High-quality, super-sharp kitchen knives make culinary tasks easier and safer. (Did you know that dull knives are actually more dangerous?) While many home cooks will fare just fine with basic chef’s, paring and serrated knives, investing in a set, housed neatly in a handsome knife block, offers versatility — and, for real cooking nerds, even joy — to meal making.
To help you choose the best knife set for you, we spent the past several weeks testing 17 of the top-rated knife sets. We chopped, diced and sliced, loading our cutting board with fruit, veggies, herbs, bread, meat and cheese to see which blades did the best job. In the end, we came up with three winners any home chef would find to be … er … a cut above the rest.
We were impressed by the sturdy construction, ergonomic handles and sharp blades of this set, which includes just about every knife you could ever need.
This handcrafted set is elegant, sophisticated, ergonomic and super sharp. It includes the three basic knives that a serious home cook needs.
Best overall knife set: Chicago Cutlery Fusion 17-Piece Knife Block Set
$130 $110 at Amazon
First things first: Of the 11 knife sets we tested, this was one of the cheapest. For under $150, you might reasonably expect they’d be lower quality than their more expensive counterparts. You’d be wrong. We were blown away by the sturdy construction, comfort of use and reliable execution that came with each piece in this all-inclusive set. True, there were sharper, higher-quality knives in several of the other sets we tested, but when it came to overall rankings, performance and consideration of cost, the Chicago Cutlery Fusion 17-Piece Knife Block Set was the clear champion.
One big plus to this set is its whopping 17 included pieces. Besides the classic — and heavy — chestnut-stained wood block, you get a 7 3/4-inch chef’s knife, 7 3/4-inch serrated bread knife, 7-inch santoku knife, 5-inch santoku knife, 5-inch utility knife, 3 1/4-inch paring knife and eight — yes, eight! — 4 1/2-inch steak knives, plus a sharpening steel and chop assist. The only thing missing is kitchen shears, but you can add a pair like these OXO Good Grips Multipurpose Scissors to your utensil drawer later.
The blades are forged of high-carbon, rust-resistant stainless steel. The padded polyethylene handles are comfortable to grasp and don’t slip, even after they’ve just been hand-washed. And, yes, tempting as it may be to throw your knives into the dishwasher, these knives, like pretty much all the ones we tested, should be carefully hand-washed to preserve their longevity.
Among the four core knives we tested, the chef’s, paring and utility knives got average points for slicing, dicing and mincing through onions, carrots, tomatoes, apples, herbs and everything else we threw at them. The Chicago Cutlery’s serrated knife is exceptionally sharp and took practically zero effort to drag through a few-days-old loaf of crusty bread and slice uber-thin pieces from a tender tomato or peach, but it required some pressure to push through a cantaloupe.
Another bonus: These knives stay sharp. When we did the paper test — in which the ability of the knife to easily slice through a piece of basic printer paper without snagging or catching shows it’s properly sharpened — these knives passed with flying colors.
Also putting Chicago Cutlery over the top were all the extras: The steak knives easily sliced through grilled filet mignon, and the two santoku knives were handy for cutting up beef and broccoli for a stir-fry, slicing cheese and scooping everything off the cutting board. (Santoku knives, by the way, are similar to chef’s knives but have thinner and wider blades with no tip and often have small divots on the edges to keep food from sticking to them. They’re great for slicing, chopping and dicing, and thanks to their wide surface, for transferring food from your cutting board to a pan or bowl.)
In a sentence, if price point is as important to you as quality, add this knife set to your shopping cart, stat. Again, there are higher-performing individual knives on our list, but as a whole, we were impressed by the completeness and overall execution of this wallet-friendly set.
Runner-up: Zwilling J.A. Henckels Pro 7-Piece Knife Block Set
$680 $370 at Sur La Table
When you’re seeking out knives that are super sharp, durable, ergonomic and will last a lifetime, we highly suggest you stop and give this standout set a good look. Complete with an 8-inch chef’s knife, 4-inch paring knife, 5 1/2-inch prep knife and 8-inch bread knife, plus shears, a sharpening steel and a 16-slot hardwood bamboo block, it received excellent scores on performance and quality.
