Time to buy a new knife set? One thing's for sure. You want to buy a set that is going to last a long time. If you're like me, you want to buy a set that's built to last, one that will serve you well in the kitchen for a long time if cared for properly. A good mid-range set of cutlery is the best option for many home cooks. These sets aren't priced too high, and they are generally made of good quality carbon steel.

An Anolon knife set is one of the best kitchen knife sets you can buy for under $200. While they are fairly new to the kitchen cutlery arena, Anolon is well-known for selling top-quality cookware. Each Anolon blade is made of top-quality German steel. Anolon offers blades that are made of carbon steel, stainless steel and high-carbon stainless steel. The carbon steel and stainless steel are good quality, but if you can afford them, the high carbon stainless blades are the way to go. They offer the stain and rust resistance of the stainless steel blades along with the strength and durability of the carbon blades.

The best blades are made with a tang that runs the full length of the handle. This allows for a well-balanced handle, and is a common factor amongst the best knives on the market. Anolon takes full-tang construction a step further, adding a counter-balance cap to the end of the handle so that their knives are perfectly balanced and feel good in your hand. The Advanced Series also features a rounded blade spline that makes for an even better feeling knife.

The knife block sets on offer from Anolon have a classy look to them. My personal preference is the lighter birch wood block offered with some of the Anolon Advanced sets. The birch block looks good with the black handles sticking out of it. Speaking of handles, the Anolon SureGrip handles are some of the best handles on the market. They are durable, and the ergonomic design feels good in your hand.

When looking for a good set of cutlery for the kitchen, it's always good to check out reviews on some of the large retailers. A quick glance at the reviews for this brand shows that people are generally pleased when they buy it. It also speaks volumes that, when you look at people's wish lists, it's common to see an Anolon knife set on the list. You could pay a lot more money and do a lot worse than this fine maker of kitchen cutlery.