Value/quality kitchen knife set to buy?

[CRLLS]

I'm definitely in the minority here. So what's new? I'm not into fancy knives. have a cheap set of molybdenum knives I bought about 45 years ago from LTD Limited. Anyone remember them? They still do the job. They don't keep an edge for long. They get thrown into the drawer and treated poorly. But they do sharpen up quickly and nicely.

 

[davebarnes]

I have this boning knife
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GERBER-Bal...on-Stainless-Steel-Knife-USA-GUC/223846768018
It is perfect.
Gerber knives were/are incredible. Sadly, no longer made.

 

[Jerry1]

Agree. Do not buy a set. Also, agree, if you don't know how to sharpen, learn to do it well. There are no miracle steels that don't need sharpening. The best knife in the world, left unsharpened, is junk.

Most of the brands already mentioned will be fine. There is some beautiful stuff out there; forged blades, through-tangs, etc. Great to display and handle. But none of that beauty makes much difference when using the knife as a tool.

For shopping go to restaurant supply stores like https://www.webstaurantstore.com/2821/kitchen-cutlery.html In our market we can buy at Restaurant Depot https://www.restaurantdepot.com/ without a membership, so that is a nice way to browse serious knives.

We have a number of the fancy knives, but lately I have been buying mostly Dexter. This is professional stuff and the prices are rock bottom.

For starters: A slicer with a Granton edge, a bread knife, a chef's knife, and a boning knife. Plus the small knives you already have, freshly sharpened.

For sharpening I just use stones and steels, but there is an infinite variety of clever gadgets out there and many people swear by one or another of them. The first sharpening tool(s) you buy will probably just teach you what you really wanted, so don't obsess over the decision.

We have a restaurant supply place that I go by on occasion so I decided to stop in a few months back. I tried this knife:
https://www.equippers.com/winco-sof...th-soft-grip-handle/kstk-60.asp#tab_section_3

It was dirt cheap but it works great for cleaning chicken. I bought it because I wanted to try out the curved blade but didn’t want to spend a lot of money if I didn’t like it. So far, I like it just fine. It may not be all that, but it’s very sharp and works quite well for my use. I also like the soft handle. Very comfortable and solid grip. It might have me rethinking any future purchases of expensive knives. Heck, if it lasts a couple years it would still be cheaper to replace it frequently. At less than $10, every two years, new knife, still under $100 for twenty years.

Certainly worth consideration for the seasonal rental thread where you might not want to travel with your best knives.