New chef looking for a good cheap knife set?

It would really help if you have posted your approximate budget though.

If you were a home cook I'd say 3 knives that'd cover 99% of home cook cutting would be chef's knife(8-12"), small paring knife(3-4") and a serrated bread knife. You can add boning or slicer, depending on the type of meat you cook.

Depending on what your mentor is asking from you you might need other types of knives. Although the three I mentioned above still cover most of the cutting works.

If you can avoid abusing chef's knives I'd highly recommend looking in to Gyutos, Japanese chef's knives, they are somewhere between German and French chef's knives in terms of blade geometry, but thinner and lighter. You'll appreciate that during long shifts. Plus they are much better cutters compared to typical western knives. You don't have to pay a lot for those either, Tojiro DP line is quite a budget knife. Here, bunch of gyuto reviews and photos - http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/ktknv/type/gyuto...

Few money saving tips, basically ignore marketing BS designed to get more money out of you...

1) Forged vs. stamped - As knife marketing tells us good kitchen knives have to be forged, and have full bolster and tang. NONE of that is true. E.g. Stamped Globals are much better performers than most of the forged mainstream kitchen knives.

I bought Forged and stamped versions of the same chef's knife from Global, and I didn't get anything but extra weight and spent more money on forged knife.

2) Full tang - Another BS, Katana swords and bowie knives are not full tang, yet they can cut through armor and leather, so I really doubt you need more strength than that in the kitchen.

3) Bolsters make sense only on narrow boning knives to protect your hand from slippage, but on other wider knives blade choil area does the job, bolster just makes sharpening a nightmare.

4) Beware of the knives that do not specify the steel. As usual that is junk, 420 or worse steel.

Kitchen knives steel FAQ - http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/articles/kk...

All the major western brands(Wusthof, Henckels, Messermeister, Sabatier, etc) use X50CrMoV15 or very similar to it steel and harden it around 54-56HRC and you will be very hard pressed to find any noticeable difference in cutting performance or edge holding.

For the same reason Victorinox Forschner knives are really good buy, they're cheaper, but similar steel.

There's a lot more about picking good kitchen knives here - http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/articles/kk...

I was going to Robert Morris for culinary arts and I have a knife kit that is brand new that I don't want... For 150

Cheap Knife Sets

Look on ebay for a set of Sabatier knives. They are well-made, chef-quality knives that will give a fine edge and last for years. They can be quite expensive, so look for their lower-priced ranges; and just get a small set, say of paring knife, carving knife and chopping knife, as well as a steel if you haven't got a good sharpener. The filletting knives and other ones they sometimes throw into a set are rarely used and the other knives are able to do their job.

Hmm. I'd argue with needing a set of knives all at once, especially if money is an issue. Nice if you can afford it, but not essential. I cook a lot, use a knife for almost all chopping etc, and do about 90% of that chopping with a 6" no-name chef knife I picked up in a second hand store about 20 years ago. I have a larger Henckels chef knife for larger items, a serrated bread knife from Wal-mart, an old carbon steel carving knife also bought at a thrift store, and a paring knife I use so rarely that I usually can't remember where it is. If I were you, I'd find a medium price brand, possibly American made, buy one or two chef knives and get the means of sharpening those knives and learn how to sharpen knives. I use a $5 stone bought at a kitchen supply store. You should be able to get by quite well for a while with that until you can afford more variety or much higher quality. Whatever you buy, look for the signs of a well made knife: full tang, good balance, and one that fits your hand. A composite handle is probably best but wood is fine too.

You want a reasonably good quality 10"-12" Chef's Knife. I like Wiltshire, but the main thing is that it feels comfortable in your hand.

You also want to know how to keep it sharp, and look after it, as a sharp knife is far easier to use.

With my good knife I will wash and put away and not place it with the rest of the cutlery on the bench to be cleaned up later.

Unless you pay big money you won't get a decent Chefs knife set. Having been in the business for some time I can say this with certainty. Global is perhaps the best brand with Furii & Victronox next.

What a loaded question.

Here is the base line of what you need to know about knives.

They are sharp and they cut things. Everything else is details.

Now for brands and types, and all that jazz.

Mostly the quality of a knife is going to be determined by the steel it's made of, the other elements and things in the steel (like chromium and such). These elements can make steels very hard.

The other major consideration is the temper of the blades, this is usually highly controlled for factory production blades.

As I'm reasonably certain that you aren't interested in finding a blade-smith to produce you a custom set of knives, I think you should start with either Wüsthof if you can afford them, or J.A. Henckels. Both are good knife brands, but carry a hefty price.

Depending on what you need for your knife set, this may or may not be feasible.

good knives are a total necessity. cheap knives are not good knives. try pawn shops for knife sets that are less expensive than going to a knife shop or a kitchen shop. Williams Sonoma and shops like that are usually quite high, but you can buy the knives one at a time. Talk to the sales person at one of this type store and buy first the chef's knife, then you can get another when you have saved up enough money.

My daughter has full set of aviation mechanics tools purchased one at a time. It has taken her several years, but you can purchase your tools this way too.

Ask your mentor, what types of knives you need. Chefs, paring, meat cleaver, boning knife, sharpening steel... etc?

You might get by (start) with the bare bones basic - 10/12 inch Chef's knife, steel and a paring knife. Build from there.

Look at brands like Victorinox or Chicago Cutlery or decent lower priced knives.