JA Henkles, nice set of knives 400.00 bucks.
[Reply]

I love my Wustof Culinar set. Many good knives out there to choose from these days. With knives (like many things) it pays to buy good stuff - stays sharp, lasts forever.
[Reply]

For me Wusthof is the only set of knives. My wife and I bought a 17 piece Classic set and these babies are AWESOME.
[Reply]

This is what most grocery meat cutters use. Need to resharpen often but hold an edge for long enough. extremely sharp when done right. Cheap enough to toss if you use it as an axe.

Ive got them all in my personal kitchen for less that $10 each.
[Reply]

i've been hearing good things about shun knives. i have a chef friend that says these are the best. thinking about getting anothher 8" chefs knife. anyone have feedback on Shun's?
[Reply]

what no one has shun? i had to stop useing my Henkles cus they were to think. cuting things such as carrots would cause them to crack about 80% in to the cut. lots of friends have had wusthof knives and i do like them but i have ran in to the same thing with them. i do think wusthof is a better knife, they seem to hold there edge longer. global are nice but real slick and hurt my hands, i dont have girl hands. i have been using my shuns for about 4 years in restaurnts and culinary school. no problem with them yet
[Reply]

My friend has a Shun chefs knife and it is amazing!
[Reply]

For the money Shun's are amazing knives. The Damascus steel is not only beautiful to look at but functional.

For my personal use I chose Tojiro knives. They are steel sandwiched in stainless steel. So it can hold a very sharp edge, but can be beat around a little more than plain steel.

If I had the money and the will to clean my knives as soon as I used them, I would choose watanabe knives:

http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/

They are possibly the sharpest kitchen knives you can buy.
[Reply]

I have been adding to my Henckles knives collection since 2000. Pro S is my line of choice. GREAT knives.

Like other people have said here; drop a couple hundred bucks on a knife & block set and you'll be good for 10+ years.
[Reply]

If I had the money and the will to clean my knives as soon as I used them, I would choose watanabe knives:

http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/

They are possibly the sharpest kitchen knives you can buy.[/quote]

yep they are nice i miss mine. i let some on use it and they droped it right on the floor. it stuck right in. that was the ends of that knife when the tip broke off
[Reply]

Hey looking for a decent starter set of knives around 150-200 for a basic beginners set. any reccomendations?
[Reply]

Bought individual Wusthof, 8" Chefs, Utility, and Paring. KitchenArts sells gently used knives at remarkable prices.
[Reply]

I'm into knives... spent twenty plus years collecting my cutlery.

The lions share of my cutlery is Gustav Emil Ern, followed by a number of blades by Sabatier with the four star and elephant trademark, and I have a 12” Dick... F. Dick salmon knife that is.

All of my knives are hand ground, forged carbon steel. Made before the second world war.

As far as modern cutlery made from recycled steel goes, I personally don't believe it's worth the price of the cardboard they pack it in, let alone the $000 price tag.
[Reply]

You guys gotta put down those heavy knives and get a global. Hollowed metal grip, super light, very thin blade, holds an edge like all good knives do.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/styl...pp=15&brand=51
[Reply]

I have the Shun classic 3pc set with the 10" chef's, paring and 6" utility. I love them. Their customer service is amazing. my roommate just tossed one of them in the metal sink and chipped the tip just barely. I called them up to get shipping info, they told me that I might as well send them all in since I had them for three years at the time,sent them all in to get sharpened, they said they found some tiny (i mean TINY like i never noticed) chips and they gave me all brand new knives :-)

the only thing that you have to be careful about with these knives is that the edge will chip easier than a German knife because it is a narrower (ie thinner) thus making it sharper however you cannot chop through bones like you could with a German knife. You also need to be careful not to put them in the sink as they can get damaged by plates and other silverware in the sink and for safety reasons as well because they are so sharp you don't want anyone to just reach in the sink and cut their hand.
[Reply]

Wusthof's are also dangerous because they don't roll to a side. It is possible for the knife to stand blade up on the table; not good.

Anyone considering a set knives should look at Mac. They may not be as storied as the German brands, but you won't be disappointed. I am moving towards Mac as some of my Wusthof's are getting long in the tooth.

Never use a chef's knife as a cleaver :-)
[Reply]

:-)
my mom has some knock off generic knives that are shaped just like Wusthofs and they are more often than not resting on the counter with the blade straight up (luckily her knives are very dull)
[Reply]

I'll have to subscribe to this thread. My wife and I are looking at getting a nice set, we've been considering Wusthoff and Henckel, but I think we'll have to consider Mac and Shun now as well, provided I can find them comparably priced.
Are any of you using ceramic? I've been reading a bit on them lately and I think I'd like to get one or two to try out...
[Reply]

Ceramics are certainly sharp as all be, but I use a magnetic strip in the kitchen and I heard they more fragile. Go for the Mac's! Just buy them online. You know what an 8" Chef's knife looks like, no need to see it before you buy it. Some specialty knives, Wustoff may be your only choice.

I am not knocking the German knives, I own them, but the Mac's have made me re-think and I know what I want next (unless I go for the Damascus steel knives :-)).
[Reply]

Yeah, I've read you have to be careful with the ceramics. They don't deal well with blows from the side (like dropping it flat on a counter).
The only specialty knife I really use is a santoku. Although, I would like to get a cleaver at some point.
[Reply]