Knife sets are a waste of money. Here's why you should just buy a good chef's knife instead

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• I craft our guides to knives and knife sets, and I've done stints in kitchens and galleys.
• While I've tested more sets than I can recount, my real sentiment is that you only need one knife.
• Learn more about how Insider Reviews tests and researches kitchen products.

While paring knives are great for hulling small fruits and there's nothing like a boning knife for carving a bird, take a look around a commercial kitchen: if a professional chef only has one knife at the ready, what makes you think you need a whole damn knife block filled with knives?

But don't just take it from me. As the late Anthony Bourdain once wrote in "Kitchen Confidential," his exceptionally divulging memoir of the ins and outs of restaurant life and its peripheral debauchery:

"No con foisted on the general public is so atrocious, so wrongheaded, or so widely believed as the one that tells you you need a full set of specialized cutlery in various sizes... Please believe me, here's all you will ever need in the knife department: ONE good chef's knife, as large as is comfortable for your hand."

The problem with knife sets

The problem with knife sets is that they are full of unnecessary "filler" knives, which take space and material away from where it counts most. Make no mistake that the more knives that come in a set, the more cheaply constructed they will be. I've tried knife sets ranging from about $100 up to well over $1,000, and there's always some kind of compromise I discover. Plus, knife blocks are cumbersome. There's no reason your knives shouldn't fit neatly away in a small drawer or be hung from a stainless steel magnetic strip.

Each time I've tested a set and I've liked the chef's knife from it, I've simply tossed the rest of the knives (block and all) into a box and delivered them to storage or donated them. I just don't need anything else, really. Like most home cooks, I'm not butchering animals, nor am I hulling 300 raspberries a night. And if and when that time comes, I'll shell out for the singular specialty knife I need.

But until that time comes for you, dear reader, know that with perhaps no other tool on earth does the adage "less is more" hold more than with the chef's knife. Put your money where it counts.

Invest in one good chef's knife

It's not that there's anything wrong with having multiple knives. I do like to have a cheap paring knife, a boning or filet knife, and I consider a bread knife to be a necessity in some households. The larger point I'm trying to make, alongside Mr. Bourdain's, is that the knife you want to put your money into is the chef's knife. This is the knife that's going to be handling the brunt of your work, and it's the one that's going to take on the most use and abuse, too.

Find one with a reasonable hardness (HRC rating) of around 60 — not so soft that it will dull on the cutting board, but not so hard that it will be brittle and prone to chipping — learn how to sharpen it, and keep it clean and dry it well to prevent rust.

Below is our favorite chef's knife you can buy, but the most important thing when choosing a knife (apart from getting a quality blade) is finding a handle that fits comfortably in your palm, so consider trying some out for yourself first.

Check out our pick for the best kitchen knife:

Wüsthof Classic Chef's Knife (8-inch)

$170.00 FROM WILLIAMS SONOMA

$170.00 FROM AMAZON

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