Buying My Best..and Last..Knife Set - Help Me Spend My Money Please 🙄

[Spinaker]

Do not buy one of those knife blocks. Complete waste of money, in my opinion.

Get what you need. For instance, I use four knives for everything.

Buy a good solid Chef's knife, a good Boning knife and a cheap one that you can use in the field....at events and what not.

Wustof 4582 (I really like this knife because it is heavy and feel great in my hands. I use it daily for most chopping and cutting)
Cuda 7" Semi-Flex Wide Fillet Knife
Wustof Boning Knife (I use this for trimming brisket and what not at home.)
Rapala Fillet Knife. (These are sharp, cheap and they work great. I keep this in my BBQ equipment box)

[barelfly]

Yes! A boning knife! That and my chef’s knive are my top two used knives.

[Panhead John]

"Buy a good solid Chef's knife, a good Boning knife and a cheap one that you can use in the field....at events and what not."

Spinaker …”in the field…at events”. Who do you think I am? Guy Ferreira? An event for me is going to the grocery store. 😂

[jfmorris]

I like my Rapala fillet knife. For $10 or so, its super cheap and the sharpest knife in my kitchen. My only issue with it is to avoid cutting myself when carving at turkey or chicken with it.

[Old Glory]

10 inch Chef heavy German
8 inch Chef or Santoku thinner Japanese
Bread Knife
Boning Knife rigid
Paring Knife
Flexible blade boning or Filet
Slicing Knife

Extra Knives:
Honesuki Japanese Poultry boning knife
Nakiri Vegetable knife
Cleaver
Serrated tomato knife
utility knife - I have two that came with blocks but I never use them. My wife likes them because they are smaller.
Bunka
2nd paring knife

[Panhead John]

Is the boning knife and the carving knife Eric mentions below the same thing?

[ecowper]

Panhead John no, they are not. I am planning to add a boning knife and a filet knife someday.

[ecowper]

Here's the Wusthof knives that I have. And I use all of them pretty much daily. Except the serrated and carving knives. These are the Classic Ikon series. I prefer their handle over the Classic series.

8" Chef knife x 2
7" Santoku
9" serrated (not shown)
9" carving knife (not shown)
6" utility knife
4.5" utility knife
3.5" paring knife
5" tomato knife

[Panhead John]

Thanks Eric! Very helpful. What are the prongs used for on that left side knife? Is that called a tomato knife?

[ecowper]

That is the tomato knife. The pointy things are for de-seeding the tomato

[treesmacker]

Yep... I'd second this, except substitute a bird's beak paring knife for the tomato knife; it will cut tomatoes and a whole bunch more! 🍒🍌🍋🥦🌶🍄🥑🍊🍎🧄🥕🍑🠍ðŸ🤩
Oh, and like others have mentioned... get a boning knife!

[MBMorgan]

JoeSousa posted earlier about Dalstrong knives. Even though I'm pretty much a lifelong Wusthof fan, I've grown quite fond of Dalstrong's blades and have a couple that certainly seem to be very high quality. One is a cool looking cleaver that I use regularly and that I bought a year or so ago because ... well ... it looked cool. The other is an impressive looking and performing butchers knife that I received from a mighty generous Secret Santa recently (I'm looking at you, Joe).



Clearly, neither would fit in your knife block ... but I think you need to leave room in your collection for some scary-cool blades. If they also work well (like these), then so much the better!

[JoeSousa]

I need to get one of those crazy looking knives sometime soon. I know I will find it more functional than I think it would be. I have the 10" Gladiator Bullnose butcher knife and the 10" Shogun X chef's knife.

I initially thought the 10" chef's knife would be too big to handle but it is surprisingly easy to control. Makes quick work of big jobs like chopping a whole cabbage or cutting up some collard greens.

[treesmacker]

I like the sleeves that come with the Dalstrong knives... my Gladiator series came with one and it looks like maybe they all do.

[Bogy]

MBMorgan, those knives are going to be great in the Zombiepocalypse!

[Panhead John]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Here’s what I’m looking at as my possible selections. A few of them were sold out and I had to go with what was there. What do you think?

[Old Glory]

You don't need two slicers. I like the slicers with the pointed end rather than the ham slicer. Go longer as well. You don't need the 6 inch utility knife. 3 inch paring knife is better.

[Old Glory]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYnG81ATHw Chef Pierre on knives

[Polarbear777]

I’m sure they are good knives but that does seem like too much $.

Check out sets from other places if you want sets. If they have a good steel aus10 vg10x sv… they should be good.

Also I would want a 12” slicer and a 10” chef but that’s me.

[barelfly]

Because I like to aid in paralysis by analysis…..not that I go through that when making decisions at all…….

That’s just a lot of money - heck you could put a nice down payment on and LSG!!!!!
But seems like a good mix of knives.

