Best Kitchen Knives For The Money And Your Kitchen
A great knife saves you time and money, and it’s an essential tool in the kitchen, but what brand do you opt for with all the variety out there?
Luckily, this is where we come in. We’ve rounded up the best of the best to help you make a better informed decision when you’re ready to invest in a top quality brand
Why Knife Sets are Not the Best Kitchen Knives for the Money
Before we get into the details of the best brands for Kitchen knives, we’d like to give you a little word of warning: DO NOT buy cheap knife sets! Here’s why:
- The money you invest in a knife set (which is usually packed with sub-par knives) could rather be used to invest in better quality knives that will last you a lifetime.
- Knives in a set are usually not very good at retaining their edge in everyday use and they definitely weren’t designed to last.
- Most of the knives in a knife set will never be used and some of them are really poorly designed for their purpose.
- That “eight piece” knife set is a great let down when you discover that “two” of the “pieces” from the set are actually the block itself and the honing steel (which doesn’t work well either)
That being said, the best home cooks (and chefs alike) have three or four knives that are top quality, durable and reliable.
That’s why we recommend you invest in three or four great knives. We’ve categorized the knives according to their style and then recommended some of the best brands to opt for in each case.
Multipurpose knives = Good Cooking Knives
Here are the essentials you HAVE to own if you want to be on top of your game in the kitchen:
1) An 8 inch or 10 inch Chef’s Knife For the money
If you often work with really large pieces of meat or thick rinded veggies, opting for a bigger, 10 inch Chef’s Knife would be your best bet, however the choice is entirely up to you and depends mostly on the space you have available in your kitchen.
Our best pick for a great Chef’s Knife would be the Victorinox Fibrox 8
Victorinox Fibrox
It’s a real work horse and punches away at just about anything you throw at it.
2) A 3 inch or 4 inch best Paring Knife
Paring knives are essential for peeling vegetables and other light duty jobs around the kitchen. They’re great for most cutting purposes actually, and will probably end up being the one knife you turn to whenever you say “I need a knife for this”
Our top pick for the best paring knife has to be Wusthof Classic.
Wusthof Paring Knife
The brand brings you quality that’s unsurpassed and delivers like nothing else.
3) A Serrated Bread Knife
Great bread knifes aren’t just for cutting breads…they also cut effortlessly through fatty meat, tomatoes and just about anything that’s firm on the inside and soft on the inside. You’ll want to invest in nothing shorter than an 8 inch bread knife, which is why we recommend the Wusthof Classic Ikon 8 Inch Bread Knife.
4) A 7 inch or 8 inch Santoku Knife
A Santoku knife is great for multipurpose slicing and vegetable cutting and it’s also excellent at tackling precision slicing and thin cuts. The Santoku knife can easily replace a good Chef’s knife, but it’s a matter of personal preference. We have to say, that once again, as with the paring knife and bread knife, Wusthof takes the crown, which is why we recommend the 7 Inch Santoku.
Wusthof Ikon 7-Inch Santoku
Other Great Kitchen Knives
Here are some of the knives you may not need per say, but will eventually want to own:
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A Carving Knife
We’re NOT talking about a bread knife here. Whether you like yours with added power (electrical) or a plain old slicing knife, the long, flexible blades on carving knifes makes a world of difference when it comes to slicing even slices without tearing the body of the food to shreds. You can check out our section on the best carving knives.
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A Butcher’s Knife
Because nothing tackles meat quite like a great butcher’s knife, these guys are pretty awesome to have around when you’re working with large volumes of unprocessed meat. If you’re keen, check out our section on The Best Butcher’s knives.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to investing in great kitchen knives that still fit your budget, but if you stick to the essentials and go with the “have-to-have” options we’ve mentioned here, you’ll end up spending less and invest in knives that will last you MUCH longer than those cheap, unreliable knives that might seem tempting to buy.
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