Recommend me a kitchen knife!

sgt244

sgt244

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Messages
1,313
Hello all!

Please recommend a great all-around use kitchen knife

1 that can cover all my bases (for the most part)

I don't fillet fish, or anything special like that, mainly just chop/dice veggies and cook a lot of chicken.

Anything within the $300 price range would be preferable (though exceptions can be made if a strong argument is made)!

Thanks in advance! I know a lot about pocket knives and what not... but very inexperienced with any type of kitchen knives... looking for some guidance!
 
Opps! This was meant to be in the kitchen cutlery forum!...If somebody would move it over It'd be much appreciated =D
 
My suggestion would be to go to one of the makers on this forum. Go to a good cutlery store and check out many blade styles and handles so you know your preferences first. Steel and handle material will depend on how you intend to use (or rather, care for it).
 
If you want to buy factory made, you might consider getting 2 knives with your 300; a boning knife for the chicken and a santoku or something for the veggies. Shun or several other brands should have good options in the price range.
 
A gyuto or French chefs knife might be better for a do-all single knife rather than the santoku I mentioned above.

Folks who know very much more should chime in soon.
 
My wife is a cook and she so far likes the one piece Global knives.
 
I wouldn’t drop that kinda cabbage just to slice veggies, just me. I bought a set of KAI Shuns 12 years ago for about that much but I’m a heavier kitchen user than you. The Shuns are so so, big Alton Brown fan and he was into them.

BTW what kind of cuts do you make to chicken, boneless skinless stuff? Breaking down from whole? (probably not)

What’s cool about my Shuns (not specific to them) is over time I try different sharpening methods, honing steels. They have pakka wood handles. They’ve obviously stood the test of time. I’m not necessarily recommending them.

8 or 10” chef knife is standard #1 knife, I think I have the 8. You can make it work for a lot of tasks and develop your slicing/chopping basics. There is a zen like progression where even mundane items like finely dicing an onion in a uniform and efficient manner can bring joy.

I barely use the weird chisel santoku I bought later as an add on, like never. I just bought a thin carbone opinel paring knife $10, that’s worth it! So thin and slicey. Been slicing limes, little bit of discoloration on the blade. Character.

Weirdly, a good scalloped bread knife is also a joy and doubles for meat slicing, somewhat poorly though. Bread can be tricky.

Boning knives are cheap IF you need one, $20-ish and no more for decent German or Swiss like I have. It goes on pig hunts too.

Finally, I’ve lost the plot and started using a Paramilitary 2 for veggies because I, uh, why not!

I’ve become aware of Spyderco kitchen knives while exploring eBay. Know nothing about them. Kind of interesting but seems more than I want to spend on kitchen stuff.
 
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For a great affordable commercial quality knife we use the Victorinox Fibrox kitchen knives, not because of the price. They just fell good in the hand, hold an edge, and work for their intended use very well. We have the whole set of Fibrox knives in the kitchen, very affordable. I really like their filet and boning knives.


 
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GatorFlash1 said:
A great affordable commercial quality knife we use the Victorinox Fibrox kitchen knives, not because of the price. They just fell good in the hand, hold an edge, and work for their intended use very well. We have the whole set of Fibrox knives in the kitchen, very affordable. I really like their filet and boning knives.


Click to expand...
That's the brand boning knife I have, Victorinox.
 
Victorinox is all I’ve used for the past 20 years. A great value and a lineup of kitchen knives. If nothing else, add one of their paring knives to your arsenal.
 
Personally, I prefer a slicing style knife rather than a chef's knife for all-around use. I've currently been using the Spyderco Cook's knife and I've really enjoyed it. You can find it on the net for around $100 bucks. (Corian scales, OAL 10'3", 6" blade)

knifework-k11p.jpg
 
Makers aside, 10-inch Chef's knives are the professional standard. Home cooks and smaller sized people tend to prefer 8-inch or smaller all-around cook's knives. The 10-inch blade was designed for maximum cutting board coverage. It is not relevant to a person's height and weight.

My go-to Chef's knife at work was always a Wusthof Classic Wide Chef's knife 4584/26. At home I use a 4582/26 model. Both are a multi-functional slicer, chopper, light cleaver, and (horror!) a can opener. Without a bolster it's only a slicer.

Add a 5 or 6-inch utility knife and a 3 or 4-inch parer and the three knives will cover 90%+ of any culinarian's needs.

I'm now working with a talented knifemaker here to produce a custom 4-knife matching set. Paring knife, utility knife and two different sized Chef's/Cook's knives: a big one for professional use and a shorter one for home cooks.

EDIT: I'm old school. My age and CV reflect it. Started in the 70s and recently retired. That said, mine is just another opinion. But I always told my cooks the same things.

@daizee
 
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sliceofaloha said:
I wouldn’t drop that kinda cabbage just to slice veggies, just me. I bought a set of KAI Shuns 12 years ago for about that much but I’m a heavier kitchen user than you. The Shuns are so so, big Alton Brown fan and he was into them.

BTW what kind of cuts do you make to chicken, boneless skinless stuff? Breaking down from whole? (probably not)

What’s cool about my Shuns (not specific to them) is over time I try different sharpening methods, honing steels. They have pakka wood handles. They’ve obviously stood the test of time. I’m not necessarily recommending them.

8 or 10” chef knife is standard #1 knife, I think I have the 8. You can make it work for a lot of tasks and develop your slicing/chopping basics. There is a zen like progression where even mundane items like finely dicing an onion in a uniform and efficient manner can bring joy.

I barely use the weird chisel santoku I bought later as an add on, like never. I just bought a thin carbone opinel paring knife $10, that’s worth it! So thin and slicey. Been slicing limes, little bit of discoloration on the blade. Character.