This set was made in Germany by Zwilling J.A. Henckels, which was founded back in 1731. We appreciated that the company provided a very thorough use-and-care guide, including sharpening instructions and safety advice with the knives.
The chef’s knife, which has a wide curved blade, excelled at rocking back and forth for mincing parsley or garlic or slicing onions without lifting the blade off the cutting board between cuts. With its super-sharp edge, it rarely required any pressure to cut through foods and it practically dropped through a head of lettuce. The chef’s knife is typically the most used knife in a home cook’s block, so the fact that this was the standout piece in the set shows that Zwilling knows what matters most.
At 4 inches, the paring knife was bigger than those from most of its competitors, and the height of the blade seemed gigantic — basically twice the width of other paring knives. In fact, it seemed more like a mini chef’s knife. The chunky blade, while very sharp, made it difficult to core a tomato or hull a strawberry and less than ideal for removing the peel from an apple or a potato. However, it worked better than the smaller paring knives we tested when it came to chopping small items like garlic cloves and shallots. The utility knife, meanwhile, easily sliced cheese and salami. And the serrated knife sailed through angel food cake and a loaf of crusty French bread.
The knives are designed with a sloped bolster to support the “professional pinch grip” — where the thumb and index finger rest on either side of the blade to give you more control over cutting. We found it helped to make the knives comfortable to use when chopping and slicing onions and carrots and mincing parsley.
The factors that ultimately kept this set from being our winning pick? It includes only four knives for its hefty price, a sharpening steel that we consider extraneous, and a pair of shears that were uncomfortable to use and seemed oddly mismatched with the rest of the set (read: different, lower quality). Still, the quality of the knives and handles makes the investment worth it.
Best luxury knife set: Wüsthof Classic Ikon 6–Piece Starter Knife Block Set
$415 at Wüsthof
Time and time again, when we picked up a knife from this set, we said, “Ah! This feels perfect in my hand.” Perfectly balanced with blades that are razor-sharp, each of the knives in this set were our favorite in its category. This German-made, handcrafted set includes the three basic knives that every home cook needs: an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 3 1/2-inch paring knife and an 8-inch bread knife. It also includes kitchen shears, a 9-inch honing steel and an 11-slot acacia block that gives you room to add to your collection. Yes, this set is pricey, but if you can afford it and are serious about cooking, it’s well worth the big bucks. With its high quality, it should last forever, but if you have any issues you can call in the lifetime warranty (on workmanship and materials under normal conditions).
The full-tang — meaning the blade is a solid piece of metal from the tip all the way through the handle — and triple-riveted composite handles are made for serious wear and tear yet look sleek. Two bolsters, one between the handle and the blade and another at the end of the handle, are responsible for their impressive balance. The handles fit perfectly in a woman’s hand, but one male tester wished they were a smidge more substantial. Like most of the sets in our testing pool, the blades are forged from a single piece of tempered, high-carbon stainless steel, making them stain and corrosion resistant.
The chef’s knife, or “cook’s knife” as Wüsthof calls it, was the heaviest knife we tested, but because it’s so well balanced, it was comfortable to work with, and the heft makes it a wise choice for chopping vegetables, mincing parsley and more. It glided through onions, potatoes and tomatoes, took corn niblets off the cob with ease and sliced through the tough rind of a pineapple like it was nothing. The paring knife fit comfortably in our hands and is the perfect shape for peeling an apple or a potato. It also easily sliced everything we tested it on: limes, oranges, strawberries, carrots, zucchini, radishes, you name it. The serrated bread knife drew right through baguettes, making us dream of a second career as an apprentice in a French boulangerie.
As for their performance when tested against the same never-been-used blades? We couldn’t suss out any difference in sharpness by touch, how well it chopped up onions, carrots and tomatoes or from the paper test, which both used and new Wüsthof knives slashed through.
Wüsthof proudly makes these blades in Solingen, Germany — the steel manufacturing capital of the world — where it has been headquartered since its inception 200-plus years ago. The fact that the set includes just three knives and comes with a $475 price tag kept it from being our overall winner or runner-up; however, if money is no object, we think this elegant set is well worth the investment. In our opinion, it’s simply the best knife set you can buy. And that’s not to mention that it will look like a crown jewel on your kitchen counter. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself continually seeking out new things to chop.
