What is the best knife set?
Knife sets vary in size, so you can find some containing five knives or more if you need a starter option or smaller sets with three or fewer knives if you only need specific types. Some sets also come with a block or board to store the knives and keep them in good condition, so they're always sharp and ready to cut.
A top-notch knife set for your kitchen will help you slice and dice through any recipe with ease.
Global 7-Piece Ikasu Knife Block Set
Made in Japan, this knife set includes six knives and a bamboo/acrylic knife block. The blades are ground on both sides, so they have a super-fine edge for effective cutting. The handles are made of dimpled stainless steel, too, which gives them a superior grip and a balanced feel in hand.
Chicago Cutlery Insignia Stainless Steel 18-Piece Knife Block Set
This comprehensive knife set is a perfect option for anyone looking for a starter set. In addition to 16 knives, it includes a pair of kitchen shears and a knife block to hold all of the cutlery. The knives are full tang, too, so they offer a balanced feel in hand and plenty of control when cutting. The block even contains a built-in sharpener slot to make it easy to keep your knives sharp.
Mercer Culinary Millennia 5-Piece Magnetic Board Knife Set
Featuring high-carbon, stain-resistant Japanese steel, these knives have edges that are extremely easy to maintain and sharpen. The handles are made of durable polypropylene and feature an ergonomic design that feels comfortable in your hand. They also have textured finger points to keep the knives from slipping.
Cuisinart 10-Piece Ceramic-Coated Cutlery Set with Blade Guards
If you want to add some color to your kitchen, this set of ceramic-coated knives can do the trick. The color-coded design isn't just for looks, though — it can actually help prevent cross-contamination when cooking. The stainless steel blades are covered in nonstick ceramic to help them cut through food more easily, too.
Shun Classic 6-Piece Slim Knife Block Set
These hand-sharpened Japanese knives feature a unique cutting core with 34 layers on each side and stainless Damascus cladding for improved durability and performance. The handles are made of durable, moisture-resistant PakkaWood and feel extremely comfortable in your hand. They retain their edge incredibly well and resist corrosion.
Cuisinart Classic Stainless Steel 15-Piece Cutlery Set
With superior high-carbon stainless steel blades, this knife set offers top-notch accuracy and precision. In addition to 13 knives, it comes with a pair of steel kitchen shears and a block to hold everything. The ergonomically designed handles offer a comfortable grip and provide plenty of control when cutting.
Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Signature Knife Set
Featuring three must-have knives, this set is a good basic option. They feature ice-hardened blades that maintain their edge for a long time and ergonomic polymer handles for a full tang design. The one-piece stamped blade is also extremely lightweight, though it doesn't sacrifice strength at all.
Emojoy 15-Piece Kitchen Knife Set with Wooden Block
This knife set features every knife you could possibly need — plus a pair of kitchen scissors and a knife sharpener. The knives feature high-carbon stainless steel blades that won't rust, stain or pit. The bright blue polymer handles are ergonomically designed to keep your hands comfortable when chopping.
J.A. Henckels International Classic 20-Piece Self-Sharpening Cutlery Set
If you want a knife set that requires as little maintenance as possible, this is definitely an option worth considering. The knife block features self-sharpening slots, so the knives are automatically sharpened every time you take them out. They feature fine edge, precision-honed blades and fully forged construction to provide excellent balance in your hand.
McCook 15-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set
With high-carbon stainless steel blades, this comprehensive knife set makes it extremely easy to slice, dice and chop in your kitchen. They also feature ergonomically designed handles that are comfortable to hold and offer plenty of control. The included block features a built-in sharpener, so you can maintain the knives' edges.
Amazon Basics 18-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set
If you're looking for an affordable knife set, this is definitely an option worth considering. It contains 14 full-tang, triple-riveted knives with high-quality stainless steel blades that are precision-honed to help them maintain their edge. They also have ergonomic handles, so they feel comfortable and balanced in hand.
