[Closed] Kitchen knives - decent generalist for up to £50

I bought a Robert Welch Signature cook's knife from John Lewis about a year ago, and I've been very impressed with it so far. Holds an edge really well, seldom needs actual sharpening, just a quick hone with a steel, and will glide through even squashy tomatoes with ease. Nice handle for my small-ish hands, nice balanced weight to it. Maybe a little more than your budget, but they do a range of different sizes. I plan to buy a few more.

https://www.johnlewis.com/robert-welch-knives/p89024766

I got a 6" Wusthof parking knife for about £15, been really pleased with it.
Have also got some of their scissors which I've had for years and have been great.
Appear to be very good at sensible prices

Would be hard to look past a Victorinox Fibrox as a workhorse chef's knife e.g. https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/-victorinox-fibrox-chef-s-knife-20-cm-5-2063-20.htm

I bought an Anolon SureGrip chefs knife a few years ago which is great.

My only concern is that the handle is slightly 'soft' and I wonder if it will get that 'sticky plastic' feel that some 'grippy plastics' get.
No signs of it so far. It only gets hand-washed.

EDIT - this one:

Anolon 8" knife

Victorinox is usually the right answer - good compromise between price/quality- once you start spending more you're getting diminishing returns for your money (like bikes)

They do them with nice rosewood handles if you want something special.

I paid £50 for a knife from tk maxx. Can’t remember the brand but it’s Damascus steel and holds an edge. I have given it a once over on a wetstone about 3 months back and still sharp enough to cut cleanly.

I also found victorinox at tk maxx as well. Have a look on the website to see if they have anything.

Get him a cleaver, if he's a good cook already he'll likely have a good knife that he likes, he may not have a cleaver.
https://www.kitchenknives.co.uk/wusthof-gourmet-chinese-chef-s-knife-cleaver-20cm/?

Get him a cleaver, if he’s a good cook already he’ll likely have a good knife that he likes, he may not have a cleaver.

Slicing cleaver like that ☝️

Either a 14cm or 17cm Robert welch santuko knife at that price

Robert welch santuko knive

Having forgotten my knives on holiday last year I got a cheapy santoku knife from morrisons on a whim (the knives in holiday lets are nearly always those bloody bendy serated things). Whislt I wouldn't reccomend as a present it's a far better utility knife than a 10" chefs knife. I'd absolutely reccomend a Santoku knife as a halfway between a cleaver and chefs knife. I do find them excellent for dicing onions!

Look at ProCook’s site, their Micarta handled knifes are outstanding, nothing fancy, but very solid and well-balanced. I’ve got one of these, and it’s a really good knife, and cracking value for money! Look after the edge, it’s likely it could be handed down through the family, certainly Micarta is virtually indestructible.

https://www.procook.co.uk/product/procook-professional-x50-precision-vegetable-knife-18cm-7

Here’s the complete X50 range, you could buy a Santoku and a Nakiri for £50

https://www.procook.co.uk/shop/knives-scissors/procook-professional-x50

+1 Robert Welch Santoku

I've got one and it's excellent - super sharp and because it's thin it slices things like tomatoes and onions superbly.

Good recommendations but here's one from left-field. He might have a decent knife but what about a whetstone? Or something like a Lansky?
One of my most-used knives is something cheap and generic but sharpened on a whetstone it's brutally sharp and a joy to cook with. I've got much more expensive knives in the block but that's the one I naturally grab.

Have a browse on Etsy there’s a number of handcrafted in the U.K. options on there. I’ve just ordered a cleaver yesterday as always fancied one.

A knife for a present? Are you mad?

CountZero, I attempted to buy from ProCook at Christmas time. The goods never arrived, they refunded the knife cost but I had to holler to get my postage costs refunded. How an organisation can charge postage for something that they refunded is quite astounding. I would buy from them in a shop but never again online.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32693575218.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d2iZL35

This knife is very very good.
Weight perfect for me, grind is thin behind the edge, steel holds its edge very well does not chip easily.

Or look for a japanese petty 130mm. for something special that holds its edge well £50 wont buy a good big knife (the above not included). And that size is very versatile.

Avoid anything with x50 cromov steel.

https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/collections/seki-magoroku/products/seki-magoroku-momoyama-gyuto-210mm-ae5149

Good standard all rounder

I got a 6″ Wusthof parking knife for about £15, been really pleased with it.

Christ, how bad is the traffic outside your house?

I looked in to this a couple of years ago, to buy my BIL a good set for his 50th.

There is lot of different (but not contradictory) opinions and advice.

