<p>I myself have had Henckels for around 18 years, and they’re – all right. I also have a brand new Pampered Chef chopper that’s really good, but that might be only because it’s new and sharp as can be.</p>
<p>DS is probably going to move into his own place in the next few months and I’d like to get him some good knives that he’ll have for a lifetime. What’s the recommendation?</p>
<p>And, what’s the best way to keep them sharp? I’m not a fan of the honing tool, and it’s become difficult to find a knife sharpener craftsman.</p>
<p>I have Global knives and love them. H uses Kramers. A lot depends on the person using them and hand size. If you have a Sur La Table in your area they have good knife people and offer a class that not only teaches how to use them, but lets users try several different brands.</p>
<p>I use Wusthof Classic knives. I use a steel on them (which does not sharpen, but keeps the blade straight) frequently. I take them to be sharpened about once a year, maybe a little less frequently.</p>
<p>I do have one 8" Victorinox chef’s knife, which is very nice.</p>
<p>Take reasonable care of these knives, and they should last a lifetime.</p>
<p>He could start out with a chef’s knife and a paring knife. You can get by with a cheaper serrated knife for a while. Those three would start him out, I think. Depending on his hand size, he could pick out exactly what size.</p>
<p>I have the Wusthof classic also. They are a huge improvement over the cheap store brand knives that I put up with for a long time. For starter knives, I’d suggest one 4-6" paring knife and one Japanese style cleaver with the little divots along the blade (technical term there…lol). It’s my go-to knife for veggie chopping, meat chopping, chicken dis-jointing, etc.</p>
<p>I’ll second the Global knives. We have several, eight maybe, collected over many years and are very pleased. DH has a diamond hone electric sharpener that he uses to sharpen them about once a year. I agree he can start with a couple and then fill in.</p>
<p>Best knives for most people would be Henkles, Wusthoff, or Global “forged” knives. Best sharpener for most people will be a Chef’s Choice electric diamond hone.</p>
<p>NOTE: I crossed posts with i’dad. They are the same brand, just a different model so I’m sure very similar. I do know you can use this model to sharpen serrated knives.</p>
<p>The average person might not agree, but the classic I’ve used at home as a child as well as an adult, are carbon steel knives. They rust if not carefully washed and dried, have a stained appearance, but hold a good edge for a very long time, and if sharp, cut effortlessly, though tomatoes and just about everything. A good paring knife in stainless, a lighter all purpose carbon steel knife, and heavier Chinese cleaver are the mainstay of what I’ve used for years.</p>
<p>Make fun of my all you want…but we have Cutco knives and we love them. </p>
<p>That being said…we got DS Henckels…and he is fine with those. </p>
<p>I like carbon steel for the way you can keep them sharpened but they DO rust if you leave a drop of water on them…not something I would purchase for a 20 something.</p>
<p>I love old-fashioned Sabatier carbon steel chef knives. I don’t care about darkening. I sharpen them with a Chef’s Choice manual diamond dust honing thing. They don’t HOLD an edge–or maybe that is because my H refuses to use a cutting board --but they TAKE a great edge, and sharpening is very simple with the tool in question. I used to have Sabatier boning (my single favorite knife ever, owned it since 1976) and paring knives, but H lost both of them. :(</p>
<p>For cutting bread, I prefer a serrated knife I bought at a (real) kitchen supply store. For really heavy-duty cutting, I use a couple of serrated knives H & S bought me from an infomercial. Chef Tony :D</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that most of the people I know who own Wusthof and Henckel never have a really sharp knife in the house. I assume that is because they are too difficult to sharpen at home.</p>
<p>Oh son has a Sabatier chefs knife which was a gift. It’s really nice.</p>
<p>HM…whatever you do, make sure you get some knives that can be sharpened (straight blade) and give a GOOD sharpener as part of the gift. Serated knives really can’t be easily sharpened at home, but one of those is an essential for cutting any kind of bread.</p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, unless the 20-something has shown an interest in chef type cooking and collecting chef type cooking utensils, I would just accept the fact that whatever knives you give him today will be destroyed and/or lost, thrown in kitchen drawers, put in the dishwasher, and so forth. If he’s a normal 20-something, I would just get him a serviceable set of stamped stainless steel knives and save the big expense for a later date.</p>
<p>Thumper1–Those cutco knives are sharp! A neighborhood kid was selling them to raise money for college so I bought just one (how can you say no when it is to fund their college education??) That darn thing sliced my finger to the bone when I was washing it! Didn’t feel a thing as I also sliced the nerve (good in this case I guess!) but the bleeding was impressive…several stiches later I am still leery of that knife!!!</p>
<p>Just an FYI…our Cutco knives are well over 15 years old and we still love them. I have a Cutco soup ladle I bought in 1976 when I was in grad school. It cost me $15 which seemed like a fortune at the time. It still looks brand new…and has had a LOT of use. </p>
<p>Cutco gets a bad rap for it’s “selling regime” but really I think they make a good (but sort of expensive) product.</p>
<p>I DO agree with Interesteddad. In our case, DS is an avid cook.</p>
--but they TAKE a great edge, and sharpening is very simple with the tool in question. I used to have Sabatier boning (my single favorite knife ever, owned it since 1976) and paring knives, but H lost both of them. :(</p>