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So Veeky Forums, I've been cooking all my life with substandard tools and have never given much thought to how awful they were until I cooked at my rich friend's house the other day.
Well recently, I got a new job and can afford a few of the finer things.
I ask you, what brands or sets are considered to be the crème de la crème of knives, cookware, and other kitchen instruments? Or at least high tier/cost effective. I want to make sure I'm getting my money's worth and not overpaying just for branding.
Would you guys recommend any japanese knife sets?
Thanks.

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yes

Stainless steel non weeb handle one step up from poorfag never get sets tier knives:

Mac Superior
Misuno UX10
Sabatier 200 range with G10 Handle

Pans :
All clad copper core
De Buyer carbon steel skillet.
Tefal non stick

Appliances :
Bamix stick blender
Chef's Choice Trizor XV electric sharpener.

>tefal
>electric sharpener

Do not listen to this man

If you're going to get a non stick skillet you won't do better than Tefal.

Ceramic is a bad meme and all the silly stone inclusions some brands put in their teflon don't help.

Chef, checking in.

If you buy, and use an electric sharpener on anything besides something like a knife from woolies. I'll actively seek you out. And kill you.

wusthof and zwilling is better than sabatier and mac.

Sabatier 200 is a relatively recent line, not really comparable to their older stainless lines.

The steel is more advanced and supposedly cryo tempered and hardened to HRC60. Pic is what that steel hardened like that can in theory do (this is from a custom knife maker though).

I don't cut wood, I cut food.

Austin or Sabatier for Euro steel.
Shun and Ketsushige Anryu for Japanese steel.

>
>Austin

Wusthof

>general purpose cookware
All-clad 7 ply copper core or Demeyere Atlantis.
>for finicky, temp-sensitive shit
Mauviel copper pots
>general sauteing
De Buyer or Mafter Bourgeat carbon steel pans
>heavy duty searing, pan roasting etc
A cast iron skillet, generally older ones are better

>Thermometer
Thermoworks Thermapen

>knives
Really worth going somewhere you can try a knife first, a lot of stuff is down to personal preference. Also dont bother buying a set of knives- get a great chef knife, a good paring knife/fillet knife/ bread knife, and you're set for like 99% of tasks. Some really good ones without going too crazy are
MAC ultimate
Misono UX10
Kohetsu HAP40

>knife maintenance
A good set of water stones, I'm partial to Naniwa Sharpening stones but there are lots of good ones. Get at least 3, about 1000-3000-8000+.
MAC ceramic 10" honing rod

>small appliances etc
Seriously go to a restaurant supply store for this. Commercial stuff is a whole different beast than even the best home use ones generally.

>immersion blender
Bamix
>food processor
RobotCoupe. Expensive as balls but there's a reason most professional kitchens have them.
>blender
BlendTec

This, 100%.

I'm no expert, and I don't know how much these other sets cost, but I was basically in your exact shoes about a year ago and bought a set of Mercer genesis knives that I have been extremely happy with.

I use a whetstone on all my knifes

Pretty well have it covered m8. I'd add le creuset Dutch oven (large & small) to the list.

& standing mixer: kitchen aid

The older Le Creuset was the gold standard. Alas these days it's getting thinner and thinner, which is counterproductive for a dutch oven. These days I think Staub or Blissio is better. Heck, even Lodge is thicker than today's Le Creuset.

No. Standing mixer: Hobart.

That's not wood he cut, that's rebar. Just a bit of showmanship to show the toughness the steel (14C28N) can have at relatively high hardness. Usually these kinds of tricks are done with high carbon steel knives.

> Thermoworks Thermapen

A quality product, with quality margins. I'd get a ChefAlarm too, it's more convenient than opening up the oven to stab at the roast. Also makes a decent sugar thermometer. I use the lower quality DTP392, but I'm a poorfag.

Does the MAC Ultimate line really justify its price compared to Superior? You're paying a lot of extra money for the same steel, but at Western spine thickness and weight.

At the price I don't see how you could go wrong with (short bolster) Mercer Genesis.

>knives, cookware

>Thermoworks Thermapen
YES, great tool, totally worth every penny

>knife
Get a Wustof set, a 6" chef's knife and a 3" paring knife. Those will get you started. Don't go off the deep end, take it a step at a time.

>6" chef's knife

That's too short to be useful for much of anything.

>>paring knife
What does a beginner need that for? Do you expect him to start carving fancy little garnishes for his meals?

Sushi chef here.
If you're a home cook, a pull-through sharpener is enough. If you desire to learn more or intend to cook a lot, for sure get a whetstone.

However, a pull-through or electric is superior for people who do not have time to practice the correct technique of using a whetstone.

UX10 are quite expensive, I guess if he's going into that range, try out a Glestain, quality and feel is very similar.