Different hardness, carbon, chromium and molybdenum content, angle of grind, balance, curve of edge, thickness of blade, stamped or forged, front bolster, rear bolster for balance, handle material, dishwasher compatible (I could only find Robert Welch Signature, Taylors Eye Witness Professional and Wusthof).

I gave up and bought him a case of wine.

But for his 52nd. I bought him an end of range Procook X100 20” cooks knife, because it was cheap (ish) and I knew he would be able to sharpen X100/HRC60 correctly.

I have forgotten a lot of what I learnt but remember this:-

X30 = 0.3% carbon stainless steel

X50 = 0.5% carbon stainless steel
(some wheeled/electric sharpeners do not work on harder blades)

HRC = ‘H’ardness, ‘R’ockwell test ‘C’

Wusthof knives are very good and nearly all X50

Taylors Eye Witness Professional knives were originally designed (1979) by Robert Welch, had a Design Council award and known as Kitchen Devil Professional knives (not the current ones). I have some of both and really appreciate the handle design, now that I have arthritis in my hands.

Robert Welch Signature knives may not have been designed by him as he died in 2000.

Robert Welch Signature 11cm santoku is the only knife I have had to pull out of a chopping board.

‘Anysharp’ knife sharpener will sharpen any bit of metal, but grinds so much away, it leaves swarf. If using, use sparingly, only on cheap blunt knives, DO NOT RUB EYES, rinse under tap, wipe area around sharpener with wet kitchen roll. Useless ‘Anysharp’ copies are available.

20" cook's knife? Isn't that a sword?

cm/" I'm old and easily confused.

https://www.procook.co.uk/product/propook-damascus-x100-vg10-chef-knife-8?nosto_source=cmp&nosto=6060965c60b2394b17e13ae8

Without breaking the bank you can also include a ShiBaZi BW301 £8.50 carbon steel slicing cleaver (number 1 size). It can hold a screamingly sharp edge but make sure you dry it after each use and use some mineral oil on it to prevent rust. I bought one yesterday while visiting my local Chinese supermarket. No frills slicing cleaver. You may need to file the heel or bolster as it can be a bit rough. Once done it is as sharp as any top end knives you can get.

I bought this one yesterday £8.50. Very happy. (95mm x 230mm)

Or if you can find any of the F208 model (stainless steel cladding) like this just get one. Go for the shorter version if you feel the longer version is too large.

I bought my ProCook Nakiri online, and didn’t have any issues, then I discovered they’d opened a shop in Bath, what used to be the Kitchen Shop, which makes things easier, unless everything is in lockdown...
I previously ordered a couple of cheapish, Japanese-style knives with wooden handles, and because I wasn’t home when they delivered them, the courier wouldn’t deliver on a weekend, and I couldn’t guarantee anyone would be available to sign for them, (knives, remember), I had to drive to the far side of Swindon to collect them, about an hour or more drive.
Not. Impressed.

TKMaxx is a good shout. They won’t sell you knives online though so you’ll have to wait until they reopen later in the year (they have absolutely no idea what they sell otherwise, so there are often proper bargains in the kitchenware dept)

I’ve a set of Zwillings Twin Pollux which are fantastic for my needs. The Zwillings steel is a bit brutal however - reckon I could light the gas with it if I sent a butter knife down it.

What do people think of the Nihon x50 knives?

Was thinking about getting a set like this: https://www.procook.co.uk/product/p...sto_source=cmp&nosto=612a3b862d0b5e5ac390339f

The only slight annoyance is you cant mix and match the knives without spending a lot more buying them individualy and I quite fancy a santoku (mainly as I just think they look cool 🙂 ), but have no need for a carving knife for example.

I suppose I could spend more and get a set like this: https://www.procook.co.uk/product/n...sto_source=cmp&nosto=612a3be5ae026c6ef6fbf15b

but have no need for the largs and small chefs, as the santoku could cover that, and again, I can't see me using the carving knife.

@mattyfez - just buy individual knives, a Santoku and a Nakiri should cover pretty much everything you need, with maybe a small paring knife, and Procook online sales often have them for sale at around £19-20 each. I’ve got a couple of cheap Santoku-style knives which I’ve used for cutting open bread rolls, even slicing a loaf, but that’s not ideal.
I know it’s tempting to buy a nice set, but let’s face it, how often will most be used.
You can always add an extra knife, like a bread knife if you find a need, like baking your own bread, but I only really use the Santoku and Nakiri, along with the little paring knife I’ve had for ages.
Oh, and a couple of cheap IKEA knives I bought years ago, and one of those is serrated and gets used for cutting crusty rolls.