(Part 2) Best paring knives according to redditors

At this point, I'd only really recommend Shun and Global, in that order. I started with Wustoff, and they did me alright, but I just don't like how their steel holds up, and really, I find the traditional European handle/bolster/spine to be really uncomfortable. Both Global and Shun make wonderful products, but I find the handles on Globes to be too skinny. Plus, as a super-mega-bonus, Shun allows you to return your knives back to them for the entire lifetime of the knife for sharpening, for free (you pay shipping to them, that's it.) It's painless and relatively fast.

They also have a much shallower angle on the edge, which I LOVE, though some people (usually those who are set on Wustoff/Henkles) only like a deeper edge. But goddamn they cut like butter. The only problem with the shallower edge is that you definitely don't want to A) use an electric sharpener on them (the edge is asymmetrical and the commercial ones out there don't have the proper angle) which is alright as they sharpen for you for free at the factory, and B) definitely DO NOT use a magnet hanger with these things. You'll bend the edge. If you go to Bed Bath and Beyond, you'll see it. They hang them all on those damn magnets and it ruins the blade. Get a nice block, or just get a Kapoosh (I have one and it works).

Look, if you want to completely flip his lid, this is all that any home chef really needs (IMO):

Shun 7" Santoku, hollow ground. This is my goto knife in the kitchen and it can do just about everything. I use it on 80% of what I do. When I upgraded from the standard Safeway $11 chef's knife to the Wustoff is was an amazing, night-and-day transition. The heavens opened up and I saw the light (and more importantly, what a sharp knife could do for you). When I bought this 7", it was exactly the same transition, only higher up. The balance, sharpness and quality of this knife over the Wustoff was what I had been looking for and it was every bit worth the money. Someone here mentioned that everyone needs a 10". This is overkill. It's like cutting onions with a samurai sword. While it looks cool, all the extra effort you need to exert for those extra 3 inches just fatigues the wrist and arm, which is not something you want when prepping a lot. 7" FTW.

Every chef needs a 7". Whether it's a european chef's knife or a santoku is up to the chef, though you'll notice that santoku's keep getting more and more popular every year. I think there's a reason for this.

So, too, does every chef need a good paring knife. They go hand in hand and you cannot do without one or the other. My 7" handles 80% of the work load, my paring knife handles 15%.

Shun also makes a wonderful 4" paring knife That's not very expensive. This thing will get in and get out, work in all the small spaces it needs to and do it with deft and ease. It's light, doesn't have much mass, and again, Shun's steel is wonderful (in my eyes).

The last 5% is for a good cleaver. Don't be fooled by big money in this category-- the cheap ones are the best. You don't need super knives here, they're for doing the hearty, down and dirty, bone-breaking work, and the nice steels wont hold up to this work. This is the greatest cleaver ever in the history of mankind. I have the No. 3. It is quite possibly the best $11 I've spent in the kitchen. I'd gone through about 5 cleavers before I found this one, all of them failed to hold up. This knife holds it's edge forever (seriously-- in the 5 years I've had it, I've only sharpened it once), it's got the heft you want in a cleaver and it's ridiculously comfortable to hold. I would suggest this with everything I have.

So there you have it. I firmly hold, and you will find others to agree, that all you need in the kitchen is a really good 7", a good paring knife and a quality, cheap cleaver. That's it. All those $600 sets with every kind of knife you could imagine are nonsense. I got a nice $150 boning knife as a wedding present and I've used it all of twice in two and a half years. Same with my carving knife. You just don't need them. They're totally nice when the need arises, but about 95% of the work in the kitchen can be accomplished by those three tools.

Take it as you will, and I wish you many fine meals prepared by him!

I'm certainly no expert on the matter but I only have a few knives from Victorinox and I love them. They're consistently rated as one of the most value-worthy knife purchases by lots of cooking magazines and websites. I'd say just buy what you will use, what's the point of buying a set and having a few knives sit idle?

