A thread about what type of knives you use, not who makes the knives you use.

I've recently upgraded my knives, and I was looking at buying a block set because there seemed to be some decent savings for getting knives in sets. However, I couldn't find any manufacturer who made a set of knives that I actually wanted. Here's a list of the knives that I have.
9" Chef's knife
8" Carving knife (+fork)
7" Santoku knife
7" Bread saw
6" Boning knife
4" Utility knife
Vegetable Cleaver (similar to a meat cleaver, but it has a thinner blade with a cutting edge, not a chopping edge. The blade is strong enough to chop poultry bones)
Mincing knife (single bladed)

Most of the knife work in my kitchen is done by either the Santoku or the Chef's knife. I find for most applications they are interchangable, but there are times one is preferred over the other.
I didn't realise how indespensible a carving knife is until I got given one a few years back, but I also cook a lot of roasts. Which is why I've always had a boning knife because I am fond of buying and then boning joints myself.

I've had paring knives before, but never used them, so I didn't want to get a set that had one - do people actually using paring knives?
A lot sets have filleting knives, but I haven't had one and don't feel the need for one. If I catch the fish myself I use my fishing knives to prepare the fish, and I don't buy whole fish very often.
I've been tempted to buy a ham slicer, but I don't think I would get enough use out of it justify the purchase.

So what knives do you have and why?

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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer

I have a friend that works for Cutco. He hooked me up w/ a great deal. We have an 18 pc set... the utility knife is excellent... use that for a lot. Their steak knives are outstanding... can be used for everything, and they have a rounded tip that will not scratch your dishware. I like the chef's knife for veggies, the petite carver and carver are excellent for all types of meat. The butcher's knife has been great for melons and heavy duty foods, and the unique piece is the "spatula spreader"... great for icing and deserts (serving and preparing). They also had a bladed pie server that we got... it is outstanding... very useful. Like I said, the utility knife has been the most useful. The set has a pairing knife... we pretty much never use it. I just do not like pairing knives in general. It is a 2 1/2 inch... and I think there is a 3 1/2 inch (maybe 4 in) as well.

On the side, we have been very pleased w/ the Cutco knives. My parents have had them for 12 years... I believe the first time they had them sharpened was around year ten. My grandparents had them as well... after 12 or 15 years they sent them in to be sharpened and received brand new knives.

We have used most of our set pretty consistently... what was appealing to is that you could combine pieces and form your own set, and most of the time get a block for it as well.

LJ

"Drink up, me hardies, YO HO!"

Yep, Cutco makes nice knives especially their adjustable filet knife.

I use my 8" chef's knives every day (Wusthof). So often that I have two of them. I love the 10" chef's knife as well. I have the 8" slicer, but wish I had the 9 or 10". Boning knife is great, as well as the 4 1/2" utility knives (which double as steak knives). My wife uses the 3" paring knives all the time, but I rarely see the need as I'm usually using the chef's knife. Beyond these I haven't had the need for anything else up to this point; as far as the kitchen goes.

Forgot the 8" serrated bread knife.

[This message was edited by louzarius on Jun 14, 2004 at 01:39 AM.]

My knife bag has the following

Chefs Knife (9")
Santoku
Pairing
Boning
Filet
Chinese Cleaver

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AIM: Drunken Mariachi

I'd say 75-80% of the work I do in the kitchen uses an 8" chef's knife. I have 3 for this reason.

I also have a:
pairing knife
carving knife
bread knife
filet knife
utility knife

a

"What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" -- W.C. Fields

Why do you have 3 chef knives?

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AIM: Drunken Mariachi

i do have:

- 1x big chef knife wusthof
- 1x mid chef knife wusthof
- 1x flexible fish knife wusthof
- 1x serraded bread knife wusthof
- 1x boning knife wusthof
- 1x slicing knife wusthof
- 1x chicken knife kasumi
- 1x sushi knife kasumi
- 1 pairing knife windmühle
- several pairing knifes victorinox, wusthof
- 1x folder opinel
- 1x folder self made
- 1x bucher wusthof
- 1x big chef knife windmühle
- 2x small deba's self smitting (not finished yet)
- 1x slicer self smitting (not finished yet)

quote:

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Why do you have 3 chef knives?

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Well...

1) Because when I upgraded I kept my old knife.

2) When L and I moved in together 2 years ago neither of us got rid of our old Chef's knife.

3) I like that I can use a chef's knife and also have someone else using one -- and have one that is dirty, all at the same time.

a

"What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" -- W.C. Fields

Got a filleting knife. A store had 45% off Wusthoff knives. I don't think I need it, but it's one of my pretties now.

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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer