Global UKON 6-Piece Professional Kitchen Knife Set, CROMOVA 18 Stainless Steel – Contains 5 Kitchen Knives & 1 Knife Block

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All the sets on our list contain at least five knives, which should be ample for most home cooks. Consider the dishes you tend to cook and look for a selection of knives that will prove the most helpful. Vegetarians, for example, are unlikely to need a carving knife. However, for roast devotees, it will be essential. There are hundreds of different knives on the market, each with their own culinary task. Some more specialist options include parmesan knives, oyster knives and salmon knives, so it's easy to get overwhelmed. But here are the main knives to consider: The best kitchen knives are objects of functional beauty, letting you slice, dice, and chop your way effortlessly through any culinary challenges you care to throw their way –like a real life Fruit Ninja. From paper-thin tomato slices to perfectly proportioned pieces of meat and veg, having one or more high-end kitchen knives can have a huge impact on how much you enjoy spending time in the kitchen. The Santoku knife originated in Japan and is a general purpose knife. It has a thinner blade than a chef’s knife and is most effective when dicing, chopping and mincing.

GHI tip: Always try a knife before buying. A reputable retailer will let you try the knife out on vegetables - always try on tomatoes, as a new sharp knife should cut through easily without resistance. Designed with a sharp serrated edge to easily cut through crusts and rusks. They’re also great for cutting fruits with fibrous skins, such as pineapples. A sharp knife is a safe knife. Those that are blunt or unsharpened require more force to cut, which increases the likelihood of slipping and causing injury. These knives look similar to a paring knife but they have a serrated edge. They’re great for cutting tomatoes and citrus fruits.Plastic: Plastic handles tend to be smooth and free from grooves that can trap dirt. Some plastic knives are also slightly textured to offer a more secure grip. Keep them well away from heat sources when cooking to avoid melting the handle. While the chef's knife worked well for everything except the onion, and the paring and serrated knives cut easily, we felt the high price tag might not work for many home cooks but fits better in our list of high-end knife sets. The tang refers to the unsharpened, unexposed part of the blade that extends down the handle. There are three main tang types: Believe it or not, there are a lot of professional chefs out there!" admits Schmidt. "So, the most used knives are actually commercial grade knives supplied by restaurant supply outfitters. These knives tend to be on the less expensive side. However, when it has quality steel, and the chef knows how to maintain their tools, these knives perform very well since they're constantly being honed."

GLOBAL G-2 20cm COOK'S KNIFE - this is the best selling Japanese kitchen knife ever made. This multi-purpose knife is ideal for slicing, dicing and chopping and is a winner of multiple awards including Which Best Knife and the Housewares ICON Award. Hand-washing your knife is always preferable to dishwashing, even if the brand says your blade is “dishwasher safe”. And if you have a high-quality Japanese steel or German steel knife, you should never subject it to the likes of a dishwasher. The hot water and salt of the dishwasher will do your blade no favours, so as soon as you finish using it give it a wash and dry thoroughly to avoid corrosion.Cleaning Global knives is straightforward and easy - simply wash immediately after use in warm water with a mild detergent. Dry with a soft cloth.

The Ginsu set had sharp edges right out of the box, which is impressive for the affordable price. Each knife is lightweight and sliced through paper, tomato, and diced onions easily. The paring knife we found to be well-balanced and sharp and a small serrated knife is included for harder slicing tasks, as well as a honing rod and kitchen shears. Though it doesn't include a bread knife, we found the small serrated knife to be able to slice through a baguette, and the paring knife easily hulled and cored the strawberries. Finally, any serrated knives were used to slice beef tomatoes, cube aubergines and cut lemons into wedges. To sharpen knives with whetstones, you need to soak the stones first and keep them wet as you sharpen. There’s a lot to think about when investing in a knife set, but comfort is key; every knife should act and feel like an extension to the user's hand.While some brands claim their knives are dishwasher safe, we’d always advise against this to keep them in top condition. Not as attractive as some higher-end options, and the paring knife didn't perform as strongly as the chef's knife in our tests. Knives are commonly made from the following four materials: stainless steel, carbon steel, Damascus steel or ceramic. The best practice is to wash knives in hot, soapy water and then dry them with a tea towel, rather than leaving them to air. We do always test dishwasher-safe claims, regardless. Some knives have rubberised handles for extra grip, others are moulded to fit the contours of the hand, and some designs combine the two.