Kitchen Knives!

[Lostification]

Hi everybody!

I figured, what group of people knows more about cutlery than spyderco forums, haha. Anyway, I want to buy a kitchen knife set for my mother this Christmas. What would be best for like under $100? Something I can pick up at Walmart or something.

I actually saw the miracle blade set at Walmart, hahahaha! :D I've seen enough of those commercials to drive me nuts. Has anybody tried those? haha!

Anyway, any advice would be great. My already has a piece of crap knife set where the handles are falling apart along with a variety of old knives, it's quite terrible. It's a Sabatier knife set and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Is 420J good for a kitchen blade? FULL TANG, ZOMG! So far, this is the set I'm looking at getting: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... gMethod=rr

And: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... gMethod=rr

[jzmtl]

420J2 is bottom of the barrel as far as cutlery steel is concerned. Personally I don't find full tang that useful in kitchen knives, don't need them that strong.

[JD Spydo]

I would get her a Spyderco. The only other one I would recommend without going to a dealer who specializes in culinary cutlery would be to try to land an older JA Henckels, German made blade. But beware because the older Henckels are better than the ones you find at stores now. I've even heard that the newer Henckels are assembled in ______. Yeah you guessed it

But Spyderco has some great kitchen knives and I would sure check out the website and a few online Spyderco dealers.

[tonydahose]

get a set like this these are old pics, the set has almost doubled since then :D

[Daniel]

How many pieces do you want for under $100? :confused:

If you want a quality set, it will cost more than $100. You might find two knives for under $100.

[SimpleIsGood229]

Al Mar makes some sweet kitchen cutlery. Ya won't find them for under a hundred, though.

[Agent Starling]

I've seen a cool set at Target...4 knives in different sizes, all with a different colour handle...the smallest of which is a hawkbill, natch.... :D

Agent Starling

[tonydahose]

the knives are probably cheap but it is one of my favorite knife holders.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Th ... oduct.html

[Lostification]

the knives are probably cheap but it is one of my favorite knife holders.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Th ... oduct.html

Hahahahh! She'd love that. XD

I think I'm just gonna get a walmart set. And stay away from 420J, got it! Thanks guys!

[snuffaluff]

It really does depend on how many knives you want in the set. Most of the better quality kitchen knives are going to run you at least $45-50 each. A good set will cost you more than $100.
You might try looking in a Bed Bath & Beyond. They have some pretty nice stuff for pretty nice prices. Sort by price.

[bh49]

I sometimes visit Fred's cutlery Forum.
http://www.foodieforums.com/vbulletin/f ... ay.php?f=6

These people, most of the professionals, know thing or two about kitchen knives.
This is what I learned: kitchen knives set is good only for kitchen decoration.
For most of your tasks you need just chef's knife, than paring knife, and bread knife. This is all. Japanese kitchen knives are the best (of cause from good companies).
May be I am a snob, a little, but I do not believe, that you can find a good staff at walmart, unless it is Spyderco Native or fuel injector cleaner.
Unfortunately for me I do not have a lot of cash, so under $100 two great great kitchen knives: Chef's and Paring. Great company Kanetsune at Smokey mountain knifework. K102 and K105

33 layers of Damascus steel
·VG-10 steel core
·HRc of 60+
·Black wood handle scales
·Full tang construction
·Stainless steel bolster
·Triple rivets
http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/pr ... 9&Search=1
But keep in mind, these knives are sharp.

[snuffaluff]

I sometimes visit Fred's cutlery Forum.
http://www.foodieforums.com/vbulletin/f ... ay.php?f=6

These people, most of the professionals, know thing or two about kitchen knives.
This is what I learned: kitchen knives set is good only for kitchen decoration.
For most of your tasks you need just chef's knife, than paring knife, and bread knife. This is all. Japanese kitchen knives are the best (of cause from good companies).
May be I am a snob, a little, but I do not believe, that you can find a good staff at walmart, unless it is Spyderco Native or fuel injector cleaner.
Unfortunately for me I do not have a lot of cash, so under $100 two great great kitchen knives: Chef's and Paring. Great company Kanetsune at Smokey mountain knifework. K102 and K105

33 layers of Damascus steel
·VG-10 steel core
·HRc of 60+
·Black wood handle scales
·Full tang construction
·Stainless steel bolster
·Triple rivets
http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/pr ... 9&Search=1
But keep in mind, these knives are sharp.

I agree that you really only need 3-4 knives for the kitchen and most of the knives in a block set will rarely, if ever get used. I do not agree that Japanese knives are the best though. German made knives are of very high quality and I've found that most of the Japanese stuff if a bit thinner. Not that they are horrible by any means, but I don't see them as "the best". :)

[butch]

alot depends on foods made and style of use /teaching . east vs west you might say

i fall in the middle i like hard thin sharp blades that you hone not steel

but the real deal is a "set" need be only 3 or 4 knives depending on the foods you mostly make

for me a
vegetable cleaver 4"x8" blade
10 inch slicer or bread knife
7-9 inch chef with a slightly more robust edge profile
and a 3-4 inch parer

if i needed to i could drop the cleaver or the chef as long as i had one or the other (i would just sharpen them a bit differently)

[gac]

I have some decent knives in our kitchen already but will look over the ones I see in stores. I rarely ever see a set that even lists the type of steel.

I've thought about buying an AUS8 blade and wood scales from a knife supply place and putting one together.

[bh49]

I do not agree that Japanese knives are the best though. German made knives are of very high quality and I've found that most of the Japanese stuff if a bit thinner. Not that they are horrible by any means, but I don't see them as "the best". :)

alot depends on foods made and style of use /teaching . east vs west you might say

i fall in the middle i like hard thin sharp blades that you hone not steel

I would like to clarify about kitchen Japanese made knives been the best.
This is not my opinion. I do not enough experience in food preparation and use of different styles of knives on the kitchen to form my own opinion on the subject. The only thing I can say based on my experience is that in my opinion Kanetsune chef's knife is few levels up to compare with Henkel's, which I have.
regrading "Japanese kitchen knives being better" this is opinion of the forum, where many members are professional chefs. Also what is better for one person, not necessary better for another. American and European knives certainly will take abuse better, due to thicker edge and softer steel.