Any suggestions on manufacturers?

Do these tend to go on sale at the end of the year or other seasonal type thing?

I think it would be nice to get a medium set of matching knives that I can then add on to with more specialized use knives as I find a need.

I'm not looking to impress people with how much I spent, I don't mind paying for quality but don't care to pay just for namesake.

Thank you
41

Never buy sets. Identify the knives you need and buy them individually.  As a starter I'd get an eight inch chef's or santoku, a slicing knife, paring knife, and a serated bread or ham knife.

I was wondering about this approach. I just thought a set would contain the ones you mentioned.

Guess I will have to look at price doing individual knives, I do like that I don't end up with some random stuff I don't want that way.

Shun's are good if you're looking for production knives. I like the Premier line, myself.

Then you get into custom stuff. These guys have beautiful full custom knives: Doghouse Forge

I'm sure good quality production knives will serve my needs, those Doghouse knives look very nice indeed but I don't need that level of attention.

I will look at the Shun knives

Thanks

Make sure your knives started out life as a solid chunk of metal from the butt of the handle all the way to the tip.

Some of the well known brands you would recognize are doing a MIM scintered handle and then welding that to a blade and calling it forged.

I have Messermeisters and they have been great. Also Wusthof still makes a good solid knife I think. Or go with the Japanese Shuns.

I have a decent sized collection of shun but I dont use them that much. afraid to hurt such a expensive knife. They are sharp as hell though. They need to be hand washed and dried right after use to prevent rusting.

MiM scintered?

Now I have to learn new words.

Wusthoff makes some nice knives, have a set of the Classic series.

I got my wife some starter knives from Tojiro.

It is a process where metal powder or paste is put into a mold (similar to injection molded plastic). It's then put in an oven and the metal bits melt just enough to stick together and hold the shape. It is better than pot metal that it replaced and it has its uses, but it is not nearly as strong as a forged blade and tang.

My 2 cents worth:

If you are looking for fine cutting instruments, by all means pick up some nice Japanese chef's cutlery.  Shun Premier are very nice knives.  I have 2 in my kitchen knife block.  VERY sharp knives - VG-10 steel.  I use them for fine cutting tasks.  Great knives but a bit pricey.

If you want hard working everyday kitchen knives - I am a fan of Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star knives.  I have had 2 in my kitchen knife block for 25 years (I added a 3rd just recently).  They are excellent production knives at a decent price point.  When I have a big or heavy cutting task, I always turn to my Henckels.  I have a 10 inch Henckel that I got about a year ago that I just LOVE - I don't know how I lived without it!

Additional notes:

1) Get a good sharpening steel and learn how to use it.  Good kitchen knives used correctly should only need to actually be sharpened about 1or 2 times a year (and with light use even less).  In between sharpenings with a stone or whatever you use for sharpening, a good sharpening steel will bring the edge back in a few seconds.

2) NEVER put "good" kitchen knives in a dishwasher.  ALWAYS wash them by hand carefully.

We have Henckels also..

They hold an edge well (relatively).. look at the four star or five star sets..  (expect to spend between $200-$400 for a set)

no need to go crazy, it's kitchen knives..



We've had ours over 20 years, my parents have had theirs since the 80s.


SOMETHING LIKE THIS

I agree with adding a Santoku to a set.

Same here and I did go crazy on kitchen knives to the tune that I did the whole shebang again, for a younger sister.

I graduated from college in '84 and my siblings got me a Hoffritz labeled Henckel, Solingen 10.5" chef's knife (the battle ax), even though I wasn't studying the culinary arts at that time.

These are the older models with the black wooden laminate handles, ice tempered SS knifes that Hoffritz would just rebrand (luxury rebrander) to sell in their boutiques and shops in the malls, with all of the other cool stuff.

I would go on Ebay and just find something new looking and not ratted up on electric sharpeners and buy stuff that was 25 cents on the dollar versus the new Henckel pieces.  The neat thing about Hoffritz, was (out of business) that they just didn't bring in a few popular pieces of any brand, they sold the whole line.

I have some kitchen knives that I have no clue as to why the shape/profile would ever be sold.  You want to cut a circle in the Artic, for ice fishing?  Yeah...I have that.  Zombie invasion ruining your week, just give me a holler.

Anyhow, I put together a set for my sister that is actually more comprehensive than my say...15 piece set--including a rare NIB mint carving set with fork and steel, the hard to find complete 6 pc. steak knife set--serrated, or smooth and even the large ham slicer.

I had to refinish some of her handles, but that was idiot's work.  I was home for 27 days in June/July at my dad/sister's place and I touched them up a bit on the steel and they still look good/work well 10, 20, 30 years later.

Disregarding my long-winded account of years past, I'm a proponent of getting the set if you're cooking more than a few times a month and you have the cash, but I'm also a big Ebay guy and don't mind buying minty used examples, either.

I've got 10.5", 8" and 6" chef's and slicers and for different applications, I'm grabbing different knives.  About the one thing that I don't have are a pair of shears.  Plus, a full block 'looks' better than an almost empty block, if that matters?

Chris

Have a look at Warther Cutlery, made here in Ohio and they have started using S35V steel for the knives and my 4 seem to be holding an awesome edge that lasts.

hahaha..

so funny, I've got that 6 piece steak knife set and the carving set with steel as well.
I love that the serrations on all their knives can be sharpened with their steels.. attention to detail is important..

I get the 'love' for the Japanese blades, but the Solingen steel stuff, from Wusthof, or Henckel are both very robust and will last a lifetime.  They also offered Sabatier from France and Sheffield from England, but I stuck with the West German stuff.

I haven't looked much these past few years, to replace the carving/steak sets (hers is smooth), but she cooks a lot and they both went to a good home, even though I'll probably never see them on Ebay, again.

Just an idea for others, of what's possible and I'm missing a few:  cheese, ham, carving set, steak knives and a couple of other oddball pieces.  There are a couple of serrated steak knives (dissimilar) and a couple of smooth steak/larger parer, which are dupes.



Chris

I have the SS steak knives like this.. 8 of them came in a wooden case (that has since warped)



my knives are the Four Star set similar to these..

In today's e-mail in-box >>> subject line: "For the first time ever: Shun Premier knives are on Sale" LINK
For those so inclined: ENJOY!  I have all the Shun that I need and they are great knives but I am more of a Henckels 4 star kind of guy.  Having said that, I AM tempted by this 9.5" slicer >>>


Best,

- R -

shun (premier line)
henckels
wusthoff
global
dalstrong

all fine choices according to the few chefs i know.

all of which have "consumer" knives and "professional" knives..

there's just no reason for a consumer to purchase a pro-level knife unless they just want to spend the money. (which was my only point)  the Henckels Four Star line that I have is a consumer line, not a professional line.

That's the brand I have, and I bought a set that only had what I needed but the wooden block has extra slots for, "Room to grow."   But even Wusthof has entry-level series (i.e. Stamped vs Forged blades), so research before you buy.  Ebay has great prices on them, but only some of those sellers are authorized dealers.   I'm weary of counterfeits on the web... Luckily, Wusthof's website have a list of online-only authorized dealers.  

Best advice, as said above:  Ask chefs what brand(s) they recommend.  

 http://www.wusthof.com/

Shun knives are really nice.  I have been very happy with our Cutco knives as well.

Shuns are fine but you can do much better for the $.  The Tojiro DP line is the same VG-10 sandwiched steel as the Shuns but for significantly less $.  E.g. the Shun 8-in blade chef is $144, the approximate equiv 8-in blade chef Tojiro DP is $65.   I have that Tojiro and several (one a $250 powdered metallurgy) high end Japanse chef knives, and the Tojiro DP does not really lack much in performance on those.  

They sell Tojiro, Shun, and high end, and do good reviews here:

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kitchen-knives.html

Thank heaven no one had the audacity to mention Cutco.  I've seen more of these sets sold at the fair than you can shake a stick at.  Makes me mad to see good people pay good money for crap.

By the way, I have a set, yes a set, of chef's knives made from a custom knife maker.  I doubt any mass produced knives, no matter how good they are can match them.  I'd buy more in a heartbeat if he were still with us.

Henckels 4 star on sale (until 9/4) $160 for This 7 piece block AND free 2 day shipping!

The only thing that I'd recommend adding to that block would be a Santoku 7" piece..  (for a good all around starter)

Kitchenaid professional series. German made steel awesome for the price on Amazon

Before I had a 7" Santoku, my "go to" (most commonly used) blade in the kitchen was a Henckels 4 star 6 inch chef's knife!