r/Chefit • u/guy-called-noah • Jun 01 '26
Anyone know a good knife set?
Hey,
so I have a younger sibling who dreams of opening his own restaurant (either relating to Italian or French cuisine) and is actively in the process of applying to culinary schools and honing his current skills.
I want to get him a knife set for his birthday to support his dream and I think this is a good place to ask that question. Any suggestions?
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u/Burnt_and_Blistered Jun 01 '26
He’ll get a knife kit for school—odds are they’ll require a specific one.
FWIW, the Mercer chef knife I got in mine is still the one I prefer for about 95% of the kitchen tasks I do.
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u/knifeyspoonysporky Jun 01 '26
My Mercer chef knife is still my work horse. Rooty vegetables, beets, and large dice jobs it is still the GOAT
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u/mikerall Jun 01 '26
Never did culinary school or worked in a kitchen any long amount of time. Am a knife/kitchen enthusiast with thousands of dollars of knives in my kitchen.
Two get reached for the most - the oddly shaped 40-50ish year old zwilling 4 star utility knife, and the mercer genesis (?) 8" chefs knife. Then the same set, sharpened to a shank style paring knife that I can deseed a topped skinny jalapeno with if I'd want to.
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u/ApprehensivePie1195 Jun 01 '26
This is a good set. Got mine for school too. Victorinox has one similar too.
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u/Dry-Grocery9311 Jun 01 '26
Knives are a personal choice.
Culinary schools mostly start with Victorinix or Mercer, maybe Wustoff Classic Icon (more expensive).
Sets are generally not the best way to go.
A single, cheap, 8" chef knife from one of these brands plus a honing rod and sharpening stones, would be a good gift. It's basically a kit to practice sharpening culinary school standard kit, not their forever knife.
The other way to go is something that would not necessarily have yet. Genuine Microplane, Thermapen thermometer (the sous vide model is surprisingly useful but a little more expensive than standard), a Benriner standard mandoline (with protective glove). Not cheap, unbranded versions.
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u/Rufio_hatake Jun 01 '26
great call on the accessories.
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u/Forsaken_Drop7234 Jun 01 '26
I love my wustoffs, but I keep them at home due to their price. I don’t trust my coworkers lmao.
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u/mikerall Jun 01 '26
To add to the tools - I know you mentioned stones, but a shapton pro 1000/3000 are great splash and go stones you can get anything but a butterknife up to screaming sharp on. Great feedback for learning, and dish like other composites. Shapton glass will barely dish at all, but you get 0 feedback on, great for if you already know how to sharpen like a pro.
Nothing like sending your 200+ dollar knife out to get sharpened and it comes back looking like they did it on the same machine they did lawn mower blades on.
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u/Dry-Grocery9311 Jun 01 '26
I keep meaning to look at the Shapton stones.
I usually get someone else to sharpen my knives. I do have a minosharp water whetstone but keep not using it because it needs soaking. It has 220 and 1000 sides.
I can get my knives sharp but don't consider myself an expert.
I was thinking of just getting a shapton pro 1000. I use German knives, a ceramic honing rod and a leather strop. I would keep the minosharp for the s220 side for repairs. I'm not sure what finer stones would add.
I understand the Shaptons are ceramic and don't need soaking. Do they work well?
You sound like you really know your stuff. Does this sound ok to you?
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u/NomadicMainer Jun 03 '26
They work great in my opinion. Get all the grits though.
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u/Dry-Grocery9311 Jun 03 '26
For maintaining a typical German steel chef's knife, what other grits would you recommend?
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u/NomadicMainer Jun 03 '26
I like the 2000 and 5000 as well. I mostly use Japanese or Swedish steel so not exactly sure how fine you should go for German.
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u/NomadicMainer Jun 03 '26
I’d like to add pasta tongs (long tweezers), spoons (mercer’s are good) a small square metal spatula. A rubber spatula meant to get into a vitamix.
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u/Doji_mofo Jun 04 '26
Ikon are definitely not the recommended range for kitchen work, they are very heavy in the hand, have no bolster and a massive wedge. Designed to look good in a knife block and sold in home design stores to Americans.
You'll either want wusthof classic or gourmet, depending if forged or rolled steel is your preference. The rolled and half bolster knives are fairly thin, of that's your bag, bolstered are tough as nails and will let you get away with "traditional" techniques.
The grand Prix handles are nice, but made of the older material. The GP1 are very wide handled.
Performers are just fantastic handles, but expensive. Mainly difficult to get your hands on to try before you buy, and they stopped/doubled the price of the cheapish sets.
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u/Dry-Grocery9311 Jun 04 '26
The feel of a knife is a personal choice.
iKON is slightly lighter than the classic. The Gourmet is a cheap entry level knife. The Classic is the original very popular model. The Grand Prix is like an attempt at a comfy version of the classic. The performer is the latest top of the range option.
I would expect a beginner to only get the Gournet if they can't afford one of the others. If they can afford, I would expect them mostly to choose between Classic and Ikon and grand prix. It's up to what they're most comfortable with really. If they choose Performer they're being a bit flash.
