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Kitchen Knives - Review your Most Important Kitchen Tool!

If you ask a professional chef which is the most important cooking tool, the answer will undoubtedly be the knife. And many cooks recommend buying the best quality cutlery you can afford. To find the Best, we have included the top knives in a number of popular catagories (listed below). This will hopefully make it easier for you to get more information and find what you are looking for.



Where applicable, we provide recommendations from industry leaders like: Consumer Reports, Cooks Illustated and Food and Wine Magazine. Information about award winning knives are also included.

BEST in CHEF KNIVES:

Forschner: Best Chef Knife under $40
Premium Quality chef knives from $85 to $200
Wusthof Classic 8" Chef Knife

BEST in STEAK KNIVES:

Affordable Steak Knives
Premium Quality Steak Knives

Best in INDIVIDUAL KNIVES:

Bread Knife: Reviewers love F. Dick
Paring Knife: Wusthof
Santoku Knife: Reviewers love Global and MAC
Chroma Chef: Best Design Award by F.A. Porsche

Best in KNIFE SETS:

Ginsu Chikara: Amazing Quality for under $100 for a 12 Piece Block Set
Victorinox Forschner: Affordable, Quality 8 Piece Block Set around $175
Wusthof Classic 8 piece knife set - High Quality/Performance around $300

Best in CULINARY STUDENT KNIVES:

Messermeister it is!
Forschner it is!

Best in SANTOKU:

Favorite Santoku Brands


Which knives to buy?

The good news: the average home cook doesn't need to invest in more than a few good quality kitchen knives. With the simple three being : a chefs knife, a paring knife and utility knife. Why? Because these give you plenty of versatility to do much of the basic: cutting, slicing, dicing and chopping.

However, since we are a knife reviewing website, we combine product information and industry reviews about all kinds of kitchen cutlery from sources like: Food and Wine Magazine and Cooks Illustrated. In other words, we aim to delve deeper, taking you from basic cutlery to state-of-the art, razor sharp cutting technology.

About Specific Types of Kitchen Cutlery

Going beyond basics, and matching the appropriate type of cutlery to a particular cutting task will certainly make life easier and grow your culinary knife collection. If for example, you are planning to fillet a fish, bone a chicken, or cut bread; you will want to have an appropriate fillet, boning and serrated bread knife. On the same note, if you plan to carve a roast or butcher meats, having an appropriate carving knife and cleaver will make all the difference in the world. For a kitchen knife that is less specific, the Japanese santoku, made popular by Rachael Ray of The Food Network is one to consider. This knife is similar to a Western style chef's knife and can provide multifunctional use.

Knife Sets

Hardwood knife block sets and smaller 3, 4 and 6-piece sets can be very useful and often come accessorized with ones you need such as: chef's, paring, boning or utility, slicer, and bread knife. Buying sets rather than individual cutlery can also save you money. However, it's a good idea before buying, to make sure that the sizes and types are ones you will find useful.

Another useful set worth buying are steak knives. Steak knives are often sold in sets of 4 and 6. Shop with quality in mind and learn more about steak knives before buying.

Tip: For the best knives, look for high quality forged carbon stainless steel blades. For affordability, look for value oriented stamped blades

Eastern and Western knives

Choosing is a matter of preference
  • Western: (Germany and France) If you're looking for the West's best kitchen cutting tools money can buy take a look at traditional European knife makers: Wusthof, Henckels, Messermeister and Sabatier.

For the finest quality, stick with each manufacturers premier collection or line. Premium knives will include features such as being fully forged, and made with high carbon stainless steel blades. They will cost more money, but are definitely worth it.

If you are shopping on a tighter budget, take a look at the more affordable budget lines. These collections drop down a level to being machine stamped, or not fully forged. For the price, the quality will be good.

  • Eastern: (Japan) If you're looking for the best Japanese knives money can buy take a look at the following Japanese knife makers. You may be familiar with brands such as Kershaw, Global, Mac, Hattori and Kyocera (ceramic knives). Less familiar though with Japanese manufacturers: Kasumi, Chroma, Bunmei, Suisin and Misono (the UX10 knife line, with Swedish stainless steel, placed #1 in Food and Wine Magazine, July 2005 poll.)
    Japanese style knives are characteristically lighter weight, sharper and more flexible than western cutlery.

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For a complete selection of knives,
from Wusthof to Furi,
Victorinox to Henckels, visit Amazon

Or check out this great selection of cutting boards...



And knife sharpeners!

Sharpening, Cleaning and Knife Storage

Because cutlery varies, it is best to review the manufacturers' care instructions for cleaning. You may have a set of Laguiole steak knives that can be washed in the dishwasher and a Wusthof Cordon Bleu chef's knife that must be hand washed and immediately towel dried.

To keep sharp and honed there are many knife sharpeners including electric and manual to choose from. As with cleaning, follow the sharpening recommendations prescribed by the manufacturer. Once sharpened, be sure to keep the blade protected. A number of good storage options and accessories exist. These include drawer inserts, magnetic strips, and wooden or stainless steel blocks and cutting boards.



Recent Articles

  • Wusthof Classic 8 inch Chef's Knife

    Here it is folks, Cook's Illustrated Magazine Reviewers chose Wusthof's chef knife as "Top Pick". As mentioned, the only difference between Wusthof's various elite Lines (eg: Grand Prix II, Classic, Culinar) is the handle materials and design. Yup, it's just about the handle. ....more

  • Santoku knives - Buying tips

    Santoku knives buying tips - If you're researching Santoku knives, and looking to buy one for personal use or for a gift let us help you out. In a previous article about best Santoku knife models/brands to consider, we highlighted top western/eastern knife makers. We chose models in favor and recommended by Cook's Illustrated. However, before buying go experience the feel of the cutlery. Compare several brands side by side...more

  • Cheese knives - Review

    There are several types of cheese knives available if you are looking to buy. Prices vary depending upon whether you are buying an individual cheese knife, or a set.
    Individual knives, of which there are two primarily, are designed to either cut hard cheeses or soft cheeses. Other types though include: cheese slicers, two handled cheese knives...more







Where to Buy

Wusthof Knives from Amazon



Henckels from Amazon

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