A Short Guide To Kitchen Knife

How many kitchen knife do you actually need and what are they used for? What is the best knife for a particular task?

Most chefs claim that only 3 knives are really essential in the kitchen . For the rest, it depends on your needs and your comfort level. It should be noted that there are often different sizes and different subtle varieties of knives of the same type, which therefore serve almost the same function. Here's how to navigate! The idea here is not to list everything that exists, but rather to do a little overview.

The 3 essential knives
1. Chef's knife
This is the classic "kitchen knife", which can be larger or smaller (some are huge , but reserved for the pros!). It allows you to quickly take care of many, many tasks in the kitchen: slicing vegetables, cutting large, firm foods like squash and cabbage, slicing and detailing meat, etc.

To choose it : This is the most important knife, so it's worth investing a little more, without having to spend hundreds of dollars either! Experts just recommend being wary of the very cheap ones (sorry IKEA, we like you except knives aren't your greatest strength), but good chef's knives can be found from around $ 30. $ ($ 50, budget permitting, would probably be even better). However, the most important factor is to choose a handle that is comfortable in your hand, a knife that does not feel too heavy and whose weight seems well "balanced". As a length, the most versatile is a 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 inch) knife.

Knife sets are generally to be avoided - it's much better to buy the knives that suit you individually. It is first and foremost a question of quality, but also of comfort.

2. Paring knife
This is the 2 th largest knife. It looks like a chef's knife, but smaller! It can be more or less small, moreover, often between 10 and 15 cm (4 and 6 inches). It is effective for tasks that require a little more dexterity and precision, as well as those that are on a smaller scale: peeling fruits and vegetables, making thin slices, hulling strawberries, peeling shrimp, removing the membrane and the seeds of hot peppers ...

3. Serrated knife
For some foods, we need teeth! And unfortunately, neither the chef's knife nor the paring knife have one. It is also often called a "bread knife", because it allows you not to crush bread and other bakeries / pastries (such as cakes) by slicing them. But he can do a lot more than that. It's perfect for any food that features a firmer exterior and a softer interior, in fact. Tomatoes, for example. But also citrus fruits with the peel, melons, pineapples, chocolate bars, frozen cookie dough ...

Other useful kitchen knife
4. Boning knife
Longer, thinner and above all thinner than the chef's knife, this knife is mainly used to work meat. It can be used to peel a chicken , to remove bones from a piece of meat, to slice roasts as well. In its most flexible version, it is used to fillet fish.

To better recognize it: the base of the blade is often much wider than the tip and has a pronounced curve, like a bend.

5. Cleaver
Rectangular in shape, this is another meat knife , especially useful for restaurants and butchers who need to prepare large quantities! Its design and weight make it super efficient at slicing through bones, among other things. Is it essential at home? Probably not, but I bet a lot of people like to use it anyway because it looks cool (and a little spooky, which maybe adds to its charm?)

There is also a Chinese version of this knife, more tapered, light and versatile, attributes that make it a versatile kitchen knife. This one can, for example, make very thin slices of vegetables, mince garlic and ginger, make larger pieces of vegetables and meat for stir-fries ..