Good set of Kitchen Knives - Suggestions?

[suntan]

Victorinox Fibrox knives. CI's favourites. I use these mostly now because they have an excellent edge and are not expensive at all.

You need three knives:

Chef's
Bread
Paring

Optionally a meat slicer is nice to have.

http://www.amazon.ca/Victorinox-4052...ctorinox+knife

http://www.amazon.ca/Victorinox-Brea...rds=Victorinox

http://www.amazon.ca/Victorinox-Pari...ref=pd_sim_k_3

These are available locally at Hendrix:

http://www.hendrixequip.com/

Also Happy Cooker in Market Mall and the knife store in North Hill Mall has them.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Can buy Victorianox at winners sometimes. Good Japanese knives are awesome. A good Santoku or Nikiri will serve you well for for a couple of decades if taken care of. Speaking of which, I do have a very nice used Asai Santoku VG10 for sale. Rarely used after I got a Fujiwara.

[LOLzilla]

I'm trying to support the American economy. I've two knives from LamsonSharp from the Fire series.

http://www.lamsonsharp.com/store/p/7...f-Santoku.html

I'm a big fan of the handle as it does not hold moisture.

[Weapon_R]

I swear by rada knives and love them. As sharp as a razor blade but you need the sharpener. I might pick up a heavier chefs knife from another brand but otherwise these are unbelievable for the price.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Canadian tire has some very heavily discounted knife sets (Henkel, Cuisinart) in German and Japanese styles if anyone is looking for a decent, cheap, full set.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

[r3ccOs]

its really all about budget because sky's the limit

I have quite a number of knives that I've owned throughout the years...

I started with victorinox forschner stamped blades.
They're cheap, they flexible, and a razor sharp edge can be put on them. They are comfortable, but are very light and the steel isn't overly "hard", which then results in it losing it's edge fast.

I still have a fillet knife, as nothing beats a good stamped blade for its thinness and flexibility for filleting

I then bought a Henkel Twin master series set, which included a pairing knife, chef's knife, deboning/butcher knife, and slicer.
Like the forschner, these can be purchased at a restaurant supply store.
They use a fridour ice hardened blade which is a decent steel.
I find they're easy to sharpen, and maintain an edge with basic honing.
The handle are a yellow plastic, and aren't slippery as wet, but not quite as nice as the Forschner.

I put these knives a couple steps above the forschner and I use these when I travel, doing bbq comps.
If I lose or have one stolen, it really doesn't break the bank.

http://www.zwilling.ca/zwilling/kniv...m#.UmsWNPmTizk

I then got a great deal on a set of henkel twin 4 star
The set included a 8' chef's, a Santoku, a pairing knife, a bread knife, and a couple other utility 4' knives.

These knives are awesome, period.

They use a slightly different steel than the master and a hybrid SIGMAFORGE forging process, using a full tang.

Any of the Twins outside of the master I believe use the same steel, and have different handles for different ergonomics.

I can't say anything bad about them at all...
Great Balance, Great non-slip handle, steel that's super easy to hone, and maintains an awesome edge.
They are machine washable, and stainless really never rusts, which is a plus.

I also own 2 more knives... and one I use the majority of the time...
Takeda Santoku and a 200mm sushi knife.

One is blue steel number 2, and the other is "super" blue steel.

These high carbon knives are stupid sharp, as they're shapened at 18 degrees, they are super hard because they're forged high carbon steel, BUT are also brittle and are more prone to rust.

You have to be more careful with handling these knives, as they are delicate... you have to dry them, as any moisture will create rust.

The handle is a basic wood handle, and if you get used to holding a santoku properly, it's fantastic!

the balance of a true japanses santoku, and the damascus/unrefined finish really help keep food from stick on it, better than those stupid grattons on most stainless knives.

I use this knife often... very often. BUT if the job requires heavy cutting or cleaving... I'm off to something else, like my Henkel Chef's or my Butcher's knife.

these are expensive knives, but if you are to own one, get a good hand forged santoku.

[C_Dave45]

For your average homeowner, the biggest factor in having a good knife is just keeping it sharp. I see people spending huge dollars on knives, but then hardly ever sharpen them. We bought a real good, and easy to use sharpener, and our knives cut everything like butter. We even put one in the camper. Makes prepping for dinner a breeze.

I talked to a professional butcher and he just buys average knives, but of course sharpens them every few hours.

Keeping a knife sharp is the key.

[msommers]

I wish I was really good at sharpening blades properly. Does that guy in Inglewood do any courses or anything?

[flipstah]

Originally posted by msommers
I wish I was really good at sharpening blades properly. Does that guy in Inglewood do any courses or anything?

I believe they do sharpening and cutting classes. On a side note, do you have Instagram? Follow me for some killer food porn made using the cleaver.

Everyone loves filters

[msommers]

I don't have to be on Instragram to snoop do I? But yeah I'd be interested what you hack up haha.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by msommers
I don't have to be on Instragram to snoop do I? But yeah I'd be interested what you hack up haha.

Guess not lol.

www.instagram.com/doncommando

Its mostly slicing and dicing stuff but I might be hacking up a whole chicken for next week so be on the lookout for that.

[WhippWhapp]

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/wustho...ck-set-p122391

[bcylau]

sharpening system is the most important part about cutlery, and its fairly easy to learn. check out cartercutlery.com and www.japaneseknifeimports.com , they both have very good videos on sharpening.

lee valley have some of the cheapest waterstones that you can buy, http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/pag...175,67177&ap=1

thats pretty good to learn on.

for a good knife, you would want 60 or over in rockwell hardness, which pretty much eliminates all german knives. look up VG10 steel, AEB-L, CPM154 for stainless. or tool steels like srs15, d2, s2, zdp, m4 are good but tough to sharpen for a beginner. and the easiest to sharp are the carbon steels, it good if you want to learn about sharpening. 52100, hitachi white, or blue, and similar steels are the ones you want to be looking for.

[nagooro]

Bump...has anyone tried or have a set of Chicago cutlery knives?

Looking to pick up a set in the next few days. Was initially leaning towards a set of Henckels, but after reading this thread I might take a look at some of the other options.

Are any stores in Calgary significally cheaper than others? (knifewear, the bay, bed bath and beyond, etc)

[gpomp]

^Hendrix's prices are pretty reasonable. I think it's about within a few dollars of what you would pay from amazon

[birdman86]

One guy told me these fancy expensive knives are so sharp they can cut onions without making you cry - is that true

[npham]

How much are you looking to spend? I wouldn't bother with a set. Just get a couple high quality knives - paring, santoku/chef's and you are good to go for 90% of the time.

[jdmakkord]

I use my Masakage Nikiri for most of my cutting. Sharper than any commercial grade or consumer grade knife I've ever used.

[Strider]

This piqued my interest after reading the glowing review on Serious Eats. I'm much too impatient to wait more than 2 days for anything now though (ruined by Amazon).

However, would be down for a group buy if anyone else is interested (cheaper per knife and save on shipping)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...sen-cook-sharp

[msommers]

Go to Knifewear and get one or two knives. A set isn't necessary.

This is what I have: http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/p...33,40738,66571

I took a sharpening course at Knifewear and they were surprised Lee Valley had such decent knives.