What is Reddit's opinion of
Mercer Culinary M20000 Genesis 6-Piece Forged Knife Block Set, Tempered Glass Block?
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9 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
If I had to buy a set, it would be this one
My folks had a set of Henkels that they didn't keep sharp, it out me off the brand a bit. I decided on Mercer when I got married and still love them. I made sure to get the matching honing steel and have the steak knives too. The hubby isn't the biggest fan of the steak knives since they are serrated at the tip.
Though getting individual ones is a good idea, this set by Mercer is $150 and doesn't have any extraneous ones. They're often sold at restaurant supply stores, which is where I recommend getting steak knives. Forschner is what I use.
https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-Genesis-6-Piece-Tempered/dp/B000IBU9FW
I bought a 'kitchenIQ Edge-Grip 2 Stage Knife Sharpener' on Amazon for like $10. It works fine and seems to keep the edges sharp with just a few passes.
It looks like Williams doesn't have the Mercer knife sets anymore, but does sell them individually. I bought the Mercer Renaissance 6-knife set in the glass holder - it's on Amazon.ca here. Camelcamelcamel says its at a historically high price right now, but goes as low as $139 (albeit on Boxing Day - maybe set a price alert and grab it for around the $200 mark - what I paid).
Poking around a bit, it looks like Bed, Bath & Beyond have some decent deals on some quality knife sets, surprisingly. There's a couple Wusthof sets I'm looking at now...that said, you definitely don't need one of those ridiculous 12-14 knife sets with the massive wooden block. I'd say (as would most real cooks/professionals) that you only really need 3-5 good knives at most. And don't store them sharp-side down in a wooden block.
Knives are very personal for some people, so I'm hesitant to recommend any higher end options. If you are on a budget, then one of these will probably be better than what he has today. One is smaller but forged, the other is stamped, but still well rated, even by Cook's Illustrated. If you're budget allows something higher than these, I'd just take him knife shopping.
https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-Genesis-6-Piece-Tempered/dp/B000IBU9FW
https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Classic-10-Piece-Cutlery/dp/B005LRYTA4
Mercer has been my new favorite knives for a couple of years now. German steel, great balance and heft, superior handle.
Three nice setups here for a home kitchen here - https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-Genesis-6-Piece-Tempered/dp/B000IBU9FW
If you're looking for just one chef's knife, I use this at home, and couldn't be happier with it - https://www.amazon.com/ZELITE-INFINITY-Chef-Knife-inch/dp/B0110EKTUU
Are you talking about something similar to this
I am by no means an expert chef, but I took up cooking as a hobby a few months ago and ended up buying a bunch of new cookware.
For knives, I went with:
http://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-Genesis-6-Piece-Tempered/dp/B000IBU9FW?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
I like the display rack and thought it looked elegant and unique and it also fit on my counter (check to make sure it isn't too big to fit under cabinets - you have to pull the knives out from above). Also, the knives are really good - they cut through everything very easily and I believe Mercer is the brand that is typically used in culinary schools. They were the right balance of price vs quality for me - they're very good knives and I got them for rather cheap due to an Amazon Lightning Deal around Black Friday. Other options include Wusthof if you're willing to spend a lot for extremely high quality or Victorinox if you're looking for something cheaper than is still quite good.
Also, if you need steak knives/sharpening steel for keeping the knives sharp (just look up a video on youtube for how to use it if you aren't sure):
For pots and pans, I went with:
I like the stainless steel and haven't found the lack of non-stick surface to be an issue. The stainless steel heats very well and the lodge cast iron skillet is what I use for steaks and other dishes that require a smoking hot pan. For me, again, price was a bit of a limiting factor - these allow me to make everything I want to but, if money was no object, I'd probably get an All-Clad set since people seem to swear by those. Another good site I found for this kind of thing is http://thesweethome.com/leaderboard/kitchen/ since they actually research a ton of different products and talk to experts to find the most affordable as well as the best.
Again, I am by no means an expert but after researching this stuff for a while, this is everything I learned. I hope it helps!
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