The Absolute Best Knife Sets, Based On Rigorous Testing

When shopping for a brand-new knife set, it’s important to keep your standards high. After all, the best knife sets supply some of the most essential tools to a home kitchen. The blades should be sharp and strong, and the handles should be comfortable to grip. The storage system, whether a classic wooden block or a modern stand, should be streamlined. Crucially, the set should center on knives you actually use on a regular basis, like the versatile chef’s knife and the precise paring knife—and not a bunch of unnecessary blades that will rarely see the light of day.

Following weeks of living and cooking with 40-plus knives from nine top-rated sets, the Wüsthof Classic 7-Piece Slim Knife Block Set emerged as the overall winner. Composed of five professional-quality knives and a pair of kitchen shears, this sleek knife block set leaves little to be desired in terms of sharpness, balance and maneuverability. If you’re seeking a smaller set composed of just the essentials, the Misen Essentials Knife Set—which includes a chef’s knife, paring knife and bread knife—is another fantastic pick. While most home cooks will be more than satisfied with either of those two options, two additional sets stood out during testing: the budget-friendly Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Knife Block Set and the expertly crafted Miyabi Artisan 7-Piece Knife Block Set.

Here are the winners from my testing process:

• Best Knife Set Overall: Wüsthof Classic 7-Piece Slim Knife Block Set
• Best Basic Knife Set: Misen Essentials Knife Set
• Best Value Knife Set: Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Knife Block Set
• Best Upgrade Knife Set: Miyabi Artisan 7-Piece Knife Block Set
• (PAID PLACEMENT) You May Also Like: Henckels Silvercap 3-Piece Starter Knife Set

If you close your eyes and imagine a chef’s knife, it probably resembles the Wüsthof Classic chef’s knife. Created in 1886 in Solingen, Germany, the premium blade is one of the most iconic kitchen knives in the world, prized for its durability and relative affordability. And while you may be tempted to try one of the family-owned brand’s newer or larger sets, the Wüsthof Classic 7-Piece Slim Knife Block Set is the best of the best. Composed of a chef’s knife, a paring knife, a bread knife, a santoku knife, a serrated utility knife and a pair of kitchen shears—all housed in a sleek wooden block—the set is unmatched in quality and value.

Upon installing the set in my home kitchen, I immediately appreciated how easily the slim acacia block slid between my appliances on my crowded countertop, taking up little space while keeping the blades within easy reach. The knives, too, impressed me. Fully forged from durable high-carbon stainless steel, the full-tang blades slice like butter straight out of the box. The chef’s knife, which features a classic German-style construction, does some of the slicing work for you, thanks to its heft. With my forefinger and thumb on the blade and the rest of my fingers wrapped around the comfortable synthetic handle, I was able to cut hard winter carrots into coins with ease and mince parsley leaves with no bruising.

While the bread knife initially disappointed me, as it isn’t long enough to saw across a large loaf of sourdough (it measures eight inches long), it made up for this shortcoming by slicing through all kinds of bread with minimal crust shatter. The paring knife, too, passed the most important tests: I was able to maneuver the sharp little blade around an apple, peeling off the skin in a single spiral, and dice shallots with precision.

In addition to the three essential knives, the set includes a trio of worthy extras. The serrated utility knife, in particular, is a winner; it cleanly slices through juicy tomatoes and citrus without making a total mess of your wooden cutting board. The kitchen shears also feature my ideal construction: They have pull-apart blades, which makes for easy cleaning and sharpening and thus a longer life. But the best part of this set? These knives are in it for the long run. I’ve owned (and honed) a Wüsthof Classic chef’s knife for over a decade and it’s still dicing as well as it did the day I bought it. In the unlikely event one of your knives suffers from a manufacturing defect, all Wüstof knives carry a limited lifetime warranty.

In 2015, Misen launched with the philosophy that home cooks deserve professional-quality tools, just at a more affordable price point. The direct-to-consumer knife retailer has truly succeeded in its mission. Whereas most knife sets include at least one unnecessary blade, Misen’s set—which comes with a chef’s knife, paring knife and bread knife—covers just the essentials, and every blade is worth adding to your cutlery collection. (Here’s my full review of the set.)

