Submitted by MatineHen t3_1128r3h in BuyItForLife
swordgeek t1_j8imlkx wrote
- Don't buy a set. Buy specific knives as you need them. Realistically, you may well do with a chef's knife and a paring knife.
- Realistically most chefs I know use the Victorinox Fibrox knives professionally. They're cheap (although not as much as they used to be!), sharp, easily resharpened, tough, and have an anti-slip grip.
- Personally though, I like my fancy Japanese knives. Do they cut better than a properly sharpened Victorinox? No, probably not. Will they last longer? Maybe, although we're talking about how many heirs you'd be handing it down to.
Bottom line, most good knives are BIFL; and knives are an intensely personal choice. Go try a bunch out if you can, or just get a Victorinox 10" Chef's knife and call it a day.
(P.S. I would NOT NOT NOT go near Cutco!)
EDIT: I almost forgot - get a good steel and learn to use it!
And as /u/fazalmajid points out, keep your knives sharp! A sharp cheap knife will out-do a dull nice knife any day of the week.
Illustrious_Bed902 t1_j8io2hg wrote
This is good advice … I’d expand on two parts (as someone with a medium-sized collection of knives) …
Definitely don’t buy a set … they will contact knives/accessories that you never use. That said, if you will use, don’t worry about buying a weird/unique knife (one of my most used knives is a small serrated tomato knife)
Buy what you like. If a more expensive knife will make you happy and you will pull it and cook more with it, buy it! Part of the fun of cooking is using the tools that you love ❤️
swordgeek t1_j8irytu wrote
Absolutely great points.
Out of the knives I have, there are a small few that get used a lot:
- Cheap-ass chef's knife from Ikea (shockingly good steel!) for general purpose abuse
- Really really nice Japanese Gyuto for most of my breakdown/prep work
- A handful of inexpensive and interchangeable paring knives
- A good potato peeler
- A serrated bread knife
- A serrated tomato knife
- A carving knife
These are my used knives though, and will vary from person to person depending on what you cook and eat. Honestly, I could probably lose the carving and tomato knives from that list and be no worse off in the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the boning knife doesn't get much use at all; nor do the cleaver, the santoku, or the mid-sized utility knife (which was my very first good knife, 35 years ago). However, if I were doing a lot of Asian prep, I'd probably use the cleaver all the time. If I were breaking down more primal cuts or whole fish, I'd probably use the boning knife a lot more. My wife finds the full-sized chef's knives uncomfortable, so tends towards the utility knife. It is all about what you do, and what feels comfortable for your cooking.
ConfusedNegi t1_j8ist9c wrote
I recently got a cheaper honesuki for deboning chicken thighs that I love using.
Illustrious_Bed902 t1_j8iyqpr wrote
Exactly. It’s funny what you reach for sometimes …
My 5” santoku gets used all the time by the spouse and the eldest kid. It’s an inexpensive one that I picked up at a department store when I lived in the UK, probably paid like £20 because I was a grad student. It has remarkable good steel and despite taking a hit on the tip, it’s perfect for smaller hands.
Central_Incisor t1_j8kni1a wrote
Oddly I bought a Chinese chef knife to try out the different knife techniques as kind of a novelty and now use it for almost all my normal meal prep. I cannot say that I would recommend a $12 Winco knife for most people, but it is strange how habbits and style can take you to an entirely different direction in knife choice.
laeuft_bei_dir t1_j8jhsm3 wrote
Ikea knifes? They are a bit on the lighter side and the balance could be better. The finish seems to be average...is what I'd say if they sold at three times their actual price. The bang for the buck is great.
Probably the best budget knifes I bought and I find myself picking them over more expensive knives regularly. Basically for anything that doesn't require force to cut or big pieces of meat. Can confirm that the steel is nice. Very easy to sharpen!
swordgeek t1_j8jtfuy wrote
My Ikea knife is no longer available, sadly. It was a clear step above their current (still surprisingly good) offerings, and I only paid $20 for it.
edit: Actually, Ikea's line has grown considerably since I was last there. Depending on the edge angle, they look to be potentially excellent.
suitopseudo t1_j8k4ena wrote
I love my tomato knife.
Girhinomofe t1_j8izlm0 wrote
This comment, and the others underneath it, are 100% on point.
Sets suck; you’ll invariably end up with at least one blade you never use, and the overall quality of the blades often suffer in favor of the convenience to get ‘em all in one shot.
I also agree that the feel of a particular knife is very personal, so it’s a decent idea to horse around at a Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, or (preferably) a local quality kitchenware store to help inform your decision. Weight, balance, and handle style are all personal preferences that we on the internet can help guide your consideration but not make the final call for you. A lot of folks love European blades like Wusthof, but I find them too heavy and have opted for a handmade American knife with carbon steel blade for my primary three (Cut Brooklyn chef and paring, Muteki nakiri).
I cook at home 6 nights a week and expect my knives to do their job well and predictably. Suggesting my specific choices is irrelevant (as noted above), but the styles of knives I chose for my quiver are well rounded for a wide gamut of prep needs:
• 210mm chef knife
• 8” burly, inexpensive chef knife (i.e. Henckels or Victorinox) for hammering away at things like nuts, chocolate, or yucca
• 5” utility / paring knife for detail cuts
• Nakiri style blade for quick vegetable dispatching
• A good-ass 9” bread knife (in this instance, I’ll say that Shun makes an exceptional blade)
• Long-blade slicing knife
• Boning / filet knife
• Quality pair of kitchen shears
That’s honestly all you’d likely need for 95% of prep work, and there is probably no set that would include everything without some disappointing inclusions or useless extra blades. Also, a magnetic wall holder is way more hygienic than the block style holder as well.
ClnSlt t1_j8nllv3 wrote
I have a Shun set and am happy with everything that came in it.
My favorite is the 6” utility knife I use the shears all the time Bread knife is amazing
I actually use the Chef’s knife the least nowadays even though that is all I was a line cook. I don’t do much heavy cooking since we had a kid but when I used to, it worked wonders for chopping.
When I was a line cook I used Forschner and Victorinox.
I’ve also liked using the Wustof knives.
fazalmajid t1_j8iw45g wrote
Also a cheap knife properly maintained will work far better than an expensive one never sharpened. I learned how to use Japanese water stones at Bernal Cutlery, but it's just too much work for an amateur and I just use the Victorinox Fibrox with a Chef's Choice sharpener that I wouldn't dream of using on my expensive Ashi Hamono wa-gyuto Japanese chef's knife or even my semi-expensive Tojiro-DP.
swordgeek t1_j8j9x3l wrote
> a cheap knife properly maintained will work far better than an expensive one never sharpened.
Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes!
You can make almost any knife scary sharp. The benefits of better knives come in terms of how long it stays sharp, balance, construction, etc.; but dull knives are miserable to use and dangerous.
vickeryj t1_j8itvgv wrote
Furthermore, knives can be so weirdly personal that trying them in a store may not tell you the full story. I have one knife that I more or less use for everything, and I never would have guessed it would be the one for me, but it’s14 years old, I’ve sugrued missing chunks of handle, and if something bad happened to it I would replace it with the same one.
bad-monkey t1_j8iw91t wrote
> Do they cut better than a properly sharpened Victorinox? No, probably not.
yes they do and it's not even close. edge retention on the fibrox sucks compares to the nicer knives in my collection. and the victorinox rubber handle design is hot garbage.
i only own one as a sacrificial knife that I can give to my wife, kids, and house guests.
swordgeek t1_j8ja7so wrote
> edge retention on the fibrox sucks
Well then you're talking about a knife that's not properly sharpened anymore.
A properly sharpened Victorinox can absolutely be scary sharp. With a steel, it'll stay that way for...a while. Not nearly as long as my Masakage, but when it's first sharpened, it's pretty much on par.
bad-monkey t1_j8jawo3 wrote
i sharpen on stones maybe every 6 months--I barely need to touch up the japanese knives in between sharpenings, whereas I'm always wondering if I should whip out the 1500 to put a quick, decent edge back on the fibrox.
is it possible that my built-in/muscle memory sharpening angle isn't well suited for the soft stamped blade of the fibrox? maybe, but i'm not changing my technique for my least favorite knife in the drawer.
TokaMonster t1_j8j10mk wrote
Why not Cutco?
Radiant_Platypus6862 t1_j8j3g48 wrote
MLMs are unethical and unsustainable long term (just look up exponential growth and why MLMs can’t possibly grow forever). In a group focused on BIFL, the ethics and sustainability (even if we’re just talking about economic sustainability) is a factor for determining whether you should buy something.
swordgeek t1_j8j96nl wrote
I'm not a fan of MLMs to start with, so they have that going against them. For a stamped knife out of mild steel, they're way too expensive - the Victorinox is a better choice there. In fact, the Misen knives are forged out of better steel, and still cheaper. Then there's the hollow-ground edge, which I plain dislike. Then there's the fact that they have a great sharpening policy (free for life except for shipping costs), but you'll have to use it too often.
Bottom line: There are better knives for less money that don't involve questionable business practices. They really don't have anything in their favour.
TokaMonster t1_j8ja70x wrote
I see. I had only ever seen their website and had gotten a few of their knives from my grandparents. I had not messed with the MLM side of their business.
Sethjustseth t1_j8mnear wrote
You're right, I found a 6" chefs knife that is comfortable for me and I do nearly everything with it. The only other knife I use often is a serrated bread knife.
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