The Accusharp sharpener is a great alternative to electric grinding wheel sharpeners, and a hell of a lot cheaper (under $10). I keep one in a drawer for those times when I start to prepare something requiring a lot of chopping/slicing and realize I haven’t honed my blades recently. A few quick strokes and you’ve got a good working edge. I used to keep one in my tackle box, also.
I have 6", 8", and 10" chef’s knives, and 90% of the time, I reach for the 6". It fits nicely in my hand, and unless I’m cutting up big pieces of meat, it does the job just fine.
I think a lot of what you read about knife sizes is written by/geared towards man-sized hands.
Thanks!
This is the one my kit came with. Sounds like a similar concept? I have no idea how to use it, but I imagine there are instructions somewhere online.
ETA: Athena, thanks for the vote of confidence on my choice to go for the 6’'. I was afraid everyone would be all, ‘‘You’ve made a HORRIBLE mistake!’’ I just used it to cut an apple and it worked just fine. 
You do not want to use a knife sharpener regularly. Learn to use a sharpening steel for regular maintenance. It barely removes any metal from the edge, unlike a knife sharpener.
All righty. Guess I’ll have to order a steel then, too. Thanks for letting me know, because that’s a mistake I totally would have made.
ETA: I don’t know about Calphalon knives, but I also picked up a Calphalon nonstick pan today. The lady told me I didn’t have to add any oil, and I was dubious, but sure enough, I just made pancakes with no cooking oil in this amazing pan. It was only $60. Just thought I’d add that in case anyone’s in the market for a good nonstick sauce pan…
Looks like the same sort of concept, but with an added fine hone on the right.
Well on Amazon it seems like they were trying to explain that the fine hone functions as a steel? Some people were trying to say that you can use the fine hone in place of a regular steel, and the other part for periodic sharpening. Does that sound right?
Sounds about right. The coarse stone (or steel) will bevel the edge for you, then the other would be used for maintenance. I may buy one myself.
Cool! Additional expenditure averted.
(Feeling very fortunate for getting a response from a dude called Chefguy!)
Don’t get too worked up over it: I’m not a chef.
Have you ever actually held a Global knife? This is literally a non-issue. You could never ever have a problem with this unless you slather your knife handle in egg and bake it in the oven for 24 hours. I use a Global chef’s knife almost daily and I have never, not once, not one single time, had to give the handle anything more than a quick rinse under the faucet. The dimples are really shallow and I just can’t imagine what you’ve cut with the knife to put food there and make it hard to clean.
I’ll second the Henckels (with the two little men on the blade, not just one - two little men is higher quality). We have the paring knife; we’re planning to add a couple more good knives.
I have a 5" Henckels Santoku that is my go-to knife for just about everything in the kitchen.
Since I’ve gotten all the way through this thread, I have a couple of things to add that I haven’t seen mentioned.
–Full tang: when the metal of the blade extends all of the way to the end of the handle. This is usually recommended. Cheaper knives just put a little bit of metal into the big plastic handle, and it can end up getting loose and wiggling around, which is not good.
–Knife skills class: Look around and see if there is something in the area if you are not very knowledgeable about how to cut stuff up. I’m lucky enough to work for a food company, and the in-house chefs give a class every year.
The in-house chefs recommended Henckels and Wusthof or similar types when they gave the class, so the OP probably made a good choice. One chef noted that the ceramic knives are pretty good, but she said that it didn’t take kindly to being dropped on the floor as it shattered. I have a foodie friend who loves his Santoku knife.
Full disclosure: I am a rookie cookie, a hack. However, I know a bit about knives and own many, as well as no less than ten knife sharpeners.
My kitchen knives are Forschner (Victorinox) with Fibrox handles, Gerber Balance Plus, Spyderco, Henckels, and Kuhn-Riken. Bang for the buck and overall satisfaction goes to the Forschner. They are easy to sharpen, hold an edge for an acceptable time, and the lFibrox large handled version are very nice to hold. Mine are lightweight, a quality I like. The Gerber Balance Plus 10" slicer feels fantastic in the hand.
Look for the Forschner (Vicorinox) knives online. They are very nice knives, my overall favorite.
Never, ever cut down on anything hard with your kitchen knives. Only cut onto a plastic or wood cutting board. NEVER cut onto a ceramic plate, glass plate, metal, etc. The receiving end of your knife must be softer than the cutting edge. In a contest between sharp edge and hard anvil, the knife will lose, become dull, and you will discover that most knife sharpeners do not remove enough metal to reprofile the blade. Then you are stuck with a knife that never cuts as good as the day you bought it.
The Lansky Crock Stick has longer stones than the Spyderco Sharpmaker and costs less. The Spyderco will not remove much metal, making it a decent sharpener for doing touch ups on an edge that is already at the same angle as the Spyderco. I own both, as well as the $80 optional diamond stones for the Spyderco. For kitchen knives, get the Crock Stick.
The best knives I’ve ever used are my husband’s Globalknives. He’s a chef, so he wants to use the best knives possible (it’s like being an athlete and wanting to use the best sporting equipment). They are lightweight, sturdy, durable, comfortable, etc. I love them. They are, however, a bit pricier.
If you’re looking for a set with the steak knives and a block, I recommend the Wolfgang Puck set here. That is what we keep in our kitchen for daily cooking and cutting. They’re pretty good. Passable. But you’ve got to keep sharpening them on a regular basis. It doesn’t throw sparks if you’re doing it right.
The reviews on the Wolfgang Puck knives are not very good. Knives breaking at the handle? Then again these are the same people who are putting the knives in the dishwasher and complaining about rust, but it’s still not a good sign.
Myself, I have a variety of knives (mostly cheap ones), from the Farberware 8" chef’s, to the Kyocera 8" chef’s, to the 6" Shun utility knife (the most used), the 9" razor sharp nameless Japanese slicer and the 5.5" Cuisinart tomato knife. There’s a drawerful of other knives that I use less often as well, but the most important thing in my collection is my 10" DMT Diamond Steel. I just hone them once in awhile (other than the ceramic one) and go to town. A couple of strokes and I’m ready to go.
Note: The jury is out on the ceramic knife. I don’t feel comfortable doing any heavy duty work with it, as it’s too light. It’s fine for leafy stuff and herbs, but it doesn’t feel right trying to force it through something like a butternut squash. It is nice having the variety in my collection so I can have the right tool for the job, but 90% of the work I can do with either the chef’s or utility knife.
It’s been my experience that most products with some personality’s mug on the box aren’t worth the money. I avoid them asiduously.
That’s what we use at home. But then again, my husband is religious about taking care of his knives. They never get touch the porcelain sink. They are handled carefully and precisely. Religiously sharpened. We’ve never had a problem with them; then again, we take care of them.
I’m guessing you could buy cheapie knives at Wal-Mart and have them last a while, if you take care of the like we do. You could buy a cheap, crappy car, but if you take care of it properly, it’ll last a good long time.
I have the 10 inch Victorinox Chef’s knife, and the blade is amazing on it. A big step up above any of the cheap sets I have owned. Unfortunately, it is not balanced very well and is a bit awkward in your hand. You get used to it, though, and you get to pat yourself on the back for not spending over $100 on it 