Please don't recommend Shun. They are about twice as expensive as they're worth. They are good knives, and I have used them in the past. However, at their current price, they don't have much value compared to "weeb" brands and other major manufacturers. IE Glestain, Misono, MAC

Not that guy, but you can get a decent(not an everyone look at my paring knife tier) paring knife for about 4-5$ from nearly any restaurant supply store. Henckels and victorinox still make the cheap plastic handled paring knives that are the best value in knives.

7901200 here. Yeah, I agree about those suggestions for the paring knife (if you need one). That knife doesn't need to be made of any kind of special steel, etc.

From my chats with a few blacksmiths, apparently 8" is the current trend as people are preferring smaller knives. However, some of the line cooks who've gone into this trend with their home knives have very quickly noticed how limiting anything less than 8" is.

With knives, size matters. For me personally, I rarely go under 10", at home, 8" is about as small as I would deem usable for everyday tasks.

what's the best european style cook knife? Preferably one with a steel guard and wood handle, for aesthetic reasons

americas test kitchen has a whole series on best-in-show/best-value kitchen tools.
youtube.com/watch?v=e50gujs4l-I&index=11&list=PLE720EF13D4C23DDC

>For me personally, I rarely go under 10"

Agreed. At least if we're talking about chef's knives. I don't care for the short ones because they're simply too short for many kitchen tasks. It's hard to slice open a large squash or melon using a short-ass knife. It's equally problematic for cutting steaks or other slicing tasks.

OP invest in an end-grain butcher block board like this

amazon.com/Maple-End-Grain-Chopping-Block/dp/B00009OWEE

There's lots of variety and style. Expect to pay at least 100$(I think this one is a little cheaper). End-grain is "self-healing" and more warp-preventative than a traditional board. Because you are cutting into the end of the grain as opposed to cutting into the grain your edges should in theory last longer. Plus they look really nice, especially the walnut ones.

Cooking knives don't have guards. Are you sure you don't mean bolster?

>His knife doesn't have a guard or a pommel

Mine doesn't have a guard, but it does have a pommel. Super handy for smashing hard spices.

I think he does.

Which made me think. Does anyone outside of wusthof and henckels still put "finger guard" bolsters on their knives? Technically 99% of kitchen knives have a bolster, but not in the pommel/finger guard sense he's probably referring to.

>Does anyone outside of wusthof and henckels still put "finger guard" bolsters on their knives?

It's certainly not very common. Even Wusthof and Henckels only put them on some of their knives. Frankly I don't like them--makes it too much of a pain to sharpen the knife.

yeah, I guess.
I mean like this. Can we all agree that this is just the most attractive and comfy design there is?

Yeah, that's a bolster. And that person has no idea how to properly hold a chef's knife.

They certainly do have that old-school look. I like the black wood handle with the 3 rivets. I don't really care about the bolster or not, that doesn't matter to me from an appearance perspective. From a practical perspective I fucking hate it, because like mentioned it makes it much harder to properly sharpen the knife.

I like the black wood handle with 3 rivets too user, what's the best possible knife money can buy with black wood and 3 rivets? I can handle the lack of bolster if I have that, though bolster is preferred.
Also please don't make me accountable for how google image holds their knife.

No shit. Mine are pretty old, so I'm good, but that's sad to hear (I'm the user you were responding to)

>Hobart
I wasn't aware of this brand, not a baker, but holy shit are those expensive!

I don't think anyone has the time to list all the knives with black handles and 3 rivets as it is the most common design in knives.

Get a wusthof or a henckels and be happy with your bolster. Aesthetics are important for home cooks, and honestly, moving outside of this range is getting into professional territory. I don't get the feeling that fine tuned performance is a big deal for you.

Also, you have pleb tier aesthetic tastes in handles.

>I don't get the feeling that fine tuned performance is a big deal for you.
it 100% is, even if it's just placebo. what's DA BES?

God Mads is beautiful.

>based german engineering
go buy your knife

He looks like one of these

I want to marry him. We'd have the cutest danish babies.
what's the best german knife then? when did I even say I prefered german knifes?

Do you have something against german knives? They're pretty top tier mate

Your aesthetic taste in handles is a bit ... shallow. Must be boring for Japanese knife makers to always have customers like that.

The Glestain has a riveted pakka wood handle. So get that ... or get a custom maker to make something exactly how you want it.

Unless you make a ton of bread I don't see the point of kitchen aid or hobart. A small lump for a pie or pizza is easily done by hand. Whipping up egg white or whipped cream is done better with a hand mixer.

Holy shit I was saving $400 for a Breville food processor but I saw your recommendation and Jesus Christ senpai that is $1k. I'm wondering how much better could it be...

>he doesn't know about the 15 degree angle

way to stay behind the times. Enjoy your messy time consuming sharpening stones, senpai. I'll be getting the same angle every time I use the device to give me a "better than new" edge.

yo matey, ill tell you my recommendations.
I think they are pretty sound, just got a friend of mine into cooking recently and hes more than happy with the stuff he got.