Calphalon Classic Self-Sharpening Stainless Steel 15-Piece Knife Block Set
This sleek, stainless steel knife set can look and perform well in your kitchen. The knives are full tang and are designed to maintain their edge over time. The block features built-in ceramic sharpeners, so you can easily sharpen the knives when necessary.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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National Geographic
2 days ago
- National Geographic
What everyone gets wrong about the deadliest shark attack in history
HISTORY & CULTURE SHARKFEST The sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is widely known as a shark story—but the truth is much more horrifying. The U.S.S. Indianapolis at port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa 1937. The sinking of the warship is considered one of the worst tragedies in U.S. Naval history: 879 men lost their lives while the survivors suffered for four days and five nights until they were rescued. Photograph By Navy History and Heritage Command "The shark comes to the nearest man and that man he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away." Robert Shaw's iconic monologue as shark hunter Quint in Jaws captured the horror of the day 80 years ago when sharks descended on the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis after the vessel was sunk by Japanese torpedoes during World War II. Thanks to the fame of the movie, that speech propelled the worst shark attack in history into public lore. (Martha's Vineyard locals reflect on the legacy of 'Jaws' 50 years later.) But his speech had some critical errors. Many retellings focus on the sharks mercilessly picking off the survivors, but the terror of that day in July 1945 was 'much more than just a shark story,' says Lynn Vincent, author of Indianapolis. It's a story of hundreds of men—some just 17 years old—who set off a great adventure and changed the face of history before experiencing unimaginable horrors, adds her co-author Sara Vladic. The sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is considered one of the worst tragedies in U.S. Naval history. What really happened? This is the true story of the disaster of the Indianapolis. The U.S.S. Indianapolis sets sail on a top-secret mission The U.S.S. Tranquility lands in Guam carrying the survivors of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Only 316 of the 1,195 crew members aboard the ship survived after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Photograph By National Archives The U.S.S. Indianapolis was hit by torpedoes just after it had completed a top-secret mission: delivering components of the atomic bomb that the U.S. would later use on Hiroshima during World War II. Photograph By National Archives The Indianapolis—affectionately known as the Indy—was already well-known by the time she met her gruesome demise. She had 10 battle stars and was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's ship of state. In March 1945, a few months earlier, the Indianapolis had been hit by a Japanese suicide pilot, or kamikaze, in Okinawa and was sent back to California for repairs. 'The Japanese plane not only hit her, but sent a bomb through her, literally through her,' says Paridon. 'It exploded underneath her keel.' By the time she was mended, the U.S. Navy needed a ship to transport components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima to Tinian, a U.S.-controlled island south of Japan. 'That's why she's available… because she had taken that hit,' says Paridon. 'It's a twist of fate, really it is.' (Wreckage of WWII-era warship U.S.S. Indianapolis found after 72 years.) The Indy was loaded up with the priceless cargo and set out on her crucial journey on July 16. The mission was 'uber, uber, uber secret,' says Paridon. 'The sailors on board that ship had no earthly [idea] what they were carrying. Capt. Charles Butler McVay had an inkling. He was told 'every day you save on your transit is one less day we're gonna have to fight this war,' says Paridon. After racing to Tinian under radio silence, the Indy delivered the bomb on July 26 and the top-secret mission was over. But her hardships were about to begin. The U.S.S. Indianapolis at New York City about a decade before it was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The maritime disaster was made famous by Captain Quint's monologue in the movie Jaws. In terms of lives lost, it was the U.S. Navy's second worst catastrophe in history, trailing only the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photograph By Naval History and Heritage Command The U.S.S. Indianapolis was leaving Guam in the early hours of July 30 when a Japanese submarine spotted the ship glinting in the moonlight. Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto ordered his crew to fire and two torpedoes struck the ship. 'These are big kabooms, to put it very, very bluntly,' says Paridon. That was the first catastrophe. Many men were 'there one minute, literally gone the next,' he says. Others were hit by shrapnel and burned by hot metal as they tried to escape. The Indy sank in just 12 minutes. Those who found themselves in the water—concussed, burned, wounded, and covered in oil from the wreckage—were about to face a nightmare lasting five nights and four days. Joseph A. Jacouemot and Richard P. Thelen, two survivors of the U.S.S. Indianpolis, are shown in a hospital in the Philippines shortly after their rescue in August 1945. Hundreds of men struggled for five days to survive dehydration, hypothermia, shark attacks, and madness while floating in the South Pacific. Photograph By National Archives Likely attracted by the commotion and bodies in the water, sharks—likely oceanic whitetips and tiger sharks—started to arrive soon after the ship sank. Stories tell of over 150 men being killed by sharks in a feeding frenzy. But even though we don't know exact figures, the event is acknowledged as the worst shark attack in history. For context, the total number of unprovoked shark bites globally in all of 2024 was just 47. It's believed the sharks largely fed on corpses and the dying. 