Reddit mentions of WÜSTHOF CLASSIC IKON 8 Inch Chef’s Knife | Full-Tang Half Bolster 8" Cook’s Knife | Precision Forged High-Carbon Stainless Steel German Made Chef’s Knife – Model 4596-7/20,Black

I don't think it's right to describe the differences in kitchen knives as ergonomic and how well-sharpened the blades are. There are two distinct tiers: stamped blades (stamped out of sheet metal and sharpened) and forged blades.

Cutco knives are stamped steel. I've never seen a stamped blade that isn't flimsy and cheap feeling. It has to be thin enough metal to be stamped out of a sheet. You can sharpen them like he said but forged blades are just head and shoulders above stamped, imo.

Forged blades are much heavier and can be made out of way nicer steel that holds an edge longer. They're harder to sharpen but let professionals do that. Just keep yours honed with a steel. Watch a youtube on how to do that, and take the 10 seconds to do it after every time you use your knife. You will only need to sharpen very rarely.

In addition to agreeing with that commenter about using professional sharpening, I think a professional supply place is a fine idea. Just aim for forged for at least your chef's knife. That's the one that really matters since you can use it for the vast majority of cooking tasks.

My roommate's stamped knife set full of special knives is fine for those special things: cheese, sandwich, paring (mostly), bread (mostly). But I use my wusthof ikon chef's knife for basically all my cooking needs. It can still cut thin transparent tomato slices with almost gravity alone. It just effortlessly and precisely divides whatever food material I'm working with.

I bet any decent forged blade would do similar, but since I only needed one nice knife, I was fine spending like $150 ($138 now it looks like) on it to be sure it cut nice and felt good in my hand. The ikon series has nicely contoured handles: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YMURSE/

Please post if you find a professional product you end up buying and let us know how it goes!

A perfect chef's knife is the first place to start (that's my preference, the Wusthof Ikon Classic 8", $160). Go to a kitchen supply store, or even Bed Bath & Beyond, and test drive some steel - see how comfortable it is in your hand, how balanced it feels. If you want to save money for other things, you can't go wrong with the Victorionx Fibrox 8" chef's knife, at an extremely reasonable $40. The chef's knife is an impossibly versatile tool all on its own, but if you want a smaller knife for detailed work, grab a paring knife from whatever manufacturer you choose for your chef's.

A huge, heavy cutting board ($88). For most of my life, I went with the $20 3-packs of plastic OXO or other cutting boards, ranging from small to extremely small - nothing will slow down your cooking more than an inadequately sized cutting board. Things roll off, you pile up your chopped veg and run out of space, you feel constantly crowded, and you can never carve a whole chicken or roast. Buy a piece of non-slip material (usually used for carpets) ($9), place it under the cutting board when you use it, and it will never slip or slide around - more convenient and safe.

A Thermapen. Expensive - it's $100, but it's the fastest and most accurate kitchen thermometer money can buy. A less expensive alternative would be the Lavatools Javelin at $24 - not quite as good, but a damn sight better than any other digital food thermometer you'll get your hands on. This is essential for cooking any meat, deep frying, baking - it will change your game.

An All-Clad Sauté Pan ($129). Also expensive, but an absolute essential tool for everything from sautéing to braising to deep frying. Do not go cheap with your stainless - you can do cheaper than All-Clad, but even heating, comfort, and build quality are absolutely essential.

An inexpensive but awesome nonstick set($164 for 11 pcs). Alternately, you could get a very versatile 12" TFal Professional Total Nonstick, an impossibly stickless, oven safe, dishwasher safe wunderkind.

A 12" Cast Iron Skillet ($34). These are kind of a pain to take care of, but are invaluable for searing, baking, even serving. It'll last you a lifetime if you take care of it.

Ok ok, just take the wind out of my sails and shit all over the hilarity.

A chef (or any kitchen) only really needs a few good knives. The most important of which is your standard cook's knife.

I mean really...who needs a dozen steak knives?

I finally bought the Wüsthof Classic Ikon 8” chefs knifefor $38 off on Amazon. Very excited to get my first professional knife!

Those aren't even that expensive.... When you mentioned the set for the price of 2 I was thinking something more around this cost range

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YMURSE/ref=s9_acsd_zwish_hd_bw_b1DP7_c_x_w

Wusthof 8"
This is the one that I have - Take a look around at some local stores and you're almost certain to find it cheaper than this listing

Another wusthof
This one os from their Ikon line. I don't own this one but I've used it and it's really nice as well. The bolster on the Ikon is a little different and the grip is a little more ergonomic supposedly. I didn't really notice too much of a difference.

Another one to check out is Zwilling. I don't know too much about them apart from word of mouth, which has only been positive.

Whichever you go with make sure that if he doesn't have one already to get him a good steel to go with it

I have 2 actually by accident I didn't know hubby was buying me one and he didn't know that I was buying myself one and now I can't part with either. LOL

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So I bought myself a Ken Onion Shun, and he got me a Wusthof Classic Ikon. for the shine it has an arched blade and has some weight, which I like for big jobs. Or for when I want to use it.

https://www.cutleryandmore.com/shun-ken-onion/chefs-knife-p127314?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3YGjjoOX4gIVGaSzCh0vqASmEAAYAiAAEgIj3fD_BwE

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the Wusthof has a a straight blade and is lighter in weight.

https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-4596-7-20-4596-7-20-Knife/dp/B000YMURSE/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=wusthof+classic+ikon&qid=1557699716&s=gateway&sr=8-5

You can actually get an 8 inch Ikon on amazaon for 125...

