My daughter would like to buy her boyfriend some kitchen knives. I’m thinking chef’s knife, paring knife and what else? Also any makes that she should be considering. TIA.

A steel to sharpen them with. A long and a short chefs knife.

We have Global knives (wedding present) and they have lasted nearly 10 years without a blemish (much like the marriage 😛 ). I like them, I know some people don’t rate them.

I’m thinking chef’s knife, paring knife and what else?

Serrated knife for carving and slicing. Those three knives will be all you ever need.

I’m looking at the ProCook Professional X50 knives just now for a present for someone. Never tried them but seem to get good reviews and don’t cost the earth.

https://www.procook.co.uk/shop/knives-scissors/knives-seperates

Big chef’s knife, paring/vegetable knife, serrated/bread knife and a carving/filleting knife.

I’ve had my chef’s knife since 1987 – Original Kitchen Devil, still a brilliant knife

I selected for my birthday last year Zwilling Professional S knives – an 8″ chef’s, 6″ chef’s and a paring knife. And their sharpener device, I’m not skilled enough to use a steel to keep the edge.

Use the 6″ all the time, paring sometimes and the 8″ when the 6″ needs washing up.

Thos ProCook knives look good – always fancied a couple of Damascus knives…

I’ve had Victorinox and Gustav Emil Ern (esp their long slicing knife that’s brilliant for lots and esp bread) for years that have been very good.

Look up Ferraby Knives on Facebook. Eyewateringly expensive but don’t tell me you don’t want one!

May I strongly recommend Zwilling/Henckels?

My wife and I bought a set after we were married in 2005. They have had a hard life, and recently the handle on the 8″ cook’s knife broke (it’s a riveted plastic handle). This was most likely because they’d been put in the dishwasher repeatedly for the last X number of years.

I contacted the company to ask if they did a re-handling service, and explained it was as a result of pretty clear abuse, only to be told that they would replace the whole knife under warranty with a brand new one. This despite the fact that they recommended not putting it in a dishwasher.

Absolutely sterling service. It was back in a couple of days. I really was very impressed.

I manage with just a zwilling chef’s knife. A paring knife would be nice, but I don’t *need* one.

Whetstone for sharpening; technique is easy – YouTube.

A good quality bread knife is worth it (unless you are a white sliced sort) and a small serrated knife for fruit. Other than that a chef’s knife (I have aa 12″ which I use for almost everything) and a small paring/veg knife.

Knives as a present? Bad form….

However, Wüsthof Classics.

I asked my butcher for advice, he said Victorinox all. It’s what he uses in his packing factory, in his shops and at home.

Which reminds me, I’ve still got his catalogue – I must put an order in!

We bought a few selected Victorinox knives a couple of years back, fairly cheap and easy to keep wickedly sharp.

Handles don’t look the most exiting but they are great knives.

Steels don’t sharpen knives, but you should have one.

What’s your budget?

I like my santoku as well as my chef’s knife – both Zwilling Pro S. Some will insist that you need a hand made japanese knife, forged in the fires of Mordor, but most of the pro brands are decent enough.

I’m a big fan of KAI. Quality Japanese steel and manufacturing and IMHO reasonable price. I’ve been using their knives, nail clipper and single edge blades -traditional shaving – and they proved to be excellent choice.
Highly recommended.

Plenty of good suggestions above.

Apart from Japanese knives I recommend Victorinox knives. 😛

Coz you don’t have to worry about roughing up Victorinox, but you definitely don’t want to “scratch” your expensive Japanese knives. 😀

If you like Chinese slicing cleaver then you can buy them from London China Town … go for CCK brand. Other Western brand Chinese slicing cleaver (I have several …) are fine but not worth the extortionate price coz the steel quality is average at best.

I’ve got a Wüsthof Ikon classic chef and paring knife and been happy with them.

personally got a few rosewood handled victorinox, look a bit nicer than the fibrox handles and still reasonable cheap.

I just have one big knife – a Henckel.

I like Japanese knives, but wusthof and henkels are great too. I got my Japanese knives sent from a company based in Japan for a must better price than any of the good German or Japanese knives bought here. Got a santoku, a gyutou, a nakiri, a couple of utility knives, a and a great long sujihiki for carving. Mixed bag of Damascus stainless and some stainless clad steel. All get used, some admittedly infrequently. If I only had one m, it’d be the santoku.

Oblongbob – Member
I like Japanese knives, but wusthof and henkels are great too.

They are fine but can be expensive.

I got my Japanese knives sent from a company based in Japan for a must better price than any of the good German or Japanese knives bought here

Yes, for the same price you get really good Japanese Knives. I bought all mine from Japanese Chefs Knife (JCK) and Koki is a pleasure to deal with.

Got a santoku, a gyutou, a nakiri, a couple of utility knives, a and a great long sujihiki for carving. Mixed bag of Damascus stainless and some stainless clad steel. All get used, some admittedly infrequently. If I only had one m, it’d be the santoku.

It looks like you almost have a full set except deba and a Chinese slicing cleaver. 😛

If I were to have one knife it will be a Chinese slicing cleaver.

