Having chef knives that are well made and kept in good shape is very important to an enjoyable cooking experience, as anyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen will tell you. Soup preparation can involve a lot of peeling and chopping, so the right tools for the task are a must.

You can skimp on other items of cookware, but having a good, solid set of knives is really important. Without high quality chef choice knives, or some other well made brand, you will have a hard time getting your food prepared in the way that you want it to be, and cooking will simply be a lot less fun to do.

Of course, once you have good knives, you should keep them in good shape, or else what is the point. Keeping them in tip top condition is a lot easier than you might think, and let’s take a look at the whys and hows.

Before I got my knife sharpener, I used to buy a lot of serrated knives. I figured that, using serrated knives, I could get by easily without a chefs sharpener, and still have effective cookware. As it turns out, however, these cheaper cooking knives are bad news. The fact is that they do not perform as well as a well maintained knife. Using the better quality knives along just makes more sense, as the lesser knives tend to go dull and then it is game over for them. There is just no way to sharpen a spent serrated knife, after all. I have found that using a knife sharpener will only ruin them, if they weren’t useless enough already!

Of course, sharpeners and good quality knives are probably the most important part of cooking in terms of preparation of ingredients, but far from the only thing that you need to have a successful time making all of your favourite meals. In addition, a good cutting board is needed to prepare food on. You can keep your knives razor sharp, but without a good cutting board, this will not be a help, as they will only ruin your bad ones. That is why you mist make sure each part of your kitchen is working well. Otherwise, you are likely to run into a lot of trouble down the road, with or without your knife sets. You do not need to get everything all at once, but can instead opt to pick up the items that you need one by one.

Having the best in your kitchen is something that will cost a lot of money, but it will pay you back in time. Great food comes from great ingredients, but also stems from a passion for cooking. That enthusiasm will soon wane if you have poor quality equipment, and in turn your results might suffer.

It’s far better to gradually build up your kitchen kit, adding reputable brands of cookware as required. Before you know it you’ll have everything you need, and having avoided the temptation to buy cheap, the frustration of poor tools will be avoided.