How to pick a knife set
How many knives do you need?
Sets consist of as few as three knives to as many as 20 pieces, including an assortment of knives, a butcher’s steel, shears, steak knives and a storage block. Don’t automatically assume more pieces are better. The bigger the set, the more room it’s going to require in a kitchen drawer or on the countertop. Consider the tools that are included and whether or not you need them. A utility knife, which is a little longer than a paring knife, and shears are items you’re likely to use often. Santokus are all-purpose knives that are nice to have, especially for slicing. But you may never use a boning knife, and we consider a sharpening steel of minimal benefit. Today, virtually all high-quality knives are made from high-carbon stainless steel. The carbon makes them easy to sharpen and helps them keep their edge while the stainless prevents discoloration and rusting.
Construction
Knife blades are either forged or stamped from steel. Forged blades are hammered out of molten metal, while stamped blades are punched out of a large sheet of steel. In general, forged blades are sturdier, easier to control and hold an edge longer. Between the handle and the blade, they have a bolster, which is a band of metal that strengthens the knife, helps to balance it and protects your hand. Forged knives have a full tang, which means the blade runs all the way through the handle. When you use a forged knife, you can sense that the handle is controlling the knife. But you will find it heavier to hold, less flexible and more expensive. You may feel a stamped blade is more comfortable to hold and maneuver, especially for tasks like peeling an apple, coring a tomato or working around bones.
Style
Western-style knives are thick and heavy as they originated in Europe, where cooks prepare lots of root vegetables and large cuts of meat. They often have a curved blade to make it easy to rock back and forth when you’re cutting and mincing. Asian knives, which were designed to cut fish and make precise cuts, are lighter and thinner and have blades with less of a smaller angle. While they’re comfortable to work with, they’re more delicate and have to be handled carefully. Don’t even think of using one to hack through a butternut squash or the backbone of a chicken.
Feel
You’re the one who’s going to be using the knives, so it’s important that they feel comfortable in your hand, especially if you’re going to be chopping and slicing large quantities in one session. Factors like the size of your hand, the type of grip you use, and what types of food you prepare will affect your preference. When you pick a knife up, it should rest comfortably in your palm or between your fingers if you use a pinch grip. The knife should be balanced, meaning neither the handle nor the blade is heavier than the other. Pick up the knife and grip it lightly at the point where the blade meets the handle to see if it will seesaw. A balanced knife will remain level in your hand, while an unbalanced one will teeter down on one side, indicating either the handle or the blade is heavier. A well-balanced knife reduces hand fatigue, especially when you’re cutting a mountain of vegetables, and gives good control, which is especially important when you want to cut precisely, let’s say to turn carrots into matchsticks or onions into little cubes.
Storage
A storage block that sits on your countertop is very handy for keeping your knives accessible as well as protecting their blades from being dulled or nicked in a drawer or accidentally cutting you as you reach for them. However, a block eats up counter space and not all are aesthetically pleasing, especially if they’re branded with the manufacturer’s name. Blocks that are designed so that the knife handles point toward you make it easy to grab the one you want but aren’t compact. Slim blocks that sit at the back of the counter are less obtrusive but make it harder to remove a knife as you have to lift it straight up and may have to move the block forward. If you opt to buy knives without a block, we urge you to buy an in-drawer storage organizer like this bamboo one. Another space-saving option is to install a magnetic strip on the wall. But keep in mind that to remove a knife you either have to lift it straight up or use some force.
Sharpening
We can’t say it enough: Nothing is more important than keeping your knives sharp. The most well balanced, comfortable to hold, sharpest-out-of-the box knives are pretty much useless once their blades get dull. If you’re not willing to be diligent about sharpening, it doesn’t pay to spend a lot on a knife set. Over time, you’ll feel your knives getting duller. When they no longer easily pierce the skin of a tomato or slice through a sheet of paper, it’s time to resharpen the blades. Depending on how often and how much you use them, you’ll need to sharpen them anywhere from once a month to every year. We recommend that you invest in a handheld, or even better, an electric sharpener that holds a blade at a fixed angle as you pull it through the mechanism, and use it regularly. You can’t rely on a butcher’s or honing steel to maintain your blade.
