Listen, if you’re a gourmet chef, absolutely invest in super-high-quality knives, because 1) you’ll need them and 2) you can justify them. I do a lot of cooking and I’m not quite to that point, myself, but the truth is that with a good knife sharpener you can do okay with whatever you have.
At some point, in a fit of aggravation with my knives, I bought the same Pure Komachi set that’s available on Sellout.Woot today for $20 (plus $5 shipping). Here’s what I can tell you about them:
1) They are surprisingly good. According to my Amazon history, I bought my set in October of 2010. I still use them every day and have no complaints.
2) They make my kitchen counter happy. I mean, look at them. Multicolor knives! Festive!
3) This set (without the bonus steak knives) currently costs $63 at Amazon while it’s just $20 with the steak knives at Woot, but take a look at the Amazon reviews—4.5 stars with over 200 reviews.
4) The knife block—or should I just call it a plastic dome?—is huge. Huge. We don’t use it; we use our old wooden block because I didn’t want to give up that much counter space. Be aware that it’s gargantuan.
I sharpen mine with this $6 knife sharpener and that’s all the maintenance I do. (Well, that, and I don’t put them in the dishwasher.)
I don’t always personally own products and deals I recommend here, but in this case, consider this a real testimonial. No, this isn’t a professional set, but for the average home cook, it’s quite a deal on a decent bunch of knives.
Says sold out. Sad panda.
Sheesh! That was fast.
So fast!
I want to find some good German knives – and yes, the key is not to tuck them (lazy me) in the dishwasher! I promise if I have a really good set – I will hand wash! I SO need a good storage idea for knives – I would not even give up wood block space…so mine are in a drawer (by their lonesome – but not good.) Thanks for your deal finds sharing – for years! I am so glad I finally see your feed again on FB (or am I? ;-))
A storage idea I’ve seen (but haven’t tried yet) is a magnetic strip on the kitchen wall above the countertop somewhere, for the knives to stuck to.
Ikea has a super inexpensive magnetic strip that I mounted just above eye level in the kitchen, and it’s FANTASTIC. Freed up a drawer and/or counter space and after I sponge clean knives in the sink they can drip dry from the strip. Seems safer, since knives never stay in the sink.
There are some similar well-reviewed knife sets on Amazon today:
5 knives @ $14.99 (Prime deal for another hour or so, then 19.99 on sale)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SM21JS0/ref=gbps_img_s-3_4742_24831b8c?smid=A19NVE4G6SOT2C&pf_rd_p=2417384742&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1MDNT806BJSJ7QZKF2DX
6 knives (+ guards) @ $19.73
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-Advantage-12-Piece-Knife-Bright/dp/B00FLQ4EE6/ref=pd_sim_79_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=412WD%2BRNLOL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0JQQK0QDNJFD2TPYCNEW
Both sets are pretty, but not as pretty as you!
Sam’s has a set of these knives. I think it’s 8 knives for about $20. I bought mine there last year and love them to pieces (see what I did there?). They sell out but this is the second time I’ve seen them, so if someone was hankering for a set and is sad they missed out this would be a great way to pick up a set.