I absolutely love cooking, so after moving into my brand new house, the first thing I did was make sure I had all the necessary tools to engage in my favorite hobby right from the start. Having state of the art appliances was a must, and I also brought over all my expensive pots, pans, and other assorted cookware. In fact, the only thing I had to purchase after moving in was one of those kitchen knife sets that come with about 10 different knives. I'd always wanted one, but never managed to buy a good set until recently.
You'd think that shopping for kitchen knife sets would be a pretty straightforward process that doesn't require much thought or consideration. But that wasn't how it went down for me. First of all, there are just so many different brands to choose from that I felt compelled to read up on the manufacturers at least a little bit before making a decision. After taking the time to learn about brands like Shun, Forschner, Misono, Sugimoto, and more, I felt much more knowledgeable about what to look for in various kitchen knife sets.
Once I familiarized myself with brands, I then started reading about features. Did I want ceramic or stainless steel? Would I prefer a blade that was forged or stamped? How about balance? Did the knives feel good in my hand? Were they easy to control, did they make quick, clean cuts, and did they require a lot of maintenance? Honestly, even with my love of cooking I had never given this much thought to kitchen knife sets before! I had no idea that these instruments could be so different from each other, but the more I learned, the more concerned I became about spending my money on the right products.
After going through brands and features, I could then turn my attention to price. Kitchen knife sets can cost anywhere from $30 for a basic set of five or six knives, to several thousand dollars for something you'd likely find in a gourmet restaurant. I didn't need anything too fancy, so I crunched some numbers, settled on a figure I could comfortably spend, and proceeded to pick out something I liked.
I ended up placing an order with a website that sells discount kitchen knife sets online. I just happened to see an advertisement for a set I was considering, clicked through to the site, and couldn't pass up the deal I saw. I saved more than 60 percent off the retail price, which was incredible! And, I'm perfectly happy with the knives I ended up with. I can't believe I spend so many years working with substandard tools before this!
Anyway, if you think the knives you use for slicing and dicing don't matter, then you're really missing out. I recommend checking out some high quality kitchen knife sets for the sake of comparison. But be warned: you probably won't want to go back to the cheap stuff again!