What do y'all prefer as far as far as a good kitchen knife set? I'm in the market for a new set. I have a few good pieces that I have picked up over the years, but the block set I have had since college is pure garbage. Looking to stay under $200, but I will pay more for good quality that will last me. Is this unrealistic?

J.A Henckles Zwilling.Worth it.

We use rada. No complaints.

X2

Funny......I was going to write this and 2 folks have already said it. They are sharp.....hold a good edge......and easy to get them back to sharp.

My parents have some of those ceramic knifes and when used as intended they're great.

Yep, same here. My wife got a set a few years back, they are good knives.

I don't remember what I was using it for, but I destroyed one of the bigger ones. Knocked a chunk out of the blade. My wife was so proud.

The Rada are relatively cheap and I have no complaints with them. They work flawlessly as long as you use the right knife for the job you're trying to do. That's why they make a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

Ginsu. Enough said.

Get Skullworks to make you a set. I'm reasonably sure you won't need another one.

My wife has a Cutco Cutlery set ....they are awesome but extremely expensive

Considering how much I like to cook and that I made my first custom knife last year you would think that I would have a really nice set of kitchen knives. Well, I was shopping for a set and I came across this cheap set of Japanese knives, made in China and grabbed them just to have something in the meantime, until I found something I really wanted.

Amazon Cheap Japanese Kitchen Knives

I know you're thinking, $24, made in China, plastic handles, etc...

But I will tell you these babies will take an edge like you wouldn't believe and keep that edge for a lot longer than much more expensive knives that I have.

The key thing with any kitchen knife is that it it has to be super sharp. These knives are that and I keep them that way using a pair of Lansky Crock Sticks. One of these starts to get a little dull and a few swipes on the Crock sticks and they are like razors.

Like I said I got these just to get me by until I found something I really wanted, but these have worked so well, I just quit looking for something else.

We dont have any good ones yet but a couple of people I know have recommended that we avoid sets. Just buy a quality chef and paring knife and then fill in as your need dictates. Makes sense to me as we have a bunch of cheap sets and only use a few knives frequently.

We use Oxo...good knives.

Look at Spyderco kitchen knives. They dont offer them in a set and they only just released a pretty one, they are awesome and inexpensive. They have both serrated and plain edge versions.
If you want pretty look at Shun, great knives at a fair price.

Wusthof or Forschner

Shun but will be well over $200 for a set

In that price range look at Dexter Russell. They aren't fancy at all but they are what a lot of commercial kitchens use because they work well and take abuse.

We've had good luck with Wusthof.

Dexter-Russell for everything except a scallop knife. For those, just buy the cheap Chinese wooden handled ones at Bluewater for 2 bucks at the register instead of the white Dexter-Russell 12 dollar ones. For a cleaver, the Dexter-Russell wood handled 8 1/2 inch, 2 1/2 pound big boy, 40 bucks. There's no reason to have a cleaver that has no weight. It will split grouper heads in one stroke for frying.