I was actually starting to draft a little cooking ideas post like this. This is just what I found value in and will ramble because I haven't really edited it down at all. So if anyone reads it and has notes please let me know, it's fairly directionless at the moment. It is also from the perspective of and aimed towards young single people but not exclusive to. I am also well aware a lot of you folks are good cooks or at least have a functional kitchen and I in no way want it to sound like I'm more knowledgeable than anyone with an hour to watch youtube videos.

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TL:DR Make sure your skills are on point before getting convenience tools as you might not need them, a cast iron or good stainless steel skillet and a good couple of knives can do most things in a kitchen, plan meals before you shop to avoid wastefulness.

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This post is big, flawed, and broken into two main sections. One is purely skills based, stuff you can totally do for free and can start doing right this moment. That's a big part of minimalism for me, gaining skills and getting good at some things rather than owning and being okay at a ton of things. The second section is more of a buy guide, again all from my experience.

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First off is to focus less on the equipment and more on the technique. Fundamentally, knife skills, understanding of cook times, heat, and technique, creativity and planning are some terms I like. In addition I have thoughts on tools and ingredients

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First, learn your knife, do drills, practice good form constantly. When I started in a fast-food-y sandwich shop when I was 16, the manager (who was a line cook for years) suggested I practice things like chopping a carrot as thinly as possible, or celery, or breaking down onion and garlic. Then I got to work with the prep team (which was cool because they taught me Spanish) to learn basic stuff like sauces and cooking meats. The result is a few years later, I have a decent knife. Not as good as a legit cook or anything but enough that I can confidently use a sharp knife to do anything a home cook would ever need to.

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Cook times. It's way less intimidating to work on food when you know "okay my chicken will take this long, oven takes this long, rice needs this much time", and so on. From a minimalist perspective, this will help you cut down on some tools such as a plug-in type grill, rice cookers, stuff that times or cooks food for you. Learning how to use heat also really improves the versatility of something as simple as a cast iron pan. Technique will allow you to make staple dishes or at least be able to take a guess at how to prepare just about anything, and the most valuable tip for that is look up how to make individual components of dishes rather than just recipes over and over. This becomes relevant in the next portion as well.

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Creativity. As some people are mentioning, "aspirational groceries" cause clutter and waste in the form of garbage and money. Creativity helps solve this when paired with planning. When shopping, I found it valuable to plan out meals for the week. Buy what you need, make a note of what isn't used, and refine. That's planning. Creativity is ending up with some random ingredients and Macgyvering it together so you don't waste or overspend. That is made much easier by having solid cooking techniques so you have a bit of a starting off point for creativity.

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Now into the stuff. I personally think a couple things are fundamental. Babish from YouTube has a great List . First off, get a good 7" to 8" Chef knife. I use a Gyuto but that's more because I impulse bought one when I first moved out and had all the money in the world from not having any expenses and was talked into it by a very nice saleswoman at the knife shop in town. Wusthof is a great name in knives and if you can get a hold of an 8" one of those, a bread knife, and maybe a pairing knife (I don't really use mine much but some people do) you will be able to do most things. I'd avoid buying a knife set just because you're more than likely paying for an extra 3 or so knives you won't use, and they're cheap for a reason. But to each their own, it is very convenient to have the steak knives, honing rod, and scissors that most of them include. No judgement here. Plus they're really really affordable.

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Now as to everything else, I'm not as researched. I think a good cast iron skillet is fantastic from a minimalist perspective as you can do most things that you'd really ever need to do on it, from frying to saute to some baking. Kent Rollins is first off a joy to watch but more importantly uses very limited tools. He does have his specialized "bertha" stove but for the most part it's just him with either open fires or a hot stove cooking in cast iron pans and dutch ovens. If you want to know more, I'd just watch the babish video above, he talks more about why he has what he has, such as this expensive but amazing set of pots and pans. Off the top of my head: baking sheets, a large cutting board, a meat thermometer (safety), measuring cups and spoons, box grater (or one coarse grater and one microplane grater), spatulas, tongs, etc.

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Like I said this is mostly ranting, and I'm going to research and trim it down for the future, but these are my thoughts at the moment.

In that range go for the wustof 8" ikon. Just bought one as a gift for a fellow line cook. Great knife by a notable maker.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000YMURSE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1456912234&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=wusthof+ikon&dpPl=1&dpID=21HPgwBr1yL&ref=plSrch

Get a good knife. Never look back.

I have no interest in promoting a brand but this is my good knife. It has made me very happy.

Wusthof Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YMURSE?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

We are still putting together a set but I recently bought this Wusthof Ikon 8" chef's knife for my GF and it is phenomenal. We are both very happy with it. Also picked up a honing steel and the combo is literally unstoppable. As far as the rest of your set goes I can't make any real recommendations but we are researching regularly. Good luck!

Well, Victorinox is nice but you should try something from Germany, like a "Zwilling" or a "Wüsthof", https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YMURSE/ref=psdc_289857_t1_B000XKFNGI
This might be the best if you don't want to go with japanese steel.

https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-4596-7-20-4596-7-20-Knife/dp/B000YMURSE

Get a quality chef knife if you don’t have one yet and are cooking a lot. I would say if you want a western knife, a BILF one would be the Wustof Classic Ikon. It is a good price and built like a tank but has the balance of a ballerina. Great great value at the price of $170. They also have it packaged with a Wustof Classic Ikon pairing knife for $190 if you need one of those.

Wusthof Classic IKON Cook’s Knife,4596-7/20 8 Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YMURSE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JAYxCbMNSEENH

Wusthof Classic Ikon two piece starter set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005MEHP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TCYxCbZEWS00F