Amazon link

the global paring knife I have is the first 'good' knife I ever bought and despite my large collection (bigger now than when this photo was taken) it's still my favorite. It's durable as fuck and I regularly open #10 cans with it and it's never chipped or lots the tip. The handle is very ergonomic imo, but some people find it weird.

If you dont wanna spend so much, I also own several Victorinox paring knives. They're inexpensive, hold an edge well, and don't break.

you definitely aren't looking for an usuba at that price, just a heads up

could go for something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Kai-6716N-Wasabi-Nakiri-2-Inch/dp/B000YL4NYO/

it's not the best knife but it'll be at the very least passable

I have a 7" Henkle Santoku in my knife block that I find myself reaching for 75% of the time.
http://www.amazon.com/Zwilling-J-A-Henckels-7-Inch-Santoku/dp/B0000DDVFV/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1417457606&sr=1-2&keywords=henkel+santoku
The santoku is a great alternative to the chef's knife.

I also have a small Shun paring knife.
http://www.amazon.com/Shun-VB0700-Paring-Knife-2-Inch/dp/B00BQ83CBY/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1417457698&sr=1-3&keywords=shun+paring

I can get pretty much anything I want done with those two knives. I also went paleo and rarely, if ever, pull out my bread knife.

This chef's knife. Unless you want to spend more money then I highly recommend this one which is literally the best knife I've ever used.

This paring knife. It will change your life.

This serrated. Don't spend a lot of money here because once they are dull they are a pain to sharpen.

If you want to spend less and just get a good all-round pair of knives I'd recommend the 8" Victorinox chefs knife and the 3 1/2" pairing knife. These are the only 2 higher quality knives I own and I use them for pretty much everything. Buy these two and a steel and you're set.

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-40520-Fibrox-8-inch-4-inch/dp/B007CMNK2E/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1405883846&sr=8-6&keywords=8%22+victorinox

If you want something with a bit more heft then sure look into the bigger brands but as someone who has been building a passion for cooking, these knives are just great.

As for what you would specifically need, depends on what you cook/cut the most. Most often a chefs knife and pairing knife are really all you need unless doing some sort of specialty cutting. Some knives might do a better job but unless you have the money to buy the special knives there's really little reason.

Cook's Illustrated has a lot of reviews of kitchen items, including knives. I have the magazine somewhere, and they chose one of the Victorinox Chef's Knives as their best value - performed almost as well as the higher-end knives but only $30 (at the time). I believe it's this one that's currently $40 on Amazon. The link above goes directly to their summary of their chef's knife criteria/testing, though unfortunately you need to subscribe to get full access to the website etc. etc. They do have a very thorough description of what they look for in a knife, and might help you in your general "What should I look for in a knife" question.

I've heard from multiple places that the average user only really needs 3 knives: a chef's knife, a paring knife, and a bread knife. I think bread knives are pretty hard to mess up - I just bought a bagel knife from my local superstore and called it a day. My current set of knives is actually a set of Kiwi knives that are very nice and sharp, but were really cheap at my local Asian store. I have this for my chef's knife (bought for $4 + tax) and this for my paring knife (bought for $2 + tax). They've served me well so far, and like I said, they're nice and sharp (though my paring knife has dulled since my roommate ran it through the dishwasher :( ). The only thing I dislike about them is that they're on the thin side. While I wouldn't call them flimsy, I am a bit afraid to use my Kiwi knives on something more difficult, like cutting up a pineapple. They do great on my veggies, though. If you have an Asian supermarket near you, maybe check if they have them?

!id:zh

It's 星邑 ( Xing Yi ) made in China.

e.g. amazon.com

!translated

Shun knives are absolutely hands down my favorite! They're light, excellently weighted, super sharp, and very comfortable in your hand. However all of this comes at a price, but it's WORTH IT! Free lifetime sharpening... just box them up, send them off and they do it for free.

I also have a couple of Miyabi Morimoto knives.. love the paring knife. The Miyabis will be a bit heavier than the Shuns as IMO they're a little lower quality but only by a fraction.

