Instead of wasting money on a set of mediocre knives (half of which you’ll never use), you can create your own set of Test Kitchen all stars. Hannah and Lisa walk you through our top knife picks.
Buy the Mercer 8-Inch Chef’s Knife:
Buy the Victorinox Paring Knife:
Buy the Mercer 10″ Wide Bread Knife:
Buy the Schmidt Bros. Knife Block:
Buy the Design Trifecta Knife Block:
Read our full review:
Buy our Kitchen Gear book:
Follow Lisa on Instagram:
Follow Hannah on Instagram:
ABOUT US: The mission of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Founded in 1992, the company is the leading multimedia cooking resource serving millions of fans with TV shows (America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation), magazines (Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country), cookbooks, a podcast (Proof), FAST channels, short-form video series, and the ATK All-Access subscription for digital content. Based in a state-of-the-art 15,000-square-foot test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, ATK has earned the trust of home cooks and culinary experts alike thanks to its one-of-a-kind processes and best-in-class techniques. Fifty full-time (admittedly very meticulous) test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days tweaking every variable to find the very best recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques. Learn more at
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I've seen the set called Ninja knives. They were horrib;e, thin poor stee, and the hilt was 1/2 inch into the handle ( they Easly snap off their handles )
I'll stick with my professional s set.
crazy enough i have 2 out of the 3 recommended knives and i got them from culinary school before i dropped out (i got to keep the knives tho)
Why no one is talking about Ikea!!! Imo they are the best at the price by a land slide and have like 20$ knives block or like 10$ magnetic strip! They have great metal aloy for way cheaper than any other brand!
Given my cooking, I definitely also want a European style cleaver and a couple of Asian style knives, specifically a sashimi knife and a vegetable cleaver, as well as a carving knife.
Wait, when did the Mercer become the "ATK recommended" knife? I thought it was the Victorinox Fibrox Pro
The only other thing I'd really want in this utilitarian set is a good pair of kitchen shears. Over the years, they've become an absolutely invaluable part of my kit that I reach for way more often that I would have ever imagined.
I love my two mothers so much! It's hard to find something affordable where i live, normally it costs 6 times the price plus taxes from my country. But i try to follow ATK recommendations when i shop for similar things and it saves me a lot of money cuz i don't have to buy it twice.
Amen. I have only 3 knives I picked individually, they are my tried & true.
Good to know! Thank you! ❤
Funny, the winners look just like the knives I used for years as a professional cook. You nailed it. I also like a carbon steel boning knife which I use all the time.
Better off getting a 180mm Santoku or Bunka or 210mm Gyuto in Japanese Steel and a 130mm-150mm Petty knife. Those two knives can do so much and are worth spending up for. Also pay up for something from Sakai. A Yoshikazu Tanaka, or Satoshi Nakagawa. You won;t be disappointed.
👏🏾🙌🏾💪🏾 keep up the good work. 😘🙏🏿💕 I am Interested to watch your videos on K H A L wEbsItE.
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You left out kitchen shears & boning knives which are essential to a kitchen. Disappointing! i I have tiny kitchen and my knife block sits out of the way on the corner with everything I need.
The 6 pc Victorinox knife block set w/block that I bought as a previous recommendation from ATK is excellent. I added two knives to it and it will do anything the average family will ever need. I added a Victorinox parrying knife (also ATK recommended 8$) and a Top Cut 14C28N Nakiri knife, which after I sharpened it, excels at veggies. All for under $200 and will last a lifetime of average use.
I wish you guys had also touched on steak knives and kitchen shears. Knife sets usually have six steak knives and, for me, it’s probably the most important category along with chef’s knives- you need something to EAT your food with too! Basically the only things I use from my knife block are my chefs knife, bread knife, steak knives, and shears.
The "around 60 bucks" knife trio actually totals around $83 currently. The chef's knife linked in the description is different from the one shown in the video. Add the recommended knife block ($110), and it gets up there in price. I will agree that buying individual knives will get you better quality knives for a given price, but it does cost a bit more than she suggested. Personally, I started off with a small knife set that performs well if properly sharpened. Straight out of the box, not so much, and it did not come with a butcher block, so I got one that is a flexible design. I have since added a couple of other individual knives. I am happy with what I have, and I used every one of those knives.
