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hibbs00

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I'm looking for a set of knives with the block under $300
Problem is I want a good set of knives but all I can find are stainless or high carbon. I know some will say just get 1 or 2 really good knives but even then, I don't have a block for them. I want something I can show off and look good on the counter. Anyone have any suggestions on what to get?
 
I have never heard of Mack knife before. Does anyone know if they are good or not? They look basic. I don't even see what steel they are made from...
Those are super nice but I'm looking for knives under 300. Those blocks are just under 300
 
Ok what about knife sets? I'm looking for a good quality set of knives I can show off that comes with a block. Are there affordable carbon steel sets out there? All I can find is high carbon (which I believe is just still stainless steel. Is this right?) And regular stainless steel
 
Perhaps better fill in the questionnaire.
What should be in the set?
Just as many knives as I can get for preferably $200.
Carbon steel if possible. I was kind of looking at this set but I'm no pro on knives, I don't know if they would be good.

Babish High-Carbon 1.4116 German Steel 14 Piece Full Tang Forged Kitchen Knife Set W/Sheaths https://a.co/d/6wp61iV
 
Hi, as suggested above, filling out the questionnaire would be helpful. I’m not aware of any non-stainless sets sold in a knife block at any price point.

You also probably won’t get many people who are excited about knife sets here. Most have bought knives one at a time based on lots of preferences.

If you want to display knives and you want to keep the budget under $300 and you want carbon, your best bet is probably a magnetic bar and a couple of individual knives.
 
Hi, as suggested above, filling out the questionnaire would be helpful. I’m not aware of any non-stainless sets sold in a knife block at any price point.

You also probably won’t get many people who are excited about knife sets here. Most have bought knives one at a time based on lots of preferences.

If you want to display knives and you want to keep the budget under $300 and you want carbon, your best bet is probably a magnetic bar and a couple of individual knives.
I was afraid of that. Thank you. That's actually really helpful
 
I mostly agree with the others, but ask yourself:
-Why are you looking for a set in the first place?
-Why are you opposed to stainless?
-Why do you want carbon?

Generally I agree with the others; I have yet to see a set I would recommend to anyone. For storage you can buy standalone magnets, blocks, magnet stands, etc.

Focusing too much on 'getting a full set with all the best and whistles within that 300 euro budget' will likely just end up with buying some sleezily marketed Chinese made crap that you'll regret later, and is really a waste of money.
 
Just as many knives as I can get for preferably $200.
Carbon steel if possible. I was kind of looking at this set but I'm no pro on knives, I don't know if they would be good.

Babish High-Carbon 1.4116 German Steel 14 Piece Full Tang Forged Kitchen Knife Set W/Sheaths https://a.co/d/6wp61iV
My guess is that the only box that that set would tick would be the 'many knives' box.
 
I mostly agree with the others, but ask yourself:
-Why are you looking for a set in the first place?
-Why are you opposed to stainless?
-Why do you want carbon?

Generally I agree with the others; I have yet to see a set I would recommend to anyone. For storage you can buy standalone magnets, blocks, magnet stands, etc.

Focusing too much on 'getting a full set with all the best and whistles within that 300 euro budget' will likely just end up with buying some sleezily marketed Chinese made crap that you'll regret later, and is really a waste of money.
A set is mostly just so I have what I need in the kitchen. I cook a lot. Carbon steel because it's easier to sharpen and gets much shaper than stainless.
I'm realizing a set probably isn't the way to go but I don't have storage room to store single knives without the proper block
 
-You can buy seperate storage solutions, you don't have to buy a set for that. In fact, blocks coming with a set are usually highly limited.
-Even if you cook a lot you don't necessarily need a gazillion knives, and usually about half the knives in any given set are superfluous.
-Carbon steel is usually indeed a bit easier to sharpen but the difference compared to good stainless is not that massive. And the idea that carbon gets sharper is also fairly negligible when you're comparing it with good stainless instead of just junk.

If I were in a position where I was limited in how many knives I could own due to storage limitations I'd probably lean strongly towards (semi)stainless actually.
 
-You can buy seperate storage solutions, you don't have to buy a set for that. In fact, blocks coming with a set are usually highly limited.
-Even if you cook a lot you don't necessarily need a gazillion knives, and usually about half the knives in any given set are superfluous.
-Carbon steel is usually indeed a bit easier to sharpen but the difference compared to good stainless is not that massive. And the idea that carbon gets sharper is also fairly negligible when you're comparing it with good stainless instead of just junk.

