KitchenAid Knife Block Set

Stainles Steel Full Tang 12 Piece Cutlery

KitchenAid Knife Block Set Inexpensive knives are always a gamble--foundries cut costs in many ways, including quality control, so this twelve piece stainless steel Block Cutlery Set from KitchenAid but manufactured overseas (probably in China) could be a real deal or a real disappointment. You'll find very little hard information about these knives to back up any decision.

The set itself is a sensible assortment of five prep knives, four steak knives, sharpening steel, kitchen shears and a laminated hardwood storage block with room for all. The five prep knives are all forged blades with full tang handles and triple riveted handle slabs. The steak knives have a similar handle construction but are stamped steel.

The prep knives are the most important pieces in the set--forged blade design is appropriate for this style of chef's knife and tolerable in the rest. Outwardly even the santoku is done well, with a thinner blade and a granton that's set back from the knife edge. The steak knives are certainly serviceable and the plain edges can be quickly resharpened with the honing steel, a real advantage over cheap serrated designs that rapidly turn into sawing instruments.

The gamble is what you can't see. Tempering standards and alloy specifications aren't as high for bargain level products, so one set can be good and the next one might be from a lot that shouldn't have passed. For the price of this set you can get two or even three good knives (Forscher by Victorinox is a good choice) with a guarantee to back them up.