As many of these as you can spring for. They earned their reputation as the best bargain Chef's knife.
From America's Test Kitchen Season 13: Meat and Potatoes à la Francaise
NOTE 1: It took me some time to create this post; every knife listed is a direct amazon link but, as I have said in the past, I have no ties to amazon.com nor any seller there, this is done merely as a convenience to redditors.
I took every effort to ensure that the price listed was the same (or close) to what amazon wanted, and made notes if the price was wildly different. Feel free to shop around. ~OP
NOTE 2: Since these à la carte sets contain all of their winners from every other knife test done, I will not post any other knife test results unless specifically requested.
~OP
WINNER
Rated as HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
(See related equipment review for full comments.)
Set Contains:
Wüsthof Classic 10-inch Bread Knife - $109.95
Victorinox Fibrox Granton Edge 12-inch Slicing/Carving Knife - $49.95
Victorinox Fibrox 6-inch Straight Boning Knife: Flexible - $19.95
Shun Classic Kitchen Shears ++ - $39.95
Bodum Bistro Universal Knife Block - $44.95
++ These are not listed on Amazon as SHUN, but I have several factors pointing to these shears as the winner:
I went back and watched the test video on ATK's site and paused on a close-up of the winning shears. THIS is the product shown in the video.
The shears listed on amazon as "Shun kitchen shears" bear no resemblance at all to the winning model, and cost twice as much.
As u/ornus pointed out on my Shears Thread
Kershaw and Shun are both made by Kai, and sometimes products flip between brands.
And the product shown is definitely the model shown as the winner in the ATK video, and the price matches as well.
Also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Best Buy à la carte Knife Set (7 pieces) - $189.95 Weak links: 0 of 7
(See related equipment review for full comments.)
Set Contains:
Victorinox Fibrox Paring Knife - $4.95
Victorinox 10 1/4-Inch Curved Blade Bread Knife, Black Fibrox Handle +++ - $24.95
Victorinox Fibrox Granton Edge 12-inch Slicing/Carving Knife - $49.95
Victorinox Fibrox 6-inch Straight Boning Knife: Flexible - $19.95
J. A. Henckels International Kitchen Shears—Take Apart - $14.95
Bodum Bistro Universal Knife Block - $44.95
+++ Amazon wants $47 for this knife. ~OP
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS:
NOT RECOMMENDED: