What Knifes to Get? I’M So Confused …

Ladies and Gents, I’m buying a gift for my misses who loves to cook. I asked her about some brands of knifes and she said Furi & Baccarat.

Now, when looking for such knife sets between 7-9 knifes, there’s so many to choose from. For example, Baccarat has ones that look like they’ve come from the last samurai. I just need a good knife set. Budget is between $300-400 dollars maximum of 10 knifes.

I looked at some ID3 Knifes and Damashiro, but don’t know the difference. Some good Black Friday deals out now so I’d like to get in quick.

Thanks for your help.

Comments

  • +7

    I'd get her this, a high end chef and paring knife. Will cover 90% of your chopping duties.

    Most knife blocks are pretty rubbish, with more knives than you actually need. Both of the brands she is after are nothing special.

    • +1

      I have a 6 knife block and I actually use them all. Bread knife is a rarity but when needed it's the only option. I at first thought having a tomato knife was weird, but I eat a lot of tomatoes so it's incredibly useful (and great for cutting small bread products). Besides that it's a paring knife, chefs knife, carving knife and utility knife, all of which get a lot of use. Recently added a Santoku too and definitely don't regret it for cutting veggies.

      Although partly it's because I cook a lot but am a bit of a germaphobe. So if I've been cutting meat I won't use that knife again until it's washed properly, I'll just grab a clean knife.

    • +2

      Cheaper @ Myer FYI

      And here

      • +1

        Thanks for the Myer link especially with cash rewards, was gonna grab the last one before the OP from Everteen. The other link is a different set.

      • Yeah nice find.

        I have a set of Wustof and couldn’t go back to cheap knives

    • Chef & paring knife are pretty much what I use. I do all the veg & meat prep at home.

  • +4

    From memory, Baccarat is House's home brand, and is always on 'special', so don't be deceived

  • Sorry couldn't help myself 'What type of knife?'

  • Baccarat…

  • Love my basic chef furi. Came with a finger style sharpener. Apparently not the best way of sharpening but I use it maybe five or six times a year and knife stays sharp enough to slice tomatoes
    .

  • Furi is good and you don't need 10 knifes!

  • The best knife is one that's comfortable in the hand, so it really depends. a single standard western chefs knife, japanese gyuto or santoku, or a chinese cleaver is what I'd look into, but dont just buy anything unless its comfortable for her style of cooking.

  • +1

    Personally I use a bigger chef’s knife, a smaller chef’s knife, a bread knife and a pair of pull apart scissors.

  • Baccarat is trash don't but it

  • +1

    Baccarat… make some nice looking knives, some even feel comfortable to use… But that's where the functionality ends.

    Most surprising knife I've used lately would be coles MasterChef 20cm cooks knife.. takes an absolute beating, decent balance, easy to maintain and was virtually free..still see some new sets on eBay

    As a gift.. probably mid range wusthoff in a decorative block.

  • +1

    I have Wusthof and have had them for a couple of decades. They are honed on a regular basis.

    I wash, and dry immediately, after each use. You should also wash them between chopping raw chicken and prepping veggies.

  • Thanks all - Appreciate the feedback. Will probably head to Wusthof.

    • Get a knife block, as well. The knives are readily available and it is makes storage safer. You don’t need a fancy one just something for a few knives and a pair of scissors. You just need to make sure the slots are big enough.

  • +2

    Be very careful about buying anything from House/Robins Kitchen. The whole store and operation is basically a scam. Only products that are on sale are allowed to be displayed or sold to customers. Most of their products are their own brands (baccarat is their own brand and they are the only stores that sell them). These products only go OFF SALE because of consumer and advertising laws and are then taken off display.

    Now to the quality of the knives… you really couldnt get any worse and pay any higher. They use the worst steel available and what they claim is Japanese steel is outdated surgical steel that the Japanese would not use for knives. You will never get it as sharp as it comes in the box and it will dull quickly. The knives are not hand made in any way. The Damascus knives are only printed on the blades (not real Damascus and Damascus does not mean quality by default even if it was real).
    If you want something Japanese thats ok for budget look at Tojiro DP or Furi. Shun are overpriced compared to similar Japanese knives and if you want something more Japanese in design and feel please join the reddit r/chefknives - you will get genuine, well thought out help here from people in Australia and overseas.

    Thirdly, buying knife sets is a total waste of money… work out what knives your missus likes to use or really wants and by them separately.
    You have been recommended Wusthof and that is a solid recommendation. I would suggest their IKON series which comes in different handle styles but is the same blade. I would suggest a wusthof ikon 20cm chef knife and a santoku for starters.

  • This is a good article to read through!

    https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-essential-knives

  • Just wondering what people use their paring knife for. I've had one for years but I can't remember when I used it last. I use my small chef's knife for cutting up fruit. Apart from that I use a peeler.

    • +1

      paring knife

      Got a few different sizes/thicknesses:

      Peeling onions, tomatoes, mushroom
      Segmenting oranges, mangoes, avocadoes
      Turning potatoes
      Decorative vegetable work
      Frenching cutlets, chicken wings
      Broccoli/cauliflower florets
      Fillet small fish.
      Pastry work

      • Thanks. I don’t do all those things and the ones I do I either use the peeler or small cooks knife.

        I, also, have a Magimix which makes prep work a lot easier as well.

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