A solid knife set with a lightweight design and comfortable handles

A quality knife set can save you time and trouble in the kitchen, but you don’t have to spend big bucks for knives that make slicing, chopping and dicing easier. The 15-piece McCook Knife Set costs under $100 but still features sharp, lightweight knives that are easy for even new home cooks to use. Despite their lightweight stainless steel blades and handles, the knives feature full-tang construction, making them more durable than other affordable knife sets. 

To see how well the McCook Knife Set actually performs, the BestReviews Testing Lab put the knives to work for various kitchen tasks, including slicing tomatoes, cutting raw chicken and mincing garlic. We also evaluated their overall weight and how comfortable they were to hold. 

Were they as pleasant to work with as a high-end set? Not quite. But if you’re looking for a solid set of knives on a budget, the McCook Knife Set is a sturdy, reliable option you’ll get plenty of use out of. 

What is the McCook Knife Set?

The McCook Knife Set comes with a wood-finish knife block with a built-in knife sharpener.

Product specifications

Number of Pieces: 15 | Blade Material: High-carbon stainless steel | Blade Construction: Full-tang | Handle Material: High-carbon stainless steel | Dishwasher-safe: No

The McCook Knife Set includes six knives, two pairs of shears and a beautiful wood-finish knife block with a built-in knife sharpener. The knives have a stainless steel finish from blade to handle, giving them a sleek, modern look. Straight out of the box, the knives were extremely sharp, allowing us to slice a loaf of bread and cooked chicken breast easily, as well as chop potatoes, tomatoes and onions, without using much pressure. We were also struck by how lightweight they were. The weight was well-balanced along the knife, though, so they offered excellent control even when performing more precise tasks like mincing garlic. 

The McCook knives were also comfortable enough to use for longer kitchen tasks. We chopped potatoes, onions, bell peppers, celery and sliced corn from the cob for a corn chowder recipe, but the curved underside of the handles allowed the knives to fit comfortably in our hand, so we didn’t experience any discomfort even after 25 minutes of chopping. The knives retained their edge well during our week of testing, too, though the built-in sharpener in the knife block made it easy to sharpen them after each use. 

To see how it compares to other products in its space, check out our reviews for the best kitchen knife sets.

Price and where to buy

The McCook Knife usually retails for $69.95. You can find it at Amazon and Walmart. 

Why we like it

• Excellent value: With 15 pieces, including 12 essential knives and a beautiful knife block, and a price under $100, the McCook Knife Set is an excellent value. They still performed as well as some higher-priced sets we tested, so we love this knife set for new home cooks or even experienced amateur chefs on a budget. 
• Versatile: With seven different types of knives, including six serrated steak knives, the McCook Knife Set is versatile enough for any kitchen task. We chopped, sliced, diced and minced with the knives, cutting both fresh produce, raw meat, cooked meat and bread with excellent results. 
• Well-balanced: The McCook knives are very lightweight overall, which makes for a comfortable cutting experience. However, because the blades and handles are made of the same material, they are some of the most balanced knives we tested. We felt we had solid control over the knives for even the most delicate cutting tasks.
• Comfortable handles: Even when we chopped and cut for long periods, the McCook knives were comfortable to hold. The lightweight handles have a curved underside that fits perfectly in our hands, so we could chop for over 20 minutes without any hand fatigue or discomfort. 

What we don’t like

• Stainless steel finish smudges and scratches easily: While we love the look and lightweight feel of the McCook’s knives' stainless steel construction, we found that they smudged very easily. We also found that the handles developed scratches much more easily than the other knife sets we tested, which typically had plastic handles.
• Require hand-washing: Unlike some of the other knife sets we tested, the McCook knives aren’t dishwasher-safe. The brand recommends hand-washing them to maintain their blades as long as possible. 

McCook Knife Set setup

The tips on all the knives had a small plastic guard to avoid accidents when unboxing them.

