Knives

corblimey

Not the usual 'which knives should I buy' post, but er... which knives should I buy? :eek: Okay, the sticky above seems to be all about brands, but I'm trying to decide which actual knives I should be getting. I seem to use my 5inch 'paring?' knife most of the time when preparing meat and veg but this is mostly cos it's the only one that's still sharp from a cheap Argos knife block.

If I get a good 4inch paring knife and a good 9inch chef's knife, I'm thinking that should cover most of my needs (chopping and preparing meat and veg, serving cooked food, carving roasts, slicing and mincing garlic and chilis, etc). Anything else that might prove useful (I remember a thread from ages ago where someone touted their love for their cleaver for all jobs big and small); anything I'm missing? What size knife do you get most use out of?

denat

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=548526

the beer revolu

I rarely use anything but a short paring/veg knife and a 10" chef's chopper.
Oh and a bread knife.
I like Analon knives and Victorianox.
Also have a few paring knives - one always to hand - and a steel in a convenient place so you use it all the time.

The Sweeper

Chef's knife gets by far the most use in this house.

corblimey

So basically a short (4-5in) paring knife and a nice big (9-10in) chef's knife should cover me for most kitchen based shenanigans?

biko

I never use a chefs knife any more, just a serrated pairing knife for everything, meat, bread, veg, ...

OldGoat

12" Chef's knife for practically everything. I have an 8" second one for those occasions when you need another knife. The drawers have an array or carvers, cleavers, boning, filliting knives but the chefs knife is always the first to hand. Even if I'm cooking in someone elses kitchen I bring my knife with me.

Ddad

corblimey wrote: »

So basically a short (4-5in) paring knife and a nice big (9-10in) chef's knife should cover me for most kitchen based shenanigans?

Yup, victorinox are great and cheap (relatively) I use a global chefs knife for home and a larger victorinox for heavy duty stuff at work. Small knives are all victorinox. Get a good knife sharpener, a steel needs a bit of skill, the knife sharpeners don't and IMO they tend to work better for most home users.

Musashi

I like a paring knife, Chef knife and Large Chef knife. Nice to have also is a good fillet knife for fish and boning out meat, a Petty (larger parer for general duties), a Santoku instead of the smaller Chef (and a Gyuto for the larger chef) and a folding hocho for picnic and cooking in other peoples houses.

http://www.agrussell.com/ag-russell-mini-folding-hocho/p/AGhhh136VG10/

katiemaloe

I reckon the two you have already mentioned plus a small serated knife and possibly a big bread knife. You'll be sorted for everything then. My knives are all Wusthof and they are great but I got a present of a global and its fab! Happy chopping