Ok, the time has come to chuck the endless crap Next/M&S/and a bit of ASDA knife block set in the bin. Need to start with a good chefs knife and a serated knife. God only knows where to start and to which brand etc. Anybody in the know on here? I’ve looked at Global knives and was shocked to see £150rrp for one knife (gulp)! Budget of about £70 for two if poss.

TK maxx normally have good knives for £10 to £20.
personally i just use 6 inch cooks knife. look for one with a thick blade.
sharpen with a steel.

Perhaps a smidge over budget, but my vote would be Wusthof Classics.

Lovely, classic design. Very well made and a lovely edge.

Best way to buy global knives is to look at the sets of 3 for around 120. Lots of different sets too. Just make sure you have somewhere to store them properly.

What CHB said.

Why anyone would want to spend more is beyond me, just another thing to be “expert” at and show off about on the fora…unless you are a chef std cook!

I use a Samuri sword, sharpened once every three months by a Japanese man who lives three days walk from the bus-stop which then takes another 3 days to get into the town from where he gets a train for three days to the airport.

He does a cracking job, and my tomatoes and onions can be sliced with ease, which makes both my wife and Mr. Miyagi glow with contentment.

Sometimes though I use the bread knife to slice my tomatoes, but I can taste the difference on my butties.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Perhaps a smidge over budget, but my vote would be Wusthof Classics.

Agreed

Expensive but last a long time.

Get a 20cm cooks knife. Covers most kitchen jobs.

lol @ crikey

i more or less went the CHB route, got 3 different stellar HT knives from tk maxx for a total of about 28 quid and they’re fine for me (using a steel to sharpen/hone them every couple of months). got a paring knife, 5″ utility and 7″ chef’s knife and they have everything covered for me (but i don’t eat meat so they aren’t used for that).

as said get down to TKmax some very nice knifes (seconds ) for not alot
coupled with a waterstone and steel and your sorted and when your friend,mum,GF etc buggers it up its not £60 and only £18. I got a zwilling by henckels professional for about £20

My Victorinox is both relatively cheap and fantastic

I have got one decent size global chopping knife and use a couple of smaller victorinox kitchen knife that are sub £10 each and are brilliant.

We’ve got quite a few Global knives, most of them were wedding presents from almost 10 years ago. The ones I use most are the G2, GS5 and GSF22. They are great knives, as long as you look after them. I’ve always used a Minosharp sharpener on ours. Buy cheap, buy twice (or more)!

I’ve got some of Gordon’s & Jamie’s knives, I stole them, I don’t think they’ve noticed yet.

Crikey is it one of these?

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I don’t know the make, but this is the sharpener fella:

I have a horrible (and expensive) kitchen knife buying habit, but best budget knives I have are the ones ALDI do every so often.

just go to a shop and buy the one you like the feel of for 30 quid or so

and a means to keep it sharp

Bought some great Henckel knives – set of three – from Amazon, but .it to save a good few quid. 4″, 6″ & 8″ blades.
Delivered in a few days from the U.K. depot, but way cheaper than the U.K. price at the time.

Set of three from “Yurp” for €106

Or

£117 from U.K.

Have a look at butchers knives. Much cheaper than the stuff branded as Chefs knives.
Victronix and Dick are good quality.

Dick knives

buy the heaviest one you think you can use. (advise from a chef friend of my dads)

From w_d’s link

Dick Butchery

<sniggers> 🙂

Woody, it gets worse if you look at tools.

http://www.kingdicktools.co.uk/

iv got a large Dick, the missus loves it when I’m wielding it in the kitchen.

emsz – Member

buy the heaviest one you think you can use. (advise from a chef friend of my dads)

Chinese slicing cleaver that.

Or simply get one that is carbon steel rather than stainless steel.

Also avoid those knives that are celebrities endorsed because you can get the same if not better quality knives at lower price.

I’m worried that there are a lot of pissed off professional chefs out there, annoyed that amateurs keep taking their equipment and using them as kitchen knives.

All I know is that my brother who has worked in a fair few michelin star places and still does uses Japanese knives and nothing else.

Have broken 3 global knifes just using them at home, over priced and crap!