Having used Henckels and Wusthofs as well, I still prefer the Japanese knives. That said I did pick up a ZJA Henckels serrated knife because the price was right. It does its just very well but feels a bit heavy to me.

If you want something cheap just to try out the profile, I would suggest the Kai Wasabi Nakiri. Is it the best thing since Betty White? No, but it gets the job done and will give you an idea if the profile is something you want to explore further.

HumbleHulk is right. To get the "From The Manufacturer" section (or as Amazon calls it "A+ Content") you need to be a Vendor. (Vendor meaning you are a direct wholesale seller to Amazon, and Amazon then acts a retailer and sells your products to customers.)

A+ Content is a feature specific to Vendors, but Sellers have a similar feature called "Enhanced Brand Content" (EBC). EBC if used correctly can be just as effective as A+ content. EBC takes place of your Product description, and allows you to customize your product page with different modules. Below is one of my favorite examples.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N03ONDG/

-J


​

I decided that I'd procrastinated long enough and finally took the plunge and bought a decent chef's knife. First impressions are WOW... this thing is an absolute pleasure to cut with. But now I need to get a decent cutting board, wood preferably, one that will be kind to my new knife.

Edit, as a summation from all the advice here, and my size needs, I decided on this Ironwood Gourmet Acacia Wood Square End Grain Chef's Board. My kitchen is very tiny, or I would have gotten the larger one.

In accordance with NotYourMothersDildo's suggestions I'm also getting one of these J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star 10-Inch Honing Steel

As for a place to put them, I'm grabbing one of these MIU 3527 15-Inch Stainless-Steel Magnetic Knife Bar Holder and just because I need a paring knife too, I'm getting one of these Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star 4-Inch High-Carbon Stainless-Steel Paring Knives

Thank you all for your advice :-) I'll wait another hour or two incase I get better suggestions, but these are all the items in my cart at the moment....well not 'all' but the ones pertaining to this thread.

Get a Tramontina Century. The steel is maaaybe a tad softer than on a Victorinox Fibrox, but in a beater that's not even a bad thing. They're well-made, look good and perform great for the price.

But is it a "Forged In Fire" knife? https://www.amazon.com/HISTORY-Forged-Stainless-Paring-2-Piece/dp/B07KRK22ZQ

They even cut through another knife in the ad. (I know its just an infomercial).

Here's what I did recently. I bought one of these Victorinox Fibrox 20cm chefs knives (£22), one of these Fibrox paring knives (£3) and then spent the rest of my budget on this Wusthof Classic 22cm (£75).

My reasoning was that I have a quality chef's knife (the Wusthof) that will hopefully last for a long time. I also have a cheap but decent "beater" chefs knife (the fibrox) which I can use if I am chopping something where my skill level might not be good enough and there's a risk of me damaging the knife. The paring knife I will likely lose or leave it behind somewhere, so at £3 I really don't care that much.

For sharpening / honing - the Wusthof ceramic honing rod (about £30) and some wet stones (about £22) seem to do the trick, though I have a lot to learn about how to use both.

So for a total outlay of less than £150 I am pretty well covered for now.

I'm assuming because it's a stamped blade. Forged blades tend to be a bit thicker along the spine and thus more rigid.

You might like something like this.

Just an FYI on all the recommendations for the Victorinox, it is recommended by America's Test Kitchen based on out of the box sharpness and they rated back when it sold in the high $20 range, as opposed to the $40 range that it sells for now.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great knife in the price range and I bought one for my Mom. But it does tend to lose some of its sharpness as you would expect from a stamped knife. Granted it, it extremely sharp out of the box, so you have some time on it. Also, be aware that it is very light, which is actually a good thing if you are doing a ton of prep work, but a lot of home chefs have the feeling of weigh=Quality & control.

If you are willing to spend $35 on a knife, right now I would buy this knife over the Fibrox.

