European-style is kind of a catchall term that is also referred to as German-, French-, and Western-style. And yet these terms are still commonly used, the distinctions notable enough that it’s good to have a sense of the main characteristics of each - especially when it comes to the chef’s knife in each of these sets. Are you always wishing you had a second chef’s knife so you don’t have to clean in between tasks? Does it turn out you’d benefit from a boning knife because you eat fish and chicken multiple days a week? From your core group, you can always add on as you see what your real needs are.Įuropean- or Japanese-style: This classification is a bit of a tricky one because not every knife falls distinctly into one category or the other (and some knives don’t fall into either). I’m of the opinion that, most of the time, it makes sense to buy a smaller core group - a chef’s knife, a paring knife, and a serrated knife - and then assess. For this story, I (and the experts I spoke to) leaned significantly toward the smaller end of that spectrum. Number of pieces: As I said before, knife sets can come with anywhere from three pieces to more than 20.
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But, of course, if you like the sound of any of these brands, you can browse all the other groupings they have to offer.īest overall | Best less expensive | Best simple | Best four-piece | Best with steak knives included | Best without a serrated knife | Best high level | Best for camping When talking to experts about their favorite knife sets, I went with the assumption that you’re starting completely from scratch or redoing the basic makeup of your collection. The key is to make sure you don’t end up with a ton of blades and accessories you won’t use. If you’ve ever browsed the kitchen section of any home-goods store, you know that a deal with a lot of pieces in it might seem initially appealing, but if you look closely, there are unnecessary parts that will inevitably go to die in your cutlery drawer. You can, in fact, find curated groups of many different compositions - three pieces all the way up to 20-something pieces, all chef’s knives or mixed kinds, ones that include sharpening tools and blocks and ones that don’t.
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So that raises the question: Should you buy each individually or together as a set? Obviously, the answer is not the latter if you’re just missing one or two specific types. It’s a common trope that knives are an extension of a cook’s hand - but while they are arguably the most important tool you can wield in the kitchen, you need only a few reliable ones to perform most cutting, chopping, slicing, deboning, and carving tasks.