BigBopper

I'm guessing Easton is about 90 minutes from me. There must be two warehouses in the region....a New England one near Cordelli and a NY area one near me.

I'd be more than happy to post when the Ny area one has a sale.

FYI-this one is located on route 9A in Elmsford, NY about 5 minutes from where 287 and 87 merge before the Tappan Zee bridge.

kipper

I'd happily go to both sales, assuming they aren't the same day.

cordelli

They moved part of their operation to Norwalk, CT a few years ago, so that's the one I'm referring to as the New England one. It's on Wilson Ave in Norwalk, I want to say 333 Wilson AVe but I'm not 100% sure.

I may have to hit the Elmsford one too next year, I take the train in from White Plains every day (wife works in Pleasantville).

crabbing

me too. actually, my spouse's incomplete set of cutco knives are more like 20 years old, yet require less maintenance and cut just as well, if not better, than my much younger henckels.

number_6

The ultra-expensive knives have 2 attributes that make them worth the money for professional use: they can cut in a single stroke, while lesser knives require multiple; and they can do it thousands of times. For home use that is rarely of any importance, though it can affect the joy of using the knife. For a professional chef, it can be indispensable. I realized this when chatting to a chef friend of mine, who has one knife just for cutting roast beef, uses it about once a month and it cost just under $1,000. It is used for "silver service" at large events; the waiters line up in front of him, holding a silver tray with a single piece of roast beef, and say a number (how many people at their table). The chef then cuts the beef into that many slices. He does 10 trays per minute this way -- or less than 1 second per slice. The knife is so expensive because it is that sharp, and also has special sides so that the meat does not stick (no suction). Unless you plan to serve 1000 people for dinner, there is no value in owning such a knife at home. An extreme example of how special knives can be, and why there will never be consensus on what is the "best" knife, or if that knife costing 10x or even 100x as much is actually "better".

Hawk Circle

How about something from Hattori Hanzo?

indianwells

I know you don't want £100 knives but in my opinion you only need one decent knife, along with a cheap paring knife and maybe a bread knife.
I recently dropped my 10 year old Henckels Santoku on my tiled kitchen floor and a big chunk of the handle came off. I glued it back on but it no longer "feels" right.
I decided to replace it with a Tojiro Senkou Santoku. It was razor sharp out of the box, scarily so. It feels perfect in the hand with the weight balanced towards the handle which I prefer. Prepping vegetables has become a joy rather than a chore. For 90% of my knifework this is the only tool i'll ever need. Did I mention it is beautiful too?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/i...2681&s=kitchen

aster

I would only buy ceramic knives today (forget metal ones), like those manufactured by Kyocera. They are absolutely fantastic and "lightsaber sharp."

number_6

They are fantastic, very sharp and strong when slicing, but they will shatter if you use them to twist, pry or chop as they are much less strong than metal in other planes. Great for slicing, but not for boning a chicken for example, or even chopping nuts.

scubadiver

I have to agree with Bourdain on the offset serrated, bread knife. I have a Spydco ceramic sharpener that'll work on serrated, so getting dull not a problem.

What it shines at is cutting stuff so soft a straight blade will bind: bread, obviously, but also stuff like an overcooked fowl that'll fall apart under a straight blade.

tcl

There are usually try-before-you-buy days at shops such as Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table and other high end retailers. Find out which ones feel better in your hand, balance well and practice slicing things like carrots and tomatoes. The carrot slicing would put pressure on one part of your hand and the tomato on a slightly different part.

I have a 9" Henkels-Zwilling 4*, an 8" Kyocera, a no-name German boning knife, a Chinese cleaver and a long serrated bread knife made by Sabatier (from one of their lesser known European collections).

The one I use the most is the 9" for almost everything, the bread knife and the Kyocera for fine slicing for Asian cookery. The ceramic ones are only for slicing and will chip/shatter even if bumped the wrong way during washing-up in the sink. I use the Chinese cleaver the least.

Good luck

*A Flyer

Japanese is the best way to go. The knives are a bit lighter and thinner than the German knives which mean the edge is sharper and they are more fun to use. I recommend Tojiro DP. An 8" or 9" knife will run you about $80 to 100. This is literally all you will need and will serve you well.

Globals are junk with awful steel that won't hold an edge.

afhstingray

i use kitchen devils. they're cheap. i got a 2 pc set from asda for 12 pounds, a chefs knife and a paring knife.

they're made by fiskars,the same guys who make the uber expensive knives. it dosent have that crappy serrated blade that the cheap knives have, so they are "proper knives"

b1513

I have Sabatiers, Henckels and Cutcos. To me, Cutco is the best. My husband prefers our Sabatiers that are 20 years old. I love Cutco.

Bobette

PittDoc

I've owned ALL of the above knives (German, Japanese, exotic high-carbon-only-can-buy-in-Japan-sushi-holy-grail-knives, etc.) and the one thing that makes the biggest difference day-to-day is my Chef's Choice electric sharpener on the countertop. I do a very quick light sharpening to my Henkels nearly every time I use them. The purists may complain that this will wear them down faster but I can only hope to live that long. I sharpen the exotic Japanese stuff by hand once a year, which is more than I actually use them.

The OP did mention a $$ limit. I suggest buying an Chef's Choice sharpener and a couple used German knives off Ebay (chef's knife and paring). Start with the once-a-year coarse setting to put a nice edge on them, then the finer settings and your good to go.