When you are considering purchasing a global knife set there are a few things that you should think about. First of all you need to think about what knives you are going to use on a regular basis and what you are going to use them for.

Global knives are designed for actual slicing of food. Japanese knife edges themselves are honed to a higher angle than European knives and are therefore slightly sharper. This is great if you use your knives for slicing (rather than chopping) which is dominant in Japanese cooking.

If you do need a knife to hack through bones or do some really heavy duty work than you might want to get yourself a Chinese style cleaver from your nearest China Town - these are relatively cheap and are great for the heavy work.

There are many different Global Knives to choose from but in an actual global knife set you may want to have a combination of the following knives.

Carving Knife - This knife is used to slice meat and fish - usually it is a little longer and thinner than other knives.

Chefs Knife - Usually a Chef or Cook knife has a blade which is around 8 inches long. This is the most commonly used knife in the kitchen and many chefs will use this knife to do just about anything.

Pairing Knife - This is a smaller style knife usually with a 3 or 4 inch blade. Used for more delicate areas of cooking such as garnishes or working with deserts or smaller foods.

Bread Knife - Naturally you would use a bread knife to cut bread - the long serrated blade makes it easy to slice through loaves with no problem. A must for a kitchen knife set.

Vegetable Knife - This is a smaller version of your chefs knife - used for vegetables and in areas where your chefs knife is just that little bit too big.

These five styles of knifes are what you should consider including when looking at a global knife set. It is also important to look after your knives properly. Never put any of your knives in a dishwasher as this can severely damage the blade. Also make sure you keep the knives from your global knife set sharp by running them over a sharpening steel once in a while. Good cooking requires good knives - make sure that you take good care of yours.