Restocking my house opinions needed on best knives, pots and pans?

I am starting over again and before I bought some junk, I wanted to see you all opinion on what is the best bang for the buck on kitchen knives and pots and pans?

In the past, I had J.A. Henckels Twin Signature 19-Piece Knife Set with Block

$399 ZWILLING TWIN Signature Knife Block Set, 19-pc, Light Brown

http://www.amazon.com/Zwilling-J-He...r_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1322487994&sr=1-1

and Emeril Stainless Steel Pots & Pans

Emeril Stainless Steel with Copper and Pouring Spouts Dishwasher Safe 10-Piece Cookware Set, Silver

http://www.amazon.com/Emeril-Stainless-Steel-Piece-Cookware/dp/B00284B9DS/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1322488047&sr=1-2

I liked the J.A. Henckels knives but, was not in love with the Stainless Steel pots & pans. They cooked great but, a little hard to clean.


So let me know, what you think?

Thanks for your help!

 

Buy your knives ONE by ONE ( not by the set )

I LOVE this brand (R.H. Forschner)....They have every knife you need.
Start with this one (8 inch chef knife)

$43 Victorinox Swiss Army 5.2063.20-X4 Fibrox Straight Chef's Knife Black 8 in

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-40520-Fibrox-8-Inch-Chefs/dp/B000638D32

Pots and pans, Find a local restaurant supply store, get something for commerical kitchen use, it's the best!
Vollrath brand is awesome stuff

$46 Vollrath 10" Wear-Ever®Aluminum SteelCoat Fry Pan W/ TriVent Handle

http://www.amazon.com/Vollrath-Nonstick-Fry-Pan-10/dp/B0001V3O6U

 

I have various Wusthof Classic knives and have been more than satisfied with them. They handle well and hold an edge. Forschner/Victorinox are good also. Reasonable in price and hold an edge. Pots and pans I have Allclad stainless. These are more expensive but have a more even heat for cooking and clean up easy for me. Hope this helps.

 

All these companies make various levels of quality knives. I have Wusthof and Henckels knives also have a few Chicago Cutlery knives. My opinion the higher end Chicago knives are close competition for the others. My ex tried to get them in the divorce but I sacrificed other stuff to keep those knives. She can't even cook just wanted to be a bitch.
I like my Revere ware pots and pans but I'd like to upgrade those in future. They are old but are holding up really well. Nothing beats the quality workmanship from days gone by.

neontrail said buy the knives one at a time and I completely agree. I have a mix like I said above and that's from getting the best knife for its purpose.

Good luck.

 

wushtof knives classic series, all clad pans.

i was a chef in philly at like 5 4 star rest and one 5 star le bec fin i had used many knives but, for a hard use professional style set of knives wushtof is the best imo. forshner for the cheapies and a decent ceramic for the fine stuff.

all clad is awesome thats what we have in our house for years now they are quite literally the best pan you can buy. the different metals have different characteristics copper and aluminum are going to conduct heat the best but, can react with certain foods and be price prohibitive ie copper. steel is the way to go for hard use everyday pans if you really want grab a suacier in copper or some shit to make cooking that much nicer but, it's not nessary.

 

lol me too wushtof classic, and all clad stainless /end thread.

 

oh and get a Magnetic Knife Strip to hold your knives....

$15 Norpro 12" Magnetic Knife Tool Bar

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Inch-M...r_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1322491606&sr=1-3

I never really liked the wood block myself

 

Dang man, and here I am cooking with hand-me-downs from the parents. As much as I cook, I need to do some investing.

 

I have the Emeril pots and pans, I like them. They're nice an heavy and well built for the price. They cook evenly too.

The trick to cleaning stainless pots and pans is white vinegar. Believe me, it works. I keep a some in a bottle next to the sink. Pour a little bit of vinegar in the pan with your dish soap and it will take that hazy residue right off and they'll look brand new. Since it's a mild acid, it eats right through the grime that the soap won't remove. DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE DISHWASHER! Same goes for your knives, it's better to hand wash them and towel dry them to avoid water spots. Not to mention, pots and pans take up a lot of room in the dishwasher.

I have a set of Henckels knives and I like those too. Just keep them sharp and you'll be happy. Also, to be honest you'll probably only use maybe 2 or 3 of the knives. The only knives I really use out of my set is the Chefs knife, the paring knife, the steak knives, and the bread knife, the rest just sit and collect dust.

Buy one of these


I swipe my knives through it once or twice after each use and it keeps them super sharp.

 

I bought a set of Rachael Ray 10 piece Hard-Anodized cookware set for $93 a month ago at Kohls.com. So far it's been great. It heats up evenly and easy to clean. Also, the orange and gray color combination looks cool.

Currently, it's on sale for $150 on Kohls.com but there is a 20% coupon code, CYBER20, which includes free shipping.

 

You can't go wrong with those ^ my dream set would be all clad everything and some bob kramer shun knifes http://www.google.com/search?q=bob+...mpiQLU__XkCw&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=640&bih=335#p=0

 

Go to a store that specializes in cooking and choose your knives one by one there by holding them in your hand. Look for a full tang and strong construction. if the knife is dull you can always sharpen it. A harder steel means you don't have to sharpen as often but is harder to do so, and a soft steel is easy to sharpen but you have to more often. For pans all clad has some good stuff, thats what my dad has. I use Paderno professional series. Its a Canadian company so I don't know if you could get them easily. Sets are good but I mix and match my pans also, mostly in the same series though. If you don't have one already get a cast iron frying pan, Mine is like my best friend.

Edit: the knives I use are a 10" Henckels chef knife, a paderno slicer, a henckels birds beak, and a shun pairing knife.

 

^^^ yup. I love my cast iron. can't beat it for even heat.

 

consumer reports, they know the score.

 

Your local restaurant supply store is your friend, as previously mentioned.
High quality stuff at reasonable prices.

Stay away from the consumer grade stuff or you will be re-purchasing in a few years.