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Skeletorama
36
Nov 9, 2017
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What's a good affordable chef's knife for someone just starting to get serious about cooking?
Nov 9, 2017
Stets
41
Nov 9, 2017
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Nov 9, 2017
jkiemele
222
Nov 9, 2017
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SkeletoramaThis has gotten good reviews and a friend of mine has it and likes it. Good deal for a forged knife. http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/best-cheap-chefs-knives-misen-equipment-review.html
Nov 9, 2017
Jerzybears
61
Nov 10, 2017
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SkeletoramaVictornox. Take a look at their chef knife. All you need.
Nov 10, 2017
Atnguy3n
41
Nov 10, 2017
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SkeletoramaDepending on what your parameter for "affordable" is, I got this one a year ago and have confidence it will be something I can pass on to my kid someday. Great build, grip, and I like that it's a single piece of steel. https://www.amazon.com/Global-G-2-inch-Chefs-Knife/dp/B00005OL44
Nov 10, 2017
ImperatorMorsus
13
Nov 10, 2017
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SkeletoramaIf you are just getting into the cooking world, don’t spend a fortune on your first set of “knives”
something like this this would do you well till you decide to truly become serious.
https://www.ronco.com/six-star-cutlery-30-piece.html
for everything else, wisk, spatula and perhaps a good tool to remove skin from potatoes. But a good knife, you will never go wrong.
Just remember, sharpen before every use.
Nov 10, 2017
A community member
Nov 11, 2017
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SkeletoramaVictorinox is the standard choice for a decent chef's knife. Always a safe bet. It's good enough that a lot of commercial kitchens use them. I think the Wüsthof Pro handles a bit better and has a bit harder steel. It's about the same price. I'd stay away from budget Henkles. Their better knives are good but I don't like their low end stuff. For Japanese knives you'll pay a bit more but get an excellent knife with Tojiro. I started my restaurant career with German knives but now use Japanese exclusively. It's a matter of preference. Neither are objectively better. Stamped knives are generally less expensive than forged ones, at least European style knives, and can have the same quality steel. A good chef's knife, paring knife and serrated knife will handle most tasks. Most people think a serrated knife if only good for bread or maybe prime rib. I find it makes quick work of hard vegetables like squash or semi-frozen food. Hold the handle and push down with the heel of your off hand and use a rocking motion. Obviously, don't grip the blade. Add a cheese grater, a whisk, a couple of rubber spatulas, a slotted spoon, a solid spoon, a turning spatula and a soup ladle and you can handle most tasks. If you are limited for space, a hanging pot rack can hold your pots and pans without taking up drawer or shelf space and have them always ready to hand. You can hang your cooking tools from one, too. If you are near a budget store like Ross, T.J. Max or the like, you can often find good quality, discontinued style cooking supplies at a steep discount. Another good choice is a kitchen supply store. Some of them require business license numbers, but lots of craftspeople have those and might go with you.
Nov 11, 2017
Skeletorama
36
Nov 11, 2017
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ImperatorMorsusOn the topic of sharpening, would a knife steel suffice, or should I look into whetstones and all that business?
Nov 11, 2017
A community member
Nov 11, 2017
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SkeletoramaDepends on the knife and your skill. With more expensive knives the edge is harder and lasts longer. For those a steel will keep the edge in shape, often for many months if you treat the knife well. With cheaper knives you will dull the edge quickly and need to actually sharpen the knives pretty frequently.
For most people I'd recommend Chef's Choice sharpeners. They make some easy to use and effective sharpeners. The manual ones with rolling diamond grit wheels are my favorite. They will cost more than inexpensive knives but will give a decent working edge with minimum effort or skill. The company also makes motorized sharpeners. Those are fast and more expensive. They will also remove a lot of steel from your knife if you don't use them carefully.
Carborundum whet stones are cheap and will work, though they require much more skill to use. Chef's will use more expensive Arkansas stones or Japanese water stones. Those give the best edge but require quite a bit of skill to get full benefit from. Those only make sense to use with better quality knives.
Nov 11, 2017
ms
77
Nov 11, 2017
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SkeletoramaThe standard entry level "cheap" recommendation is the Victorinox Fibrox series. Get a chef's knife/santoku and a paring knife, and if you take care of them they'll last ages.
Nov 11, 2017
namhod
1991
Nov 13, 2017
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SkeletoramaOn the knife I am just going to echo Victorinox. Fantastic for the price. Not pretty but great to learn on.
Do not get one of those awful pull through sharpeners. You are starting with an affordable knife so you can learn on it, in more ways than one. If you plan to buy a decent knife down the road you will regret developing the dependency on a pull through sharpener.
Get yourself a wet stone and learn. A cheap two sided stone is a good starting point. Or one of the Lansky kits is a great start too. If you learn to maintain a cheap blade you won't be afraid to maintain an expensive one if you do eventually get one.
Nov 13, 2017
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