'Did they eat some of the corpses? Absolutely. Did they bite some of the survivors? For sure,' says Seth Paridon, a historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum. 'But it wasn't to the degree that the myth makes it out to be.' (How to stay safe if you do find yourself swimming with sharks.) Some barely saw shark activity. In an oral history conducted by the Naval History and Heritage Command, senior medical officer Capt. Lewis Haynes 'saw only one shark' and didn't see anyone get bitten. McVay recalls merely 'getting a little annoyed' with the shark following his group because it was scaring away the fish that could have provided food. Spending days in the water with circling sharks was just one of countless horrors the men experienced. 'The human story is really what is missed amid all the focus on the sharks,' says Vladic, who spent a decade interviewing 107 of the surviving crew and their families. 'The survivors themselves don't appreciate the focus on the sharks, because there were a lot more men died of many more things.' The men had no food or fresh water and were exposed to the burning sun. Some died of their wounds from the explosion while others succumbed to exposure, exhaustion, thirst, violence, and even suicide. Desperately thirsty, some drank seawater, which caused salt poisoning and mass hallucinations. 'It was amazing how everyone would see the same thing,' said Haynes, who recounted in an oral history how a group of men all thought they saw a nearby island where they could get some sleep. 'Even I fought hallucinations off and on, but something always brought me back.' (Sharks aren't really mindless killers. So why are we so afraid of them?) Perhaps the most heartbreaking delusion was that the Indy was just under the surface. Some men tried to reach the galley to find food, 'and they would swim off down to their deaths,' says Vladic. A chance rescue In Jaws, Quint tells Chief Brody and Matt Hooper that the mission was 'so secret, no distress signal had been sent.' This is one of the speech's key errors. 'The mission was long over,' says Vincent. They had no more need for secrecy. The problem was that the distress signals weren't processed properly. No one was searching for survivors. Survivors of U.S.S. Indianapolis being brought ashore from U.S.S. Tranquility at Guam, on August 8, 1945. In this photograph, they are being placed in ambulances for immediate transfer to local hospitals. Photograph By PhoM1/c J.G. Mull., National Archives A landing craft takes a number of injured survivors ashore for hospitalization at Peleliu, an island in the Palau archipelago in Micronesia. The wreckage of the U.S.S. Indianapolis was discovered by chance—their distress signals hadn't been processed properly. Photograph By National Archives Lt. Wilbur Gwinn discovered them by chance during a routine air patrol on the morning of August 2. While fixing a broken antenna on his plane, he happened to look down and spot oil and flotsam in the water. At first, he thought it was an enemy submarine. Then he saw men floating in small groups and sent a message calling for help. In response, Lt. Adrian Marks was sent to help in an amphibious aircraft. Realizing that rescue ships were hours away, he performed an open sea landing—which are against naval regulations because they are so dangerous—and tried to get as many men out of the water and into the plane as possible. He even tied some onto the wings of his plane with parachute cord. Just after midnight on August 3, rescue ships arrived and the men were finally safe. Of the 1,195 men aboard the Indianapolis, 879 lost their lives. Just 316 survived. The final victim of the Indianapolis The Indy had one more victim. Despite the overwhelming support of his surviving crew, Captain McVay was court martialed by the U.S. Navy for negligence in December 1945. Naval vessels are supposed to zigzag in 'submarine-infested waters' to make it harder for torpedoes to hit them, says Paridon, but McVay hadn't done so—because, it turns out, he hadn't been told there were submarines nearby. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the Fifth Fleet, pins a Purple Heart on Clarence E. McElroy, a survivor of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Many of the men who survived the disaster never spoke of the trauma they experienced. Photograph By National Archives Hashimoto was even called to testify. He said that nothing McVay did, including zigzagging, would have stopped him sinking that ship, but the captain was still found guilty. The verdict wasn't overturned until 1996. 'The survivors fought for 50 years to have their captain exonerated,' says Vincent. However, McVay, who took his own life on November 6, 1968, didn't live to see his pardon. 'That's the ultimate, final tragedy,' says Paridon. The legacy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis Many survivors never spoke of their trauma. 'They rarely talked about it to anyone, including their families,' says Vladic. 'There are quite a few cases where the children of survivors found out their dad was on the ship after watching Jaws.' The movie brought the ship's story into public awareness but the Indy's real legacy isn't her sinking, or the sharks, but her role in changing the course of World War II. 'These guys accomplished their mission, and they fought together to survive,' says Paridon. Just one living survivor remains: 98-year-old Harold Bray. But, says Vladic, the crew's families are determined 'to keep the story alive long after the last survivor is gone.' Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story premieres on National Geographic starting July 10 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu starting July 11. Check local listings.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This hot Bay Area ramen spot had a 2-hour wait on opening day. Is it worth the hype?