If I were in a position where I was limited in how many knives I could own due to storage limitations I'd probably lean strongly towards (semi)stainless actually.
Semi stainless, do you mean like high carbon?
Also, not looking for a ton of knives, just basics. I was looking at the MasterChef show set on their website. The block perfectly fits each knife. But that is kind of a lot of knives. My thinking is if it's good enough for MasterChef, they must be good. They are also made by global. Also looked at the babish set with the magnetic block. Those are high carbon. I really like the "clef" knife they offer.
 
Consider buying a basic empty block (https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hyvla-knife-block-bamboo-30293898/)

Then, look for a handful of knives: (1) chef knife/gyuto; (2) bread knife; (3) paring knife; and maybe (4) utility knife ~150-170mm. That would cover most peoples' needs.

Stainless isn't the devil, and stainless knives can be great knives.

If you really like something that you've seen advertised, there's nothing wrong with buying what you like. But understand that they are probably selling to you based on look/brand instead of quality.
 
'High carbon' is a useless marketing term that isn't really legally defined anywhere, so it's utterly meaningless. Knives sold with that label can vary widely in carbon content, with plenty of them being utter trash.
Similarly, the amount of carbon has no relationship to the amount of chromium (the element normally used to make knives stainless). In that sense 'carbon knife' is a bit of a confusing misnomer, since it's really used to just indicate a non-stainless steel (absence of chromium).

Semi stainless is a bit of a loose term... indicating not necessarily having chromium in the 15% range that most would consider a 'proper' stainless knife, but something in between. So for example SKD steel has around 5% chromium, which gives it some reduction in reactivity compared to a knife that has no chromium - though nowhere near as much as a 'proper' stainless knife, while still giving sharpening properties closer to a carbon knife.
 
Also, not looking for a ton of knives, just basics. I was looking at the MasterChef show set on their website. The block perfectly fits each knife. But that is kind of a lot of knives. My thinking is if it's good enough for MasterChef, they must be good. They are also made by global. Also looked at the babish set with the magnetic block. Those are high carbon. I really like the "clef" knife they offer.
Are you joking? TV show / celebrity knives are just a cash grab. You're just paying for the name. A lot of them are just Chinese trash they sell with a ridiculous margin. You'd be far better off getting something cheap and utilitarian like Victorinox.

And buying knives based on what block they come with is like picking cars based on the size of their glove department.
You also don't need to spend a fortune to get decent knives... but part of that is knowing what you want / need, and what your usecase is. For example someone who debones chickens 3 times a week might like a pretty decent boning knife, someone who does it once a month might choose to get a cheap utilitarian one and put most of their budget into their chef knife instead, while a vegetarian won't need one at all.
 
If you really like something that you've seen advertised, there's nothing wrong with buying what you like. But understand that they are probably selling to you based on look/brand instead of quality.
That's what I'm afraid of. I would think MasterChef, a very successful show, would give the contestants good knives but I have no way of knowing for sure.
I do have a wusthof chef knife that I like a lot. Also just got a really nice Japanese knife. I forget what kind. I know it's carbon steel though. I break down a lot of whole chickens so I need a boning knife or decent utility knife for that job so I don't have to use my chef knife. Other than that I just have a cheap set of knives from Ross someone gave me lol. So definitely not great knives
 
That's what I'm afraid of. I would think MasterChef, a very successful show, would give the contestants good knives but I have no way of knowing for sure.
They will give their contestants whatever earns them the most money. So in the past they used Global because Global paid the most money to have the knives in their show. They'll use <insert brand of pans here> when <insert brand here> pays them more money than <competitor X>. Le creuset didn't show up in a million cooking shows just because the producers liked Le Creuset. It showed up because Le Creuset actively put that there, by donating all the gear, or if that wasn't enough, sponsoring in cash.

Now that they've branched out into selling 'their own stuff' (which is really just Chinese OEM stuff with their logo on it) it's simply a business decision to use their own show as advertisement for their 'own' gear.
I do have a wusthof chef knife that I like a lot. Also just got a really nice Japanese knife. I forget what kind. I know it's carbon steel though. I break down a lot of whole chickens so I need a boning knife or decent utility knife for that job so I don't have to use my chef knife. Other than that I just have a cheap set of knives from Ross someone gave me lol. So definitely not great knives
If you can photograph it we might be able to identify it.
It also helps if you at least know what you do and don't use much from the knives you have.
 
They will give their contestants whatever earns them the most money. So in the past they used Global because Global paid the most money to have the knives in their show. They'll use <insert brand of pans here> when <insert brand here> pays them more money than <competitor X>. Le creuset didn't show up in a million cooking shows just because the producers liked Le Creuset. It showed up because Le Creuset actively put that there, by donating all the gear, or if that wasn't enough, sponsoring in cash.