I mostly used Jap knives but not those endorsed by celebrities.

fave knives at the moment are stellar fm ones that I got from tacky maxx.
Similar ones here:
http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/New-Stellar-FM-8—-20cm-Cooks-Knife-SE17.html

All I know is that my brother who has worked in a fair few michelin star places and still does uses Japanese knives and nothing else.

My mate has also worked in quite a few Michelin starred places and says the same. He got me a discount on some Mac knives – superb.

you can make fab dishes with cheap ingredients and a cheapo pairing knife. Just saying like.

Sabatier, had a 5 knife set for nearly 18 years. Still going strong. Sharpen easily. Value for money anyday.

Have broken 3 global knifes just using them at home, over priced and crap!

How do you ‘break’ a knife FFS? What are you doing, chopping logs?

There’s a lot of crap spouted on here if you ask me. If your’e a chef or butcher by trade, I’ll take your word as honour.
But me, I’ve a Wiltshire Staysharp carving knife which is as stiff as a porn stars willy &… is sharp, simple as.(& gets used for all sorts apart from just carving) My other sharp thing is a no-name stainless steel cleaver which is also as sharp as a sharp thing.

There again, I do ride an Orange 5 which is another brilliant all rounder. 😉

130mm Yo-Deba Sharakumono, $115

Sharakumono

Close-up view
Sharakumonos are designed by “Komin Yamada”, one of the most famous designers of Japanese kitchen knives. He is the designer of the original Global knives.

The sleek one piece design makes for a very light, user friendly knife. The squares are painted by hand in a final process and are used in the packaging to identify this series.

The sleek modern look has been acknowledged by the Museum Of Modern Art in NYC which displays one of the first sets manufactured.

They employed special molybdenum vanadium steel, usually used for scalpels, and added several elements for more corrosion resistance and unique sharpness.

The awesome design features, ease of care and wow factor make them an excellent choice for gifts.
Possibly out of your price range, but very nice.
http://knifewear.com/knife-family.asp?family=33
I do like these, possibly a bit more affordable, and beautiful knives:
http://www.kitchenknivesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/i_o_shen.html
In particular this one:
http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/I.O.Shen-Oriental-Slicer-Knife-DY3011DN.html

CountZero,

Good choice that.

Mine is this … but ordering from this person is a pain from Taiwan and no cheaper than the above. I rather order direct from JapLand.

Both are roughly the same in design with the top one being better in steel quality, but the one at the bottom has an added advantage of having the garlic smasher at the heel of the handle.

This is a very good design so I hope there are local knifesmiths that can copy them but with better steel quality (carbon steel preferred) and better design. i.e. combine both into one.

double post … 😯

Worth investing in an exclusive brand for sure.

We often have friends (I say friends, they’re really just accquaintances) round for dinner. A good quality knife set is a bit of a head turner and a good conversation starter.

I mean everyone has the Audi S4 on the drive and the Bose sound system in the living room. But a set of over priced pieces of stainless really set you apart – “this guy really knows his onions (I bet he knows how to slice them too!)”

I have no interest in cooking but I really enjoy spending vast amounts of money on quality items that I’ll never use to there full potential! (A bit like my mountain bike – but thats another story!)

‘Tis a beautiful knife, perfect for running out of the kitchen waving it when someone finds fault with the cooking!
Your Taiwanese knife is tasty, and I like the garlic smasher on the heel, a combination of the two would be good, but its finding a smith or knife maker who can make a knife like that for reasonable money. I know a guy in Wales who forges his own blades, usually bushcraft blades, but he might be able to do a blade like that. I have a small bushcraft blade, forged spring steel, which is beautiful and truly razor sharp, that cost me £45, but I have to construct a handle as well.
£85 for the I.O. Shen seems pretty reasonable to me.
Who made the Taiwan knife?
BTW, this is the guy who forges stuff:
http://nicwestermann.co.uk/
My blade looks a bit like the right hand one of these:
http://www.nicwestermann.co.uk/traditional-hand-tools/laminated-carving-blade/prod_30.html

Slight hijack but has anyone used or seen the Naifu Damascus kitchen knives from chefsknifestore.co.uk? I’m very tempted as they seem quite good value.