Spec me a knife £50-60

gcaster · 7 Jul 2013 at 22:02

Sorry for another spec me thread but as above really. I was cooking pork belly on Friday evening and in our kitchen we don't have a single knife sharp enough to cut into the skin.
As much as I'd love a Global/Wusthof etc knife I can't really spare £100 for a knife at the moment.

Any recommendations for around half that?
Also, any recommendations for shops in London where I could try a couple for feel?

FrenchTart · 7 Jul 2013 at 22:08

You don't need an expensive knife to be able to cut things decently. In addition to that, your expensive knife will almost certainly be just as blunt as all your cheap ones in very little time.

Buy a decent knife sharpener and make use of all your cheaper (yet probably still perfectly serviceable) knives.

gcaster · 7 Jul 2013 at 22:15

They're not my knives. I'd rather buy a decent knife than sharpen my landlords Ikea beauties....

FrenchTart · 7 Jul 2013 at 22:33

gcaster said:
They're not my knives. I'd rather buy a decent knife than sharpen my landlords Ikea beauties....

You'll still need to sharpen your expensive knife though so it really makes sense to get a sharpener first.

DirtyJester · 7 Jul 2013 at 22:35

FrenchTart said:
You'll still need to sharpen your expensive knife though so it really makes sense to get a sharpener first.

...yeah, and be able to practice on the knives you're not worried about

gcaster · 7 Jul 2013 at 23:08

I was thinking invest in a decent knife now and a Minosharp thing when it goes blunt. They seem pretty fail proof.
I do see you're point but would quite like something shiny as a little treat!

Paul11 · 8 Jul 2013 at 09:09

FrenchTart said:
In addition to that, your expensive knife will almost certainly be just as blunt as all your cheap ones in very little time.

not true, a quality knife will stay sharper longer

FrenchTart · 8 Jul 2013 at 09:30

gcaster said:
I was thinking invest in a decent knife now and a Minosharp thing when it goes blunt. They seem pretty fail proof.
I do see you're point but would quite like something shiny as a little treat!

I can understand the desire for shininess/treats

I'd be tempted by the same. I can't offer you any advice on knives in that price range sorry.

Paul11 said:
not true, a quality knife will stay sharper longer

I never said that wasn't the case. Any knife will blunt however and if the OP doesn't have a sharpener then their shiny expensive knife will rapidly become as useless as the cheap ones.

bsoltan · 8 Jul 2013 at 13:04

Have you got a TKMaxx nearby? You'd be able to get something decent for around £20 and might find a sharpener there too. There is a knife thread around to view other options.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18382614

Raymond Lin · 8 Jul 2013 at 13:16

I keep wanting a nice set of knifes but then I just think....it doesn't make my food taste any nicer and I would still need to sharpen it. The £25 jobbie I picked up in some Japanese shop 10 years ago is still really sharp...

so never got round to "upgrading".

And then I see the meat cleaver my parent has, which gets sharpened now and again, now that is sharp ! but it only costs like £20 or something as well.

TheSgtDK · 8 Jul 2013 at 14:10

If you're not wanting to spend a lot of money what about something like this Wusthof Silverpoint

Only about £25 and made by Wusthof.

Rexxar · 8 Jul 2013 at 15:31

Robert Welch Santoku is £41.99 @ Lakeland
Robert Welch 14cm Chef's Knife is £39.99 @ Lakeland

Both very nice knives to work with, prefer the santoku myself for the weight and grip, but also probably because i'm used to it.

It's important to look after the knife and keep it sharp, that way it'll slice like new every time you need it.

Glaucus · 8 Jul 2013 at 15:37

As said you absolutely need to budget in a decent steel and/or wet stones.

And it's absolutely us spacing you a knife, as everyone's different from handle shape, weight, cutting edge profile etc. yu have to go test them.

Also look here for a bit more info
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18382614&highlight=Knife