I’m looking at buying my Dad a set of chef’s knives for his 60th. I realise they can be hundreds of pounds, but who’s best to look at for about £150?

I’ve heard good things about Global.

http://www.globalknives.uk.com/

Henckels Professional S – Slightly over budget but fantastic.

http://www.cooks-knives.co.uk/acatalog/Henckels_Professional__S__Special_Offer_7_Piece_Knife_Block_Set.html

Global are good, well made, good balance but you won’t get many for £150. Also have a look at Sabatier or Gustav again not cheap though. A good piece of kit to get is a proper steel or whetstone to keep them sharp, you’ll do more damage to your fingers with a blunt knife than a sharp one.

I have a set of sabatier that I really like – although I covet the global ones. Be aware with sabatier there are various differnt qualities. some are single piece forged some are not

I’ve heard that Kin Knives are some of the best in the world.
V.Expensive, but folded and made like a samurai blade.

Henckels or Wusthof. Global has a lot of fans but I don’t get on with them. Sabatier is a minefield and best avoided.

http://www.blueshoots.com/pp/Knives%5Fand%5FKnife%5FSharpeners/Zwilling%5FJA%5FHenckels%5FKnives/Zwilling%5FJA%5FHenckels%5F4%5FStar%5FBlock%5FSet%5F8%5FPiece.html (bit over budget but my set has lasted years)

Sabatier isn’t a brand name so the quality is very variable.

Henckels or Wusthof are both good conventional looking knives.

I would avoid getting a big set of knives that contain knives he’ll rarely use. How often would he use a boning knife? Does he need a carving knife? etc

Get one or two cook’s knives. Say a 16 cm blade and a bigger one. Then maybe a small vegetable one.

Get 2-3 really good knives for that budget.

I went through this at Christmas and ended up going for the rosewood handled Victorinox.
These knives
I had a similar budget and these were recommended to me by a family member who just recently won the Scottish Chef Of The Year award so he knows what he’s on about.
I prefer function over form and for my level of cooking they fit the bill nicely. Get a good ceramic sharpener too such as this.
I was going to go for Wusthof but at the end of the day you have to be realistic about what you need.
There is also a full range of the rose handled stuff so your dad can add to it as and when he wishes without costing him a fortune.

Cheers

Paul.

Oh, there’s also some superstition re. the giving of knives as a gift. Bad luck apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife#Knives_as_a_tradition

which is why you give a small coin with the knife which is given back to you.

Swibo; end of story, and you only really need 3 good knives.

I have had a set of Global for 10 years and they are mint , they keep there edge for ages and as long as you look after them it would appear they last for ages

I’ve got some Global knives. They are quite nice but not the hardest steel (which will take a sharper edge but not stay so nice and shiny and need sharpening more often).

IMO the most important thing is the sharpener. I’ve got a Global ceramic sharpening steel like this but I never got on with it (see they now cost £94 though – so maybe one on ebay very soon if you want one). So I got one of these instead – only £18 and puts an incredible edge on the knives very easily (first time you use it though you will have to pass the knife through it quite a few times as the edge on the knife won’t be the same angle as the edge on the sharpener, but once they are in sync a few swipes every few times you use it and the knife will be sharp as a razor.

So, Global are V good and look great, but you could get less designery knives that will be as effective and cheaper.

Henckels or Wusthof here – my sister’s was a professional chef and these were what she reckoned were the best bang for the buck.

Oddly enough – check on Amazon – this link here is to a Henckel set down from £199 to £48! – as there are bargains to be had!

I got a set of (5 “everyday”, not obscure chef-y) Global Knives as a present 5 years ago. They are fantastic – and if you use the Shinkansen Water Sharpener, they’ll be sharp enough to cause regular A&E visits for years to come 🙂

Global are good, well made, good balance but you won’t get many for £150

True, but you dont need many.

I have a set of 3 Globals. They are top notch, recommended. As Swello said, I also have the sharpener, invest in one of those too… it makes the difference. Keeps the knives factory sharp forever. Mine came with a free bamboo chopping block.

Get a large chef knife, a small detailing knife and the sharpener, that’s all he will ever need. Oh and dont get them off the ebay… loads of fakes out there… go to the global website and get some from an auth dealer.

Kasumi’s chef and utility knives are really good value. Neilforrow makes a good point in respect of the sharpener. A good one is almost as important as the knife itself.

make sure if you go for Henckels you get the ones with the two men on the logo and not the single man (as with the amazon deal). The single man denotes the far east produced knives whereas the double man denotes the german produced ones.

I got a set of 5star knives off my folks many years ago and they are the dogs…. ive also managed to get a few single knives which are seconds (blemished) from TKmax for peanuts.

Global knives are fantastic – I have a great set in my kitchen, and they do awesome steak knives too!

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David Mellor – made in Sheffield (err Hathersage)

The best balanced knife Ive ever used

If you head to Costco just now they’ve got 6 (i think) Global Knives for around £130 with block. If you’re not a member/card holder and live in Glasgow I could help you.

Mellor knives are very nice (as are the staff in their shop on Sloane Square…..tasty!)

I’d look at Wusthof Classics. Given the age of the recipient, something that looks classic might be a bit preferable (happy to be wrong, though!)

Lovely balance, great edge and just look rather plain and normal. Not too flash.

Anyone here has used ceramic blade knives?
*/sorry for the hijack/*

What about going to a small knives maker?
Maybe he/she can sort you out for this amount of money.

If you like Global then you might as well go for some proper Carbon Knives …

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/

I bought 3 proper carbon knives from them.

jamferg said it get to the Peak and visit the David Mellor workshops in Hathersage

I’ve had very great luck with Global knives. All are stainless steel, so rust is not an issue, and they hold their sharpness longer. I use my Globals the most time and have only had to have them sharpened once per year, although the Steak Knife Sets are due soon. They are well designed chef knives for the kitchen.

got Kyocera ceramics and Kai Shun both excellent and very very sharp