>1 chefs knife (whatever feels right, Wüsthof would be my personal choice for a sick starter knife, i feel you can fuck up more, especially sharpening, with the jap style knives
>2 Whetstones, one with a mid ranged (~500-700) one with a high (1000-1200) count. You can also buy combined ones, which, though not as good, do their jobs alright if you dont buy shit tier quality
>a honing steel
>Thermapen (most helpful tool for relatively inexperienced cooks)

For pots/pans id focus on getting one very large pot and one cast iron skillet.

Those are the basics that make cooking a pleasure instead of a burden.
If you get more into it get a nice blender and a Kenwood/kitchenaid. My advice would be to only buy stuff besides the very basics if you actually felt the need to own them to do certain things for at least a couple of times, i know enough people who have god tier equipment but dont know how to use it and cant cook for shit

Not necessarily a huge lot better performance- although probably a fair bit better- but it'll last you a LONG time and will hold up to literally anything you could think to do to it. The biggest difference between commercial appliances and top-end home appliances isn't performance although commercial does tend to win out handily in that category too- it's durability.

Pretty much this. Staub for dutch oven and 100% definitely Hobart for mixer.

Rad blade, there's no chance of suction. I chose a cheese knife with holes specifically for that

Im looking to buy whetstones as my next step after buying my first high quality knife. Share your experience with me, what should i invest in? Currently my thoughts are
>just the stone(s)
>500-800
>something around 1200-2000
>preferrably 1 combined stone
>throw it on a blanket for fixating
How is the wear? Will i notice the use and get an uneven surface? Thats the reason im opting for something more expensive than shovelware. If so, how long can you make use of a stone?
Is there a *real* reason to not get a combo stone? Im thinking about spending something around 50 yuros maybe.
Ive seen a Tokio Kitchenware brand set of a 240/800 and 1000/3000 stone with a wooden hold and this angle keeper gimmick. I for some reason remember Tokio Kitchenware being shit so i already lean against it.
Anyone wanna give me insights?

no, I don't.

The cheapest package that will give you all the grits you need is to buy a DMT XXC or Atoma 140 diamond plate for flattening your stones, and a King 1000/4000 combo waterstone, and a cheap stone holder.

Buy a bucket large enough to store the King stone permanently soaked in water and flatten each side immediately prior to use (YouTube has videos for how).

You only really need a stone in the ~400 grit range for removing visible nicks in the edge or for changing the edge bevel angle.

Im fine with the 1000 beginning and thought about it before already but isnt 4000 a unnecessary high for a casual cook thats not about to do sushi and filet whole fish?
Not trying to convince myself otherwise or push the recommendations in another direction, legit curious
Also, Ive watched some waterstone whet tutorials before and never heard about flattening the stone, that was a random thought that crossed my mind. Now, is it that necessary if you dont sharpen weekly or can it be overlooked for the first dozen uses?

I advocate flattening each side immediately prior to use not just to ensure the stones are flat but also because it helps to generate a mud on the stone which helps the stone work better by promoting the constant exposure of fresh abrasive.

It also has a side benefit of minimizing burr formation, which is also helped by going to 4k.

It's a finish that still has enough slicing aggression for kitchen work, but also will work well to minimize or eliminate the microscopic burr left at the 1k stage.

I will probably get into that later because the approx. 90 euros for the diamond plate is not that little money and more important and basic things stand in the way of that investment

should I just go with a cleaver from whatever knife manufacturer I pick out of the ones people have suggested here?

or is that a whole different animal altogether that I need to look into?

>using blunt knives all my life
>given $50 sabatier
>improvement
>get sharpened professionally
>better but not sharp enough
Where do I go from here? It's 6" / 15cm so I think longer/heavier would help. Don't think the shop under-sharpened it for safety/shilling purposes but you never know. I'd like it to slice skin and foods using its own weight.

Can I just get anything from a supplier like for a paring knife or does it need to be good?

carbon steel knife from japong

>meme
why

you can assume the professional sharpening wasnt done on a whetstone, that takes some time and you have to pay quite a lot of money for that.

Yeah he literally did it in less than 20 minutes. Didn't check to see the tool. I guess the next step is a budget stone perhaps, to practise and hopefully get a sharp edge.

those legitimately tend to be the sharpest knifes, they have a sharper angle than european knives but aren't as durable.

Just go to a restaurant supply store and get pans there. No need for fancy brands.

Durability is a bigger trade-off for a beginner.

I've been using Cutco brand santoku, chef and butcher knives for about 9 months now and I don't know how it could get any better. They're solidly built, keep their edge with periodic honing and we're well priced. I honestly think anything more expensive is would give you a feeling of satisfaction at owning top-tier while providing little to nothing more in terms of actual culinary use.

definitely. european knifes are great, but he said his newly sharpened sabatier wasn't sharp enough.

pyrex mixing bowls, measuring jugs

So if it had been done on a whetstone would it have been a bit sharper? I wish I had watched what he used now.

Calphalon Cookware

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