Best Knife Set

Here are the Top Knife Setting Picks

Wusthof Classic 9-piece Block Set Ideal for Low-Maintenance Cooks:

Ginsu Gourmet Chikara Series 8-Piece Set

By Sharon Franke for Food Network Kitchen Nothing is more essential for a cook than a good set of knives. Sharp tools are essential to any kitchen, no matter if you need them for preparing food, carving meats, or even grabbing some snacks. When you go to shop, you’ll be confronted with knife block sets with a variety of styles and a wide range of prices. The following information will assist you in narrowing down the options to find the best knife block set.

Since its initial publication date, this article has been updated to include new selections.

How to Sharpen Knives Even in a Knife Block set

One thing is more important when it comes down to knife sharpness than any other. A sharp knife is essential for any expensive, well-balanced, and comfortable knife. Sharp knives are safer and do the work faster. If your knife is sharp, it’s less likely that you will cut yourself. If your knife is dull, it can slide off a tomato and instead of cutting down. Try cutting one sheet of paper horizontally to check the sharpness. A razor-sharp blade can cut through the paper, leaving an edge that is clean on both sides.

You’ll need to periodically sharpen the knives. You can bring or send them to a sharpening service once a year or you can buy a countertop or electric model and do it yourself. Here are some of our favorites knife sharpeners. Also, there is one that a Food Network staffer recommends. Best overall: Wusthof Classic 9 Piece Block Set Williams Sonoma. Includes: eight-inch cooks, six-inch utility and 8 inch carving knives. There are also three and four-inch paring knives. Kitchen shears and honing steel. They feel great in the hand and have a full tang. Wusthof calls the knife a chef’s knives. It features a smooth, rounded edge that moves when you are lifting it up to cut an onion or carrot. The blade can also be rocked when mincing parsley into spaghetti. Straight out of the box it is sharp enough to cut ripe tomatoes with no squishing. Yet, it also has the heft to cut a whole chicken into quarters.

Knife handles made from synthetic materials are strong and durable. It contains everything you could need, plus a sharpener and scissors. If you run your knives along the steel at the correct and consistent angle, you can use it to “tune up” the blades, but eventually you will need to resharpen them.

Best for the Low-Maintenance Cook: Henckels Classic 15-Pc Self-Sharpening Block Set Crate & Barrel

The set includes: 8 inch chef’s knife, 7 inch santoku knife, 5.5 inches prep, 4″ preparation, 5″ paring, 5mm serrated utility and eight 4.5-inch steak knives. Kitchen shears are also included. Every slot in the set has an automatic mechanism that sharpens the blade as you lift it from the box and put it back into its designated spot. It’s not necessary to hold the knife at the proper angle in order to keep it sharp. And, since you will be honing your knives regularly, it may take you longer to need a new edge.

Well-balanced knives made from forged steel aren’t nearly as heavy than Wusthof’s. However, this will make them easier for chefs to use. Only when you have to cut through an acorn squash, or chicken leg the lightweight is somewhat of a problem.

Each of the knives has its own designated slot. You can place every piece correctly by labeling the slots. You will receive a large variety of tools with this set. This includes a santoku as well eight steak knives. However, note that there is no carving knife so if you make a lot of roasts, you can either use the all-purpose chef’s knife or invest in an additional tool.

Shun Classic 5-Piece Starter Set Williams Sonoma

Included: 8″ chef’s, 6″ utility, and 3.5″ paring knives, honing steel, block This Shun set give you the very best in Asian knives. These knives are handcrafted in Japan using Damascus, a steel that is formed by welding various alloys together and folding them into layers. This creates a lovely swirled pattern that gives the blades their durability and sharpness. The blades will be extremely polished and smooth, and vegetables and potatoes won’t stick to the blades.

Because of this, these knives can be quite expensive. With their thin, lightweight gliding blades you can easily use them for carving or filleting a fish, but you probably won’t want to tackle a crusty loaf of sourdough or debone a leg of lamb with one of these beauties. Because the bamboo block itself is compact, it will not take up much countertop space. When you need to sharpen these knives, either use an Asian-specific knife sharpener or take them to someone who knows them.

The Different Types of Knives

There are so many knife options on the market that it is difficult to understand what each one does. Although some knives are more useful for speciality purposes, such as oyster shuckers or cheese knives, others will be used daily in everyday cooking. These are the best for everyday use.

Multi-purpose chef knife: With a blade that measures between 15cm and 36cm, this knife can be used for many kitchen tasks including chopping root vegetables and cracking open crustaceans.

Santoku knives: This Japanese knife was created in order to be used as a general purpose knife. The santoku blade is thinner and has a lower tip. It is a general-purpose knife that can be used for all tasks including dicing and chopping, as well as mincing.

