Best Kitchen Knife set for a good price?

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

Hi I'm thinking of giving my Mom a nice kitchen knife set for Christmas and I was wondering what's a good brand? The one she has is so old and is missing a pairing knife lol!! So i'll need one that's good quality but doesn't cost and arm and a leg.

Thanks

 

[chef8489]

What price range?

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

$150 - 250

 

[Blue_2]

Were you thinking of buying a few individual useful knives or a block set?

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

A block set that's what the old one is. Sorry about not giving a lot of details in the OP.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

A block set that's what the old one is. Sorry about not giving a lot of details in the OP.

Do you currently use all knives in the block ?

 

[socialjunk95]

I'm in the market for a new block set as well. Subscribed.

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

Yes

 

[Mick]

to save some $$$ and get the most for your money, buy individual knives and reuse the old block.

For a non professional/home cook I would suggest

8" Chef's knife (or Santoku) for veggies

6" Filleting/boning knife

6" cleaver or a 8" Deba for cutting raw meat

A GOOD pair of kitchen sheers (for cutting birds)

5" paring knife

Optional: 12" meat carving knife (NOT a bread knife, carving knife)

this selection should cover any home kitchen need.

Brand is up to you but stick with a good name.

 

[OkieDave]

to save some $$$ and get the most for your money, buy individual knives and reuse the old block.

For a non professional/home cook I would suggest

8" Chef's knife (or Santoku) for veggies

6" Filleting/boning knife

6" cleaver or a 8" Deba for cutting raw meat

A GOOD pair of kitchen sheers (for cutting birds)

5" paring knife

Optional: 12" meat carving knife (NOT a bread knife, carving knife)

this selection should cover any home kitchen need.

Brand is up to you but stick with a good name.

This, though I like a 10" chef's knife.

I can highly recommend the Dexter (sometimes sold as Dexter-Russell) line as being a great value for the money. I think I gave about $250 for eight knives and a carving fork some years ago. Granted, inflation, but the recommendation above is for a smaller set, so it should work out somewhere in the right range.

Oh, and get a good sharpener and steel, and learn how to use both. The steel in particular--if you steel your knives every time you use them, you probably won't have to sharpen them but once or twice a year.

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

Hmm I'll think about it. I really don't know a lot about kitchen knives so I'll keep shopping around.

 

[Jim]

With sets you often get stuff you pay for and don't need.

 

[chef8489]

Check out the JA Henckles international Forged set. It is a forged vs stamped set and affordable. I prefer Japanese knives now but wehn I started in the business and during school I loved German knives. I bought my dad a set and they have held up well over the past 10 years or so.

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

I'm trying to find a smaller set like the old one. I've been looking at the J.A. Henckels on Amazon.

 

[aldomarino]

To be honest with you, I'm not sure that $250 is really sufficient to buy a quality block set.

If I had to work within that budget, I'll buy a used block at the Salvation Army. Then, what happens is that most cooks only use a couple of knives the majority of the time. Buy those two...Shuns...more than likely this would be an 8" Chef Knife and a 4" pairer.

The rest of the set fill out with ceramics from Harbor Freight, and upgrade them one by one over the years if your finances allow for it.

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

Nah I'm not doing that. I think I just found the one I'll be getting for my Mom it's the international forged Premio 13-piece block set.

 

[AbbyW2]

Victorinox always get the best ratings in comparisons by reliable resources like CooksIllustrated, and costs much less than Wustoff or Henkels sets. I really enjoy the Victorinox blades in my collection alongside the Wustoff, Henkels, Chicago I also have

Victorinox Forschner Swiss Classic 14-piece Walnut Swivel Knife Block Set. Currently about $180 on Amazon.

 

[Mick]

Ouch turned me on to Tojiro DP Japanese knives in a thread a few weeks ago.

they are stainless, well made, well balanced, and reasonably priced for what you get.

http://www.tojiro-japan.com/products/227/

For every day use they are pretty nice.

I do have Henkels, Wustoff, and Sabatier in stainless and carbon in sizes that range from 12" down to 3" that I "play with" on a daily basis

 

[doofus]

I have a henckels block set I bought about 15 years ago. She'll love it

 

[Alacrity59]

I agree with everybody who suggested buying just the knives you would use but I also understand this is for your mom. To keep things simple I really like the J.A. Henckels 10 PC set CostCo sells for about $200. It is Henckels international from Spain if I recall correctly and comes with a very nice chefs knife and a useful pair of kitchen scissors.