The McCook Knife Set arrived in a branded box with a photo of the knives on its exterior. The knife block was wrapped in plastic to protect it from damage, while the knives were all individually wrapped in a separate box. Each knife was in a plastic bag and had a cardboard wrapper around the blade. The tips all had a small plastic guard, too, to avoid accidents when unboxing the knives.

After unwrapping all the pieces, we hand-washed and thoroughly dried the knives. Next, we placed the knives in the block’s slots to organize them. The set comes with two pairs of kitchen shears, a large and a small set, but there is only a slot for one pair. We placed the smaller pair on the counter beside the block, so we had easy access to them. 

Included knives and accessories

The set does not include a bread knife, but the serrated utility knife is a good alternative.

The McCook Knife Set has 15 pieces, including 12 knives, two pairs of kitchen shears and a knife block with built-in sharpener. 

It features: 

• An 8-inch chef’s knife for chopping, slicing and dicing
• An 8-inch slicing knife for cutting thin slices
• A 5-inch Santoku knife for slicing, chopping, dicing and mincing
• A 5.5-inch serrated utility knife for slicing bread and baked goods
• A 5-inch fine-edge utility knife for slicing, dicing, chopping and peeling
• A 3.5-inch paring knife for peeling, coring and mincing
• Six 4.5-inch serrated steak knives for cutting through meat 
• Two pairs of kitchen shears for cutting herbs, breaking down chicken and other poultry and opening food packaging
• A knife block with a sharpener for holding all the knives and tools and sharpening the knives 

As we tested, we found that the McCook knives all performed well for their intended tasks. The chef’s knife successfully sliced foods like tomatoes and onions, while the Santoku knife was excellent for chopping onions and bell peppers. The set doesn’t include a bread knife, so we used the serrated utility knife to slice a loaf of bread, ending up with mostly clean slices. We only ran into trouble when we reached the end of the loaf and didn’t have as much leverage while holding the bread, so the last couple of slices were a bit squished. We also used the slicing knife to cut a cooked chicken breast for a salad.

The large pair of kitchen shears was handy for trimming fat from uncooked chicken, while we liked the smaller pair for cutting fresh herbs. The block made it easy for us to organize the knives, though it only had a slot for one pair of the shears, requiring us to find another spot to keep the smaller pair. The built-in sharpener is very convenient, though, and we found it easy to get in the habit of sharpening the knives after each use. 

Blade material and design

The McCook knives’ blades are made with exclusive taper grind technology that ensures they are as sharp as possible, allow for precise cutting and are easy to re-sharpen.

The McCook knives are made of high-carbon, German stainless steel, which is tarnish- and rust-resistant. Each knife features a single piece of stainless steel, which gives it a full-tang design. The knives are also forged, giving them a sharp, durable edge. 

We were impressed by how sturdy the knives felt during testing. The single-piece construction meant there weren’t any riveted areas or other points of potential failure, so we didn’t have to worry about the blade coming loose from the handle. It also gave us excellent control over the knives while cutting. 

Handle material and design

While the brushed stainless steel handles offer a solid grip, the McCook knives can get slippery when wet.

Because the McCook knives are made of a single piece of stainless steel, their handles are also stainless steel. Their undersides have a slight curve, so they fit perfectly in our hands, making them very comfortable to use. We could chop potatoes, onions, bell peppers and celery and remove corn from the cob for nearly 25 minutes without any hand fatigue or discomfort. 

The single piece of stainless steel also ensured they were well-balanced, so we had solid control over the knives during cutting. We only ran into issues when dicing or chopping the end of an onion, tomato or other food because the overall lightness of the knives made it difficult to steady the food and keep our fingers out of the way. Otherwise, we found the grip on the knives to be fairly secure because the stainless steel handle had a slightly brushed finish, and the texture allowed for a solid grip. 

Edge retention 

The McCook knives are forged from a single piece of stainless steel, which makes them harder than stamped knives and allows them to hold their edge longer.