Paring knife. The blades of this small knife can be between 7cm- 11cm in size. It is useful for tasks such coring, peeling and fine cutting.

Serrated paring blade: Very similar to a regular paring knife but with a serrated edge. This makes it simple to cut smaller tomatoes or citrus fruits.

Utility knife: This miniature chef’s knife is perfect for cutting small items like chicken breasts and vegetables.

Carving knife: With its long, thin blade, this is the best design for smoothly carving joints of meat and poultry in one slice.

Use this bread knife to easily cut through crusty loaves thanks to its sharp serrated edges. This knife is great for cutting fruit with fibrous skins like pineapples.

Peeling knife: A peeling knife looks a bit like a paring knife but its blade curves inwards making it ideal for peeling misshapen, tough skins on fruit and vegetables.

Sharpening Your Knives

A sharp knife makes it easier to cut through tough foods. These are some of the best knives for cutting tough food.

If you are on a budget but are keen to use your sharpening skills more often, then manual sharpeners might be a good option.

While electric sharpeners can be more expensive, they produce sharper knives thanks to the three- or two-step options available.

The best tool for sharpening knives is the sharpening stone, also known as whetstones. These stones produce razor-sharp cuts. The process can be slow and tedious so practice is essential.

GHI TIP – Instead of scraping the blade with its spine down when chopping large quantities of ingredients, transfer them to a saucepan and turn it upside down.

Professional chefs share their top picks for the best knife sets.

Pin It Photo: Getty Images/Capelle.r If there’s one must-have in your kitchen, culinary skills aside, it’s good, sharp knives. It’s not worth having cabinets filled with Instagram cookware, if you never intend to use it. The best (and safest) knives are sharp knives, and if you want to remove the guesswork out of what you need to buy, a knife set can help make the decision an easier one.

A good set of knives should have a few key points. Our goal was to help you narrow down your choices. We talked with a variety of chefs so they could tell you what to look for in a set. Find 16 top knife sets for your kitchen so that you are ready to start making pumpkin recipes.

Best Value: Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Forged Block Knife Set

Mercer knifes are the ideal compromise between quality, price, and Mercer made knives. A great value at less than $160 for the set includes an 8″ chef’s and 6″ bread knives, as well as a 8in utility knife, boning and chef knife, and a 3in utility knife. All of this is contained in a wood- and glass-block.

The German-made blades are tough, easy to care for, and extraordinarily sharp. They’re designed with a full tang and taper-ground edges for extra stability and feature easy-grip rubbered handles that won’t slip when wet. You can get them for half of the price of similar sets.

A satisfied customer said, “As chef and instructor I’ve used many expensive German steel-forged knives, and they are just as good or even better than the knives that cost 10x more!” For $156, go to Amazon.com

Here are 10 of the

Our Top Knife Set Picks:

“>Best Knife Sets in 2021

Independently, our editors research and test the products to recommend them. You can read more about us. Our chosen links might earn us commissions.

Chloe Jeong/The Spruce Eats. A set of great knives is essential to your kitchen. Easy-to-hold, sharp knives are safer for chopping, and allow you more control over intricate cuts. Knives come in many different materials, so it can be difficult to choose the right knife. When choosing knives for your collection, you should take into account all of the factors: ceramic blades and stainless steel; plastic and hard wood handles; Granton or flat edges.

Our picks for the top knife sets, whether you are looking for a starter or an upgrade to your existing cutlery set, will be of great value.

Amazon’s Top Picks: Chicago Cutlery Fusion Knife Block Block Set

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What is a Good Knife set?

With so many options to consider, it might be hard to distinguish a good knife set from a poor set. The decision to buy a quality knife set depends almost entirely on you. The three major factors you should consider are what do you need to prepare and cook regularly, what’s the highest quality of those tools you can afford, and how much effort do you want to make to maintain the set. Everything else is really preference and bonus. A set with steak knives is a good choice if your main focus is on roasts and steaks. A set that includes a boning knife, cleaver and fork will be useful if you are interested in butchery. You will be able to use a more simple set if you only eat fruits, vegetables and pre-butchered foods.

Once you’ve established what you need, look for a set that offers those tools made with the best materials you can afford. You can find high-carbon stainless steel at reasonable prices. This is the most common type of knife. For both aesthetics and comfort, consider different handle options.

A good set of knives is easy to maintain. You should wash knives with soapy water to retain their sharpness. But, it is possible to get a set that can be cleaned in a dishwasher. A set that is super sharp straight out of the package will be perfect for you if you don’t want to sharpen your knives. If you don’t plan to use the entire set, even the most costly set is not necessarily the best.

