I’m sick of crap having a crap knife and making a mess of veg – can someone recommend me a set for around £50 or a few knives that would make it a better experience!
thx
Alex

Better to buy 2 really good knives and add as you can afford them.

I’ve gone for Henkels Twin Cuisine, but there are loads of good ones. Expect to pay anything from £40 upwards for a good knife; a vast amount, but you’ll still be using it in 20 years time.

I got a couple of zwilling & henckels knives and they are great.

But to be honest most of my knives come from TKMax, they often have really good stuff on cheap.

I’ve got some Arcos knives, they’re probably not what a top chef would use but they’re good value and a lot better than the usual cheap supermarket knives.

There are some here: http://www.nlce.co.uk/Catalog-Universal-Range_81.aspx

If its only veg you need to chop then I can recommend a ceramic kinfe (try Amazon for the Kyocera ones).
Great if you’re rubbish at sharpening but they are a bit delicate so you need to look after them. Takky Max sometimes have them on special as well.

I wouldn’t get a set. Get one good knife (and sharpener) and add more as you need / can afford them. I started with this:

Global G2

TKMaxx can indeed be very good for this sort of thing.

Don’t forget to buy one of these as well:

http://www.premiercutlery.co.uk/show_item/sharpeners/chantry/550si

yup, +1 for global. I have 2 of them, they are the only knives i use

I’ve had the same global chefs knife from my days as a chef. its 11 years old. Invest in a good whetstone and a good chefs knife and you won’t need anything else, apart from a flexible filleting knife for boning meat and filleting fish

Def buy 1-2 good knives and a steel.

No need for fancy brands though, TKMaxx is fine. My John Lewis sabatier is 12 years old and as sharp as when it was bought.

IMO, and as a long standing user, Global are overpriced. You don’t see many pros using them either. I want to change to a different brand, but not sure what…

I wouldn’t go for the sharpener – use a stone or a steel. I’ve had really uneven jaggy results from using one of those sharpeners.

I use either Japanese chefs knives or a carbon steel Sabatier chef’s knife. As someone’s said – it’s better to get just one or two knives and keep them sharp and use them for everything. Seeing a Philippino chef peeling an apple with a cleaver is quite impressive…

+3 for global. Started with a set of 3 which have been added o over the years and now have a full block, including cheese knife, paring knife, bread knife, flexible fillet, carving and a diamond sharpening steel.

The wetstone is also recommended

the generic versions of this http://www.surlatable.com/product/cutlery/paring+%26+utility+knives/global+minosharp+3+knife+sharpener.do cost less than a fiver and are fine

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Devils-Lifestyle-Rollsharp-sharpener/dp/B002UL60TM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1291201248&sr=8-4

Global for home use. Light, keep a good edge and don’t need 15-20 mins sharpening a day. Get a minosharp sharpener as well for quick edge tickling.

Tim

As someone’s said – it’s better to get just one or two knives and keep them sharp and use them for everything.

I disagree, best to buy the right knife for the job. You cant fillet a fish with a boning knife and can’t bone a leg of lamb with a pearing knife. Buy what you can afford and build up a set to suit your needs and budget.

I disagree, best to buy the right knife for the job.

I think the original comment was made in the context of a limited budget. If you can only afford one or two knives you aren’t going to buy a sushi knife and a cheese knife are you?

Anyone else use ceramic blade knives? I bought a couple to try from Aldi and they’re insanely sharp, the overall quality isn’t great as they’re cheap + I snapped one near the handle so maybe ceramic blades are a bit too brittle for some stuff. In terms of sharpness though nothing else is close (and I’ve had expensive steel knives in the past), no clue about sharpening them mind you :p

Depends how much sushi and cheese you eat 🙂

As I said buy to suit your needs, but don’t blow all your budget on two knives and think they will do everything.

Since the knives in our house are used by more than me (ie its only me that sharpens them and I can’t be certain that they havn’t been used and abused since last time I used them)I use ones that are servicable rather than hugely expensive.
TK maxx have some great knives for £10-25 a knife. I use a separate sharpening steel, like the ones butchers use. I know that a whetstone is better, but I can get a blunt knife back to very sharp in a couple of minutes on the steel.

Global are nicely balanced, but are expensive and I find them a bit light. I’ve built up a set of Anolon Advanced knives which have comfy hand grip, nice weight and balance and aren’t too dear; I use the kyotsu most. They don’t seem to be easily available, but there is a Raymond Blanc version which looks similar. It’s worth trying to handle some before buying.

