Gone are the days of 3 knives, one each for paring, carving and bread slicing. These days, we have knives for filleting fish, plus several different size blades for carving and chopping. One solution is to keep them each in their own sheath, or place them in a secure container.

 

Knife blocks used to be available only with knife sets, but now they can be purchased alone, and available in all shapes and sizes. Some will even hold 20 plus knives. There are wooden, plastic or glass types, and even under-cabinet models.

 

 

 

You are going to chop, cut, carve, peel, slice, dice and mince with knives, so size and shape, will play a part in the purchase of a starter set.

 

The small paring knife will get used as much as all the others put together. Two or three of these in various blade shapes will do nicely,

 

A utility knife might be next. These are still light, easy to handle and maneuver, and will take a fair slice off of whatever you choose to cut into.

 

If you plan on cutting a lot of meat, you may want a boning knife. The blade is fairly flexible and nicely curved, to cut around the bone. A chef's knife would be the next choice. They come in a variety of sizes and are the strong workhorses of the kitchen. A long serrated narrow blade knife, commonly used for bread slicing, would round out the set nicely.

 

Of course, the size of the blade and the size and strength of your hand should be a consideration when buying one. Try them out, hold them, pretend you are cutting something. If it feels good in your hand, and you can safely hold it, it will be fine.

 

That's the basics, you can add from there. There are also all other shapes, sizes, and all styles, from cleavers to carvers.