Good knives?

craig777

I use 'ProCook' knives. Very good value and extremely sharp.

http://www.cookware.co.uk/shop/Knives/d4

dinkylou

Just thought I would add my two penneth.

There are 3 main ways to sharpen knives, by whetstone, by butchers steel or diamond steel and by a ceramic sharpener. My personal favourite is a ceramic sharpener by Minosharp. You can sharpen any type of knife in them and its really easy to do (much better than the other two ways unless you are well practised)

I too have some Globals and love them but would cost you a bit more than £100 to buy a few.

Also, the ripple effect you saw in the knives are made from Japanese 'damascus' steel which is layered instead of pressed or forged. Usually these are very high quality but there are forgeries around (so avoid ebay if you can).

generationgav

I can get a set of 6 Stellar Sabatiers for £50 (1/2 price) or a set of Richard Sheffield R-Sabatier for £30 (down from £70)
I know the Stellars are supposed to be brilliant, and the Richard Sheffield V-Sabatiers are supposed to be...but does ANYBODY know about the R-Sabatiers?

Primrose

We have had a set of Sabatier knives for years which are excellent. However I find that I mainly use just two of them - a very small sharp knife used for chopping fruit & vegetables and a bigger one for cutting meat, etc.

QuirkyChemistry

I really like this set of knives from Ikea:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10129639
I have used them for nearly two years and they are still good and at that price it's hard to go wrong. I even had to buy a set for my boyfriend as he liked them so much. Easy to spot in the drawer too!

angelavdavis

I love my Sabatier knives, but they are pricey I know (Mine were £70ish but I bought mine with wedding vouchers) to be honest, any good, solid stainless steel blades with good handles will do.

I also have a favourite IKEA knife that I have owned 15 years - the rest of the set went long ago, but this one holds firm. I prefer a larger knife for slicing or chopping, but I know others like smaller knives (I find it better for me if I can rest the tip of the blade on the chopping board and I use a peeler - but each to their own). That, and the carving knife for meat are my favourites - I barely use the small knife!

As recommended, keep sharp - more accidents happen because of blunt knives slipping apparently. Best bet is invest in a decent oil stone to sharpen them. I have tried other methods of sharpening, but my Mum's method is always best. Use water or oil on the stone, and work along the blade sharpening both sides.

Interesting you saying about dishwashers debbie - particularly with Sabatier. I haven't had issues, but always lie mine flat on the top rack in the DW. So at least I would say ensure the handles are dishwasher proof - usually I find the handles weaken before the blade.

Knives tend to blunt according to use - my OH is lefthanded, whereas I am right, so if one of us has been using the knife a lot, it gets blunt on that side more!

nell2

I treated myself to 3 Victorinox knives in January - a small one for preparing veg, a small one with a serrated edge for tomatoes etc, and a bread knife. Altogether came to about £25 which sounds like a lot of money, but they are fab! Would thoroughly recommend them. They seem to be staying quite sharp too. Much better than my cheaper knives which were rubbish!

Stephen_Leak

My vote also goes to the Victorinox Fibrox handled knives from Culinaire. The Global, Sabatier and Wurst ones are fabulous, but they have a price to to match. IMHO, the Victorinox ones give the best VFM for enthusiastic amateur use.

My 19cm (For amateur use, a cook's knife should be a maximum of 20cm) cook's knife cost £15.99 (inc. P&P). The next best price I could find was £18.40. Then, you also get a pointed 8cm paring knife free. The best price I could find one of these for was £2.90.

They are scalpel sharp. I've got the feel of the paring knife now and haven't needed any of my snazzy blue kitchen plasters for ages.

I also got a couple of "Legitim" plastic chopping boards from IKEA: a red one for £1.29 for use with raw meat, and a big and small white one for £1.39 for the pair for use with everything else.

When I need to, I will get one of those knife sharpeners that looks like crossed fingers. They are easier and safer to use than the long "butcher's steel" ones. The electric ones are a complete waste of space and money.

trying-very-trying

generationgav wrote: »

I can get a set of 6 Stellar Sabatiers for £50 (1/2 price) or a set of Richard Sheffield R-Sabatier for £30 (down from £70)
I know the Stellars are supposed to be brilliant, and the Richard Sheffield V-Sabatiers are supposed to be...but does ANYBODY know about the R-Sabatiers?

That looks like a good deal, so come on....tell us....where can you get them at that price?? Is it widely available? or is it a special offer, like a staff discount or something.

OddjobKIA

Pork will blunt a knife as if you just tried cutting a rock with it...

so sharpening it throught carving would be advisable ie 2 slices..then sharpen


also while experimenting with some wood chisels i found that saoking the very edge of the blade in cilit bang will give a you razor sharp edge