Best bang for the buck - Knives

[jshnks]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if maybe you all could point me to the right direction.
I am just getting started into cooking and I am looking to get some decent knives, I know
that I don't want to get a block set I'm looking into a chef's knife, parry knife, bread knife,
and since I clean fish a lot, a fillet knife! I know that there are a lot of good Japanese knifes
out there, but I was wondering what the best bang for my buck would be, after being diagnosed
with Ulcerative Colitis and the medical bills still piling up, I need to keep the cost down as much
as I possibly can!

Thanks

 

[Tim_McD]

This quote comes from Christopher Kimball (Cooks Illustrated / Americas Test Kitchen) advertising email I rec'd this morning:

"I also spent $150 on a German-made chef’s knife, and then our test kitchen discovered that a $40 knife made by Victorinox was just as good."
​

They have been touting Victorinox for years, as an affordable high performing knife mfg. These are widely available (Cooks Illustrated / Americas Test Kitchen always links to Amazon), so it might fit your budget / needs - at a low risk price point.

 

[jshnks]

At 40 bucks, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to give the chef's knife a try!

 

[cxg231]

At 40 bucks, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to give the chef's knife a try!

Great knife. If you don't want to spend the normal everyday price of ~$35 for the 8" chef's knife, add it to your wishlist and keep an eye on the price, it occasionally gets down to $25!

I also have two of the 3 1/4" paring knives, great all around small task knives, and the 10" slicing knife which makes quick work out of meat dishes.

 

[jshnks]

Would you go for the classic, fibrox, or rosewood?

 

[jzuzphreek]

This is a good conversation. I'm curious about this as well. HOw well do the Victorinox blades hold an edge? How much work is it to refresh the edge. I can no longer get a decent edge on my Sabatier knives.

 

[YetiDave]

The rosewood looks nice, I've had the bread knife for a couple of years and it's held its edge well

 

[jshnks]

After looking around a bit, I found the 8" Fibrox here http://www.culinarydistrict.com/9914.html for $26.29

 

[WarrenB]

I have seen the Tojiro DP recommended as a good knife on a budget, a little more expensive but you get a pretty good carbon steel sandwiched between a stainless outer to help resist rust and staining, the 21cm chef/gyuto is $57 here

 

[eperdu]

I am a huge Victorinox Fibrox fan. They are fantastic. I've been using mine for a few years. I did pick up a kit from Amazon because it was cheap and would have cost more to piece it out. I like the weight they have and they are just super comfortable.

 

[dpm802]

You should also add a Santoku blade to your basic line-up. They are very useful for vegetables.

Check out your local Restaurant Supply store and ask about a brand called Dexter-Russell. These are popular in commercial kitchens, chosen by professional cooks who use knoves all day, every day to make a living. Very utilitarian, efficient, no-nonsense.

And also look into a device to keep your knives sharp at home. Lots of choices here, in a variety of price-points. A $5 dollar hand-held device will work just as well as a $50 electric model, its just more labor intensive. Get in the habit of sharpening your knives once a week or once a month depending on how much you use them.

Mad Cow Cutlery has a wide assortment of knives at good prices. www.madcowcutlery.com
I've never yet ordered from them but their catalog is very tempting.

 

[Jut]

This quote comes from Christopher Kimball (Cooks Illustrated / Americas Test Kitchen) advertising email I rec'd this morning:

"I also spent $150 on a German-made chef’s knife, and then our test kitchen discovered that a $40 knife made by Victorinox was just as good."
​

They have been touting Victorinox for years, as an affordable high performing knife mfg. These are widely available (Cooks Illustrated / Americas Test Kitchen always links to Amazon), so it might fit your budget / needs - at a low risk price point.

I have a friend who recently graduated from Chef's School. I asked her what kind of knives she used, and she said that these are what her teacher/professor had all of the students buy.

 

[admvalentine]

You can NOT beat German steel. Although i can not afford them so i buy Swiss steel. I am a chef and often i cut through frozen meat.

 

[jshnks]

Id like to thank everyone for all the information! I think for now I will stick to the Victorinox and maybe later on, upgrade! Now I need too find decent cookware for an induction range!

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[eperdu]

I think that you'll be happy with them. I know there are some amazing and pricey knives out there and it's another hobby entirely to collect them. But if you are just starting out and need something solid, you'll find the Victorinox a good option. It'll let you get a collection of knives at a reasonable price, figure out what size works for you, and what you use the most. AT that point, if you want to invest the pennies in the pretties, you can and KNOW that you'll be happy with that size. I have the 8" Chef knives (2) and my brother has the 10" Chef knives. He prefers the larger size. I use those for everything. I rarely use a paring knife. A couple times a year my granton slicing knife is used, never used my boning knife. I just do everything from the littlest to the biggest jobs with the Chef's knife.

 

[Osborn Cox]

You should also add a Santoku blade to your basic line-up. They are very useful for vegetables.

Check out your local Restaurant Supply store and ask about a brand called Dexter-Russell. These are popular in commercial kitchens, chosen by professional cooks who use knoves all day, every day to make a living. Very utilitarian, efficient, no-nonsense.

This was going to be my suggestion. I frequently go to a Restaurant Depot store and they have a nice selection of Dexter-Russell knives at very reasonable prices ($15 8" boning, $7 paring, $20 10" chef's) and for the money these are very good. I bought 2 of the filet knives to take along on our Canada fishing trip this spring, and the general consensus was that they held their edge better than any of the other filet knives we had. They are not the fanciest looking with the white handle, but I think they are hard to beat for the money. I also have a couple of the Victorinox with fibrox handles, and I am also happy with them.

 

[ouch]

If price is an important consideration, get inexpensive paring, bread, and filet knives, but get a good chef's knife, which will see most of the work.

Dexter-Russells can be found in almost every commercial kitchen, and Forschner-Victorinox are pretty decent knives that are good values. You can always go crazy later.

 

[Kazeryu]

A while back, I spent around $600 on a gyuto, usuba, and petty.

Nine times out of ten? I reach for a $35 CCK.

 

[eastomjac]

try out a set of old hickory knifes.they last forever and dont cost a lot.they also hold and take an edge well.ive used them all my life and get them from my mother and grandmother,who were both cooks,in truckstops.they could cook circles around most so called chefs today.

 

[Alacrity59]

1000 grit waterstone?