These days not knowing how to cook is simply unacceptable. Similar to saying not knowing how to navigate the internet. You should feel relaxed and comfortable in your kitchen when you try to cook up hearty meals for yourself and your family. And there’s no single tool that’s more important or beloved than a kitchen knife to help you achieve that goal.
Your kitchen warrants different types of kitchen knives to prepare a variety of foods. Each type of blade has a specific purpose, and we’re here to guide you about each one. Remember though, reading this article won’t make you a kitchen knife expert. But it surely will elevate your knowledge. Our ultimate guide to kitchen knives will absolutely sharpen your skills (no pun intended!) in your kitchen.
A little History
If you want to know about kitchen knives, there’s no better beginning to glance through the history of it. But, we promise, we won’t bore you out. Just the parts you should know! So, let’s begin!
The development of steel in Medieval Europe had become so advanced compared to thousands of years ago that by then. But the use of knives as a utensil for cutting food was not in wide practice just yet. Only the wealthy people used knives as an eating utensil and as a weapon for self-defense. It is being assumed that during the early 17th century the first real kitchen and table knives came into existence. The craftsman was an unknown individual who might just want to diversify his wares and boost his sales.
During the reign of the French king Louis XIV, kitchen and table knives with blunt tips and single blades were popularized. Soon it became widespread not only in France but also in the rest of Europe. The popularity and advent of four-tined curved dining forks also reduced the need for sharp-tipped knives. By the 20th century, table knives had become modernized due to the advancements in stainless steel. New developments in metallurgy and other related fields had led to the improvement of different types of knife blades, which come in a variety of forms, specific usages, and profiles. You can even find kitchen knives in different materials such as ceramic, titanium, and plastic too! So, you can now obviously wonder about the types of different kitchen knives and how can you use them in your kitchen.
Different Types of Kitchen Knives
You will see various types of knives are on the market, among them finding the one that suits your needs can be tricky. Without knowledge, it’s easy to buy a selection of specialist knives you will hardly ever going to use — which means you will end up with an array of unused knives languishing at the back of your utensil drawer.
The naming conventions for knives can be also seriously confusing, with many cutting tools having multiple names for the same style. To help you make sense of it all, we’ve built a guide to every type of knife and its uses, including advice on which one is best for different kitchen tasks. There are basically four types of kitchen knives and they each have their own subgroups as shown below:
Groups and sub-groups of Kitchen Knives:
1. Chef Knives:
1.1. Chef knife:
A chef’s knife, also known as a cook’s knife, is a knife used in preparing foods. The chef’s knife was originally designed and used to slice and disjoint large cuts of beef. Today it is a general-utility knife for most cooks.
Type: Multipurpose knife.
Size: A Chef’s knife generally has a blade 20 centimeters (8 inches) in length and 3.8 cm (1 1⁄2 inches) in width, but individual models can range from 15 to 36 centimeters (6 to 14 inches) in length.
Uses: The Chef’s knife is designed to perform well at many differing kitchen tasks. It can be used for chopping and slicing vegetables, slicing meat and mincing, and disjointing large meat cuts.
Warnings: Avoid cutting on extra-hard surfaces such as ceramic and glass cutting boards and plates. It will quickly dull the blade of a knife. Remember to hold the knife where the handle meets metal with your index finger and thumb. Then, wrap the rest of your fingers around the handle to have the best comfort while using a chef knife.
Verdict: It’s a necessity to have a good, sharp chef’s knife in your collection of different types of kitchen knives.
1.2. Paring knife:
A paring knife is a petite knife. Many chefs regard it as the second most important knife to own besides a chef’s knife, although not everyone agrees.
Type: Meant for very specific tasks.
Size: Paring knives are usually 6 to 10 cm (2½ to 4 inches) long.
Uses: The paring knife is made for peeling fruits and vegetables. Slicing a single garlic clove or shallot. Perform controlled and detailed cutting, such as cutting shapes or vents into dough or scoring patterns and designs on the surfaces of food, removing the ribs from a jalapeño, or coring an apple.
Warnings: Always avoid using paring knives to cut hard vegetables, like carrots, celery root, or parsnips. As it is a smaller knife, it does not carry enough weight to easily slice through the foods.
Verdict: One of the few that a home cook will probably need.
1.3. Utility knife:
A utility knife is a similar shape to a chef knife, but smaller and slimmer. Some utility knives ensure more intricate work by making a sharp tip that tapers up towards the spine.
Type: Multipurpose knife.
Size: A small-sized lightweight knife, which usually has a blade that is 10 to 18 centimeters (4 to 7 inches) long.
Uses: An all-purpose knife used for cutting vegetables and fruits, and carving poultry. Sometimes can be referred to as the “sandwich knife”, its rigid long blade is shaped like a chef’s knife but narrower, and it can be either plain or serrated.
Warnings: It is best to hand wash the blade to eliminate harsh detergents from repeatedly hitting against the blade to stop making it dull over time.
Verdict: If your cook’s knife is a little too big for the job, your second best option is to reach for the utility knife.
