I have £70 to spend on knives. Help!

[IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece]

Moving and need to start from scratch, I need to buy a knife block/set of knives but budget is only £70 (£90 at a real push).

Does anyone have any ideas on what the best ones to get are? I’ve always used crazy expensive ones before now but alas that’s not an option!

Also if anyone can recommend a vacuum cleaner for under £100 then I’d be v grateful!

We have a knife block and knives from Marks and Spencer bought years ago which is still going strong. The knives are stainless steel with no joints or screws. We don't use the block though - we have a magnetic strip from IKEA for them. Or you could try Homesense/TK Maxx and put together your own set.

For a decent vacuum cleaner for £100 I'd look for a good brand reconditioned one online tbh. Ime cheap vacuum cleaners tend to be a false economy as they're either not very effective or annoying in use for various reasons.

It’s a myth that effective knives have to cost a fortune and traditional wooden knife blocks blunt knives so I’d forget that. I have a magnetic knife strip instead. If you don’t have wall space for that or they make you nervous, look for knives that come with a protective cover so you can store them safely in a drawer.

I did some cookery classes a while back that included correct use of knives. Since then I use a big square Japanese cooks knife for nearly everything. It cost about £40 from Tesco. I also have a serrated bread knife (as I make a lot of home made bread) and a carving knife which each cost about £20. I refresh them with a steel them whenever I use them and have them professionally sharpened every couple of years.

They are the ones I use 99%, of the time. I also have a very fine fish filleting knife and a flexible boning knife for doing the occasional show offy bird within a bird roast for parties but they don’t get used very often.

We had some really expensive knives... Bought some from IKEA as backup and the IKEA ones are better than the expensive ones.

I have a lovely Joseph Joseph set. I love them. Amazon link but may be cheaper elsewhere.

I have kitchen devil knives, sharpest knives I have ever used and only £25 for the block on Amazon

Can't help with the knives but you should be able to get a Henry Hoover for around £100 and they last forever!

Ex-chef here. I’ve tried many knives but my favourites are Victorinox. I hate Globals.

We had some really expensive knives... Bought some from IKEA as backup and the IKEA ones are better than the expensive ones

Same here. I did what you are 'supposed' to do and spent £50 on one good cook's knife from a fancy cookshop. It is absolutely shit and constantly needs sharpening. Really wish I'd taken it back.

I bought a set of 4 knives from Ikea for £2! in the sale and they were much better. A couple of them did break after probably about 10 years, but this was regular use and dishwashering. So I bought a similar set, again from Ikea, this time for about a tenner and probably at least five years later they're all still going strong.

I know if you get the right good knives they will last a lifetime, but it is a very very expensive and time consuming (because you have to sharpen them regularly) option and I just can't see the benefit.

Lidl's knives are really good.

I have an uber-expensive piece of knife art that I do use but I prefer the Lidl ones, sharper.

Ditto pp, I've got some really good knives from Lidl. The ceramic knives (not the coated ones) are really good and also the big Japanese one.

I wouldn't bother with a block set. Just buy individual knives - the ones you use the most . I've had all sorts of expensive brand knives and to be honest, even with proper sharpening most are not worth the money. I have Baccarat damashiro at the moment which are really nice to use. But I just bought my favourite knives, not the set.

Thanks all!

Needs to be a knife block due to nowhere else to put them, I’d definitely rather it came as a set rather then buying knives and a different block.

I’ve no idea what I’m looking for in a decent knife set! I’d like to buy off amazon if possible (have a voucher) and have found these. Does anyone wiser then I have any thoughts?!

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B06X9VHMQW/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01H0EWS9Y/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

TIA

Can you not put them in a drawer?!

Anyway I don’t have a set but got a fabulous knife from TK Maxx recently. But for convenience sake I’d get the Joseph Joseph one.

I don't like the look of either of those two on the Amazon link. They don't look anything special, which I would want if spending 'proper, not Ikea' money.

I do like the Joseph Joseph ones linked upthread. All their stuff is overpriced, but it's good quality and just nice to look at. You can currently get it on Groupon for £59 for that set, which I'm really really tempted by myself.

None of mine match, I chose them because they work. The best ones I have are Kitchen Devil and Taylors Eye Witness. I keep them in a drawer with my chopping boards and rolling pin. Out of reach of small people and intruders.

The really crap ones I have are Sabatier, wouldn't recommend them to anyone, ever.

No, no room in the drawer.

I like Joseph Joseph but never sure if it’s more style over substance!

Watching with interest! My knives are really old and need replacing. I'd love a knife that just cuts through veg effortlessly.

I have these kitchen devil ones and they great, never had an issue.

I have a lovely Joseph Joseph set from Lakeland that store on the inside of a cupboard door. They were only about £40 and are fantastic.

Thanks all! Lord this is tricky to know without using them!