W??sthof Classic 26-Piece Mega Block Knife Set with Block

THE BROAD BLADED (CHEF'S) KNIVES:

-- Which chef's knife to use depends on the size and balance of your hand, and how fine the task will be. Petite and average-sized women tend to prefer the 5 or 6-inch blade, average-sized and large men tend to prefer the 8 or 10. (Most sets ship with the 8). If you are a cooking couple, these four will provide a knife comfortable to both sets of hands, and appropriate to both coarse tasks (such as cutting up a watermellon or large squash, or opening a wheel of cheese) and fine ones (chopping an onion, slicing up a bunch of veggies for stir-fry).

THE NARROW BLADED KNIVES:

-- The 3.5-inch paring knife gets used for everything. Trimming and cleaning vegetables, mincing small amounts of herbs, creating garnishes, and other places where a chef's knife would be too big and unwieldy.

-- The 4.5-inch utility knife works as a paring knife for a larger hand, with a longer blade and a heavier handle. A smaller hand may prefer this to the boning knife for boning.

-- The 6-inch sandwich knife is appropriate for sandwiches (spreading filling and spreads, and cutting sandwich meats as well as the finished sandwich), but is also useful for carving chicken or cutting pies.

-- The 8-inch carving knife is for slicing roasts or turkey, but will also work well for cakes, including cheesecake. (Use the sandwich knife for carving chicken).

THE SPECIALTY KNIVES:

-- The boning knife has a narrow blade to slip around and between bones and tendons. Use this for raw meat - use the carving or sandwich knife for cooked stuff.

-- The tomato knife is serrated to cut through tomato skins without crushing, and forked to serve the slices afterward. It also works well on salami and sausage (the edge is the same as the Wusthof sausage and brunch knives, though those don't have a fork). I prefer it for citrus over the utility knife, since it also won't crush the delicate pulp.

-- The bread knife cuts through tough bread crusts without crushing the delicate inside of the bread, and can also be used as a larger tomato knife.

-- The flexible filet will slip easily under the ribs of fish or poultry, and can also be used for skinning.

-- The cleaver is for even heavier chopping tasks than the chef's knife - cutting right through bones or very tough vegetables like sugar cane. Use the flat of the cleaver to crush garlic, and the back of the cleaver to hammer meat to tenderize it, or to pound ginger or galangal before putting it in the pot. (Unlike a real chinese cleaver, this one doesnt' have the front edge sharpened, so you can't use it as a spatula).

-- The peeling knife (also known as the "bird's beak") is not only for peeling thick veggies like broccoli stalks (use a regular veggie peeler for carrots), but also just the right thing for trimming delicate herbs and mushrooms - any task where the cutting surface is the curve of your thumb and not a cutting board. The sharp point and thin profile also make this best for cutting out the cores and stems of peppers or thin-skinned squash.

Other reviewers have commented on the dishwasher-ability of the Wusthof Classic line. I've been washing my knives in the dishwasher for many years, and the rivets do corrode eventually from the detergent. The blades do just fine, however (as long as you have a basket to keep them from knocking together). Hi-carbon stainless is a compromise between stainless (which can't hold an edge) and carbon steel (which first turns black from soap, and then dissolves into a pile of rust if not dried right away). The choice of how much work you're willing to put into your knives is up to you.

It's true that a new cook can survive with a chef's knife and a paring knife, but if you can afford this, get it.