Here's a cooking technique collection. Emjoy! :) Kitchen Technique

I have a couple of cutco knives and I LOVE them. The serrated ones are wonderful! The straight edge knives are really sharp and high quality. I will be ordering more soon. Give them a try...get a Cutco representative to give you a demonstration. They have "virtual" on-line teleconference type tutorials as well so you can learn more.

Thank you Yumee Jang and Sage Russell for your wonderful tips! I am excited to get in the store and try out some knives. I'll let you both know what I come out with!

Sage Russell Thanks for your tip!! Your "physco assassin knife grip" reference on Knife Handling Tips was hillarious!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 🤖 💾 🍕 🌮 🌯 I personally never used a ceramic knife before, but being sharper than steel it can be very useful when slicing through your prep? However I did hear that they do chip when you try to cut through bone or frozen food. If you ever get a chance to test it out let us know what you think!

Thanks so much Mike!

Lorna Borenstein - We just have the standard kitchen ones like these... http://www.cutco.com/products/thumbnail.jsp?category=20

Mike Oxford is there a particular kind of Cutco knife you love? I think I'll try a few, they sound awesome and I am tired of constantly sharpening mine.

We have Cutco knives and they're very sharp - as in ... we joke about not using them because they're too sharp. Maybe Yumee got a bad one or something but we've have nothing but good experience with them.

Cutco has free lifetime sharpening as well, though they do charge you for S&H and you have to send them off.

I retired my Heinkels because the Cutco we just toss in the dishwasher and don't worry about them. Had them for years and they're still amazingly sharp so the higher-maintenance Heinkels just stopped getting used. =)

For day-to-day use we've been very very happy with them.

Yumee Jang, how do you feel about ceramic blades?

Louis Alley hmmmm, to be really blunt I would say toss them and get an actual knife. This is my take on Cutco knives after using them only once.... I was trying to chop carrots with Cutco chef's knife, first the handle was horrible, a good handle should feel full and sturdy in your hand, Cutco felt very thin and flimsy very plastic. Second the blade was really thick, a thin blade glides through your food, with Cutco I felt like I was forcing the cut with my arms and not my blade. Third it was really dull, in middle of chopping I had to sharpen the knife. I finally tossed the knife and reached for an Ikea knife (this was all at my sister's house by the way) and the Ikea knife worked better!

But this is my opinion, so if you like your knife and it works for you great!

Is it heresy to ask about Cut Co?

M L Well it all depends on your price range since knife sets can set you back a bit, but here are some recommendations.
Messermeister - This is the knife set I got when I was in culinary school and still works great after 9 years, my 9" chef's knife is my go to knife, it does dull more often than others but sharpening them is not hard, you don't need a wet stone or anything. Bit on the heavy side but I like that.

Global Chef's Knives - This is also a bit pricy. I've used this couple times at other chef's kitchen and have been continuously impressed, very smooth and light. This is for serious choppers.

For the consumer end here are my top favorites:

Zwilling J.A. Henckels - Long lasting sharpness, dishwasher safe, and the handle design is great for beginners.
Chicago Cutlery - Bang for the buck! Great for beginner chef's you can bang this up and the blade will still be great!

These are the 4 I would look out for, I hope this helped!

I am moving into a new apartment and have decided to revamp my kitchen tools a bit. My top priority is to get a new knife set. However, I'm not really sure where to start.

Does anyone have any advice for how to search for a new knife set? Or a recommendation for what the average chef might want to purchase?

Thanks everyone!