Set Knives, Swords and Blades

Fire up the barbie and let’s grill us some bass! Right after we clean those suckers up, of course.

Luckily we’ve got this electric fillet knife set from Rapala. It will surely do the trick. What with its interchangeable 6 and 7.5 inch stainless steel blades.

And …

Masanobu is known for making high-quality, if somewhat expensive, kitchen knives. If you can get past the price, they are amazingly sharp, great looking and comfortable to use.

These knives stack up quite well to other high-end Japanese knives, such as those from Hattori and Shun.

Masanobu’s razor-sharp Japanese blades feature …

Cuisinart, a pretty common name in kitchen appliances, makes this version of an electric knife that’s actually two knives in one.

The blades are interchangeable. This set comes with a bread knife and a carving blade, both of which are made from high quality stainless steel. …

This knife set represents Henckels attempt to push into the low-end market. They’ve had the high-end market taken from them by Wusthof and Shun so it makes sense that they’d try to do this.

It’s a difficult dance, though. How do you provide a low-end product …

Mundial Knives are the choice of many professional chefs, so you know they’re high-quality. But don’t just take their word for it, check out the details…

This set includes the essential kitchen knives and not too much else. This is a good thing — you don’t want to pay extra for knives …

If you’re looking for a basic set of sharp knives, and don’t want to have to mess with the piecework of selecting particular knives over others, this Calphalon set is a darn good choice.

Calphalon is a trusted name in cutlery, though not as high-profile as …

Warning: I’m about to say something bad about Rachael Ray. If this review ends abruptly, you’ll know that the lawyers got to me!

Okay, here goes: You can (and should) get better knives than these for the same money. Regular readers of this blog know that our favorite …

This set of three throwing knives from Hibben was designed by Gil Hibben, renowned knife-maker, thrower and author of the Hibben Knife Throwing Guide

Each knife is made from a single piece 420 stainless steel and measures 12 1/8″ overall in length.

They have an ergonomically …

Tojiro knives epitomize everything I like in a knife — sharp, comfortable and good looking. Not to mention inexpensive. The DP series includes some amazing bargains — you can find a 9″ Chef’s knife for around $50.

The blade edges are made from a high-carbon steel and Molybdenum blend, providing a sharp cutting surface …

In the market for new kitchen knives? Salivating over some high-end knives but have a limited budget? Confused over the vast array of options available? This article will help set you straight.

I’m going to reveal three tips you can use to guide you in your search for great knives. Those tips will save you a bundle but, more importantly, will help you find great knives. If you’ve never used a razor-sharp and feather-light Japanese Chef’s knife, you’re in for a real treat.

Next I’ll reveal my recommendations - knives at each price level. Of course, choosing knives is a personal decision. You’ll want to consider your style of cooking, how often you cook and the tasks you frequently perform. But you really can’t go wrong with these recommendations. They’re great values, great quality and will be right at home in your kitchen no matter who you are.

OnlyKnives’ Best $50 Kitchen Knives
This is a great choice for anyone looking to start a knife set on a limited budget.

You get three “essential” knives — a Chef’s knife, a slicing knife and a paring knife. Limiting the number of knives in a set helps you to save money …

In the market for a new knife set? Not so fast! Once you’ve decided to only buy essential knives, you may find yourself wondering why you need a knife set at all. What about just buying a few good knives and filling in the rest as you need them?

OnlyKnives’ Best $500 Kitchen Knives
Shun knives are by no means budget knives. Some consider them synonymous with “expensive”. But limit yourself to a small set of essential knives and you’ll actually find them worth every penny.

Why? Because Shun has also become synonymous with “quality”. All three of the …

For years, the only name in Kitchen knives were Wusthof and Henckels. Consumers were told that the best knife was one that could withstand the rigors of the kitchen. It had to be heavy, had to have a thick bar in the middle of it to protect the cook’s fingers, and it had to be dishwasher safe. And since they were the only game in town, nobody thought twice about it.

This went on for quite some time. These German knifemakers produced a quality product that consumers liked, so there was no real reason to change things.

So when an upstart Japanese knifemaker named Yoshinkin came along offering their quirky Global knives, the Germans paid them no mind. But there was one small problem — people LOVED Global Knives. They were razor-sharp, light and had no bulky bolster in the middle of the knife to get in the way of cutting and re-sharpening.

It’s natural to assume that the more pieces a knife set has, the “better” it is. And additional pieces are often discounted when added to a set. “Why get the small set when you can get the large one for just a few bucks more?” the thinking goes.

There are a few problems with this logic. First and foremost, most hobbyist chefs do not need all of the knives included in a large set. Having four different paring knives might be useful if you’re a professional cook and need to have the perfect tool for every task but, for the rest of us, it’s overkill.

