Kitchen knives can be a serious investment. But, you can still pick up a solid basic knife set if you're not looking to spend an eye-popping amount.
This colorful knife set from Vremi is a good starter if you're waiting for the day when you can drop big bucks on fancy knives, or if you need spare knives for camping or picnics.
Vremi Colorful Knife Set, $17, Amazon
What comes in the set?
It comes with five knives: an 8-inch chef's knife, an 8-inch carving knife, an 8-inch serrated bread knife, a 5-inch utility knife and a 3.5-inch paring knife. We know we're not supposed to choose knives by color, but the colors on these are pretty great. And, it comes in a box that would make for a nice-looking gift as well.
How do they hold up?
We tried them out on a stack of produce — onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, apples, garlic and pineapple — and a baguette and bagels.
The paring knife worked great on small jobs, like garlic. The chef's knife was a good size and weight for chopping onions, peppers and the like. With the carving knife, I sliced up a flank steak nice and thinly.
The knives are easy to carry around
All the knives come with plastic sheaths. So, thanks to the handy safety cover, one Amazon reviewer mentioned being able to bring the small paring knife in a lunch box to work for vegetables.
One reviewer originally bought them for camping and picnics "so I don't risk losing my better ones." But, she added that she's actually now "thinking of moving them into the kitchen instead." (The set gets 4.5 stars on Amazon, with nearly 900 reviews.)
How sharp are they?
Keep in mind, these aren't going to rival some hand-forged, individual $250 Japanese knife. After all, for $17, you'll get five knives. And, like a few of the reviewers, I did need to sharpen some of the knifes upon arrival. Luckily, I had this handy-dandy $5 knife sharpener.
Also, if you use serrated knives a lot, the one that's included is fine, but if you are looking for an exceptional one at a reasonable price, I highly recommend adding the Kuhn Rikon 7-inch bread knife.
Kuhn Rikon 7-inch bread knife, $17 (usually $20), Amazon
Yes, it's the same price as this whole set, but I've had mine for years and it has yet to dull.
Plus, as you can see in this photo, it cleanly slices through a bagel like it's nothing. It's an unbelievably good bread knife. And, it's great for cutting tomatoes, too. Hello, tomato season!
So there you go: Two ways to colorfully update your knife collection, at a bargain price — the Vremi knife set and the Kuhn Rikon bread knife — just in time for prepping all those summer veggies.
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This story was originally publishes on June 19, 2018 on TODAY.com.