You're probably going to be looking at a Carbon Steel knife, as those knives hold their edges the best, and also sharpen a lot easier than other steels apparently, besides holding one of the sharpest edges of all steel.
House knives... Suck... IF you mean one of those knife sets like Faberware or w/e... Most of them are jank garbage that a lot of people shouldn't be using. They might be decent for the "Home cook" but in reality a great knife will be much better for everyone.
As for a "Forever knife" a knife can last for a very long long time, as evident by people whipping out 30+ year old knives and showing them off/mentioning them on sites like this. I have a 45 or so year old Chinese Cleaver that still have tons of life in it, because it's barely used. The issue that people are bringing up, is that knives lose metal when they are sharpened, thus get smaller and smaller until they will eventually SNAP in half. As long as the knife is still in tact, it will still work. Depending how much you use it, and how much you sharpen it, will determine how long the knife will last. Some people like to sharpen while the knife is still sharp, and some will wait until it's dull to sharpen. IT seems it's easier to sharpen an already sharp knife, compared to sharpening a dulled knife. Going through the cycel of sharp to dull mght make the knife last much longer, but will make it so you have to sharpen it more when the dulling comes, and might be trouble for a new user to sharpening as it might require additiona; sharpening steps.
House knives... Suck... IF you mean one of those knife sets like Faberware or w/e... Most of them are jank garbage that a lot of people shouldn't be using. They might be decent for the "Home cook" but in reality a great knife will be much better for everyone.
As for a "Forever knife" a knife can last for a very long long time, as evident by people whipping out 30+ year old knives and showing them off/mentioning them on sites like this. I have a 45 or so year old Chinese Cleaver that still have tons of life in it, because it's barely used. The issue that people are bringing up, is that knives lose metal when they are sharpened, thus get smaller and smaller until they will eventually SNAP in half. As long as the knife is still in tact, it will still work. Depending how much you use it, and how much you sharpen it, will determine how long the knife will last. Some people like to sharpen while the knife is still sharp, and some will wait until it's dull to sharpen. IT seems it's easier to sharpen an already sharp knife, compared to sharpening a dulled knife. Going through the cycel of sharp to dull mght make the knife last much longer, but will make it so you have to sharpen it more when the dulling comes, and might be trouble for a new user to sharpening as it might require additiona; sharpening steps.
