Japanese knives, French knives, Butcher knife [not cleaver], a cleaver and a double sided sharpening stone.

1 Pairing knife for peeling and deboning., 1 chef knife [slim and mid size for slicing and mincing, go with the french ones], 1 mid size Butcher knife solely for dispatching large meat, if you get them in chunks and a cleaver/thick small chef knife[cheapest] for cutting bones.

That's my set up. I was amazed how affordable and good the french knives [almost unknown brand] was. The blade is thinner than anything you will see in those videos but it works like a charm.

Always buy knives which bevel are completely free that you can sharpen start to end.

Paring knife 10 cm, Chef knife 20cm and butcher knife 23cm [I use mostly once a year on Eid Ul Adha to dispatch my the meat] ( You can get a smaller one or just use your chef knife, only comes in handy for long and deep chunks of meat].

The Brand I use is Dumas.

Steel Inox/stainless x30cr13.

Meat knife: Second from top.

I will not be sharpening my meat knife so it not a problem to have the bevel blocked.



I wont get knife that will expect to sharpen in the future like this, with the even bevel blocked [even sent to a knife sharpener].


Get these ones [if you want].



Tramontina Knife is good too, if you do not abuse it, I have one that gets abused daily and I've been grinding and sharpening it multiple times, see how the bavel is kept free. It is not easy but defiantly possible to sharpening it length to length.



I put emphasis on this because, mincing, slicing and delicate jobs use the back part of the bade, which is why you need access to sharpen it.


A Santoku chef knife may further ease mincing and works great as a chef knife for general use too. Just keep in mind that, the round/oval spots are just for show contrary to the marketing narratives.
----------

So from my experience: Dumas and Tramontina.

----------------------------------

Cookware:

First of all, I analyse the bottom of any cookware. How heavy it is. Being heavy is a good sign. Then the handle and joint to the main body and then the lid.

Best so far and with experience: AMC and FUTURA.

My mom brought her AMC yearsssssssssssssss ago and hands down, the best cookware in the kitchen and everything is heavy lol!!!!
The best about this, is the heavy and thick bottom, no risk burning. You do not need steam cooker, AMC does it for you be it meat or vegetables. Than means most of our food is healthy with no oils etc...

Futura, and extension or Hawkins, I have only some that I need and it is again, heavy bottom and a very unique material [it is not non-stick] and put non-stick to shame. Quality top, no risk of having some piece breaks on you. Solid metal and joints.


---------------------------------

Get an air fryier. This is a great versatile tool. You can bake anything in that [within the space limits]. Cake, Meat, Veggies, Chips with little or no oil at all!

20 mins and bom, your frozen chips are ready.
15 mins and your cake done!

Easy for heating up bread, pizza etc

Healthy and better.

--------------------------------

Hope this helps.

I'm partial to Henckel's knives for personal use. But if I'm cooking professionally, I need something lighter weight. William's Sonoma have some really nice ones.
Don't bother buying a full set, create your own of just what you will actually use. Here's all I need/use:

• French chef
• Paring
• Meat cleaver
• Santoku
• Bread (any cheap knife will do for this)
• Filet
• Steel

You folks have educated me. Thank you very much.

I've reread Freakers reply several times

I'm a huge fan of mercer for beater knives, something that your not going to take super good care of.
and for expensive, I go to JP Prince or Korin for knives.

Honestly, one issue I have is successfully sharpening a knife. I have various stones from 300 and 800 up to 10000.

I'm not sure if its just me or the metal I'm working with.

I truly believe this is an essential kitchen skill.

I only have a chef's knife in my kitchen. It gets all the job done

Pshaw, Hoch, you of all people should know that German steel is where the party's at ;) Just got a set of Henckels as a birthday gift and I jumped up and down like a little kid - but make sure they're Zwilling, not the lower-quality International (two little stick figure dudes, not one, like the name says)... or else Wüsthof, those are good as well. Both from Solingen.

I've decided to buy Zwilling, and maybe a couple under the Miyabi brand.

Thanks to all of you for your input.

Freaker really nailed it on many points that I've since educated myself about, such as the heel and type of bolster, with respect to use and sharpening.

I've also been using older cheaper knives to practice sharpening on. I've got to the point I can cut paper, especially from the mid to heel end of the blade. More practice Daniel Son

When I was younger and in the restaurant industry, I always preferred German knives over the lighter Japanese knives. See what feels good in your hand. If you like heavyer knives I'd recommend Wustof Ikons, although I had problems with the handles cracking.

The best recommendation I can make is to not buy a set. Figure out what types of knives you want and pick the best of each.