My Ex-GF had this knife from Cuisinart as stayed perfectly usable with a few times over a hone with each use.

> I want to add a smaller 5-6" knife for smaller tasks where a Western 8" is overkill- would this be a petty knife?

'Petty', yes, a larger one. Or a Nakiri which is a vegetable knife and suitable for smaller tasks.

> thinner/faster chef knife

Definitely Gyuto. Around 220mm is my suggestion.

> good starter utility/petty knife

As an experienced western style user I always recommend a 3.5 to 4 inch paring knife. Victorinoxm for cheap, Henckels for more $.

After many years of working with what I thought were decent knives in my home kitchen (major European brand) knives, even sharpening them, they weren't up to some of the tasks and dulled quickly. Over time they degraded and weren't first quality although I paid a pretty penny for them at the time.

Spend some time researching and a bit more money for a first quality chef's knife and paring knife. It will last you your lifetime.

I finally settled on this for a chef's knife: its the best of both worlds, imo.

https://www.amazon.com/Mac-Knife-Hollow-Chefs-8-Inch/dp/B000LY29NQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1511524128&sr=1-4&keywords=mac+knife

There are a lot of considerations like type and treatment of steel, angle of the blade, balance and heaviness. Many of the Japanese knives are very thin and brittle, so their use as chef's knives require a lot of skill and care. This particular one is more 'European style' while incorporating the steel grade and angle qualities that maintain sharpness. It stands up to the heavier tasks well, like cutting through winter squash, and zips through chopping of onions or slicing softer fruits and vegetables well. There are many other brands of course.

and this for a paring knife:

https://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0716-Classic-4-Inch-Paring/dp/B0000Y7KNG/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1511524218&sr=1-4&keywords=shun+paring+knife

Here is where the Japanese blades shine. Super sharp and thin blades are ideal for paring. Again there are many other brands, these were just my choice.

Knives like these are incredibly sharp and stay that way. I've really hurt myself switching over from dullish knives to these. I got these until my skills improved. They are great. I don't use them as much anymore, but still do for particular tasks.

https://www.amazon.com/NoCry-Cut-Resistant-Gloves-Performance/dp/B06X1FBX81/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511524746&sr=8-3&keywords=metal+kitchen+gloves

Hopefully this gives you a little food for thought.

I'm struggling a little to make sure I'm buying the Victorinox Fibrox knives.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-Parer-3-blade-Black/dp/B0002HPHQI/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-19cm-Chefs-Knife-5200319W/dp/B00300S400/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-Bread-Knife-21cm-Serrated/dp/B000IAZCIM/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-Utility-Knife/dp/B00HE96AF4/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-Plastic-Handle-Set-Parers/dp/B001DFRW5W/

Any ideas how I tell what's fibrox and what isn't? I don't actually know what fibrox is.

here are some I found on Amazon right now in the prime day sale

this has a nice shape, size and good steel.

https://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Cooking-Chopper-Stainless-Ergonomic/dp/B07RMY3DPH/ref=sr_1_11_sspa?

​

these steak knives look good and you can sharpen them on the same machine you sharpen your chef knife on.

https://www.amazon.com/Steak-Knives-Set-Stainless-Dishwasher/dp/B07PDN19BQ/ref=sr_1_17?

​

nice little paring knife

https://www.amazon.com/VIBON-Inches-Paring-Vegetable-Cutlery/dp/B0798MPVZW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?

​

and you have money to spare. maybe go a bit higher on your chef knife or buy 2.

step 1: don't buy a knife set... you can accomplish 99% of kitchen tasks with a good chef's knife and a paring knife. knife sets tend to contain lots of stuff that one may never need (eg: a butcher knife)

for under $100, you could get a Global chef knife + paring knife or a Shun chef knife.

I love my Global knives; I chose them mainly because they are a single piece of stainless steel and I get skeeved out about bacteria hiding (so you could
put them in the dishwasher if you wanted to, tho I don’t). They were fairly affordable and have a modern / minimalist style.

