I've been looking to invest in a good set of kitchen knives, and both Shun & MAC have stellar reviews. Not sure if I want to get a packaged set, or go the individual route to start out. I figure I should have at least an 8" chef's, 3.5" paring, and either a utility, or a bread knife to begin with, and maybe that's all I would need.

Here's a couple of sets that I'm interested in:

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/shun-c...ock-set-p16484

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/mac-pr...k-set-p110217#



Thoughts on these or other knives I should look at?
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I couldn't shun Mac, he's a pretty cool guy.
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:-)
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I have Shun Premiers and LOVE LOVE them. IMHO , buy just a few knives to do everything. I have the 8" chefs knife and a 6" utility. Plus a cleaver from another set. These do all I have ever needed to do. There are a lot of unnecessary extras in the sets.

Just a side note, I have never needed a paring knife and I have a cheapo Furi bread knife for the 2-3 times a year I actually need a bread knife.
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Either one is great.

Packages are the way to go, assuming it has the knives you want. Nothing wrong with mixing brands either. In the end, knives are just kitchen tools. How many of us have more than one brand of tools?
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And they do include the wooden block to house your knives which beats throwing them in a drawer, which is what we do now.
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I use a magnetic strip mounted on the wall.
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I agree a lot of the time less is more. My ex-wife and I got a close to $1k Wusthof set with something like 16 knives and other than the steak knives about 4 got used till the dirty tramp stole them upon divorce. Seriously, what kind of sick b!tch STEALS THE ICE CUBE TRAYS!?!?!?!
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Packages always seem to come with too many extra knives you'll probably never use (i.e. 'tomato knife'). I use a 7" santoku, a 6" 'utility' knife', and on occasion a paring knife and chef's knife. I hate serrated knives, I usually use either of the longer blades for bread, but they have to be very sharp.
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For me, all of the higher end knives have awesome blades. From an actual "cutting stuff up" function, they are all pretty equal.

The difference, IMHO, is the handle. Does it fit my larger-than-average hand well? Do I like the texture? Do I like the angle? Do I like the balance? To get my chef's knives...I went to a store that had all the brands I was looking at...and the variations of them....and had them hand them to me with my eyes closed.

I went with Wusthof. Love them. Shun was my second choice. MAC just didn't "feel" right for me. Your mileage WILL vary. Take your time...go for "feel" over sexy.
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