1.4. Bread knife:
A Bread knife is used for cutting bread and is one of many kitchen knives used by home and professional cooks.
Type: Used for a specific task as in this case cutting bread.
Size: The Bread knives are usually made from 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches).
Uses: The perfect tool for sawing through all kinds of bread, including crusty bagels, bread, bread rolls, and baguettes. The grooved edge allows cutting through softer textures without crushing the bread out of shape. The knife can also be used to slice cakes with soft, fluffy textures. Because they can cut through them without knocking the air out of the sponge or damaging the actual shape. A bread knife can also be used as a cake leveler.
Warnings: As bread knives feature serrated edges, it can be tricky to sharpen them all by yourself. It’s quite common for serrated blades to be single-beveled (sharpened on one side only). This fact makes sharpening even trickier for a novice. So, be sure to familiarize yourself with the specifications of your knife as they can vary depending on the brand.
Verdict: Every kitchen needs one.
2. Meat Knives:
2.1. Carving knife:
A carving knife is a long and slim knife; tapering to a point. Also called a slicing knife, it is one of the longest kitchen knives in the kitchen. Its shaped narrow width means that it can produce less drag while it cuts through food, which allows it to create cleaner, uniform slices.
Type: When it comes to serving meats like pork, poultry, lamb, or beef, a carving knife is the best tool for the job, capable of producing neat, thin, evenly sized slices.
Size: The carving knife is a large knife between 20 cm to 38 cm (8 to 15 inches). This knife is much thinner than a chef’s knife, particularly at the.
Uses: A carving knife is generally used to carve thin uniform slices from cooked poultry like chicken or turkey, and also to slice large roasts of meat. It can sometimes be used for filleting a large fish. Slicing Thanksgiving turkey or Sunday roast is the easiest way to envision the use of a carving knife.
Warnings: Make sure that your carving knife is long enough so that you will not need to slice your meat back and forth. Also, ensure that it’s longer than the item you want to slice. It must be checked for sharpness before you use it. The sharpness of the carving knife will help you make thinner meat slices.
Verdict: It’s nice to bring a big sharp knife out with your big bird during Thanksgiving or other joyous occasions. But frankly, the job of a carving knife can also be done by a chef’s knife or a utility knife. So, it’s not in the essentials on the list of different types of kitchen knives you need to have.
2.2. Butcher / Cleaver knife:
The Cleaver is a heavy, ax-like knife used for about the past one million years to cut through animal bone and meat; but in these days the cleaver, generally made of iron or carbon steel, remains a requisite tool of the butcher and a common kitchen uses.
Type: A cleaver is a cleaver in name only; it’s not meant to smash bones. Instead, it can be used to do all of the basic cutting tasks like chopping, mincing, slicing, and dicing.
Size: The average length of the blade is between 15 and 20 cm (6 to 8 inches).
Uses: A cleaver knife is primarily used for cutting through soft or thin bones and sinew. It can be used to separate ribs or chop through the bird’s thin bones. A cleaver can also be used in the preparation of hard vegetables, such as squash, as a thin slicing blade can cause shattering of the vegetable.
Warnings: The cleavers are not used for cutting through solid, hard, and thick bones.
Verdict: Definitely one of the must-haves kitchen knives names if you don’t have one right now for your kitchen.
2.3. Boning knife:
A boning knife is a slim blade with an extremely sharp edge, usually tapering upwards to a fine pointed tip. It’s a pretty short knife and is usually constructed rigidly. Although more flexible blades are available for delicate cuts of meat.
Type: A boning knife is used for detaching the bone from the meat.
Size: Boning knives have a blade length of 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6 inches). Although some will reach up to 9 inches.
Uses: It is used for boning cuts of fish, meat, and poultry, and removing skin from fish and meat.
Warnings: After using your boning knife, be sure to wash it immediately with warm, soapy water using a soft cloth to remove debris. Then wipe it with a dry towel. Make sure the knife is completely dry before putting it back in its place.
Verdict: A boning knife is not an essential knife to have, like air conditioning — it doesn’t change how you get there, it just makes you a little more comfortable along the way.
3. Fish Knives:
3.1. Salmon knife:
Salmon knives are designed solely for cutting thin slices of fish and are popularly used when cutting smoked salmon.
Type: A salmon knife has an extensive, flexible blade with a double edge. It is slim and sharp to allow for precise filleting and skin removal. Many designs also have indentations along the side of the blade.
Size: A flexible blade that is about 30 cm (about 12 inches) long and especially narrow.
Uses: A salmon knife is used to slice, fillet, and remove the skin from larger fish, like salmon.
Warnings: Salmons have bones and skin, so this is a very useful knife to have if you are put to the task.
Verdict: An essential kitchen knife to have especially if you love your catch of the day.
3.2. Filleting knife:
A fillet knife is a kitchen knife used for filleting. It gives the user good control and aids in filleting. It’s a flexible member of the boning knife family.