Currently I have the 8” chefs knife and bread knife (just amazing). We lost a santoku and a western paring in a cross country move and I will probably replace the paring with the exact same and the santoku with another regular global chefs knife just because I like the look; I don’t think they were substantially better than a competitor of the same style and I didn’t have much use for the santoku.

https://www.amazon.ca/Mercer-Culinary-Non-Stick-Sheaths-Multicolor/dp/B01MEGP385/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1501391139&sr=8-6&keywords=mercer+paring

Pairing knives are deemed disposable items since they are so cheap. Cooks usually buy a 3 pack or whatever brand is cheapest and throw them out once dull.

That being said. Most knives from a good company are bifl if you take care of them. (Knives are literally steel with a wood/plastic handle riveted on them, neither really breaks if you don't drop it.) Kitchen knives's intended purpose is to cut food, anything harder than a butter nut squash is deemed too hard.

All knives dull, it's just how it works. Hone it once in a while and sharpen it on whet stones once honing doesn't work.

I knowww. My boyfriend loves the heavy knives, such as the Wusthof Ikon and this Cuisinart, but I fell in love with the look of the Wusthof Santoku and now that's my go-to knife. It helps that I am able to find Wusthof blades for relatively cheap.

• Shun 6" Chef.
  
  
• Pairing knife.

Thanks again for all your help, everyone. I talked with her some more and she mentioned that she's actually much more comfortable with santoku knives than chef's knives (and neither of us are professional cooks so the possible slight loss of versatility shouldn't be too much a problem), so I ended up going with this Victorinox santoku, blade guard, and a Wusthof paring knife. Aaaaand looking at the order I realized I forgot to get a sharpener god damn it. Although some people have been saying sharpener bad, honer good. So, for someone who enjoys cooking but is an absurdly busy grad student, who likes caring for materials to be simple as possible, is there any consensus on what the best intersection is between quality, cost, and simplicity?

I know you're joking but here.

Bit of a knife beginner. My chef's knife is this one:

http://www.zwilling.com/en/press-knives-details/items/zwilling-pro-form-perfected-434.html

And my paring knife is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Miyabi-Morimoto-Edition-2-Inch-Paring/dp/B003U76B1W/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1408123059&sr=1-6&keywords=miyabi+paring

I've been using Kiwi knives for years. They are incredibly cheap and razor sharp. I buy them at Asian supermarkets for around $5, but they can be found on the internet too (for a little more money). I own the square santoku, the pairing knife, and the pointy slightly curved one. Coupled with a diamond steel I bought at home depot a decade ago I spent less than $50 total. The edge on these knives is very thin and easily damaged (like a razor), but this was only a problem when I lived with roommates who would jam my knives in with the silverware in the dish rack...not so much with proper handling. I made blade covers out of cereal box cardboard and scotch tape when we were traveling in our rv, and I keep them in a knife block when I'm at home.

I also own a few really expensive knives from my cheffing days. I originally bought the Kiwi knives so I wouldn't care about them getting ruined by improper handling, now the fancy stuff just stays in the block.

edit:also worth noting is that I have never sharpened these knives (6+years), but I do use the diamond steel on them about once a week.

Victorinox makes the best serrated paring knife EVER

I have cut aluminum tubes, rope, wood, anything, and it's practically just as sharp as the day you bought it.

These things are like serrated razor blades, throw away all your steak knives right now, and buy some of these

I carry a victorinox. It cuts through whatever you've got like it's butter.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LRYEJU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_TBTQBbMYNT053

Perhaps more on the utility knife side of things then. Closer to a 4 1/2" blade length give or take. I have a Chicago cutlery paring knife for the kitchen and have used and maintained it for 20+ years. Not being a professional chef, I'd rather spend a couple of seconds maintaining an edge on a knife that I like than spend time shopping for another piece of future landfill.

Any way, I'll probably end up getting the Farberware Pro Paring Knife unless something else pops up in the near future.