We tested the McCook Knife Set for a week but never experienced any issues with the knives losing their edge. Because the included knife block has a convenient built-in sharpener, we got in the habit of sharpening the knives after washing them after each use before we returned them to their slots. As a result, we never needed to use much force or effort when chopping, slicing, dicing and mining with the knives. As McCook recommends, we hand-washed the knives after use, which likely helped prevent damage to the knives’ edges and other signs of wear and tear. 

Bamboo knife block

The knife block is made of eco-friendly bamboo and has a walnut finish.

Like the other knife sets we tested, the McCook Knife Set includes a knife block for storing the knives. The block is made of eco-friendly bamboo and has a walnut finish that looks great on the counter. It has slots for all 12 of the included knives, as well as one of the pairs of shears. However, the second pair had no slot, so we had to find another spot to store them. The knives slid smoothly in and out of the slots, so the blades never got snagged or damaged. 

Built-in sharpener

The testing team found the built-in sharpener to be incredibly easy to use.

The McCook Knife Set’s knife block doesn’t just provide storage for the knives. It also features a built-in sharpener that makes sharpening your knives much more convenient. It is a traditional sharpener, so we only had to place the knives between the ceramic rods inside the sharpening slot and pull them back and forth. It was extremely easy to use, though it did require us to remove some of the other knives from the block as we sharpened to ensure we had enough room to move the knife we were sharpening. 

It’s also worth noting that the sharpener only works for knives with a straight edge. You shouldn’t attempt to sharpen the set’s serrated knives in the built-in sharpener.

How does it compare to other knife sets we’ve tested?

The McCook Knife Set featured some of the lightest knives we tested. The Henckels Premium Quality 15-Piece Knife Set, Cuisinart 15-Piece Knife Set with Block and Carote 14-Piece Forged Knife Set all felt heavier and more substantial in hand. Only the Hunter.Dual Knife Set is similar in weight to the McCook set. 

However, the McCook knives didn’t feel as flimsy as the Hunter.Dual Set. Their single-piece, all-stainless steel construction also felt more durable than the Hunter.Dual knives, which have plastic handles that don’t feel particularly secure. The McCook and Hunter.Dual sets both feature built-in sharpeners in their knife blocks, though, while the Henckels, Cuisinart and Carote sets include a sharpening steel instead. 

Testing the McCook Knife Set

The testing team evaluated the knife set on its durability, edge retention, comfort and more.

To see how well the McCook Knife Set performed, we used the knives to perform various kitchen tasks. We started by unboxing, washing and setting up the knife set and then tested their initial sharpness right out of the box by dicing onions and slicing tomatoes. We continued testing the knives for an entire week, using them to prepare at least one meal per day. In addition to chopping tomatoes and onions, we sliced bread and cooked chicken, as well as cut bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery and potatoes. We also peeled carrots and apples, minced garlic and used the shears to cut fresh parsley and basil. We also tested how well the larger shears trimmed fat from raw chicken. 

During testing, we considered how the knives felt in our hands, evaluating their weight, balance and overall control. We also paid attention to how comfortable the handles were for longer kitchen sessions by chopping potatoes, onions, bell peppers and celery and removing corn from the cob for a corn chowder recipe, a task that took 25 minutes in total. After using the knives, we hand-washed each with warm water and dish soap to see how easy the process was. We also used the built-in sharpener to see how easy sharpening was and how effectively it worked. 

Should you get the McCook Knife Set?

The McCook Knife Set features sharp, lightweight knives that are easy for even new home cooks to use.

The McCook Knife Set is a solid knife set at a reasonable price, so it is an excellent option for home cooks on a budget. The knives are pretty lightweight, sometimes making them a bit more difficult to control than heavier, high-end knife sets. However, they’re made of a single piece of stainless steel, so they are very sturdy, giving us few doubts about their long-term durability. 

We especially like the McCook knives for newer home chefs who want a quality knife set but aren’t prepared to spend over $100 because they offer a similar cutting performance to higher-end sets without the hefty price tag. It’s also an excellent option for college students or someone moving into their first apartment.