Richardson Sheffield, He050, 5Pc Knife Block Set Stainless Steel

Amazon Price: £24.97

I bought this knife set thinking that they would do me for now as although I do enjoy cooking, I'm not exactly Jamie Oliver and so couldn't exactly justify paying a lot of money for a knife set.

Having read the previous reviews I thought that for the price they were worth a try, even if they're only as sharp as other knives that I have bought asit would be nice to have a set. I wrong! These knives are by far the sharpest I have ever used. I now use them everyday as they make cooking even more enjoyable.

As a breakdown:

Chefs knife: I find this to be the one I use the most. It is excellent (if only 6") and the ballance and weight make chopping a breeze.

Meat knife: Top quality and the shapness leads to effortless cutting and slicing. When cutting raw chicken you can barely tell the meat is there!

Bread knife: Excellent, rigid, and again very sharp.

Paring knife: I use this knife for only very delecate jobs, where the chefs knife is too cumbersome. Again another excellent knife.

All Purpose knife: This knife I use the least. it is slightly longer than the paring knife but so far the other knives have taken care of all of my cutting requirements, although its always nice to know its there incase I cant use one of the others.

I must say that I was impressed with the block. It felt good quality and looks great on my worktop, with the nice silver handles protruding. I do agree with a previous reviewer that the vertical allignment can be annoying as although the set will sit on the worktop below kitchen cupboards the knives cant be removed. This is a very minor issue however and has not detracted from my scoring.

Overall if you want to have great quality knives put pay a more humble price then this is DEFINATELY the set for you!

This is a very nice set and represents excellent value for money. The 5 knives cover a wide range of cutting tasks and should meet every requirement. They look stylish, they're exceptionally sharp (watch out!), easy to hold and well-balanced, easy to clean (due to their single section design - no separate handles) and look very professional all round.

The knife block is perhaps not quite as good as the knives. It seems to be made from something like MDF and then spray-painted. The finishing inside is not great - I cleaned the inside of mine before using it as it was full of dust etc. Also the holes are not angled at all so it's not ideal for sitting on a surface under a cupboard. However, it's still perfectly functional.

All in all, I doubt you could do any better without spending significantly more.

I think this is one of the top kitchen items I have ever bought. I'm not a chef of any sort but I do enjoy cooking and these make the chopping effortless.

They are very sharp and also look great. There are 5 knives in total and each one serves it purpose very well. They are well balanced and very easy to clean.

In order to give a balanced argument here are some of the downsides: there is no sharpener included, the block itself is designed so that knives need to be removed almost vertically so positioning under a shelf or cupboard is a no-go, the parer and all-purpose knives are very similar in size and use.

But I think these complaints should not put anyone but serious chefs off - this is a great set and well worth the bargain price.