I enjoyed this video very much until it was explained that putting knives in dishwasher would dull them? Unless if you're using some acids or radioactive waste in the dishwasher nothing's going to mess with the blade.
I found that the knife I use 90% of the time is an Asian style vegetable knife it’s like a mini cleaver. My only problem is once my wife and son tried it they always grab it first. I find it more comfortable than the standard chef knife.
Love my Santoku! I’ve had mine for over 20 years🎉 With professional knife sharpening every few years and honing in between, it stays sharp. Learned to wash/dry before hubby throws it in the dishwasher… Lol!
I love my Victornox 8" chef's knife
I do love America's Test Kitchen
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If you don't own expensive knives, and you own a good knife sharpener, go ahead and put them in the dishwasher! I put my Fibrox knives in the dishwasher basically every day. Hit them with a few passes on something like the Trizor knife sharpener once a month and they're sanitary and still razor sharp.
I got my "hand made block", at Salvation Army,..for .50cents…many of my knives I put in it are 40+ yrs old..I know, I bought them new.
Absolutely worthless video when streaming onto the television because 40% of the screen is covered by an ad that is not defeatable. I guess it's there because ATK gets a commission for each knife sold.
No truer words were ever spoken on home knives!!! I have worked in and around restaurants for 60 years, no never a chef, but I have seen, and learned, what a true knife master can do with a single chefs knife with pratice! An example was Chef Kim carving radish roses with his oversized chefs knife just choking up on the last inch of the point. Thank-you!
Heh. I thought "Build Your Own" was going to be a MUCH different video 😉
About 17 years ago, I graduated from college and needed a bunch of kitchen gear. I purchased Farberware knife set (which looks basically like the generic set in the first part of the ATK video). Honestly, I never found anything wrong with them. 17 years later, I'm still using most of those knives. I'm an everyday home cook and far from an expert chef.
I purchased a Victorinox chef's knife a few years back, which was ATK's recommendation at the time.
Recently, I purchased a set of Misen knives as a splurge. And also a cheapo Kiwi Nakiri knife (something like $12 for a pair).
For vegetables, I reach for the $6 Nakiri. For basically everything else, I alternate between my Farberware, Victorinox, and Misen knives. I've been happy with all of them.
If I had to do it all over again, I would probably buy the same Farberware knife set.
(On another note, I never really use a paring knife. I have a couple of them from the knife sets I mentioned. Am I the only one who doesn't use paring knives? 😅)
I know we're not about sets here, but I'll give a shout out to my Calphalon set, it's quite good.
My mix and match set includes a chef knife, paring knife, cleaver, boning, and 10” bread knife. I store them on a magnetic strip mounted to one of my walls.
Please explain the dishwashing machine comment.
I absolutely adore my Schmidt Bros magnetic block — hugely recommend
What about steak knives??
I love the idea of building your own set, I have been doing that for the past decade and have really enjoyed it
I have a block. There’s a single knife in it I don’t use…one of those weird curved paring knives. It may not have the best specimen of everything, but it’s serviceable. I do have a separating boning knife and shears though
Another question: while your discouraging knife sets understandably, some of us prefer to have matching utensils. Is there a brand where if we bought the three main knives, they would have matching comfortable handles that meet the performance goals?
The paring knife looks so cheap, and it is, is there a comparable knife that at least matches the appearance of quality of that chefs knife?
A santoku, a gyuto, a nakiri, and a nice Japanese paring knife. That is my basic set of knives, most of them cost upwards of $200. But they will last a lifetime. I store them in individual blade covers in a knife roll.
i have pretty much this set. I got a knive drawer insert for storage. Ive also added 4 paring knives to use as table knives when needed. and of course kitchen shears.
I have in drawer blocks and store my knives blade side up. This works for me because I don’t have anyone else using knives in the kitchen, I’m aware this would not be safe in a kitchen where children are also grabbing knives. I did purchase my knives one by one, and love the cheap and easily replaceable paring knives. The Victorinox bread knife has served me well for about 10 years.
If you frequent thrift shops, you can get GREAT knifes for cheap cheap. Just don’t expect get them all at once. Be vigilant about checking out the cooking stuff, you would be surprised how fast you can find the BEST stuff.
Umm…. you forgot the second reason we buy knife blocks: STEAK KNIVES!! Why didn't you suggest steak knives? We need those too.