Weirdly, a good scalloped bread knife is also a joy and doubles for meat slicing, somewhat poorly though. Bread can be tricky.

Boning knives are cheap IF you need one, $20-ish and no more for decent German or Swiss like I have. It goes on pig hunts too.

Finally, I’ve lost the plot and started using a Paramilitary 2 for veggies because I, uh, why not!

I’ve become aware of Spyderco kitchen knives while exploring eBay. Know nothing about them. Kind of interesting but seems more than I want to spend on kitchen stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply to answer your question, I mainly am dealing with boneless chicken breasts, I normally go through and slice off any fat that I do not want on the chicken. I enjoy power lifting in the gym and so my food is pretty consistent and basic... I keep it to whole foods and usually do 1 big cook for the week sometimes cooking mid-week as well... I tend to stay to chicken the majority of the time, slicing the chicken in to thinner strips, sweet potatoes, rice, and veggies of different sorts (asparagus, broccoli, peppers, onions, parsley, ect..ect..)

I was mainly looking for a great overall use knife, either was looking for a 6" or 8" ...
Obviously its not a NEED more of a WANT .. i could continue to use the knives i have been for years now... but I have been a huge knife guy in terms of edc/ pocket knives for years and years..
yet never once owned a really great kitchen knife...

The only issue I have it that my way of sharpening is on a wicked edge... and I can only get down to 15 degrees per side with my current set-up.. i see some of these kitchen knives are 9-12 inches on each side... so i'd needa find a way to sharpen them ...
 
Boozoo Chavis said:
Personally, I prefer a slicing style knife rather than a chef's knife for all-around use. I've currently been using the Spyderco Cook's knife and I've really enjoyed it. You can find it on the net for around $100 bucks. (Corian scales, OAL 10'3", 6" blade)

knifework-k11p.jpg
Click to expand...
Not a bad looking blade! Not a huge fan of the handle and woulda been better to keep their signature hole off of the blade wouldn't ya think?
 
marchone said:
Makers aside, 10-inch Chef's knives are the professional standard. Home cooks and smaller sized people tend to prefer 8-inch or smaller all-around cook's knives. The 10-inch blade was designed for maximum cutting board coverage. It is not relevant to a person's height and weight.

My go-to Chef's knife at work was always a Wusthof Classic Wide Chef's knife 4584/26. At home I use a 4582/26 model. Both are a multi-functional slicer, chopper, light cleaver, and (horror!) a can opener. Without a bolster it's only a slicer.

Add a 5 or 6-inch utility knife and a 3 or 4-inch parer and the three knives will cover 90%+ of any culinarian's needs.

I'm now working with a talented knifemaker here to produce a custom 4-knife matching set. Paring knife, utility knife and two different sized Chef's/Cook's knives: a big one for professional use and a shorter one for home cooks.
Click to expand...
Interesting!

Thanks for the input... I would love to see the set when finished... =D
 
I cooked professionally for 12 years, and there is a lot of personal preference involved in all of it.

As a pro, there are times when you need a speciality knife (slicing, skinning a side of fish, butchering, cleaning 30 pounds of hanger steak). But generally, I am on board with Anthony Bourdain that most jobs in the kitchen can be handled with 3 or 4 knives. Next, I hate hate hate those white/black/blue plastic handled knives you see in so many pro kitchens, so I avoid those goofy shaped cumbersome handles at all cost.

French/Chef/Santoku - 8-10" blade, although I have used up to 11". Blade has to be wide enough that your fingers won't touch the cutting board when holding the handle and rocking/chopping/mincing. I prefer the French/Chef style for the greater pronounced tip compared to the Santoku, but a nice middle ground is a Kiritsuke with a pronounced tip. I have in the past owned Shun, Global, Mercer, Sabatier. I just bought a Dalstrong Omega Series Kiritsuke and like it (my last chef knife from my cooking days was no longer doing it for me), although it is a little unusual looking (and it is not high end/pricey, I just won't spend a lot on a chef knife these days). If you plan on using your "chef" knife for heavier fabrication tasks (splitting lobster tails, splitting crabs, full fish fabrication, chopping chicken bones) a heavier spined knife would be good, or get a cleaver. And I prefer unbolstered blades where the working edge runs the full length (to the heel).

Paring Knife - just necessary for things where a 12-14" OA knife is impractical.

Offset Serrated Bread Knife - no comparison to a straight bread knife, better hands down. Useful for more than bread as well.

You can stop here unless you see a need for something else, like a Flexible Boning/Utility knife for fabrication of chickens, cleaning larger cuts of meat, etc. A huge part is how the knife feels in your hand, so maybe go to a Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table and see how some knives feel. Some cities have even better choices of places to shop - I am not sure what your options are. Once you have a blade shape and size in mind, there are endless possibilities available online.

If you get some nice knives, get a mag strip or some knife safes (Lamson?) and/or a little knife bag/roll to keep them safe and sharp. No dishwasher, and depending on the steel, you may need to immediately clean and dry them after certain foods. Steel or strop (or whatever your preferred edge maintenance method is) frequently and you should have a good working edge for a long time. Alton Brown has some good info on knife selection and maintenance as well. Oh, and get a nice big wood cutting board. Or as a second choice, a big "soft" plastic food safe cutting board. Those tiny home cutting boards drive me nuts.
 
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The third one from the left is a 6 3/8" vintage French Butcher's Knife pattern. It is currently my most useful blade for the uses you describe. DM me for the seller. BF has a rule against linking non-member sellers.

GPQNQR1.jpg


Here's a pricier custom featured on Eating Tools.

RZLcFu2.jpg
 
I think the 8" size will be all you need! Spyderco site says their chef knife is sold out, it's a little over 7". My Seki City Shun looks to be around $150 these days. Not sure if that fits your sharpening system.
 
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