It can be tempting to buy a knife block, or buy a set for a friend who’s into cooking as a housewarming gift. The money you spend on a knife set packed with subpar knives could be used to buy fewer excellent knives that will last a lifetime. Here’s why you should steer clear, and what you—or your aspiring chef friend—should own instead. Especially when you’re just moving out on your own or setting up a kitchen, buying a set of knives can seem like a good idea. For a decent price, you can get a bunch of knives, a honing steel, and a block to store them all in. The problem with knife sets is that they’re almost universally terrible. We touched on this a little bit before, but often manufacturers skimp on build quality, materials, size, and in some cases even blade geometry in order to produce a cheap product. They’re not designed to keep their edge in day to day use, to stand up to regular honings or even sharpenings, and they’re not designed to last. The video above from the folks at America’s Test Kitchen actually puts several sets to the test, and reinforces the point.

Knife sets are often packed with redundant knives you’ll never use, and maybe one or two you’ll use until it’s dull, when it becomes more of a hazard than a help. Even the ones you use may be poorly designed for their purpose. The serrated knives in knife sets are often too short, the “paring” knives or “utility” knives in knife sets are almost always too short for actual peeling or detailed use, and don’t forget the annoyance that comes with opening an “eight piece knife set” only to find out that two of the “pieces” are the knife block and the honing steel in the center, and you actually got six actual knives. Long story short, for the money you spend on a knife set from a department or big box store, you can easily buy two or three great, versatile knives that will stand the test of time and keep their edge over regular, day-to-day use. After all, if you’re buying a set of eight—or rather, six knives and only using two or three of them anyway, wouldn’t it be better to save money and get two or three amazing knives instead?

The “right” knives for your kitchen depends on the type of cooking you do, of course. However, there are a few multi-purpose knives that every home cook should have, just because they’re good at just about anything you throw at them. Here are the essentials you should definitely own: In Alton Brown’s Gear for Your Kitchen, he starts with most of these (sans Santoku, of course) and then explains where you should go from there, and offers a few knife suggestions of his own, if you’d like to read more. Similarly, our list of essentials is a little different from the one our friends at Gizmodo put together, mostly because we’re aiming at essentials—knives you could easily buy with the money you saved on that knife block that’s on sale at your local department store. Speaking of Gizmodo’s list, once you have the knives above, here are some additional knives that you don’t need to have, but will certainly make specific tasks much much easier: If you’re tempted to buy a knife set for a friend—as a housewarming gift or a wedding present—do them a favor and assemble a “dream team” of some of these knives instead and pack them together yourself, maybe along with a nice honing steel like this 12” WINCO model for $10, or this heavier-duty 12” Wusthof for $25.

Trust us, your recipient will appreciate it more, and your gift will never collect dust in a cabinet or basement somewhere. You could go crazy and get all of these—even the budget options—and spend way more than a knife set at your local department store. We get that, but if you stick to the essentials and go with the bang-for-the-buck options listed here, you’ll probably spend less and wind up with knives that’ll last you much, much longer and hold their edge longer before you need to sharpen them (or have them sharpened.) raw fish sushi parasitesWhile you’re at it, make sure to store them on a magnetic knife rack, or at the very least somewhere not in the utensil drawer. sushi takeout oaklandYour knives will stay happy, you’ll have the tools for whatever you want to cook, you’ll have saved a bunch of money, and most importantly, you’ll be safe in the kitchen.where to buy sushi quality tuna

Title illustration by Brian Hagen. Additional photos by didriks and Simon Law.Before you rush to Aritsugu to purchase your prize Japanese knife, you might want to read this article. There are several options for buying authentic, handmade Kyoto knives. Kyohamono 京刃物: Kyoto Cutlery in Cultural Context Hamono refers to all kinds of cutting tools such as chef knives, carpenter planes, saws and chisels, sculptor chisels and files, kimono fabric and paper cutting blades, ikebana and gardener clippers and even modern scissors and fingernail clippers. sushi grade fish bostonOf course Kyoto was the center of all arts and culture in Japan for centuries. food delivery london mayfairMany, including myself, would say that it still is. fish for sushi san diego

I can find no Kyoto traditional arts and crafts that doesn’t require some kind of cutting instrument. The hamono, or Kyohamono (Kyoto knives and sharp edged tools) developed and advanced over the centuries in step with arts and crafts here. Of course other regions also had significant production, but the paramount dynamic at play is that every artisan throughout the country wanted to relocate to Kyoto to serve the Imperial Household. order sushi in shanghaiKyoto produced the creme de la creme for centuries, evolution in action. The Search for Authentic Handmade Kyoto Cutlery Today, I spent the day making the rounds of workshops and stores that make and sell traditional Kyoto cutlery, in hopes of finding a great place to buy traditional Japanese culinary knives with the quality and tradition that is Kyoto. Of course, Aritsugu is the first stop on everyone’s shopping list, there are other options.

