutlery set that works pretty well for most uses.

I will say -- I ALMOST bought a set at WalMart (Chicago Cutlery) that was a full set for about $40-50 just because it actually had written which knife each one was. That way in a class, I could have students using that one and could just say "Grab the 3" paring knife" or "Grab the 5" serrated knife to cut those tomatoes" or whatever. And they could just read the wood to see which was which! LOL.

Fun, fun. I really enjoy stocking a kitchen. I hope you'll tell us what you end up buying! :)

Glad to see I'm not the only one who goes shopping with "ooh, I would get this just for my classes" in mind. ;)

Whatever knife you choose, just remember to always keep it sharpened. A sharp knife is NOT the one that will constantly hurt you. A dull knife does the most damage when you happen to have an accident with one. So no matter which knife you choose, just remember to keep it sharpened. :)