Made from durable stainless steel with a high carbon content, Misen blades feature a unique construction. Unlike most Western knives, which are sharpened at a 25-degree angle, Misen sharpens both sides of its knives at a 15-degree angle. This acute angle is most often seen in Japanese-style knives, and it’s one of the reasons Misen’s knives are so exceptionally sharp and precise. With the chef’s knife, I cut through hard winter carrots like they were butter; with the paring knife, I had no trouble maneuvering the petite blade around an apple to peel away its thick skin. The bread knife, too, passed its tests: Thanks to its long and sturdy construction, its sharp teeth sawed through a loaf of crusty sourdough and a squishy stack of Wonder Bread, though it did leave behind a few crumbs from each.

Meanwhile, the handles—which are made from a dense plastic composite and come in four colors—are comfortable to grip, no matter what you’re chopping. Thanks to the knives’ full-tang construction, which means the metal of the blade extends all the way down through the end of the handle, they also feel well balanced. I especially appreciated the unique curved bolster at the base of the chef’s knife blade, which made the knife easier to hold and control using a pinch grip.

Overall, I love this set’s streamlined design. While the 3-piece doesn’t come with a wood storage block, Misen sells a wooden magnetic knife strip and an in-drawer storage unit. The main weakness of this set? It’s frequently out of stock, due to its overwhelming popularity. Therefore, if you’re interested in the knives and the set is available (in your preferred color), don’t hesitate to hit checkout.

If you’re in the market for a reliable, budget-friendly knife set, the Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Knife Block Set is a fantastic choice for less than $200. Featuring a space-saving glass and wood storage system, this five-knife set is especially great for beginner cooks, as the ergonomic rubber handles provide extra nonslip grip and comfort. (Read my full review of the set here.)

This isn’t my first experience with Mercer Culinary’s knives. When I enrolled in culinary school, my cutlery kit came with their blades. Years and years later, I still use a few of the knives—that’s how well they’ve held up. In my testing (of a new set), the knives performed well across every culinary challenge. The Western-style chef’s knife features a curved bolster at the base of the blade that helps you maintain a pinch grip. It also has some weight to it, but it’s overall balanced and easy to control. The paring knife, too, was easy to maneuver while peeling an apple. One of the most important blades, however, did disappoint me: the bread knife wasn’t long enough to cut across a sourdough loaf.

Alongside the essentials, the Mercer Culinary set includes a 5-inch utility knife, which resembles a long paring knife, plus a boning knife, which can be useful to have around if you like to butcher at home. To test the latter, I used the curved blade to butcher a raw chicken into quarters, and it easily got the job done. During this test in particular, I especially appreciated the nonslip rubber that Mercer Culinary uses on its handles, which helps you maintain a secure grip on the knives.

Whereas most knife block sets come with a wooden storage unit, this one includes a sleek, modern stand made from beechwood and tempered glass that allows you to see the blades of your knives at all times. With wooden blocks, it’s easy to pull out the wrong knife, which can get annoying after a while. Thanks to the Mercer Culinary block’s transparency, I never had to guess which knife I was grabbing based on the handle. If you prefer a storage block that lets you see all the knives in the set in a single row, the brand also offers this set with a metal and glass stand.

Featuring hand-hammered steel blades and polished cocobolo wood handles, the knives included in the Miyabi Artisan 7-Piece Knife Block are absolutely gorgeous. More importantly, though, the blades are impossibly sharp, making them a true pleasure to use.

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A subsidiary of the German knife company Zwilling, Miyabi handcrafts its knives in Seki, Japan, relying on both traditional and innovative metalworking traditions. Incorporating the best features of Western- and Japanese-style knives, Miyabi’s full-tang knives are honed to a super acute angle (9.5 to 12 degrees) using a traditional process called honbazuke, after which they’re ice-hardened for better edge retention. As a result, the blades are next-level sharp and thin—but they’re also more delicate and prone to chipping. For example, you probably wouldn’t want to use them to cut through chicken bones and you especially wouldn’t want the blades to bump into dishes. The handles, too, require a little extra care. To ensure they maintain their color and sheen, you need to treat the wood regularly with oil (such as linseed) or wax.

If you’re willing to put in the extra care and maintenance, though, this set will reward you: Every blade passed its tests with flying colors. The chef’s knife chopped delicate herbs without bruising them and carved a roast chicken without tearing the crispy skin; the paring knife effortlessly minced shallot; and the bread knife, which has a wavy serration, sliced through crusty sourdough boules and Wonder Bread more cleanly than any other bread knife I tested.

Alongside the basics, the set also includes a multipurpose santoku knife, a honing steel and a pair of shears. (Unfortunately, the blades of the shears can’t be pulled apart, which makes it harder to clean them thoroughly.) As gorgeous as this set is, it does feature one curious design choice: The included bamboo storage block has more slots than there are knives. If you want the ability to grow your knife collection and keep all your cutlery in the same block, you might consider the extra holes a perk. If expansion isn’t in your future, though, the extra holes are unnecessary and a little unsightly.

Other Knife Sets I Tested

Out of the nine knife sets I tested, five didn’t quite make the cut:

Global 5-Piece Teikoku Knife Block Set:While I know and trust many home cooks who love Global knives, I found their stainless steel handles to be somewhat hard to hold. With the paring knife specifically, I struggled to get a grip on the handle because it felt too small, plus the blade was a little too thick for intricate tasks. That said, I fell in love with the set’s 5.5-inch vegetable knife, which made for the perfect petite chopper. (The handle also features a wider, easier-to-grip shape.)

Material Knives + Stand:I love the magnetic stand that comes with this three-knife set—it’s gorgeous, sturdy and easy to use. I liked the knives in this set too, which performed well across my tests. Ultimately, I eliminated this set because it didn’t offer as much versatility as others, plus the serrated knife’s 6-inch blade was way too short to slice across a standard sourdough loaf.

Made In Knife Set:This set doesn’t come with a knife block or storage solution (unless you want to buy it separately), so it already had a lot to prove to make the cut here. Though cute, these knives are a bit clunky and heavy, with overly thick blades that didn’t perform well when put through the paces of my tests.

Zwilling Four Star 8-Piece Knife Block Set:This is a popular, highly rated knife set, and yet I struggled to see the appeal in my testing. Though full-tang, the handles all felt hollow, which I found especially noticeable in the chef’s knife: The blade felt too heavy for the handle. Plus, the bread knife was too short to cut across a sourdough boule.

Wüsthof Classic Ikon 6-Piece Starter Knife Block Set:Given Wüsthof’s reputation, I expected to like this premium knife set more. Compared to the other knives I tested, the ones in this set felt heavy and unwieldy, and therefore difficult to hold and maneuver. Simply put, I don’t think they’re worth the $475 price tag.

How I Tested The Best Knife Sets

Knife sets come in a seemingly endless array of configurations and sizes. That said, most experts agree that you really only need three knives: a chef’s knife, a paring knife and a bread knife (also referred to as a serrated knife). My first step in determining the best knife sets was narrowing down the field. To this end, I took a few hard-line stances when considering prospective sets to test. One such stance: no knife sets with steak knives, which are best bought separately (if you want a set). After taking stock of top-rated sets and reading countless customer reviews, I ended up choosing sets containing between three and five knives, plus additional tools like kitchen shears.

Chef’s Knife

A chef’s knife is, hands down, the most important knife to have in your kitchen. To test the chef’s knives included in the various sets, I checked the balance of each by resting my index finger at the base of the blade and tried to balance the knife like a seesaw. If either the handle or blade is too heavy to balance, the knife will be harder to hold and maneuver.

Using a classic rocking motion, I sliced through carrots, evaluating how smoothly and cleanly each knife cut through the hard vegetable. Next, I finely chopped up a bunch of parsley with each knife, assessing whether the blade was sharp and precise enough to slice the tender herb without bruising. My last test was reserved for only the most promising chef’s knives: I challenged the top contenders to carving roast chicken to see if they could cleanly slice through the crispy skin and flesh without tearing the former. This test also helped me judge the grip of the knife handles.

Paring Knife

Thanks to their short blades and pointed tips, paring knives are ideal for cuts that require delicacy and precision, like peeling potatoes and segmenting citrus fruit.With each of the knives I tested, I started by peeling an apple to see how easy it was to maneuver the blade around a round object, and then slicing the apple. Next, I minced a shallot with each knife, using the classic crosshatch technique I learned in culinary school.

Bread Knife

Bread knives feature long, serrated blades—and in my professional opinion, those blades should be long enough to cut through an entire loaf of crusty bread. After taking stock of each knife’s length, I used them to slice a sourdough loaf, noting how efficiently they sawed through the bread’s hard crust and how much shattered crust each knife left behind. I then sliced through stacks of Wonder Bread to see whether the knives could do so without squishing the bread or yielding crumbs.

Additional Knives And Tools

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Because the three aforementioned knives are the most essential, they were the focus of my testing. That said, if a set included an additional blade or tool, I tried it out. With kitchen shears, I snipped herbs and cut the backbones out of raw chickens. With honing steels, I honed some of my older knives and then sliced an onion with the fresh blade. If a set came with a santoku knife, I thinly chopped ribbons of lacinato kale. With utility knives, I sliced cucumbers. To test the single boning knife, I butchered a raw chicken into quarters. With the single small serrated prep knife, I thinly sliced lemons and tomatoes.

How To Pick A Knife Set

If you still can’t decide which knife set is right for you, consider these factors:

Included Knives

Knife sets come in all different configurations and styles of knives—there’s truly no standard. At a minimum, all sets should come with the three essentials: a paring knife, a bread knife and a chef’s knife. Beyond that, some sets come with a utility knife, which is longer than a paring knife but shorter than a chef’s knife. Other knives you’ll see included in sets (though less commonly) are boning knives, which are ideal for those who do a lot of butchery at home, and fillet knives, which are designed for cutting fish and removing bones. The two most common non-knife tools are kitchen shears and honing steels, both of which are important (and the latter is necessary for knife upkeep). That said, you can always purchase these separately. Stephen Chavez, a chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, recommends buying a flat diamond steel for less than 20 bucks—he finds it’s slightly easier to use than a round one for most people.

And remember, quantity does not mean quality. Just because a set has 20 pieces doesn’t mean you need all those knives and tools.

Material

Most knives designed for home kitchens are made from stainless steel, thanks to its durability and corrosion-resistant properties. That said, you may come across knives made from carbon steel. While this material is harder and stronger than its stainless counterpart, carbon steel knives are generally more prone to discoloration, breakage and rust. Stainless steel isn’t necessarily better than carbon steel; the latter just requires a little extra maintenance. More importantly, make sure the knives you’re considering are “full-tang,” which means the steel runs all the way from the tip of the blade to the end of the handle.

As for the handle material, that comes down to personal preference. Some people prefer a rubber grip handle for comfort and safety while others are drawn to the gorgeous grain of polished wood. Just know that wood-handled knives are a little more finicky in terms of maintenance. If you want them to last, you shouldn’t leave them damp or lying around in the sink (but you really shouldn’t do that to any knife anyway).

Price

A set of knives should be thought of as an investment—something you’ll have and use and benefit from for many years. For a quality knife set with storage, expect to spend between $100 and $700. Of course, many sets fall outside this range, though you generally shouldn’t trust a knife set that retails for less than $100. If crafted and cared for properly, knives are designed to last. So while it’s important to take price into consideration, you also want to think about value. Remember: It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.

Block

Knife sets typically come with a convenient storage block with slots for storing your knives and tools. Angled blocks, wherein knives are stored diagonally, are the most common. With this style, it’s easy to pull the knives in and out, though these blocks take up a decent amount of counter space. Upright blocks, on the other hand, are more compact, though removing the knives feels less intuitive.

If a set doesn’t come with a block (or you don’t want to use the included block), just remember that you need an alternative storage solution. Universal knife blocks, which include multiple knife-sized slots and are built on an angle for easier access, are ideal for those who want to store their knives within easy reach on the countertop. If you’re short on counter space, a wall-mounted magnetic strip is a fantastic space-saving alternative. For those who’d rather keep their knives tucked away, in-drawer knife organizers with slots will keep your knives protected and out of sight. Just don’t keep your knives loose in your drawers unless you invest in knife sheaths to cover the blades. “That’s going to keep them from getting banged against all the other tools in your drawer,” explains Chavez.

Whatever you do, steer clear of knife blocks that have built-in sharpeners that claim to sharpen your knives as you insert and remove them from the block. “That’s going to damage your knife more than it’s going to help it,” says Chavez.

My Expertise

I use knives daily in my work as a food stylist, recipe developer and home cook. I also love to host big dinner parties at home—so much so, I wrote a cookbook about it. Among my favorite entertaining tips that I share in For The Table: Give each of your dinner party guests a paring knife so everyone can chop apples together for an apple crisp. (For this reason, I own many paring knives—specifically, these colorful Opinel paring knives.) I also used to work as a food editor in the test kitchen of Epicurious and Bon Appétit, where I tested and reviewed tons of different knives before finding the chef’s knife I’ve now relied on for many years, a MAC MTH-80. And last but not least, I was trained in classic culinary arts at the Institute of Culinary Education, where my instructors hammered home the importance of mastering a never-ending list of knife skills, even the obscure ones I’ve never once used outside of culinary school. (Who has time to tournée vegetables?)

To aid in my knife deep dive, I consulted three experts whose livelihoods rely on knives. First up was Stefano Diaz, the owner and head butcher of the Meat Wagon in Kingston, New York, who basically lives with a boning knife in his hand. I also spoke with Will Griffin, a former restaurant chef and current artisanal knife maker of W.A. Griffin Bladeworks, and Stephen Chavez, a chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, who spends many hours every day teaching knife skills to future chefs.

What Are The Three Knives That Everyone Should Have?

At a minimum, every home kitchen should have three knives: a chef’s knife, a paring knife and a bread (or serrated) knife. A chef’s knife is the most indispensable to any home kitchen, thanks to its size and versatility.A paring knife—ideally one with a thin, sharp blade and easy-to-grip handle—comes in handyfor smaller and more delicate tasks, like peeling apples. Last up is a long bread knife for sawing through crusty bread loves and slicing tall layer cakes. If you’re building your own collection of knives rather than buying a set, this is the one must-have knife you can save on, price-wise. In most cases, a long but simple, budget-friendly serrated knife with a plastic handle (the kind you might see at a deli) will suffice.

How Should You Take Care Of A Knife Set?

After using knives, hand wash and immediately dry them. Even if a set claims to be dishwasher-safe, you don’t want to run the blades through the dishwasher—the prolonged water exposure just wears them down more quickly. Additionally, you should never keep knives anywhere where their exposed blades could come in contact with other objects—like, for example, loose in a kitchen drawer without knife sheaths. “It dulls out your knife at a faster rate if it’s touching hard objects that are not on your cutting board,” Diaz explains.

It’s also wise to get in the habit of honing all your knives (except the serrated ones) with every use. To hone a knife, you slide the length of each side of the blade across a honing steel at about a 20-degree angle, which straightens the knife’s edge to help keep it sharp. So long as you maintain your knives on a daily basis, your knives should need to be sharpened only once a year.

What’s The Difference Between A Western-Style Chef’s Knife And A Japanese-Style Santoku Knife?

To the uninitiated eye, chef’s knives and santoku knives look pretty similar—and indeed, they’re not all that different. They’re both multipurpose knives designed to be the main workhorse in your knife arsenal. That said, there are a few key differences between the two styles. Generally speaking, Western-style knives feature thicker curved blades, which makes them heavier overall; Japanese-style santoku knives feature straight blades and are lighter, thinner and shorter.

So is one style superior? Not really—the best style for you is largely dependent on your slicing style. Do you adhere to the classic French technique of cutting, wherein you rock your knife up and down on the board as you slice through vegetables? If so, you want a Western-style chef’s knife in your collection, as santokus feature straight blades that aren’t conducive to rocking. For those who prefer to chop vertically, listen to Chavez: “If you’re a chopper rather than a rocker, you need a santoku knife.” That said, many people simply prefer the feel of Japanese-style santoku knives over Western-style chef’s knives, as the latter can feel unwieldy—especially to those with smaller hands. Ultimately, the right knife for you is the one that feels right in your hand.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Kitchens