Up until about a decade ago, I had mostly tried one kind of ramen: tonkotsu, with its thin, straight skeins and cloudy soup. Then Tsujita Artisan Noodle in Los Angeles introduced me to tsukemen, a Tokyo-born ramen where cold, thick noodles are served with a concentrated dipping broth. It was frequently named the best ramen restaurant in the region, with lines routinely snaking down the block, and it became my standard-bearer. Tsujita recently opened its first Bay Area outpost in West San Jose's Strawberry Park shopping plaza, a hot spot for Japanese food with several restaurants and the grocery store Mitsuwa Marketplace. On its grand opening weekend, the wait time was more than two hours. I haven't been to the Los Angeles restaurant in years, so I wondered if the new location would live up to my memory. It only took one bite to know the answer: yes. I'd put Tsujita in my top ramen spots in the Bay Area, especially since great tsukemen is in short supply here. It's a leading source for the ramen style, second only to Shutgetsu, which has locations in San Mateo and Fremont. On my dinner visit, I faced a line of nearly 50 people hugging the perimeter of a courtyard. I waited over a half hour before making it inside the snug shop awash in honey blonde wood. It was a packed house, with all 30 seats occupied by patrons noshing on jumbo chicken karaage or gleefully slurping down noodles. I ordered the deluxe tsukemen ($25.60). It came with two bowls: a cold one filled with a nest of yellow noodles, a lime wedge and a double helping of buttery braised pork slices; and another containing the warm dipping liquid. The latter was as potent as I remembered. A swirl of pork fat floated atop the murky brown broth, an intense distillation of richness, smokiness and umami with a fishy edge. How to eat tsukemen? Dunk the elongated noodles in the concentrated fluid and inhale them down the gullet. The lime provides flavor variance, a few drops over the noodles nicely mellows the reduced soup's intensity. Once you've reached the dregs, ask the staff to thin it out with complimentary chicken broth. While dipping ramen remains the draw, the tonkotsu, especially the spicy version ($18.95), is a wonderful alternative. The milky white pork broth is decadent, the noodles slightly firm and the heat level prickly but quick to dissipate. Tsujita debuted in 2003 in Tokyo before opening its first Los Angeles location in 2011. In the last decade, the operation has expanded to Texas, New Jersey and, now, San Jose. In its growth, the international ramen chain has maintained quality. While I think Tsujita is well worth the wait, line adverse patrons might want to wait a few weeks before visiting. There was one inconsequential detail that was absent on my visit: the pungent odor of long-simmered pork bones, which I associate with the initial Los Angeles location. I can't say I miss the scent, per se, but I affectionately view it as the perfume of Tsujita. Perhaps the smell is earned over time as it slowly settles into the walls. Tsujita Artisan Noodle. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 5-9 p.m Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 4330 Moorpark Ave., San Jose.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Terrified plane passengers write notes to loved ones as Boeing plummets 25,000 feet in minutes
A Boeing passenger plane plummeted more than 25,000 feet in just 10 minutes — leaving some of the nearly 200 onboard unconscious, and others sending heart-wrenching goodbyes to their loved ones. The Spring Airlines Japan flight from Shanghai to Tokyo on Monday night was cruising at 36,000 feet with 191 passengers and crew when it suddenly dropped to just under 10,500 feet, according to officials, blaming an unspecified mechanical issue. Terrifying footage shows panicked passengers clutching their oxygen masks — as some even lost consciousness. Advertisement 3 Terrified passengers recalled writing notes to loved ones as their plane plummeted 25,000 feet in minutes. Viral Press 'I heard a muffled boom and the oxygen mask fell off in a few seconds. The stewardess cried and shouted to put on the oxygen mask, saying the plane had a malfunction,' one passenger said. 'Suddenly, all the oxygen masks popped open while I was sleeping,' a second said. Advertisement Another passenger recalled being on 'the verge of tears' as they wrote their will and the details of their life insurance and bank card PINs, thinking they were facing certain death. 3 Oxygen masks dropped as cabin crew made emergency announcements. Viral Press An alert indicating an abnormality in cabin pressure was triggered amid the ascent, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said. The flight, which had taken off from Shanghai Pudong Airport on Monday, was forced to make an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. Advertisement 3 The Boeing 737 Spring Airlines Japan flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Osaka. Markus Mainka – No injuries were reported when the aircraft landed in the southern Japanese city at around 8:50 p.m. local time, just under two hours after the oxygen masks were deployed. Those on board were offered the equivalent of $104 in transportation compensation and given one night of free accommodation. Advertisement An investigation has been launched to determine the cause. Japan Airlines and Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. With Post wires.
