Picking the Right Knife Set for Your Kitchen

Cooking is not only a great hobby but can also be a stress reliever. It involves preparing the ingredients such as washing, measuring, and cutting. Aside from the necessary cookware and utensils, another important tool for the kitchen are knives.

Knives are an important tool in preparing and cooking meals. There are different type of knives each is made for a special purpose and can either be bought individually or in a set. Purchasing the perfect knife set is difficult unless you are knowledgeable enough to know how to choose the one that suits you.

If you are planning to find a perfect knife set in UK for you kitchen this article will give you enough basic knowledge to help you make the right decision.

What are the different knives set out there?

Different knife sets contain various designs made from different materials. Some knife sets contain only three knives while other sets contain more than 10 knives and an included block for storing purposes.

Home kitchens usually just require three to four knives to do the cutting tasks. The most essential knives for any kitchen are:

paring knife
chef’s knife
serrated blade knfie

Paring Knife great for peeling and cutting fruits and vegetables

Chef’s Knife great for cutting meat, fish and vegetables

Serrated Blade Knife – great for cutting tomatoes, sausages and bread rolls

A paring knife is for cutting smaller food, peeling, and trimming; a chef’s knife for chopping, dicing, mincing, and slicing; and a serrated blade for cutting bread, fruits, and cakes.

Living in the UK? Here is a narrowed down list you can choose from:

According to 2021 costumer reviews, the top five knife sets in the UK include:

Hecef Kitchen Knife Set,
Velaze Knife Block Set
HomeHero Kitchen Knife Set with Block,
Nouva Kitchen Knife Set with Block
Esonmous Knife Set with Block.

What are the most important features to look out for?

The right knife set contains the knives you usually use for preparing meals. Finding the knife set for you? Here are the factors you must review:

Set of knives

An important thing to consider when purchasing a knife set is the knives included in the package. Are these the right knives for your kitchen? Well, this factor must be assessed carefully. As you will be keeping it for a while, make sure that every tool in the set is useful to you.

Handling

Another thing to test is the way the knife handles. Are you comfortable holding it? Does it feel right in your hand? These knives will be used by you; therefore, it is important that your hand is comfortable and has a good grip on the handle.

Storage

How you want your knife set to be stored is also a must. Some knife sets come with a block that may require a large space in your kitchen while some knife sets can be kept inside your drawer.

Materials used

Knowing the materials used for the knives is beneficial. You will be able to understand better how to clean and handle it properly to maintain its quality.

Budget

Also, consider the budget you have for your knife set. If you are a student, you might want to purchase the cheapest knife set, sufficient to do the cutting work for your kitchen.

What material should the knife blade made of?

As knives are used for different purposes, they may be made up of various materials. Some of the materials are carbon steel, stainless steel, high-carbon stainless alloys, and ceramic.

Carbon steel is the best choice in making knives designed for rough use. Compared to stainless steel, it is tougher and easier to sharpen. However, it is susceptible to corrosion due to its lack of chromium content that the stainless steel contains.

Most manufacturers prefer to use a high-carbon stainless steel because it is proven to be tough and easy to maintain. Moreover, it doesn’t rust and is less fragile against hard materials.

What’s better: a Japanese or Western knife?

A Japanese knife has a single bevel made from a tough steel. It is sharper than its western style counterpart and stays that way for longer but the possibility to be brittle is greater.

Japanese knives are designed to be long and straight. Additionally, the blade for a Japanese knife can only be sharpened on one side, thus, you must choose the right sharpener that lets you have control on which side to sharpen. Sharpening both sides of blade for Japanese knives may ruin its quality.

Western style knives can be observed to be more curved along the blade. Due to its curved design, different amounts of pressure can be applied on various areas of the blade. It is made up of softer steel resulting to a more durable blade. Compared to harder steel, softer steel tends to dull faster. However, western knives are easier to sharpen.

Does the metal needs to be forged?

Forged knives are believed to be tougher but it is not necessary for knives to undergo forging process. Knives that do not undergo forging are also known as “stamped knives”. Forging knives require a lot of effort and time but it results to thicker and harder blades. However, with longer process and more materials used, forged knives tend to be more expensive than stamped knives. Most consumers believe that the more expensive the products, the better its quality, but that is not always the case. Stamped knives are improving in terms of quality with modern technology applied in knife making industries.

Why Hecef Kitchen Knife Set has won hearts in UK?

Hecef Kitchen Knife Set is made from high carbon stainless steel with a retro style handle. The set includes five different knives with non-stick black color coating:

8” chef knife,
8” bread knife
7” santoku knife
5” utility knife
3.5” paring knife.

These knives are enough to do most of the cutting work in your kitchen. Due to its non-stick coating, it resists staining making it easy to wash. No need to use abrasive cleaners because hand wash is enough for cleaning. This knife set is also confirmed to be dishwasher safe.

With handles made of plastic material, it provides comfort with safe and secure grip without hurting your hand. This knife set doesn’t require a lot of space you simply store them in the kitchen drawers.

The set comes with storage sleeves made from polypropylene that is proven to have high frequency insulation and good electrical properties. With a good knife protector, the quality is preserved.
Who wouldn’t want a cheap classic themed knife set, right? For only £23.99, you can own a non-stick, lightweight, and durable knife set.

Once you begin to explore in detail what makes a good knife you begin to unravel the details that you need to pay a close attention to. Hopefully with the knowledge acquired reading this article choosing the right knife set in the UK became just a tad easier. Both the Japanese and Western style knives are good choices because they can serve their purpose. The main difference between these two knives are their blade thickness and edge angles.

Choosing forged or stamped knife will heavily depend on your budget and what you are planning to use it for and for how long. If you prefer lightweight and more affordable stamped knives may be the way to go. Both of these options are set to last as long as you give them a good care and love.