You actually need two chef knives - one for fruit/vegies and one for meat.

I've never designated meat vs. other knives. Cutting boards, yes.

Ditto Mimipadv on the cutting boards. And also on her original post. I use a large chef's knife and a medium one, plus assorted other knives. They all get use. I do agree with the Bourdain quote about serrated knives and those made out of hard-to-sharpen S/S though.

My point, not clear enough obviously, was needing two knives for prepping a single meal. I wouldn't wash a knife between cutting meat and cutting vegies.

Other than steak knives (of which we use many when we entertain), I use only 6 knives regularly. A small paring knife, a bird's beak knife, chefs knife, serrated bread knife, and a boning/filet knife. I am thinking about getting a good cleaver...

Cutco rocks!

I could get by.

I have this Cutco set in the Pearl handle. It was really sharp when we first got it as a wedding set. Dh kept cutting himself. Now my 16 yo says they aren't sharp enough and I need to get them sharpened. I have those and few for destructive purposes such as opening boxes or cutting things I wouldn't use good knives on.

He's actually right Mimi, one or two knives as BLFenton suggested is adequate and if you keep them sharp, can do any job.. I have a drawer full of everything from steak knives to paring to medium sized slicers, but always end up using my favorite sharp knife for literally everything.

We got a few Cutco pieces for a wedding gift, and they've done the job.

I do love a serrated knife. Speaking of which, just how does Tony B. cut crusty bread?

I cannot imagine using my chefs knife to slice bread. And a good carving knife is as important as a good chef's knife. Actually my most important knife is my pocket knife. ;-)

Cutco WILL re-sharpn all their knives forever, free (+postage). Cutco does ROCK. MINE ARE 62 YEARS old....in better shape than me and only a couple of years ago did they have a factory sharpening (and wonderful like new facelift). I think they cost about a months pay in 1954 ($110.00) Pretty good value for 62 years.

BTW....they do not make my favorite knife anymore....it is similar to a pocket knife in size maybe 3-4 ". For the first time, mine got tossed with the garbage ( I guess) ordered new and hated it as it was too big so found my favorite on eBay Yay, Yay. Sometimes I keep it in my desk...afraid my DS is not as "in love" with my knives as I am and have been all these years. Gosh, only one of the hard things about getting old and giving up favorite things.

One or two chef's knives, a paring knife, a bread knife. (Maybe a back up or two...) Oh, since I cook "ethnic", I have a sushi knife too. I'm thinking of getting a cleaver for some other food items.

Anyhow, much as I enjoy him too, he's wrong!

I use a serrated knife to cut bread. A chef's knife for everything else. My table is set most often with steak knives because we eat meat.

I get where Tony B. is coming from...I have a drawer full of knives that have languished there for decades. :)

I get it to, but his treating the hoi polloi like dumb rubes just grated on me, especially when I cook a hell of a lot more than he does!

I agree with him on the serrated knives (but not a true bread knife) and the unsharpenable things and all the chopper/dicers. But I am like Artemis and want a couple of chef knives, a bread knife, paring knife and a good D-handle peeler. I can live with that. And non-serrated steak knives.

Mimpadv, I guess I think of him as a mixed bag. Articulate and also often crude. Kind, and yet...sometimes an arse . An interesting person, but probably difficult to work for.

llucy- The contradictions are vast. Elitist, yet humble. High brown, yet pedestrian.

I guess he's somewhat of a chameleon.

llucy - one of my cousins worked for Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern as a producer on their shows on the Travel Channel. While Zimmern was quirky she really liked him, Bourdain - not at all. When she left to take a job in NYC Zimmern sent her a big bouquet but Bourdain never even said congrats.

I've watched Bourdain a few times but he becomes tiresome quickly - he may aspire to high brow elitism but he comes across as someone I wouldn't want to spend any time with .

I did a quick check of the Global knives, they are not inexpensive - has anyone here used them?

Hmmm. And I talked to someone who once took a cooking class from Zimmern and found him to be arrogant and condescending.

I bet if a company offered to let Mr. Bourdain design a set of knives for an exorbitant fee, he would suddenly decide we need many more than a chef's knife.

maire_cate,

Funny you should be in a position to say. I've seen different episodes of AB's various programs where he *put down* producers and staff. It's part of what prompted my comment that I think he might be difficult to work for - or with.

I did a friend a favor 45 years ago: I let her college-age DD pitch a product to me. It was Cutco, and I bought three knives: Bread, Chefs, and a 4" serrated "tomato" knife. I still use them. I like the grips, and they've performed well. My DS wants them -- and he cooks a LOT more than his mother!

Well, I do think there is a difference between someone who cooks from home and a chef, different techniques and so on; in that regard he's sort of mixing apples with oranges IMO. For example, a Chef in a restaurant wouldn't cut bread for a plate, his sharp knife is for prep stuff like vegi's and meat. The only reason I cook like that is because I have an ex who did chef work and he got me in the habit of using one really good really sharp knife.

I have been a professional cook for decades and would have to agree Bourdain's conclusion is close. I have three knives I use regularly, a chef's knife (which gets about 80% of the use), a smaller chef's knife with a 7" blade which is more convenient to use when we're having cheese and crackers in front of the TV, and a bread knife.

I've never wanted steak knives: if I can't cut my steak with an ordinary table knife it's not fit to eat IMO, and have found that a serrated knife is only needed to cut tomatoes if the chef's knife isn't properly sharpened.

I don't consider owning three knives "close" to declaring the need for only one. Three provides much more versatility IMO.

True, but you can get by quite nicely with only a good chef's knife. As in, what would you want on a desert island?

Well, I could get by with two, which is closer to one if you like gyr_falcon, if my DH didn't like to snack on cheese and crackers while I'm prepping dinner.

I have minimized to 4. A big chef's knife, a serrated one for breads, a boning knife and a paring knife. ( Also a set of steak knives )

Don't know the guy and was thinking ill of him through most of the reading here but it did just hit me that when I was going to the cabin a lot I would use basically one knife. The fillet knife from my tackle box. Always was super sharp, and cut everything I needed to cook. But at home I don't consider myself on a desert island. I can afford to spare a little room and have a chef's knife, a bread knife, a paring knife or two, some steak knives (although I suppose he considers that in the flatware department) and another I've found extremely handy was called a sandwich knife. I used to carry one with me when I traveled a lot. It was essentially a mini bread knife about the size of a steak knife. Yes it was serrated.

The thing that really irritates me about these boobtube buffoons is watching them trying to showoff on their alleged knife "skills" and watch them chop-chop-chop, then drag the knife blade across the cutting board to bring the items together to chop some more. What a perfect way to show people how to ruin their knives. But they don't care, they're trying to sell you knives and they get theirs replaced every couple shows anyway I suppose since they're going to be about as sharp as a bicycle tire

Mr. Bourdain is not a TV chef nor does he advertise any one brand of knife.

Many of us have more of a certain kind of item than absolutely required to get by. Shoes for instance.

Like others here I have my favorite kitchen knives, and while I probably have more than I need, I don't think I could make do with only one. I can't imagine using a large knife as a paring knife, or cutting a fresh baked loaf with a paring knife.

Perhaps what is being said is that if one buys large sets of something, not all of the items will be used and that is probably true. I recall when I was young buying a Sears Craftsman tool set which I used for decades and just last year gave to one of my sons, and while there were some sockets I didn't use, I never regretted having the set.