Some nice Mercer knives -
https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culina...=1-20&th=1

[MBMorgan]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Here’s what I’m looking at as my possible selections. A few of them were sold out and I had to go with what was there. What do you think?

I think you're getting close, my friend ... but, of course, I've added a few comments (mostly personal preferences) below:

• 10" Ham Slicer - Personally, 10" sounds a little short for a slicer and I own and recommend 12" instead.
• Steak Knives - I just can't bring myself to use good forged blades on a plate (even one of your paper plates). Instead, I have an inexpensive set of stamped Henckels knives that are super hard, don't seem to dull easily, and have been thrown in a dishwasher without obvious damage for many years.
• Paring Knife - Perfect (4") choice!
• Utility Knife - Frankly, I'm not sure what that one is for. I don't have one and I guess I don't miss it since the combo of chef's and paring knives seem to suffice.
• Honing Steel - Yep!
• Kitchen Shears - I owned Wusthof shears for a long time and never really liked them. When they finally loosened up to the point that I could justify a replacement, I went with Shun. Great shears and I couldn't be happier.
• Bread Knife - Yep!
• Carving Knife - Looks nice but doesn't it do what a slicer does?
• Knife Block - Yep! ... unless you are a fan of magnetic strips.
• Santoku - I don't have one, so can't offer a credible comment.

Chef's Knife? - I don't see one in your list. I couldn't live without one so here's a comment just in case it's helpful: I find an 8" blade to be too short. I strongly prefer (and own) a 10" that not only works great as a chef's knife but also does a credible job as a slicer for small-medium jobs.

[ecowper]

I have the carving knife and use it for chicken and turkey all the time .... carving to serve, not cutting it up pre-cook. I have the utility knife and use it routinely for trimming meat. My recommendation to John is also to swap the slicer for a chef's knife. Get a Mercer slicer instead. Santoku's are fantastic for general purpose cutting and slicing both. I have both the 7" Santoku and the 8" Chef knife and use them both pretty well daily.

[Panhead John]

I added the chefs knife, inadvertently left it off. And I also omitted the slicer from my final order. Yeah, I thought I might want one a little longer. I might just get a Mercer slicer instead of $170. for theirs. Oh also, MBMorgan I’d read some of your past comments about owning some Wusthoff’s and that was a factor in me going with this brand…thank you!

[MBMorgan]

ecowper - Makes sense now. I don't have a "utility" knife per se but I do have a fairly short 9" slicer that I use for carving/slicing things small enough to make hauling out the Big Kahuna slicer look silly. For trimming meat, I just use my boning knife ... have to remember to keep it razor sharp for that, though.

[Panhead John]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Below here 👇👇is what I bought. I’ve made my order and received a 10% discount for signing up for their emails. Saved $130. Troutman Thanks for your concern over my spending habits but these will last me forever and are some of the best knives out there. I consulted with my "in house" Knife Advisor… ecowper via phone call and he helped me with a couple of changes to what I was considering. Eric has most of these Wusthoff knives and loves them. Old Glory I didn’t get a slicer with this order and I did get a paring knife…4” though. Thank you for the help!

[WillTravelForFood]

Good job.
We think you'll be happier with a set you picked out yourself than going with anything pre-configured.

[Panhead John]

Thanks, yeah, I actually have each of those types now in my current Henckels set.

[FireMan]

Yup, you will never buy another knife! No need to with that team.

[Old Glory]

I suggest a big solid chef and a smaller more nimble chef. The big one for thick skinned squash the smaller for everyday veg prep. A Santoku just to be different. Then the paring, carving, and bread knives. You would never need another knife. Want is a different animal. I LOVE my thinner Japanese knives for cutting veggies. They are a pleasure. They suck at harder squashes that's when I reach for my Henkles.

https://www.wusthof.com/products/wusthof-classic-10-cooks-knife-1040100126?variant=Z2lkOi8vc2hvcGlmeS9Qcm9kdWN0VmFyaWFudC80MTI3NjcyMTY2MDA1NQ==

https://www.macknife.com/collections/professional-series/products/professional-series-8-1-2-chefs-knife

https://www.macknife.com/collections/professional-series/products/professional-series-6-1-2-santoku-with-dimples-msk-65

https://www.wusthof.com/products/wusthof-classic-8-bread-knife-1040101020?variant=Z2lkOi8vc2hvcGlmeS9Qcm9kdWN0VmFyaWFudC80MTI3NjcyMzEwMTg0Nw==

https://www.wusthof.com/products/wusthof-classic-3-12-paring-knife-1040100409?variant=Z2lkOi8vc2hvcGlmeS9Qcm9kdWN0VmFyaWFudC80MTI3NjcyMTkyMjE5OQ==

https://www.wusthof.com/products/wusthof-classic-9-carving-knife-hollow-edge-1040100823?variant=Z2lkOi8vc2hvcGlmeS9Qcm9kdWN0VmFyaWFudC80MTI3NjcyMjY3NTg2Mw==

https://www.wusthof.com/products/wusthof-classic-5-boning-knife-1040101414?variant=Z2lkOi8vc2hvcGlmeS9Qcm9kdWN0VmFyaWFudC80MTI3NjcyNDIxNTk1OQ==

