Category Archives: Kitchen Knives
The Student Kitchen – Do’s and Don’ts
1. DO – Learn to cook, even if it is just the basics like lasagne, casseroles, and soups. You will save masses of cash and be healthier for it.
DON’T – Attempt to survive on a diet of pizza, chips, Indian, Chinese and kebabs. It is not good for your wallet or your well being.
Recommendations – Get a recipe book, or have a look at our Pots and Pans Recipes page.
2. DO – Buy at least a couple of decent saucepans. They last longer and are easier to cook with than budget pans – try cooking and then cleaning rice off a cheap saucepan and you will understand this entirely. Stainless steel pans are great, as even if people use metal utensils on them (which they will), your pans will survive.
DON’T – allow a flatmate to use saucepans as a drum kit. It may not hurt your pans, but it never sounds as good as he thinks it does.
Recommendations – See our Stellar 1000 and Judge Vista pages for great value pan sets.
3. DO – Buy at least one decent quality sharp knife. A blunt knife will slip and you are far more likely to cut yourself. Unless your house is organised, it will then take you twenty minutes to find a bandage. When purchasing your knife, please don’t be offended if the staff request to see ID. You must be 18 to purchase a knife, and many stores operate a think 21 policy.
DON’T – Allow any of your flatmates to use your knives for the following; to have an impromptu swordfight, open a tin of any kind, open a coconut.
Recommendations – We have a good range of James Martin Knives, and some novel designs from Voodoo Knives.
4. DO – Buy a wok. It is an extremely versatile piece of cookware, and will allow you to not only cook stir fries (which are economic and healthy), but is also good for frying, steaming and making sauces.
DON’T – leave your wok in the garden to be cleaned by the rain, as this will cause it to rust.
Recommendations – See our Ken Hom Woks, designed with input from the master of oriental cooking.
5. DO – Buy more than one piece of cutlery and tableware. Within ten minutes of being in your flat, you will have ‘lost’ something. Do buy knives, as well as forks and spoons, as you will host more impromptu dinner parties than you realise.
DON’T – buy cheap, thin cutlery, you will bend all of your spoons on your first tub of Ben and Jerry’s.
Recommendations – We have great offers on Monogram Cutlery and Stellar Cutlery sets.
6. DO – Learn to bake. There is no better way to make friends with you neighbours than with muffins and bread. This will serve you well when your house parties run late.
DON’T – allow your flatmates to combine every unwanted foodstuff in your kitchen, to make a ‘cake mix’. The results are not pretty and definitely not edible.
Recommendations – Raymond Blanc Bakeware and Master Class Bakeware are our best selling ranges of baking equipment.
AND FINALLY – do wash all your kitchen ware thoroughly after each use, it will last you far longer, and you won’t have to buy it all again the next year. Remember, it’s food you’re trying to create, not new life forms!
Based loosely on the life of a St Andrews graduate
TV and Cookware
One thing I’ve never understood…. how do TV chefs influence the general public so much with the gadgets and pots and pans that they use? Take Delia Smith for example, our sales of the Kenwood CH180 Mini Choppers went through the roof when she used it once on a show. Simple Suppers love their Le Creuset items, as does Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and he also has his KitchenAid Blender on hand. Raymond Blanc has his own line of cookware (even if on TV he dissed his own whisk when it wouldn’t sit across the pan, then realised it was his own brand!). Something for the Weekend have shelves filled with gadgets that I’ve never seen them use, such as the Henckels Twin Pollux knife stand, however the Great British Menu competitors seem to like (and use) their Henckels Twin Cuisine Oval Knife Blocks, and I’ve seen them using Circulon (my favorite pan by far) on the show. Jamie Oliver has his own brand of pans, tools, knives and small electricals, which sell very, very well. James Martin cannot be far behind him – his range includes collaborations with Denby, the famous tableware manufacturer. Is it the chef name that does it? The fact the chef has used it? Or the quality of the items? I’m never too sure what leads the purchase…
Le Creuset and Global Knives Special Offers
We have added new special offers on Le Creuset Kone Kettles and a Global Knives Knife Set to our cookware and kitchenware winter sale. Now when you buy a Black Le Creuset Kone Kettle you will also receive a free a Le Creuset Breakfast Collection Mug. If you buy the Global G-666/KB: 7 Piece Kitchen Knife Gift Case Set you will receive a free MinoSharp Knife Sharpener.As part of our winter sale we have already discounted Le Creuset Kone Kettles by a staggering 20%. We are now selling all colours of the Kone Kettle for £39.20, this is instead of the normal recommended retail price of £49.00. Now, if you buy the Kone Kettle in black we will also give you a free Le Creuset Breakfast Collection Mug.