How we tested
We spent weeks testing these knife sets, comparing each model by the same criteria, including overall performance, build quality, added accessories and warranty, and taking detailed notes on how specific knives functioned based on everything from sharpness and materials to heft and hand-feel to how they looked and the usefulness of any included extras. We ordered two of each set so that after spending several days slicing and dicing our hearts out, we were able to compare the used knives’ sharpness to their just-out-of-the-box twins.
As avid home cooks, we already spend a significant amount of time in the kitchen, but as our dining room table became overtaken with woodblocks filled with knives to test, we quickly found ourselves continually looking for things to chop. Who wants an apple peeled, cored and diced? What can we make with minced garlic and minced onions? Need another slice of crusty bread? But ultimately, a decision had to be made. Here’s how we broke down our evaluation:
Overall performance
- Chef’s knife: This standard tool is made to take on most of the bigger jobs in the kitchen. Its weight makes it easier to chop loads of ingredients in one go, say, for a big pot of soup or to roast a bounty of potatoes and vegetables. We tested chopping through meat, tomatoes, onions, carrots, herbs and more, noting the knife’s design, grip, weight and general feel, and then we noted the ease of drawing the blade through the various food items.
- Paring knife: A paring knife needs to be nimble, precise and feel good in the hand. So, for this knife, we cored and peeled apples and tomatoes, and minced shallots and garlic to evaluate its performance and feel.
- Utility knife: These knives are made to take on all the random jobs that no other knife feels right for — the chef’s knife is too big, the paring knife too small. Too many items to list, including tomatoes, cheddar cheese, oranges and salami, were used to test how easily this knife could live up to its name.
- Serrated knife: Serrated knives are made to cut through things that you can’t press down and through easily, like crusty baguettes, angel food cake and cantaloupe. We looked at the ease of cutting through these difficult foods, as well as how thin we could slice something softer, such as a tomato.
Construction
- Quality: We took into account the quality of materials, including blade and handle construction.
- Feel: So much of handling a kitchen knife depends on how it feels in your hand, so we paid special attention to the heaviness of the blades and handles, maneuverability, weight distribution and ease of sliding the knives in and out of their blocks.
- Knuckle clearance: Not all knife handles are created equal, so we measured whether or not our knuckles or fingers hit the cutting board while chopping.
- General looks: Aesthetics are important, especially for utensils that will sit out on your countertop 24/7. While we realize taste is subjective, we noted our general reaction to how nice they looked.
Accessories
- Some sets were very simple with just a few items, while others included a full array of steak knives, shears, honing steels, boning knives, slicers and more. We looked at what was offered and how useful those items were.
Warranty
- Stuff happens, so we noted warranty information. (Tease: Most had limited lifetime warranties.)
Other kitchen knife sets we tested
Shun Classic 6-piece Slim Knife Block Set
$480 at Amazon
There’s no denying it: These are the sharpest knives we have ever used. Handcrafted in Seki, Japan, the durable, beautiful and razor-sharp Damascus stainless steel blades had us oohing and aahing at their ability to perfectly slice through everything. The paring knife, for instance, was so sharp that as we used it to core a tomato, we found it was shaving skin off our finger from the slightest touch. We also swooned over how the knives felt in our hands. The pakkawood handles were heavy, but the knives remained well balanced. So, why was this not among our winners? The pricey set comes with just three knives: an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 3 1/2-inch paring knife and a 7-inch santoku knife. It also includes a slim dark-wood knife block, which we liked, but the included honing steel and shears felt like afterthought additions. If you’re looking for pure sharpness, though? Shun is the winner, hands down.