You can find diamond whetstones in Screwfix etc a lot cheaper than dedicated kitchen shops

You should use both a steel and a whetstone.
Steels straighten your edge, whetstones sharpen it. They do different things and you need both.

j_me, you don’t need both. You can get a perfectly usable sharp edge (ie chops onions, carrots and meat with no effort) using just a steel.
I agree that if you want a razor sharp blade then you need to use a whetstone to finish off. If I was a batchelor then I would do this, however I have to share knives with MrsHB and it would result in divorce when I see her cutting onto a ceramic plate if I had spent 30 mins sharpening the knife the evening before!

It amazes me how most people use the most horrible blunt knives. My son got a swiss army knife for Xmas, and I spent a couple of hours showing him how to use a whetstone. He really takes pride in it.

Anyhoo, for the OP: Wait till the snow clears and get to TK maxx.

I have a Global knife that is very good but they are expensive, I have used several of the victorinox kitchen knives and always been really impressed and they are mega cheap. Its horses for courses but I think the Victorinox represent amazing value for little money. Any of the decent knoves such as global etc will last a lifetime if cared for well.

http://buzzcateringsupplies.com/kitchenware-commercial-kitchenware-restaurant-kitchenware-domestic-kitchenware/knives/victorinox-knives.html?gclid=CLq-ie7-yqUCFVAf4Qod2BGCjg

I use my sushi knive for nearly everything 🙂

Here’s some of our global collection @8 years old- another broken one somewhere, 2 still in use- need to take them back to John Lewis, at least there’s a lifetime warranty. All broke in use. Heed the don’t dishwash warning!!

I only have one knife – use it for everything except cutting bread – cost about $200 canadian but its a thing of beauty beyond its purpose

Plum

all broken in use!!!!!!! what were you using them for, chopping logs?

+1 for Global.

I have a pairing knife for close work and a chef’s knife for nearly anything else.

I’ve used it on bones etc and never even thought of it snapping! 😯

I have a ceramic guide thingy to re-align/sharpen.

all my knives are global. love them. i have 6 different knives (brought as a set in a sale for about £85!!!) but to be fair, i only really use a couple of them regularly.

I agree with the comments about victorinox knives above – by far the most widely used knives by caterers, butchers etc. there’s a reason for this, price and quality. sure they don’t look as flash as global (don’t get on with the handles on those at all anyway) or sabatier, but they hold a good edge, the handles are grippy (even when wet) and they last for ages.

they have some very nice, very spendy things here

I subscribe to the ‘just a couple of nice ones’ school of thought, and picked up a couple from the Henkles Twin Fin range about a year ago. They’re terrifyingly sharp, and I’d get more but they’re hard to find now.

I’d like to get the ‘rents some good value knives for christmas and had been looking at the Sabatier Professional range. They’d really like some of the Robert Welch Signature knives – I know they’re pretty but I’m not convinced how good the steel is…

vinnyeh – what were you cutting with that bread knife? 🙂

bread, rather surprisingly. 😆

One died on cheese, one on chorizo, another on lettuce. One of them had a chipped blade from being dropped, but as far as I know the others have been looked after, with the exception that somebody in the household slips them in the dishwasher occasionally- the only explanation for the failure we can think of. They came from John Lewis, so pretty sure they’re not fakes.
Google throws up a fair few similar breakages

+1 Global which is what I use, my wife (a Chef) prefers Sabatier, as did I until I got used to the lighter weight of Global.

Used to use a ceramic ‘steel’ but lazy now and use some kind of ‘magic’ sharpener I found on Amazon that works really well.

If money is an issue I agree with the others that say buy 1 knife. I pretty much only use a 16cm chefs knife and 99% of the time this is fine.

The knives are probably rubbish though!

The Victorniox knives are very good. On the link above you can get a decent set for £70 (bit above your budget, but a good deal).

+1 broken Global here (12in chefs knife) – was crushing garlic with the flat of the blade and it went exactly where those others above have. I had been dishwashing it for 3 years though so tbh I’ve probably only got myself to blame.

I’ve used these for years, very happy with them…

http://nipponkitchen.com/acatalog/Tojiro_DP_Range.html

These look pretty tasty: http://nipponkitchen.com/acatalog/Tojiro_DP_Range.html
I think the problem with Global knives is that the blades are welded to a hollow handle, so they can fracture at the joint if stressed. The Tojiro knives are full tang with riveted handle slabs so much stronger. Personally, I’d rather spend a little more and have one of these: http://nipponkitchen.com/acatalog/DP_Damascus.html
I do have a Global, and the blade is slightly off centre, and I thought about trying to bend it straight, glad I didn’t now.