Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
There's something about edge up knives that makes me uncomfortable.
Me three! When I grab a knife off my block it's in hand and ready to use. Edge up I would have to either rotate it after picking up or rotate my hand as I grab it, an unnatural grasp, or seems to me. Of course I haven't tried it so I'm not speaking from experience.
Henckel, it looks like this:
Hey, we both have Henckels! In fact we have the same Henckels! Same triple rivet handles, same scissors, same everything except the block.
I haven't tried competing brands, just looked at them in stores, but I'm perfectly happy with my Henckels. BB&B sells that set, in blocks or open stock. In fact I love my Henckels set!
I think I have one of everything in that line except the carving fork, because I already had a carving fork and anyway the Henckels carving fork is flat, designed to fit in a block, and I completely filled my block. I just kept buying open stock knives I liked until the block was full. And then I bought the cleaver too. I even have two of the 4" paring knives, one of them dedicated to camping so I wouldn't have to take my good kitchen stuff when I go camping. It's my favorite small knife.
I think a good set of knives is the best investment any home chef could make. Some would argue it's the pots and pans...