Extras:

https://www.macknife.com/collections/boning-fillet-knives/products/japanese-series-6-boning-knife-bon-60

https://www.macknife.com/collections/boning-fillet-knives/products/professional-series-7-fillet-knife-so-70

https://www.wusthof.com/products/wusthof-cooks-tools-6-cleaver-468016?variant=Z2lkOi8vc2hvcGlmeS9Qcm9kdWN0VmFyaWFudC80MTI3Njc3MjU0ODc1OQ==

[ecowper]

I use the Santoku when I want a smaller, more manueverable knife for dicing and chopping. when I am doing really serious dicing and chopping of veggies, I get out the Kamikoto Nakiri :-)

[gboss]

I really like my Mac MTH-80.

[ecowper]

Here's a list of best chef's knife from NY Mag. It includes tons of input from professionals. Wusthof Classic 8" gets the nod from a James Beard award winning chef that has been using it for 20 years.

https://nymag.com/strategist/article...fs-knives.html

Another good review of chef knives from Food Network. Wusthof Classic makes the list again.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/p...st-chefs-knife

And another good one from the NY Times. Wusthof Classic Ikon makes the list here.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...or-most-cooks/

in my opinion, you can't go wrong with Wusthof, even if they are a bit pricey compared to other brands. I've had mine for 10 years and they perform superbly, day in and day out.

[Old Glory]

Yup Can't go wrong with Wusthof Classic for a German style blade. I still love the Mac for a Japanese style chef knife.

[Donw]

A 8” Classic was the $4.00 discovery in the knife bin I mentioned above. John will really enjoy it.

[ecowper]

Donw that is probably the finest knife I’ve ever owned.

[Troutman]

I could have sold you this whole set for $14.98 Panhead John instead of your fancy, smancy Wusthof knives. Just do me a favor, since I'm going to out live you pass those knives along to me in your will. Tried to help but you just didn't listen.....

[Troutman]

I know Eric, right? Just trying to look out for you John old buddy, I also see they are trying to get you hitched. Breaks my heart to think what we had was a beautiful thing, but I see I no long have sway over your life's choices ....

[treesmacker]

My eight year old grandson has that set... it's perfect! Gets the job done!!

[Bogy]

treesmacker my 8 year old granddaughter has the set as well. Is it an 8 year old thing?

[Panhead John]

Razor GolfGeezer Is this the Victronix slicer y’all bought? I didn’t get a slicer in my set, so I might consider this.

[Panhead John]

Grillin Dad I’m gonna have a couple of empty slots when it comes in. I’m hoping it will fit in one of them.

[Razor]

Yep. That’s the one. I like the Fibrox handles. They’ve always provided a good grip even when things get messy.

[Polarbear777]

Definitely get a guard for it and keep it out of others hands. A slicer is very thin and can be very sharp. I had someone help with dishes and washed it thinking it was a cake spatula. Thankfully he didn’t lose a finger or worse. When I showed how sharp it was he almost fainted.

[DTro]

I bought a knife set and block twenty-some years ago. I did a bunch of research and read all the reviews. At the time, I did not have the cash to drain my wallet. I was fortunate enough to have a store near me that specialized in selling cutlery. I got a feel for balance and heft in hand on a bunch of different brands. I ordered online to save some money.

I have used those knives every day I have cooked since purchase.Pretty much everyday I am home. Sometimes, I hope that something will go wrong with them. Only because I can try something new if it does. They are not top of the line or classic, but they are Wüsthof. I do not think I will be replacing them anytime soon.

[ecowper]

20 years ago, what is now called Classic was just the Wusthof that you could get. And they are superb knives :-)

[ecowper]

PS If something went wrong with them and you got something new, not sure what German knives you would get that are better :-)

[Attjack]

I have a new idea. PJ, how about you buy this brand new set of knives my girlfriend received from her well intentioned friend who has already been told that when it comes to cooking equipment we pretty much have it all? I will guarantee you that you'll be the only one on the block to have knives this fancy. Surely, you will be the envy of the neighborhood with this bling. Your budget will just about cover the cost in my estimation but you will have to pay the shipping. No need to thank me.

[Panhead John]

Reminds me of my first acid trip.

[Attjack]

gboss They do!

[barelfly]

Those suckers will get pulled out every time your friend is over for dinner

[Loren]

PJ, now you gotta get a fancy cutting board for them fancy knives!! 😎

Also congrats on the purchase and I look forward to seeing pictures of the knives