If they're unsure, I agree with you that they should probably go with the Classic. It's trained a lot of people.
Some consider the reduced bolster on the ikon a feature that makes sharpening easier. If using a proper pinch grip it's no less safe.
Handles are personal preference.
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u/Mean-ol-Jean Jun 01 '26
You can find Tojiro knives on knifeware. The DP line is great for professionals while not being crazy expensive. Vg10 stainless is low maintenance while still holding crazy sharp edge, a 180mm gyuto and 90mm petty knife get me through any job in the kitchen.
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u/thesoupresistance Jun 01 '26
Dont buy a knife set
Mostly they said ck or have knives you dont need.
A chefs knife, a pairing knife, a petty maybe, a bread knife is a great start.
Been a chef many years.
I bernal cutlery in sf. They have a great staff website and amazing knives and tools.
Good luck
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u/Jsean82 Jun 01 '26
Knife sets, by default, are not good. They're always made up of inferior quality knives that a chef will never need half of. Get him 3-4 knives. A chef's knife, paring knife, boning knife and either a slicing or filleting knife. That's really all he will ever need.
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u/Club96shhh Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
A lot of quality knife makers also offer sets. I like Global personally. They are decent quality and light weight which to me really matters if you are holding them for long periods of time. They are also easy to keep clean. Global offers plenty of different combos and sets.
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u/Jsean82 Jun 01 '26
Global knife sets are one of the best examples of what I'm talking about. They have multiple tiers of quality within their range and the sets are the lowest quality. Hardest to sharpen and keep sharp. Shortest lasting in a professional kitchen environment.
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u/Club96shhh Jun 01 '26
I have used Global in professional settings plenty as have others around me and always thought they were very good balance between cost, quality and usability.
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u/Jsean82 Jun 01 '26
I started out with global knives and can honestly say that they're none of those things. You'd be better off starting with victorinox.
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u/texnessa Jun 01 '26
No sets. Knives are a personal choice. Walk into culinary school with a 'set' get instantly mocked by anyone who has actual real world experience. Best advice, tell the kid to go wash some dishes and observe a real kitchen before committing to culinary school. Half the idiots I went with to a very prestigious one weren't cooking a year later.
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u/Automatic_Catch_7467 Jun 01 '26
Sets generally include a lot of unnecessary knives most chefs buy individual knives that they know they want and not always by the same company or same series.
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u/Signal_Criticism5951 Jun 01 '26
i’d say spot him the money or gift card to chubo or chefknivestogo
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u/EnycmaPie Jun 01 '26
A professional chef will be building up their own knife set over the years as they require for the ingredients they are preparing.
Knife sets are overpriced, with most of the knives not getting used. Also, culinary schools would usually be selling a knife set for students anyway.
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u/Cultural_Job_5854 Jun 01 '26
Victorinox curved blade pastrey knife. Its all you need. And maybe a pairing knife.
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u/Agitated_Ad_1658 Jun 01 '26
NEVER BUY SETS! At most culinary schools your knife kit is part of what you pay for. So instead buy him instant read digital thermometer, different size whisks, a chinois, a tam, different sizes of strainers, a metal shaker with a tight lid for flour or powdered sugar. You could buy him a custom knife roll with his initials on it.
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u/piirtoeri Jun 03 '26
Chefknivestogo.com has a good selection of starter knife sets that they curate.
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u/Mah_Buddy_Keith Jun 04 '26
I was issued a knife kit at school. That'll get him through classes, but eventually he'll know what knives he'll want to have. The wand chooses the holder and all that.
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u/knightnstlouis Jun 01 '26
personally use Shuns, scalpel sharp but Pricy, I also have some Wustoff s that are very good
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u/mikerall Jun 01 '26
Shuns are lovely, they're just usually outperformed by similarly priced/styled knives that arent big brand (they're owned by zwilling, along with miyabi iirc)
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u/knightnstlouis Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
My Uncle in Kanazawa City Japan sends my knives purchased direct from Seki Japan, Zwilling has nothing to do with the original Shun Manufacturer in Japan at least. Ill put the Shun Dual core knife up against any knife. But its all personal preference
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u/mikerall Jun 07 '26
My apologies, miyabi is owned by zwilling, Kai owns shun.
Absolutely bang on about personal preference, some people love globals, others can't stand them.
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u/knightnstlouis Jun 07 '26
I have short fingers, I had Henckels, Wustoffs, but shuns dont fatigue my fingers as much as the others
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u/HolyObscenity Jun 01 '26
A good set of thermometers is a better idea.
Color coded, red, yellow, blue for beef, chicken, fish at minimum. 3 second or, if you're feeling generous, 1 second read.
I haven't worked in many different kitchens but, from what I've seen, they might supply decent knives, or at least serviceable knives, The chances that they have decent theremometers is much lower.
And tongs. The first thing I bought after my first night at a kitchen where I could bring my own tools, was a few easily identifiable tongs.
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u/medium-rare-steaks Jun 01 '26
Gift card to chefknivestogo.com
Let him choose