Need some better kitchen knives. The ones the rib registered for when we got married a century ago have always been absolute crap and she is finally ready for an upgrade.

Help me out oh wise and all-knowing OB...

I don't think you really need a whole set. Just get a few nice knives. I think the Wustoff Classic Ikons are nice. But just start out with say a santoku or chef's knife, depending on your preference, and build from there. You might add a boning or utility or paring knife from there. The chef's knife and santoku are what I use most often. And of course take care of them. Store them in a block or in some protective sleeve, and don't run them through the dishwasher. We have a set of Cutco knives, but they are not near as nice or comfortable to use as the Wustoffs.

I had a set of Wusthoffs which were good knives, but I didn't need the set, so I sold it and got a Global chef's knife. I need to get it sharpened, but it has held up well for the near decade I've had it. I also have a Santuko knife from Acemart. I think it is a Mercer, but it hasn't held its edge very well in the 2-ish years I've had it. I wouldn't recommend it in spite of its very positive reviews (the reason I bought it).

I also have several Dexter Russell and I've used that brand of knives and other items (pizza cutter) since my days working in a pizza place. My butchers knife is OK but the bread knife is good. Forcshner is also a good stamped knife brand. I recommend a forged knife for chef's knife purposes (cutting vegis) but you can get away with a stamped one for virtually everything else (bread, meat, etc.). The forged will do better with quality cuts and speed.

Don't forget a good board. Wood for vegis, poly or wood for everything else.

If you want to cheap out, look on FB marketplace and find some forged ones with trashed out handles. They've been put in the dishwasher (a no-no). Offer the people next to nothing, saying they've been ruined and you have a project in mind for them. Then take them to a professional knife sharpener who will make them function well for at least a year or two. Even forged knife sets from Walmart, professionally sharpened, aren't bad as long as they hold their edge.

I bought a cutco butcher knife from a door to door salesman. It has been great

Sur la Table is a great place and their prices on sale are competitive.

Shun - Great Japanese knives
Wusthoff / Zwilling are very good German knives
Miyabi - Owned by Zwilling, but are a Japanese style
Global - Japanese knives that are good

You also do not need a set. Just buy a chef knife or two, a bread knife, and a paring knife. You can buy a small block or a drawer storage tray.

Well we use all the knives in our current set somewhat regularly... even the paring knife. We also added a few types of knives that didn't come with the set to the block in cheapo versions like a bread slicing knife and a filet knife. We used the kitchen shears so much they broke and I had to buy new ones.

My wife and I both cook. She cooks more than me but not by a huge margin.

Henckles still makes good knives, but not their stuff sold at bed bath and bullcrap. I would buy Wustoff if I were buying now. I probably butchered the spelling on both of those, but I think you know what I am talking about.

zooguy96 said:

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If you want quality - Wusthoff (or how ever you spell it). They are great. Not that lolpoor me has any. My sister does.

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Wusthoff are a mid grade knife. Good knives, but they aren't something special by any means. I'm sure they also have various grades, so the ones you buy at Wal Mart aren't the same as a higher end Wusthoff.

Aggie Chef daughter got wife a really nice Japanese set. Very thin fine blades. Prob is my wife's grandmother soaked knives in sink. My mother in law soaks knives in dishwater, and I just can't keep wife from soaking knives .

Prob is, the edges on those fine thin blades are fine. Wife rusts the edge off them. She has paring knives more dull than our butter knives.

Moral here, is get a heavy American or German steel blade unless the rib understands a fine edge.

I like Rada

Oh man you came to the wrong board for a consensus. I have Henkels, wusthoff, bubba blade? Maybe? Hell I don't know bc I have my preferences for what I do vs what Mr.Diesel preps and prefers. There are some phenomenal cooks on here that enjoy cooking. You have some everyday cooks who just want a decent knife. I do a lot of veggie chopping and prep work but don't enjoy cooking so I want a sharp blade but don't need $$$. Husband cleans up a lot of meat and slices so he prefers different blades and his hand grip is obviously bigger than mine. We also sharpen our own knives and I don't want to F up an expensive knife even though we know what we are doing. Go to a few stores or Amazon and try some different ones out before you commit and also understand your cooking preferences.

I have a few Shun blades. Sharp as a razor. I use a diamond block and a steel from shun to finish.

They are great for every day use and are easy to sharpen.

My wife uses a few different global knives because they are sharp and comfortable. I prefer heavier knives, so I use German and an occasional Japanese chef knife. As we cook a lot, and I graduated a long time ago, we have an eclectic collection of very good knives. I think good kitchen equipment makes cooking easier and more enjoyable.

https://warthercutlery.com/

Wusthof Ikon.

I appreciate them every time I use them. Couple of whacks across a steel and get after it. They'll last my lifetime and whichever kid gets them, and then theirs too.

Agree with others on Shun. Build a set over time if needed. I'm fortunate enough to have a complete Shun Ken Onion set which they don't make anymore, but i've used other models from Shun, and they are all excellent.

Good similar thread:
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3345584
I still love my zelite, and my wusthof ikon

Bought 3 of the cheap plastic handled Wustofs (chef, utility, paring) when I got my first place in 2011. We use the heck out of them. Would buy again. Probably spent under $50 for the 3. Also have a good Wustof santuku and bigger chef knife but they don't get used much. Have a Amazon special filet knife that is great and gets used a couple of times per week.

I don't know what brand this is, but my wife bought these about 5 years ago and they have stayed damn sharp.

schmellba99 said:

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I have a Cutco set that was my grandfathers. Haven't found a single thing I can't do with it yet, it's held up perfectly and if I were so inclined to not sharpen the straight edges myself, I could send them back to Cutco to have them sharpened and dressed. They work for me, but are decidedly sub-standard by the OB and Food and Spirits board standards.

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The big knock on Cutco is the value proposition. You got yours for free from your grandad so that does not apply in your case. Cutco knives are stamped cheap stainless steel with cheap resin handles that sell at an ultra-premium price. They are also not true straight edge knives and are micro serrated from the factory which makes for a great demo., You or your grandpa likely sharpened the serrations away, but this is why Cutco doesn't recommend sharpening at home. Any knife that's taken care of will last a lifetime. That's nothing more than marketing.

You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good quality knife. You'll find Dexter knives in every restaurant kitchen in the US and will get the job done every time I f you don't care what your knives look like. IMO, Mercer makes a quality forged blade knife that feels solid in the hand at a very reasonable price and won't look out of place in a nice kitchen. I got a Misen Chefs knife for Christmas a couple of years ago and I'd rate it as a good value as well

Victorinox is the best value in my opinion.

That will be my next set. My Henkels have been pretty good for the last 15 years, but I keep them sharp with my work sharp. The two Boning knives I have from Victorinox have been fantastic.

I don't think anybody has claimed they are the top of the line, but they are good quality knives that don't require a lot of maintenance, hold an edge fairly well and for general average joe type cooking, are a very solid brand. Which meets the needs of probably 99% or more of people out there. A big thing with them is their warranty and the fact that they don't nitpick you to death - most of the time they just replace the knife, no quesitons asked.

The handles, to me, are very ergonomic. I don't get wrapped up in my kitchen knives needing to have narwhal horn handles or any of that crap - they are kitchen knives and need to be somewhat utilitarian because they aren't going to be treated with kid gloves. They are a resin, just like most other production kitchen knife brands out there.

Cutco uses 440A, which isn't top of the line steel - but isn't a cheap grade either. And, frankly, anybody that thinks they need a supersteel kitchen knife that is hand forged is pretty much either a knife nerd or somebody that just thinks they have to have super expensive things just because.

Stamped vs. forged - almost no discernable difference. Forged sounds better than stamped, but most forged kitchen knives are drop forged or stamp forged where the manipulation of the steel is minimal at best. I mean, if you are forging it yourself, there is something to be said about that....but for the most part, forged knives out there are little more than semi-fancy production knives with an extra price tag. Same with most damascus steel knives - they are more than likely made with India or Paki cheap AF damascus and you'll find they don't sharpen for sht or hold and edge for sht either.

Are their "better" knifes? Abso-freaking-loutely. But in all reality, it is a very, very, very rare person that needs anything above "pretty solid" when it comes to normal every day cooking. Most of the rest is just "I want this because i fancy myself as a michelin chef on the weekends" or those that need to brag to the guests when they invite somebody over.

Don't get me wrong, the idea of a custom or some badass knife is apeallng and nothing wrong with it. Hell, one day I'd love to make a custom brisket knife out of a custom wootz blend with a nice handle, that would just be cool as hell. Even better if I could make it myself and have it come out close to how I picture it.