hi mikeesimmons
                        after 25 five years in the trade the only thing i can say with all honesty is that knives are a very personnal thing .i have had very expensive knives that i could not get on with and cheap colour coded mass produced work ones that have been brilliant. so perservere but the size that is a must have a 20cm cooks with a sturdy blade.
                                                                        trigger

I agree! That's the make that I use, can't go wrong with them!

global is the only way. GS-5 (?) chopping knife travels the world with me. Nothing else. Cheap as chips (as long as you keep it sharp though)

I was lucky enough to get a set of knives for Christmas recently, and I can tell you it's made a huge difference to my cooking!

Seems that most manufactures offer a set of knives in a block with an assortment of knives and often a pair of scissors. I've found the paring knife (~8 cm blade, fairly narrow) and cook's knife (~20 cm blade) are the most useful for me, so if you don't want to get a whole set these two I'd recommend.

There are a lot of brands out there, and many seem to be high quality so might be best to try a few if you can and see what you like. My brother has had a set of Wusthof knives for years which he swears by.

Last edited by Chiz (Mon 29 Jan 07 4:05pm)

german is going to be your best for the long hual........... but a hastle to sharpen,

jap. knifes are very sharp but metal is also to light, so it is all on you

french and german work pretty well.......... but i use Wusthof