I tried to find a knife maker that satisfies the following requirements: I need to go back and do some proper interviews, but so far, here are my favorites: In Kyoto some traditional businesses can said to be senzen (戦前), or ‘before the war’. In most parts of Japan this of course refers to World War II, but in Kyoto it can refer to the Onin War (1467-1477), which set off the Warring States period. A handful of truly ancient business can claim to be ‘senzen’ (before Onin War) and these are truly shinise. It seems that Shigeharu is the only Kyohamono company, specializing in knives, that can claim this title. Shigeharu’s founding dates back to the Kamakura period (1190-1329). Now that is truly historic. (Aritsugu started in 1560.) The oldest knife maker in Kyoto, Shigeharu, has no website, they don’t even have the ubiquitous ‘shoppu kard0’ as they are called in Japanese, a shop brochure or card. I chatted with the owner about their knives for 10 minutes or so and asked if many foreigners come to his store and he said a few, but not many.

(I knew where it was, but had never actually been inside.) So, I think that Shigeharu is rather undiscovered and not in most of the Western guidebooks. I felt like I had a scoop! Shigeharu is located on Horikawa Street between Sanjo and Oike Streets, on the east side. It is about a 5 minute walk south from the Nijo Castle gate. Kikuichimonji is perhaps Kyoto’s best known alternative to Aritsugu. Their shop is conveniently located but lacks the elegant presentation and interior of Aritsugu. Kikuichimonji is historic, but I cannot yet find any independent and definitive sources that have a firm date. The insinuated date on Kikuichimonji’s website sounds dubious to me. I spent quite a bit of time at Kikuichimonji talking to one of the staff who was friendly and helpful. The other person working there wasn’t so friendly. They were vague when I asked if they made their own knives. They said that indeed they did and when I pressed and asked where, they were evasive. I guessed that means that they subcontract out like Aritsugu.

Kikuichimonji has some awesome knives and it looks like they are, at the very least, made to the original specifications of Kikuichimonji. Many were far more attractive to my eye than Aritsugu’s knives. I didn’t take any photos this time but these were stainless steel knives that they said were handmade not machine pressed. (The conventional wisdom is that the vast majority of stainless steel knives that are said to be handmade are in fact not.) These knives won’t rust, therefore I think that they would actually be better for Westerners than the authentic, traditional Japanese hocho knives. I have seen Aritsugu knives, even in Japanese homes, that have not been cared for properly and are rusted. These Kikuichimonji stainless steel hochu could be a great alternative. They look and feel Japanese, they look handmade, but they are stainless, and will resist corrosion. I liked the originality, the look and feel of these of these a lot. Kikuichimonji is located in the Sanjo Arcade, just west of the Sanjo and Kawaramachi intersection.

Still my favorite is Shigeharu, it has history but no attitude and you can see the smokestack coming out of the roof in the workshop behind the store. These are real Kyohamono. A Little About Aritsugu Some visitors have voiced objection to my opinion on Aritsugu. Since writing this article I have had a very good experience at Aritsugu which I detail here. In Kyoto, Aritsugu is the most popular place for tourists to buy traditional Japanese knives. They are a trusted brand of professionals as well. I think it would be impossible to find a Japanese restaurant in Kyoto without at least one Aritsugu knife. I have seen several kitchens where all the knives were Aritsugu. Aritsugu is far and a way the most popular knife brand and store in Kyoto. I have some complaints about Aritsugu though. I have found the service to be haughty. Prices are high for what Japanese chefs tell me is average quality traditional Japanese cutlery. And did you know this: Aritsugu doesn’t make their own knives AND their knives are not from Kyoto, they are from Sakai (Osaka).

Sakai is one of the three or so most noted centers of traditional Japanese knife production. At Aritsugu they just stamp the Aritsugu name on the knife after it is sold. That makes it an Aritsugu knife. That said, sub-contracting isn’t a mortal sin. The programming and illustrated logo design for this website was sub-contracted. Today, I did go into Aritsugu and hung around for a bit and the staff was friendly with customers. Aritsugu is extremely popular with foreign visitors to Kyoto, their prices are quite high yet Aritsugu doesn’t accept credit cards! That is unacceptable I think. Aritsugu ought to be a very profitable business. I would think that they could afford the small commission on credit card purchases so that foreign customers can more conveniently buy a knife that costs from $200 up to $2,000.Kyoto Support Topic: Shopping, Souvenirs and Kyoto Meibutsu Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter. View OpenKyoto/KyotoFoodie Map in a larger map