The second of the new Special Deals that we are now offering is to give everyone who buys a Global G-666/KB: 7 Piece Gift Case Set a free MinoSharp Knife Sharpener. We have also reduced the price of this Knife Set, it is currently available to buy on our website for £450, that is £112 below its normal recommended retail price. The Knife set consists of seven individual Global knives, containing the following knives:
- G-2, 20cm cook’s knife
- G-4, 18cm oriental cook’s knife
- G-21, 16cm boning knife
- GS-5, 14cm vegetable chopper
- GS-9, 8cm tomato knife
- GS-11, 15cm flexible utility knife
- GSF-15, 8cm forged peeling knife
It also comes with a quality presentation case which features the branding specially designed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Global Knives. The MinoSharp Knife Sharpener was designed specifically for using with Global Knives.
If you visit the Winter Sale page of our website you will find details about the other deals that are currently on offer. These include special offers on an I.O. Shen Knife Set, a Denby Dining Set and a Alessi Kettle. There is also a wide range of other items that have been reduced as part of our cookware and kitchenware winter sale. You might also be interested in our Pan Sets Special Offers or Knife Sets Special Offers pages, both of which contain some fantastic bargains.
There is still time to enter our New Year Prize Draw, you have until midday on the 1st of February to get your entry in. Remember that this month one lucky person will win a Gaggia Classic Espresso Machine, a 5 Hard Anodized Piece Pan set by Circulon 2 and a Judge Sabatier 5 Piece Wooden Knife Block Set. These three items combined are worth £568.95. If you fancy trying your luck you should visit the competition page on our website.
Additional Special Offers added to our Winter Sale
We have added even more Special Offers, bargains and free gifts to our online cookware and kitchenware winter sale. Now if you buy a Denby China Squares 16 Piece Set we will give you a free Denby China medium Serving Dish, or if you buy an Alessi MG32 Cordless Kettle in Black we will give you a free Judge Induction 26cm frying Pan.
Denby Pottery has always been one of our best selling brands, among the different ranges that Denby produce the Denby China range is undoubtedly one of the most popular. The range of products within this range are characterised by the combination of clean, simplistic, contemporary design with an exacting attention to detail. It is china that has been designed specifically for modern life. We decided to take one of the most popular products within this range, the China Squares 16 Piece dining set, which we have already discounted by an incredible £121 and make purchasing this item even more attractive by giving away a free Denby China medium Serving Dish. The normal recommended retail price for this particular Serving Dish is £23.
Another brand that is always one of our most popular is Alessi. It is famous for the iconic designs of its products. We decided to take one of our best selling Alessi products and make purchasing it in our Winter Sale an even more attractive proposition. Now when you buy an Alessi MG32 Cordless Kettle in Black you will also receive free a Judge Induction 26cm Frying Pan which has the normal recommended retail price of £24.
These are the just latest special offers to be added to our Winter Cookware and Kitchenware Sale. We are still offering special offers on a wide variety of products including the I. O. Shen Mastergrade 5 Piece Magnetic Knife Block Set, the Gaggia Classic Coffee Machine and the Robert Welch Signature 4 Piece Knife and Sharpener Set. As well as our Special Offers we have offering some massive discounts on a wide variety of products.
Don’t forget that there is still time to enter our January Free Prize Draw. This month, in a special competition to mark the start of a new year and a new decade we are giving somebody the chance to win a Gaggia Classic Coffee Machine, a Circulon Pan Set and a Judge Knife Set. For more details of this exciting competition you should visit the Competition Page of the Pots and Pans website.
Win a Gaggia Classic Coffee Machine, Circulon Pan Set and a Judge Knife Set…
To help get the New Year off to a good start we thought that we would go out of our way to do something extra special for our first monthly free prize draw of 2010. We have decided to give away not one but three prizes this month. The lucky person who wins this month’s competition will receive a Gaggia Classic Espresso Machine, a 5 Piece Pan Set from the best selling Circulon 2 range as well as a Judge Sabatier 5 Piece Wooden Knife Block Set. Combined these three items have a recommended retail price of £568.95.
The rules are the same as normal, all you have do is visit the competition page of our website and fill in the form contained on that page. You can also find out more information about the rules of the competition on the page, all you need to do is follow the relevant link.
You have until midday on the 1st of February to enter this month’s competition. Remember, the competition is free to enter.
If you have not visited our website recently then why not take a look at our Winter Cookware Sale while you are there? We have worked hard on this year’s sale, ensuring that it is the right mixture of exciting special offers and desirable bargains on the products that you want. You will find big discounts on top brands such as Le Creuset, Global Knives, Jamie Oliver Professional Series, Cole and Mason, Denby Pottery, I.O Shen Knives and Maxwell & Williams.