Now that they've branched out into selling 'their own stuff' (which is really just Chinese OEM stuff with their logo on it) it's simply a business decision to use their own show as advertisement for their 'own' gear.
I didn't think of that. That's a great point. I bought a hexclad pan and absolutely love that thing. They have some really nice damascus knives I thought about but I don't know much about damascus.
If you can photograph it we might be able to identify it.
It also helps if you at least know what you do and don't use much from the knives you have.
Not the greatest picture. I can take another one if needed
 

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Your wusthof chef knife is likely much higher quality than the MasterChef/Babish knives that caught your attention.

If you want carbon, look on ebay for a Forgecraft boning knife, hopefully around $25. They are durable and easy to sharpen vintage knives.
My wusthof days high carbon also so I get confused. It is a great knife though.
Thank you! That would be great if I could find one there that's affordable. Thank you!
 
Your wusthof chef knife is likely much higher quality than the MasterChef/Babish knives that caught your attention.

If you want carbon, look on ebay for a Forgecraft boning knife, hopefully around $25. They are durable and easy to sharpen vintage knives.
 

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I didn't think of that. That's a great point. I bought a hexclad pan and absolutely love that thing. They have some really nice damascus knives I thought about but I don't know much about damascus.
There's really nothing special about their knives; it's just your bog standard Chinese made cheap damascus knives that are meant to look like a cheap imitation of Shun knives.
FWIW damascus is something that's generally not that exciting; on the majority of remotely affordable knives it's just made with pre-made laminates and the damascus cladding is purely decorative, and has 0 impact on performance or quality of the knife. So even on Japanese knives it's purely aesthethical.

The pans... nothing special either. It's just overpriced cheap non-stick crap, that will eventually stop being non-stick just like all the other stuff. The only reason Ramsay endorses it is because they paid him enough money to endorse it. He'd call pineapple 'the rolls royce of pizza toppings' if Dole paid him enough money for it.
Not the greatest picture. I can take another one if needed
Yeah the pictures aren't great.... but looks like at least a half-decent santoku?

So what I'd do is instead of trying to somehow waste your money on buying an entirely new set, just working off what you already have and expanding upon that. See what you like and don't like about what you already have, and go from there. For storage there's a plentitude of options that will work with what you already have; just make sure there's some 'room to grow'.

So for example, I'm not the biggest fan of Wüsthof knives, but they are sturdy as hell... so that's the beater knife box checked. If you have a boning knife that works great for you, no need to go replace that... the majority of chickens in the world are taken apart with cheap Victorinox boning knives and equivalents... using a fancy Japanese honesuki might be more pleasant but it really won't make the job a whole lot easier or faster.
 
With that budget, better have one decent carbon chef's. And a SP2k and SG4k to add to your SP1k. And a loupe and a red sharpie. For storage, make your own cardboard edge guard.
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My wusthof days high carbon also so I get confused. It is a great knife though.
I've seen pretty much everything from 0,25% to 3% marketted as 'high carbon'. Since there'se no legal definition of what constitutes 'high carbon' manufacturers can use it for whatever they want, hence rendering the term meaningless.
 
There's really nothing special about their knives; it's just your bog standard Chinese made cheap damascus knives that are meant to look like a cheap imitation of Shun knives.
FWIW damascus is something that's generally not that exciting; on the majority of remotely affordable knives it's just made with pre-made laminates and the damascus cladding is purely decorative, and has 0 impact on performance or quality of the knife. So even on Japanese knives it's purely aesthethical.

The pans... nothing special either. It's just overpriced cheap non-stick crap, that will eventually stop being non-stick just like all the other stuff. The only reason Ramsay endorses it is because they paid him enough money to endorse it. He'd call pineapple 'the rolls royce of pizza toppings' if Dole paid him enough money for it.

Yeah the pictures aren't great.... but looks like at least a half-decent santoku?

So what I'd do is instead of trying to somehow waste your money on buying an entirely new set, just working off what you already have and expanding upon that. See what you like and don't like about what you already have, and go from there. For storage there's a plentitude of options that will work with what you already have; just make sure there's some 'room to grow'.

So for example, I'm not the biggest fan of Wüsthof knives, but they are sturdy as hell... so that's the beater knife box checked. If you have a boning knife that works great for you, no need to go replace that... the majority of chickens in the world are taken apart with cheap Victorinox boning knives and equivalents... using a fancy Japanese honesuki might be more pleasant but it really won't make the job a whole lot easier or faster.
From my understanding, Ramsay owns part of hexclad. That was a big reason I got it. I figured he must really like it if he bought some of the company. Either way, doesn't matter.
For the knives, I kind of like the magnetic blocks but I hear they kind of suck. For breaking down chicken I usually use the wusthof or a cheap chef's knife I have. I don't have a boning knife yet. I'm just tired of sharpening the knife after breaking them down to get it's really sharp edge back
 
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