The Tests

Credit: Review / Lindsay D. Mattison. During our tests of the finest knife sets, we tested many versions of BLT sandwiches.

From the most popular knife brands, we selected top-rated knives sets at different prices. To find out the overall performance of the knife set, we went to work. While we usually only test knives one at a time, the set that was pre-made had to show overall performance and usability to truly provide value. It was important that each set included the essential knives and it got bonus points for adding in usable extras. The set should be simple to store.

The tests were designed with that in mind, evaluating value, performance, and ease of storage. The chef’s knife was used to chop onions, thinly slice basil, peel apples, segment citrus, and make sandwiches using the serrated knife. The majority of sets included a small utility knife. We used this to cut tomatoes and make hard cheese blocks. Kitchen shears were also available. We used them to slice cardboard, and glide the knives through parchment paper. The set’s price was determined by how sharp each blade is, how comfortable the handle feels, as well as the overall weight and length.

A Few Knife Terms, Explained

Full tang? Triple-riveted? How about forged or stamped knives? You don’t know where to start with so many terms! If you’re looking at more expensive knife sets, you likely don’t have to worry about many of these terms. We tested almost all the Zwilling/Wusthof knives that had full-tang, forged blades. We’ll get to the bottom of it so you know what your purchase will entail.

The first step in making knives is heating and hammering metal into the correct shape, before sharpening the edges. One piece of steel is all that is needed to make a forged knife. The blade and bolster are then formed from this single piece. They tend to be thicker and heavier than stamped blades, which are punched out or shaped using lasers. Stamped blades are inexpensive, but they’re rarely as durable as forged blades since they never get heat treated.

You can choose between full-tang or part-tang knives. It refers how deep the metal extends into your handle. The best knives are full-tang, which is a continuous length of metal that runs from the tip of the handle to the end. The metal at the top of the handle is often visible. A lot of knives have handles attached with three rivets. This is why you might see triple-riveted handles.

A full-tang knife is stronger than a partial-tang knife. It can extend the metal up to half the length of the handle. They are heavier and more balanced than partial-tang knives. Stamped blades don’t have tang, and are simply attached to the handle. This knife is the lightest, most expensive and also the least heavy. But the handle can come off of the blade so they don’t last nearly as long.

Check out our Top Picks

Victorinox Swiss-Classic Knifeblock Set Saveur Selects Set of Knife Blocks:

Victorinox 10-Piece Swiss Army Classic Knife Block Set Check Price

Victorinox’s 10-piece stainless steel set is the Toyota Camry knife set: simple, elegant, but well-made and suitable for daily use. The wallet-friendly set includes paring, chef’s, utility, boning, and bread knives. The set includes a honing and kitchen steels to maintain sharp knives, as well as kitchen shears and a block made of hardwood for storage. The plain black plastic handle with non-forged steel and texture is not something that will be admired by many. But the Amazon rating of 4.7/5 stars (779 Amazon reviews) won’t make it any less appealing. This speaks for themselves.

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Sometimes you just need more. This 17-piece Saveur Selects set, designed by myself, has a wide range of choices that will make you look like a Game of Thrones character. You’ll be glad to know that each knife comes with a bamboo storage block. Every full-tang blade is a knife constructed from one continuous piece from the tip and the bottom of the handle. The knife’s edge has been sharpened by hand to achieve a 16-degree edge. You can expect this set to last a lifetime with proper care. You’ll probably never buy another knife again with so many options.

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These knives were among the first to be purchased as legit knives over a decade ago. They still exist today. Global knives are easily identifiable, thanks to a unique stainless-steel construction spanning from the tip of the blade all the way to their dimpled handles as a single continuous shape. The design that was first introduced in 1985 has remained the same. We’ve always loved Global knives for their dependably sharp edge, comfortable textured grip, and great balance. This 3-piece set is priced as an excellent starter kit that includes the essentials 6-inch Chef’s Knife, 6-inch Serrated Utility Knife, and 3-inch Paring Knife each at lengths friendly for use and storage within small kitchens.

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Shun knives carry a certain cachet. Their beauty is undeniable. They have light, blonde Pakkawood handles that are capped with an embossed stainlesssteel caps. The cap subtly indicates your discriminating tastes when it comes to kitchen knives. Every Japanese knife has the distinctive signs that tsuchime is evident, with hand-hammered dimpling running the length of the forged blade. Shun’s proprietary VG MAX steel results in a slightly harder and more durable edge compared to other high-quality Japanese style knives. This 5-piece Shun knife set is quite expensive, and this William Sonoma deal includes free sharpening in the store.

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.Best Knife Set