Nice Knives

I love my kitchen knives. But then, I love to cook. If you're not passionate about cooking, you don't need lovable knives and happily, there are quite decent ones available at an affordable price. You don't need a complete set of name-brand, prestige knives.

Brands

The top brands, in my opinion, are Henckels, Wusthof, and Kershaw Shun. Victorinox Forschner are the best deal — very inexpensive, yet they consistently have scored top ratings in Consumer Reports and Cook's Illustrated. I haven't used them but I looked at them and they seem great, though not as fancy and stylish as some of the others. They are available in restaurant supply stores and at Smart and Final.

I think it's very important to handle the knife before you buy. This is one time where mail-order is not a good idea.

Which Knives Do You Really Need?

Knife sets in the big wood block are usually not a deal because they include knives you don't need. It also restricts you to one manufacturer. Buy a piece at a time and you can get just the ones you will use, and can select the model and manufacturer you like best for that piece.

My favorite knife is the Kershaw Shun Santoku -- the 6.5-inch one without the scalloped cuts (the "Granton" edge). It is not cheap but it's always sharp, extremely well balanced and easy to control, and looks terrific.

If I could have just one knife it would be an 8- or 10-inch chef's knife. I use the Santoku more, but the chef's knife is the most versatile and that is what I would get first, if I could just have one. I have a Henckel's but if I were buying one today, the Shun Kershaw would be a prime candidate.

My second knife would be a 4-inch paring knife. I love the Henckels but have not tried the Shun. Alton Brown's Shun line includes some with an angled handle and those look like a great idea. But they're pricey.

My next addition would be a decent bread knife. This would be the only one with a serrated edge! You can get by with a pretty inexpensive bread knife. I had a Tri-Star for years and it was just fine. I have a Chef's Choice now, which is of finer quality and not a lot higher in cost.

Finally, I would add a boning knife, which has a thin, flexible, sword-like blade to maneuver around bones. But you don't really need one.

Add a Steel

You absolutely must get a steel. Use it every time you use the knife and you will not need to sharpen the knives for a long time. A sharp edge naturally receives microscopic dings and the steel straightens those out.

To use a steel, run the edge over the steel, with the steel matching the angle of the knife's edge. There are many ways to do this. The classic way seems insane to me: You hold the steel in one hand and the knife in the other and pull the edge along the way from tip to hilt — in other words, toward you. Hullo??

I do something similar but I stroke the knife away, with the edge away from me.

This video, by Alton Brown for Shun knives, shows another safe way. He holds the steel vertically with the tip against a cutting board and strokes the knife down.

Sharpening

Most experts recommend professional sharpening but there is an alternative: The Chef's Choice knife sharpener. It's the only home sharpener I would recommend and has also fared well in reviews. The two-stage version is fine; the three stage model adds a coarse sharpening stage which is useful for dull and abused blades. The Chef's Choice makes an edge that is very, very close to what a good pro can do and because you have it at home, you will be more inclined to sharpen more often than if you always had to take the knives somewhere.

More: Sharp Knife Tips