Calphalon Classic Self-Sharpening Stainless Steel 15-piece Knife Block Set
$270 $149 at Amazon
First, this is just a really solid set of knives. It scored high points for the amount of tools you get, including an 8-inch chef’s knife, an 8-inch bread knife, a 6-inch utility knife, a 7-inch santoku knife, a 3 1/2-inch paring knife, eight steak knives and kitchen shears. We were also really impressed by the unique self-sharpening block that also features a modern wood finish. Admittedly, we thought the claim that the block’s built-in ceramic sharpeners would work with each use was a gimmick, but we were quickly impressed that the knives really did seem to get sharper every time we chopped and sliced. Cool, huh? As far as performance, the all-stainless steel, full-tang knives handled well and felt balanced, though they did feel overly heavy in our hands. We also appreciated the fact that the handles are labeled so you can quickly grab the correct knife. So,- why wasn’t this set a winner? The metal handles were much less comfortable than the rubber- and wood-handled sets. They felt very slick in han—d, making for an unsure grip.
Cuisinart C77SS 15-Piece Stainless Steel Hollow Handle Block Set
$90 $69 at Amazon
These knives scored lower on performance than most models. They weren’t as sharp, the hollow metal handles felt too light, causing an imbalance, and they tended to get slippery when wet. But if you’re on a budget and moving into your first apartment, we could see how this 15-piece knife set would still seem appealing. Besides the value price, it features lightweight, dishwasher-safe stainless steel blades that will cover your cutting needs. You get an 8-inch chef’s knife, an 8-inch slicing knife, a 7-inch santoku knife, a 5 1/2-inch serrated utility knife, a 3 1/2-inch paring knife, a 3 1/2-inch bird’s beak paring knife, an 8-inch sharpening steel, household shears and a block to store them all in. Our favorite? No. But decent for newbie cooks? Sure.
AmazonBasics Premium 18-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set
$76 at Amazon
When variety is key to your cooking game but staying on budget is too, you’d be wise to consider picking up this basic but useful 18-piece set. Besides the fact that you get a whole lot of knives — 8-inch chef’s, 7-inch santoku, 8-inch slicing, 8-inch bread, 5 1/2-inch utility, 6-inch boning, 3 1/2-inch paring and eight steak knives — plus kitchen shears, a sharpener and a rubber-wood storage block, the quality here for the price is respectable. The full-tang stainless steel blades are matched with triple-riveted, ergonomic handles. And while we had to put more elbow grease into our chops than we did with higher-end models, they generally performed well, especially the chef’s knife. Overall, this is a nice starter set for those testing the knife-set waters, but more serious cooks will likely want sharper tools.
Dalstrong 5-Piece Shadow Black Series Knife Block Set
$347 at Amazon
We must admit, when we unboxed this midnight-black set noted by the company for its “menacing design,” we were prepared to be underwhelmed. Our aesthetic biases had us thinking these would prove to be more flash than performance, though we know some will dub the highly stylized look as awesome. Our biases were so wrong. The geometric design of the military-grade G10 handles actually fit really comfortably into our hands, and their slight texture made slippage a nonissue. The full-tang, titanium nitride-coated German steel blades were razor-sharp and excellent at chopping and slicing everything we threw at them. So, what didn’t we like so much? The curved blade of the chef’s knife was helpful in chopping, but its thinness made it feel a bit light. In fact, the heavy handles, paired with thin blades, seemed to affect the balance of the knives. And at a rather hefty price, it includes just five knives — chef’s, paring, utility, serrated and santoku — plus a honing steel. Then again, if your home decor is Kylo Ren meets Jacques Pépin, put these on your wish list immediately.
Vremi 10-Piece Knife Set
$16 at Amazon
If you know a college student who has made the move from their dorm to their first apartment, this set of kitchen knives would make a fine housewarming gift. And as that student may have learned during a leadership course, it’s best to offer some words of praise first. These knives are pretty. They’re BPA-free and come with matching sheaths so they can be easily stored in a drawer, saving precious counter space. They’re stainless steel and nonstick, and the set includes a chef’s knife, paring knife, carving knife, serrated knife and utility knife. But when it comes to performance? Well, they’re pretty much worth their budget price tag. They didn’t feel especially sharp out of the box, our fingers smashed against the cutting board as we chopped and the blades felt heavy compared to the plastic handles, which threw off the balance of the knives in our hands. We also had to push hard to cut our way through crusty bread, tomatoes and more. Overall, they get a passing grade, but just barely.
Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Forged Knife Block Set With Glass Block
$137 at Amazon
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder: What one person may deem stunning, another will see as gauche. Take this knife set from Mercer. Its unique, vertical tempered glass block had one family member wrinkling his nose with distaste, two teenagers dubbing it “sick” (a good thing) and one who kept waffling between “so cool” and “trying too hard.” But whether or not you like the look of the glass block, no one can argue that these are great knives. Nice and sharp out of the box, they’re made using high-carbon German steel, a bolster for support and Santoprene handles with full tang, offering fairly even weight distribution. They feel a little light but worked well on everything we tested them on. With the set, you get five knives: an 8-inch chef’s, an 8-inch bread, a 6-inch boning, a 5-inch utility and a 3 1/2-inch paring, plus that controversial holder. Our final opinion: While we decided the glass block does look pretty cool, giving the illusion that the knives are floating in air, having to pull the knives straight up vertically to remove them means you always have to move the block out from under your cabinets with each use — not ideal. The set also only contained five knives, one of which was a boning knife that doesn’t see a lot of use, and the smaller, rubber handles weren’t especially comfortable.
J.A. Henckels International 15-Piece Statement Knife Block Set
$345 $130 at Amazon
This solid, versatile set landed in the middle of the pack. With 15 pieces — an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 3-inch paring knife, a 5-inch serrated utility knife, a 7-inch santoku knife, an 8-inch bread knife, and six 4 1/2-inch steak knives, in addition to a sharpening steel, kitchen shears and a hardwood block — we gave it high marks for all its useful add-ons and accessories. Made of honed stainless steel blades and curved plastic handles with full tang, the chef’s knife was our favorite, though it felt a bit light in the hand. Overall, the knives were sharp out of the box, look nice in their wood block and come with an affordable price tag when on sale, which seems to be most of the time at most retailers. We weren’t crazy-wowed, but we weren’t disappointed, either.
Ginsu Chikara Series 8-Piece Forged Knife Set With Toffee Block
$144 at Amazon
Forget about those old infomercials that touted Ginsu knives for their prowess at cutting through cans. Although Chikara is among the less costly sets we tested, it’s a serious collection of well-balanced forged knives. They’re lighter in weight and their resin handles have a smaller grip than European-style knives, which makes them a good choice for cooks with petite hands who don’t like working with a hefty knife. In addition to chef’s, paring, utility and bread knives, you get a 7-inch santoku to slice meats and veggies for a stir-fry and a serrated utility knife that is great for tomatoes or cheese, as well as a honing rod and a wooden storage block. What you don’t get is a long serrated bread knife. While you can use the saw-toothed utility knife to slice tomatoes or cut a loaf of French bread, it’s not long enough to use on a whole melon, a round loaf of sourdough bread or a lofty angel food cake.
MAC Professional Series 3-Piece Knife Set
$340 at Amazon
These Japanese knives have handles and blades shaped like traditional Western knives but are incredibly thin and sharp. When you prep with them, they virtually glide through whatever you’re cutting, requiring no pressure to cut cleanly and allowing you to work very quickly and precisely. We were able to cut onions and tomatoes into such thin slices we could see through them and carrots into a teeny-tiny dice. However, the chef’s knife is noticeably light and is not the tool to use for quartering a chicken, cutting through lobster shells or dealing with hard vegetables like rutabagas and squash. In this set, you only get the three basics: chef’s, paring and bread knives. There are dimples on the 8-inch chef’s knife to help prevent friction and keep food from sticking to the blade. What MAC dubs a paring knife has a 5-inch blade that is the standard size of a utility knife. It’s nifty for slicing cheese or salami but is a little too long to pare an apple and too narrow for dicing a shallot. The bread knife is long and curved, and unlike many serrated knives, which saw rather than slice, it glides through foods; it’s the only one we tested that didn’t leave serrations on the flesh of a cantaloupe. Cooks with big budgets who are looking for precision tools will love working with these MAC knives but will have to spend even more to supplement with a heavy-duty knife and a storage piece.