Yeah. I’ve managed to kick the habit for now! Think that was the company and bloke….maybe I’ll just check…. where did I put my wallet again?!

Always fancied a Chinese slicing cleaver, despite having no practical use for one, (I do hardly any cooking to need one), but I found a catering supply company who do them for less than twenty quid!
https://www.eastwaycateringsupplies.com/shop/gb/706-slicing-cleavers
I figure that if they’re good enough for the catering trade, they’ll be more than adequate for general kitchen duties.
Hmm, their Japanese knives are much the same sort of prices:
https://www.eastwaycateringsupplies.com/shop/gb/92-japanese-knives
Page bookmarked for future purchases… 😀

Ive got all sorts of shapes and makes. Global are amazing for sharpness, as are kitchen devil pro. The most useful blade is the 6 inch chefs, the one I use least is Santoku as its unwieldy. Great for chopping bones and attacking butternut squashes though.

Always fancied a Chinese slicing cleaver, despite having no practical use for one, (I do hardly any cooking to need one), but I found a catering supply company who do them for less than twenty quid!
https://www.eastwaycateringsupplies.com/shop/gb/706-slicing-cleavers

If their duck slicing cleavers are for slicing ducks, then I feel sorry for the poor Chinese victims of their Chinese slicing cleavers.

@km79 – very droll… 😆

CountZero – Member
Always fancied a Chinese slicing cleaver, despite having no practical use for one, (I do hardly any cooking to need one), but I found a catering supply company who do them for less than twenty quid!

Yes, they are all fine for normal usage. I have several of the slicing cleavers but I am searching for the “one” … Price must be reasonable and it must be very good. 😆

km79 – Member
If their duck slicing cleavers are for slicing ducks, then I feel sorry for the poor Chinese victims of their Chinese slicing cleavers.

The duck slicing cleavers are meant for slicing roast/boiled ducks fast food street style. They can also use traditional Chinese cleaver but that’s more for meat on bones etc, rather than slicing through breast meat. Using specific knife are sometimes for different presentation. i.e. they will only slice through the meaty part.

Check yuotube to see HK street food and the use of Chinese cleavers. That’s fast food HK style …

Steels don’t sharpen knives, but you should have one.

Please may you elaborate?

I’ve recently restored a huge clever which was in a bit of a state. Used it for some Chinese the other day; take a whole chicken and it glides straight down the middle (through bone and everyfink).

They help maintain an edge inbetween sharpening but they won’t restore an edge/sharpen on their own.

Duffer – Member

Steels don’t sharpen knives, but you should have one.

Please may you elaborate?[/quote] Steel is much better for Gordon Ramsay TV show. Very impressive movement when you swipe the knife against the steel … 😆 I got three of those rods steel, ceramic and diamond coated. I use them because I look impressive. Watch out for the angle because there is a greater likelihood you will blunt your knife. 😀

I’ve recently restored a huge clever which was in a bit of a state. Used it for some Chinese the other day; take a whole chicken and it glides straight down the middle (through bone and everyfink).

That sounds good. Just hack through the chicken but try not to wack it coz you will chop through your chopping board. 😀 Chicken bones are not that hard put it this way. No.2 (medium) cleaver can do that easily. 🙂

Bro in law gave us a big stabbing knife as a wedding present. Works well in the kitchen too.

Steels don’t sharpen knives, but you should have one.
Please may you elaborate?

A steel “hones” the edge which basically straightens out small imperfections that you can’t see. It makes the blade straight, which makes it seem sharper. It’s a pretty important part of keeping your knives in good shape. You might do this every use.

To sharpen a knife, you need grind a new cutting edge by removing metal. Usually you would use a whetstone for this (or take it to the experts).

http://www.thekitchn.com/did-you-know-this-steel-doesnt-actually-sharpen-knives-211855

Lovely, thank you.

I bought a whetstone the other day (because of a STW thread) so I’ve been enjoying sharpening all the kitchen knives / axes / chisels I can find…

Cheap knives. Worth a punt I thought!

I bought some of the above knives yesterday. Not received yet, but online reviews look favourable and for the price they are crazy cheap!

The same online retailer also has clearance on the Global anniversary cooks knife for £40. I have this exact knife and it’s great for many kitchen jobs.

Steels don’t sharpen knives, but you should have one.

. This is always quoted and linked to but If my knife won’t cut well then I use the steel on it and suddenly it cuts perfectly then to my mind I have sharpened it . My diamond steel will actually remove a small amount of material from the blade if I use it with a bit of aggression , mind you if I hald the knife and the steel like the bloke from that link then I guarantee that nothing would happen . I have virtually never needed to use anything other than a steel over many years to keep my knives sharp , sorry I meant to say to keep the grain aligned if anybody even knows what that means .

Ramsey Neil – Member
This is always quoted and linked to but If my knife won’t cut well then I use the steel on it and suddenly it cuts perfectly then to my mind I have sharpened it

😛 Swipe it quickly like Gordan Ramsay …

I did and I always get the tip of my knife caught on the steel … 😆

Creek Cutler make some nice ones from old files