Which is the 1 knife I need?

[starbuck]

I have a good knife for cutting meat. Now want a really good knife for everything else. any suggestions?

[Zak33]

you can just use one knife in life...I use a huge cooks knife from Swibo.

BUT a slightly smaller one for vegetable pairing would be nice.

What you got? Digi photo with summit next to it for size comparison...maybe a CD case as we all know how big that is

[Clingy]

A "Cooks" Knife anywhere between 12-20cm.

[Nick]

Best pick a decent sized one that's comfortable in your hand and SHARP!

Get yourself down to a catering suppliers and try the weight and feel of different knives in your hands. As Clingy says, it sounds like what you want is a 'cooks' knife, which have a deep blade so you can chop without smashing your knuckles on the board each time.... and, as Zak says, maybe get a smaller one for more fiddly jobs.

[chazt]

i work in a cookshop so i can give you a little advice.
If you can afford it, go for wusthof or henckels, they are considered the best, but a little pricey, about £40 for a reasonable sized cooks knife. You may recognize global, they are the ones with stainless steel handles with black dots. A bit gimmicky but they are very light and sharp. If on a budget get victorinox, will cost you about £15 and is a million times better than anything you can buy in a supermarket.
heres a shameless plug for the shop i work at Thomas William

[Trippledence]

Bread Knife - Cuts everything. Cooking sissors are very good for chicken.

[Ferral]

Guy I work with told me to just get 2 knives to start with. I got a 10 inch fully forged chefs knife and a utility knife that has a 4 inch blade on it again fully forged (They are very similar to the Sabatier in build and feel, just a little bit lighter in weight) Big one cost me around £9 and the smaller one £6. I decided to get the knives I did as the kitchen porters we have arnt bothered about the knives and a fair few of them have the tips of the blade broken off slightly and are scratched to hell.

I opted to get the Stainless Steel fully forged knives from Tesco, they are extremely sharp. While I was on holiday with the kids I took them with me and cut through a partially frozen joint of meat as we only needed a bit of it with the big knife. Went through the meat like a hot knife through butter. I have been using them quite a bit as of late and they are still razor sharp, just sharpening gently around once per week to keep them just right.

[Marcos]

Do i really have to spend £23 to get a decent kitchen knife?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW

I suppose if it last years and years it isnt such a bad price

[Flibb]

A good knife will last for years, I use a sabatier that belonged to my wifes grandmother I reground the edge when I inherited it, and give it a retouch every now and again, but its dam sharp. I did have a set of cheap knives, any that I used regularly broke eventually, in most cases the blade seperated from the handle. A good quality knife is also is much easier to keep sharp than a cheap one, this makes it safer to use.