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The Best Kitchen Knives of 2023 (According to Experts)
It's the most essential part of any home cook's arsenal
A set of elegant, high-quality kitchen knives is one of the hallmarks of a proper home chef's kitchen. Seriously, no grown man should still be using the hand-me-down blades left over from his first flatshare. For the sake of your reputation, it's time to invest in a quality set.
For those of you who are unsure what exactly a quality knife set entails, we asked a couple of professional chefs for their sharpest buying tips. "I've signed up for 'buy it once, buy it well' when it comes to knives,” says food writer and author Jasmine Hemsley. “A long-term investment in a quality product will last a lifetime and beyond, and pay for itself in time and efficacy."
It's not enough for knives to be sharp, well manufactured and stylish – you should also be able to use them comfortably, or there's really no point. "The weight and handle size of a knife is really important," says chef and author Simon Stallard.
Stallard also says you should never throw your knives into a drawer haphazardly; luckily, every set on our list comes with its own knife block. "Tip: put the knives into a block upside down so the blade doesn’t draw on the wood," the chef advises.
But no matter how expensive or fancy your knife set is, there is no way around it: you have to take extremely good care of both the blades and the handles (especially wooden ones) to ensure their longevity and optimal performance. "You really need to be aware that, like a beautiful race car, they need lots of attention," Stallard adds.
Hemsley's parting wisdom? "Just never put them in the dishwasher!"
What are the most important kitchen knives?
These are the knives you'll most often find in a set and what they’re best used for:
- A large chef’s knife for chopping vegetables and other tougher foods such as meat, herbs or nuts.
- A santoku knife for chopping, slicing and dicing. Originating from Japan, this differs from a chef's knife due to its thinner, downward-curving blade.
- A small paring knife for peeling or dicing.
- A utility knife for cutting fruit, sandwiches and softer foods.
- A carving knife for your Sunday roast.
- A serrated bread knife for that artisanal sourdough.
- A boning knife for removing meat from the bone.
How we test knife sets
A panel of experts tested a broad range of knife sets on various foods, from preparing vegetables to carving up joints of meat. Afterwards, each was also cleaned several times to measure wear and tear.
Our testers looked for effortless chopping ability, consistency in sharpness across the set, quality manufacturing and useful design elements.
Here are the best kitchen knife sets that are worthy of a true professional.
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