Knives - Please to Advise?

[Nast]

So, what would be some essential knives to have around? We currently have a santoku and deba (both shamefully dull), and maybe 4 steak knives. Sad, isn't it?

I'm not hacking up animal parts everyday, so I'm mostly concerned with some everyday, chops-your-goddamn-carrots type knives to invest in. What brands would you recommend? What's the best way to sharpen?

I'd like to become knowledgeable about it, because I know how important preparation is.

[Cain]

The sharp kind are generally the best.

[LMNO]

10" chef's knife.

That's pretty much all you need.

The rest is for fancy stuff or brutal hack jobs, but you can do both with a good chef's knife.

[Jenne]

We have a couple of really cool ones.  When I have the time I'll find a pic of them...meanwhile, chef's knives, the kind the chefs put in a cloth and carry with them from job to job, are always the best way to go, from what I hear.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

I just have sharp steel straight edge knives with a full tang. No idea what brand. They're easy to sharpen and seem to keep their edge for a good while. I think I got them for like $10-20 at Target. 

Like Cain said, the sharp kind are generally the best.

[East Coast Hustle]

a good 8" chefs knife will suffice for almost anything you're likely to do in the kitchen. Your santoku should be great for chopping veggies and stuff like that, it just needs to be sharpened. Don't try to sharpen the deba yourself unless you know what you're doing, most of those are a single-grind edge so using a conventional sharpener will inadvertently fuck the edge up by trying to put a bevel on the straight side. For a cheap and decent home sharpener, I'd recommend the Chef's Choice, you can usually find it for around $25.

[Richter]

Agree. 
A small paring knife and a serrated knife for bread / cake are good to have around too, but I'm not on of the FOR SRS chefs here.  I mostly go for my santuko or chef's knife.

Other things that really help to have, like a good solid spatula, cheese grater, garlic press, etc., become apparent as time goes on. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I couldn't live without my filet knife.

OTOH I eat a lot of fish and meat.

[East Coast Hustle]

One thing a regular chef knife generally won't do well is butcher meat that's on the bone. If you're going to quarter a whole chicken or anything like that, you'll probably want a decent cleaver (you want the heavier kind, not the thinner chinese/japanese style).

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

i just use the santoku for that. after you slice through the skin you can see where the joints are and just help em out a little. those little birdies just fall apart really.

hell, for taking chicken off the bone you don't even need a knife
it's so fragile it just slides right off with your thumbs.

but that's chicken

ribs are a different story.

cleavers are good, i never use mine though.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

A good cleaver is something I don't have, but have had occasions to lust after. My most often-used knives are, in order, several four-inch all-purpose knives (frequently employed by my kids and not washed immediately) an eight-inch slicing knife, a five-inch tomato knife (holy shit who knew how versatile that would turn out to be?) an eight-inch chef knife, an eight-inch filet knife, an eight-inch bread knife, a seven-inch santoku (IMO completely redundant with the 8-inch chef) and a ten-inch chef which I have had longest and used least but when I need it, I really fucking need it.

A sweet and large wood cutting board is, IMO, very necessary. I hate those goddamn slippery plastic ones. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I also would note that your knife requirements change significantly dependent on whether you are cooking alone or with others.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

I also would note that your knife requirements change significantly dependent on whether you are cooking alone or with others.

ding!

good point

[Jenne]

Oh I HATE it when I got to cut something and SOMEONE (coughmyhusbanddamnhimcoughcough) is using the "good" knife...



THIS is our good knife.  LOVE It.

[Triple Zero]

I prefer one that looks like this:



I use it more than any other. So if you gonna buy kitchen knives, better buy a pretty good one of these, than a whole set of knives for the same price.