Many people fall into the trap of aiming too high when it comes to buy a new kitchen knife set. One of the main problems with this buying process is that some of the high quality kitchen knives, when bundled into a set, are really really expensive. For example, take Global or Wusthof - two high end kitchen knife manufacturers - whose knives can cost up to a hundred dollars each.
You want to avoid getting in this frame of mind and thinking that you need such a high end set of knives - you really do not. If you are looking at top end, you could easily spend six hundred dollars on them, which is kind of a ridiculous amount of money to pay - unless of course you’re quite comfortably flush with cash.
Instead of focussing on “more expensive is better” think more about what you like to do in the kitchen - what styles of cooking do you favor and what style of knives have you enjoyed using in the past? For example, there is no real point in buying a ten inch Japanese santoku knife if you spend your days baking and cutting pastry. Like wise, if you like using fresh fish - especially tuna - and lots of finely sliced vegetables, that you want something more heavy duty that a tiny vegetable or paring knife.
It is often quite easy to fall into another trap of looking to get a block full of ten or more kitchen knives - again, this is overkill for what you need. I get by just fine with four JA Henckels knives, and if I am honest with myself, I could probably get by with just three of them (and a bread knife!).
So, if you are shopping around this Christmas - either for yourself or a family member - just remember that you can spend much less than you think you need to, and still come away with some very excellent kitchen knives that will last for years, if not decades.
You can always take a look over here on Amazon for kitchen knife sets - they pretty much always offer the best prices on these things. Happy shopping and happy holidays!