My desire to gain muscle has lead to an interest in cooking. There is only so long you can eat dry chicken breasts, rice and broccoli without wanting to kill yourself. Anyway, so I’ve come to realize that my kitchen is missing various essential tools.
The first item on my purchase list are good quality kitchen knives to prepare meals.
I know nothing in terms brands and was looking for some advice.
What makes quality utility knives? Are the top brands considerably better in quality than the “unknown name” brands?
First off, don’t get carried away and buy one of these 12 piece sets with a block. A pairing knife and a good 7 inch Kitchen knife are all the high quality knives most people need. The top brands do tend to last longer and just generally feel better in your hands. I personally have liked my Wusthofs.
I bought a set of Cutco knives from my neighbor’s kid when he was selling them. They’re the best knives I’ve ever had and they’re pretty inexpensive. I haven’t owned a bunch of high-quality knives in the past so I’m no expert on them, but these are pretty good, especially for slitting fucking throats.
If you use a dishwasher, look into the newer ceramic knives. I tend to have to buy new knives aver few years because even though the dishwasher has a heated dry cycle, a spot of water on your knife will rust the damn blade.
I bought a $50 Henckel Chef knife at Macy’s in 1998. They probably cost more these days.I sharpened it with a steel last week and it cuts better than any brand new knife you’ll get at Target. You don’t need a 12 piece set. Get yourself a good Chef’s knife, a pairing knife, and a serrated knife for cutting bread.(sometimes listed under bread knife). Spend the extra money and you can sharpen them the rest of your life. You can use a sharpening steel or go to a local place that sharpens blades and they’ll do an awesome job for about $8.
I worked in a restaurant kitchen for about 5 years during my college days and that’s where I learned the huge difference a good knife makes.
[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
I bought a $50 Henckel Chef knife at Macy’s in 1998. They probably cost more these days.I sharpened it with a steel last week and it cuts better than any brand new knife you’ll get at Target. You don’t need a 12 piece set. Get yourself a good Chef’s knife, a pairing knife, and a serrated knife for cutting bread.(sometimes listed under bread knife). Spend the extra money and you can sharpen them the rest of your life. You can use a sharpening steel or go to a local place that sharpens blades and they’ll do an awesome job for about $8.
I worked in a restaurant kitchen for about 5 years during my college days and that’s where I learned the huge difference a good knife makes.
[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
I bought a $50 Henckel Chef knife at Macy’s in 1998. They probably cost more these days.I sharpened it with a steel last week and it cuts better than any brand new knife you’ll get at Target. You don’t need a 12 piece set. Get yourself a good Chef’s knife, a pairing knife, and a serrated knife for cutting bread.(sometimes listed under bread knife). Spend the extra money and you can sharpen them the rest of your life. You can use a sharpening steel or go to a local place that sharpens blades and they’ll do an awesome job for about $8.
I worked in a restaurant kitchen for about 5 years during my college days and that’s where I learned the huge difference a good knife makes.
This, except I would also recommend a boning knife for trimming/fileting meat.
Bread knives are also excellent for slicing tomatoes and meat.[/quote]
This the one knife I’ve always wanted but never got around to ordering. I mostly cook boneless ribeyes and chicken breasts these days so my chef knife is pretty good at filleting and trimming those. Well, good with the chicken subpar with the steaks now that I think about it.
Do you have a particular boning knife you’d recommend?
[quote]gregron wrote:
wusthof knives are really nice. I got a set of those as a christmas present and they are awesome. Nothing worse than using dull knives[/quote]
As someone with 10 years knife experience in packing houses, here’s my 2 cents worth. 1) Buy the best steel you can afford - Shun, Wusthof, Kershaw, etc. A cheap knife is like a cheap suit or cheap pair of shoes - it ain’t worth it! But I do understand budgetary constraints, so buy one knife at a time if you have to. 3) Learn how to hone with a steel. A steel does not sharpen - it realigns the edge. A whet or oil stone is used to scrape metal off the blade, i.e. sharpen the knife. 3) Never, and I mean NEVER put a good knife in the dishwasher. It will bounce around and ruin the blade by putting nicks into the edge. The dishwasher heat will also eventually crack and warp the wooden handle, rendering the knife unsafe. Did I say NEVER put good steel into a dishwasher? NEVER!!! Hand wash and dry only and your greatgrandchildren will worship your knives as they use them.
How important is a good knife? On “Top Chef” the losers are told to pack their knives - not their pots and pans. Thanks
If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, just get some Dexter-Russell knives. Odds are that any restaurant that you’ve gone to has more than a couple of these knives in the kitchen. Fairly good knives, but cheap enough that if you fuck one of them up, you won’t really mind. Wait until you have some good technique before worrying about expensive stuff.
[quote]PaddyM wrote:
First off, don’t get carried away and buy one of these 12 piece sets with a block. A pairing knife and a good 7 inch Kitchen knife are all the high quality knives most people need. The top brands do tend to last longer and just generally feel better in your hands. I personally have liked my Wusthofs.[/quote]
I agree with everything you said. A chef’s knife (though I will admit I also have a santoku and I like my chef’s knives to be 8-9") and a paring knife are indispensable. As others have mentioned, a bread knife can come in handy, in addition to a boning knife (though I don’t own a “good” one and haven’t really ever bothered to use the one I do have, favoring the chef’s knife instead). I own knives from Wusthof’s Ikon line and love them. I’ve tried less expensive brands like Kitchen Aid and Calphalon, and while they perform adequately, there’s nothing like a good quality knife.
Also, just an additional note to the OP - please don’t put your knives in the dishwasher, even if they say “dishwasher safe!” I second the recommendation to find a sharpening service.