The other problem with buying a set loaded up with extra pieces is that those extra pieces are often just “filler”. Adding 7 steak knives to a set is a popular way to bulk it up, as is adding a kitchen shears, sharpening steel and knife block.

You may want some of those items but, if you’re trying to get the best bang for the buck, focus on getting the best “essential” blades. You can always add those extra pieces later. Those extra pieces are likely to be quite inexpensive when not purchased as part of a set.

Many hobbyist cooks underestimate the value of a knife’s sharpness. When they first bring a new knife home, they’re thrilled with how well it feels and how well it cuts.

Six months later, they’ve forgotten that feeling altogether and have moved on to more exciting gadgets. A year after that and the knife is now dull as a doornail. The cook wonders why the knives didn’t hold up so well and goes off in search of newer, better knives.

But wait just a minute there! A little maintenance can go a long way toward preserving that “new” feel. Do it right and you can extend the life of your knives indefinitely. Learn about maintenance before you buy knives and you can save yourself a ton of money.

If you want great performance from your knives, look for knives that are sharp and will remain sharp with proper maintenance instead of ones that are “maintenance free.”

Don’t know how to maintain knives? Read on….

Ever make cookies? Ever wonder why there are so many different recipes? Ever get the ingredients just a bit wrong and wind up with a totally different cookie?

If you have, you’ve got an inkling of what it’s like to make a knife blade. It’s an intricate process that involves various techniques including cutting, forging, heating, cooling, mixing, grinding, buffing and crushing!
Blade Hardness
The most important thing to know about a kitchen blade is its “hardness”. Hardness in kitchen knives is a good thing — the harder a blade, the sharper an edge it can tolerate. Just like with cookies, though, too much of a good thing can be overkill. Blades that are too hard can be brittle and prone to breaking or even shattering. Ceramic blades have become less popular in recent years due to their brittleness. Drop a ceramic knife on the floor and you’re out your $300.

Hardness is measured on the Rockwell Hardness Scale (HRC). Measurements are typically in the 55-60 range. Some of the sharpest Japanese knives are hardened to an HRC of more than 60, while Wusthof and Henckels knives are typically closer to 55. It might not sound like much, but a few points on the Rockwell scale can make a big difference.

Blade hardness is probably the biggest difference between Japanese and German knives. Japanese knives are hard, sharp surgical instruments. They are razor-sharp but require careful handling. German knives are duller but require less maintenance. See The Rise and Fall of The Great Knife-Makers for more on this distinction.

OnlyKnives’ Best $1000 Kitchen Knives
From the legendary craftsman, Ichiro Hattori, these knives are built for beauty as well as performance.

Similar to the more well-known Shun Classic Knives, the blade is made up of a VG-10 steel core, wrapped by layers of stainless steel. This allows the edge to be extremely sharp, …

It’s hard not to rave about MAC knives. They’re some of the sharpest knives you’ll ever encounter, out of the box. They’re gorgeous and perfectly balanced. They feel great in your hand and their light weight won’t wear your down. To top it off, they’re priced at least 20% below other high-end Japanese …

OnlyKnives’ Best $350 Kitchen Knives
Global Knives are known for their razor-sharp edges, lightweight feel and funky contemporary styling.

This set consists of five essential kitchen knives and nothing more. It features an 8″ chef’s knife, an 8.25″ carving knife for slicing meats, 8.75″ serrated bread knife, 5.5″ utility knife and a 4″ paring knife.

As …

OnlyKnives’ Best $150 Kitchen Knives
Never heard of Messermeister?

That’s good news. Since they’re lesser-known than Wusthof and Henckels, they don’t charge the huge markups that come from being a household name.

Instead, they just make great knives. Their San Moritz Elite features blades made of X55CrMoV15 steel — a high-carbon blend containing molybdenum and …

Cutco — you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. Their Amway approach to selling knives rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Others swear by them. Or maybe they just drank the kool-aid!

I do hear a lot of comments about them, though, so it’s worth a quick …

Tired of eating around the campfire with a spork? Boker does the outdoor knife and fork set right. The balance, blade sharpness and grip will stand out as the highest-quality you can find for this type of item.

For starters, it features the quality of Boker. Boker is …

This is part of Wusthof’s “Gourmet” series. Intended as an entry-level set, this set would be a good start to any aspiring chef’s kitchen.

They might not be quite the bargain that Forschner knives are, but they do feature a decent steel blade at a reasonable price.

This knife set features …

People like OXO. There’s no denying that. Check out other OXO products on Amazon and see how they’ve gained a great reputation as makers of reasonably-priced kitchen gadgets that perform well and feel good in your hands.

Their Good Grips line, of which this knife set is a part, …