Made In 4-Piece The Knife Set With Block
$535 $459 at Made In
This is one of several sets we tested that are sold directly to the customer by companies established to offer high-quality kitchen equipment at a good price by eliminating the “middleman.” Forged in France, the knives in this set are very aesthetically pleasing with rounded handles that are available in red, blue or black polymer or olive wood. The 8.5-inch chef’s knife has a wide curved blade and sloping bolster, and we could really get it rocking back and forth when we minced garlic, sliced onions and cut basil into ribbons. For removing the skin from an apple or segmenting oranges, the 3.8-inch paring knife is perfectly sized. The set also includes a 9-inch bread knife and a 6-inch nakiri, which has a wide rectangular blade for slicing vegetables. Rather than a traditional wood block, Made In provides a magnetic beechwood stand that can sit unobtrusively at the back of the countertop. As you can line up the knives anywhere on its surface, it’s easy to identify the one you want; however, to remove a knife, you have to pull straight up or use some oomph to remove it. The Made In logo engraved on both sides of each blade is attractive and contemporary, but it is prominent. While not cheap, this is a nice-looking and professionally performing assortment of knives.
Material The Knives + Stand
$275 $245 at Material
From the moment we received the box, we were wowed by this set, which comes in packaging that gives you the same special feeling you get when you open a new iPhone. The 8-inch chef’s knife, “almost” 4-inch paring knife and 6-inch serrated knife impressed us with their sharpness. The rounded matte handles — available in black, white, sage or mocha — provide a secure grip. Without a doubt, the standout piece is the chef’s knife, which has a sloped bolster to give you a spot to comfortably place your fingers when using a pinch grip. It glided through paper from the tip to the heel and virtually slid through ripe tomatoes, large onions and tough carrots. We also liked the paring knife, which has a rounded blade, making it good for mincing just a few sprigs of parsley or a single garlic clove. While the serrated knife is sharp, it’s short. Its scalloped edge easily sliced tomatoes and long, thin loaves of Italian bread but didn’t fit over a whole melon. The magnetic stand is compact and attractive, and you can choose between white ash and walnut. Though this set, which is sold only from the Material website, is not inexpensive and doesn’t include any extras like a sharpening steel or a shears, it’s not as costly as the more well-known brands and is an excellent alternative for cooks looking for a high-quality version of the basics.
Misen 3-Piece Essential Knives Set
$205 at Misen
While Misen, a direct-to-consumer company, calls these three knives the essential set, we could quibble. It includes an 8-inch chef’s knife, 8-inch serrated knife and a 5 1/2-inch utility knife but not a paring knife. The utility knife is shaped like a chef’s knife with a wide, slightly rounded blade; it’s very useful for slicing cheese and sausage and chopping a small onion, but it’s difficult to use for coring a tomato, peeling an apple or segmenting an orange. While it’s a more substantial tool than a paring knife for your money, you can supplement the set with an inexpensive parer. With riveted handles — your choice of black, red or blue — noticeably sharp blades and a sloped bolster for pinch gripping, this is a well-thought-out and well-constructed trio of tools. The chef’s and utility knives whizzed through a sheet of paper, and we reduced a mound of parsley to confetti in seconds using the chef’s knife. Crusty bread and spongy cake were no problem for the serrated slicer.
Victorinox Swiss Classic 9-Piece Cutlery Block Set
$246 at Victorinox
Talk about utilitarian! This set is designed for functionality, not to look beautiful. To give you a good grasp even when your hands are wet or greasy, the polypropylene handles are textured and have recesses for your fingertips. The stamped blades are thin and razor-sharp, and the knives are lightweight so they’re easy to maneuver. With the chef’s knife, we sliced tomatoes and onions paper-thin and carrots into itty-bitty squares. The paring knife is especially nimble, so we could thinly peel an apple in one continuous spiral and easily release orange segments from their membranes. However, these knives are noticeably lighter than the others in our testing pool, and we had to exert more pressure for tasks like mincing herbs and cutting through crusty loaves. We’d be wary of using the chef’s knife to cut up winter squash or chop up chicken bones for soup, as the thin blades could easily be damaged. You get a lot for your money with this set, as it includes an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 3 1/4-inch straight and serrated parers, a 4 1/2-inch serrated utility knife, a 6-inch utility knife, a 6-inch boning knife and an 8-inch bread knife, as well as a steel, shears and wooden block.