Type: The slim, flexible blade of a filleting knife is perfect for removing bones without damaging the delicate flesh of a fish. They are used to cut through food horizontally, rather than vertically. It allows cooks to cut around the backbone of whole fish to create perfect fillets.
Size: Fillet knife blades are usually 15 to 28 cm (6 to 11 inches) long.
Uses: Primary task of this knife is to efficiently clean a fish. You can easily remove any internal organs and gills with a fillet knife.
Warnings: You have to make sure to clean your knife with water or alcohol to prevent bacteria from contracting the flesh of the fish before using it.
Verdict: The flexible blade of the knife allows a clean and accurate cut, thus limiting waste when filleting your favorite fish or scallops in the kitchen. In the list of the necessary kitchen knife names for you to make a fast, efficient home cook.
4. Vegetable Knives:
4.1. Santoku knife:
The Santoku bōchō, Japanese for “three virtues”/ “three uses”, is an all-purpose kitchen knife originated from Japan.
Type: The santoku knife has evolved from the traditional Japanese vegetable knife which has a rectangular blade.
Size: Its blade is generally 13 to 20 cm (5 to 8 inches) long, has a flat edge, and a sheepsfoot shaped blade that curves down to an angle approaching 60 degrees at the point.
Uses: Cutting fine slices of vegetables, scooping food off a cutting board (as it is a wide blade), mincing herbs and meat, slicing fruits, cheese, and nuts, cutting meat and seafood.
Warnings: Avoid cutting or breaking any bones with a santoku knife. Santoku is not geared for cutting bones and you will chip the edges if you do so.
Verdict: One of the tops of the line super-utility knife to have in your kitchen.
4.2. Nakiri knife:
Known as the Japanese vegetable knife, nakiri knife looks like smaller, slimmer versions of a cleaver. The knife is broad, rectangular-shaped, and it almost always has a hollow ground edge, which is extremely sharp.
Type: Nakiri knives are extremely good for chopping vegetables. Because of their straight edge and squared shape, you can use them to chop right through to the chopping board without requiring to rock the blade back and forth. You just have to bring the blade down in a single chopping motion.
Size: A standard nakiri blade’s length is around 15 to 17 cm (around 7 inches).
Uses: Nakiri knives one of the best tools for cutting up larger vegetables that are often difficult to cut, like sweet potatoes or butternut squash. The flat, deep blade makes them a great tool for shredding larger veggies like cabbages or lettuce too! The sharp edge helps to create very thin, even slices, so it’s useful if you like to add ribbons of vegetables to dishes as a garnish.
Warnings: Make sure to sharpen a nakiri knife as soon as the blade shows signs of brittleness. You should dry the knife thoroughly with a clean cloth and store it in a cool, dry place. Also, giving a hand wash immediately after each use with a soft sponge and mild detergent works pretty well. It is also recommended to use a wooden end grain board to preserve the sharpness of the blade.
Verdict: While many cooks are happy to prepare veggies using a chef knife or paring knife, we recommend you to invest in specially designed vegetable knives like Nakiri. It has been carefully crafted to help you chop up a lot of vegetables quickly, easily, and safely.
4.3. Tomato knife:
A tomato knife is a small serrated kitchen knife designed to slice through tomatoes.
Type: The serrated edge of the blade allows the knife to penetrate the tomatoes’ skin quickly without crushing the flesh.
Size: The blade is generally about 15 to 18 cm (6 to 7 inches) in length, and they’re designed to be lightweight, easy to handle.
Uses: The knife’s serrated edges cut cleanly through the skin without crushing the soft interior, allowing you to create neat, even slices or segments. As for cutting tomatoes, many tomato knives are specially crafted with textured rubber or plastic handles to help provide a better grip during cutting work. It can also be used to slice up soft fruits like nectarines, peaches, plums, and grapes.
Warnings: While serrated knives do tend to cut tomatoes better than a plain edge knife, beware, not all serrated knives will do the trick. So, a proper tomato knife is the best option in the kitchen. Also, you need to clean up your knife’s serrated edges to gain longevity.
Verdict: As mentioned above, you can replace a tomato knife with any other serrated edged knife from your kitchen but if you are having a hard time in the kitchen when it comes to cutting tomatoes go for one!
4.4. Peeling knife:
A peeling knife has a rigid, short, and slightly curved blade. It will usually have a straight, sharp edge.
Type: It has a rigid blade and sturdy, ergonomic handle, both of which help prevent the knife from slipping during peeling, making the process much safer.
Size: Blade length can be from 7 to 11 cm (3 to 4.5 inches).
Uses: Paring Knife is ideal for peeling, trimming, decorating, coring, and other detail work. Also, it is used for chopping small-sized foods, such as garlic cloves or ginger. The Peeling Knife is also can be used for slicing smaller fruits and vegetables with a round shape.
Warnings: Though the best peeling knife need not be an expensive one, you don’t want to purchase a knife that’s flimsy or has a blade that’s prone to detaching from the handle. Look for a high-quality finish for an affordable price.
Verdict: Every kitchen needs a peeling knife that’s for sure. You can use one to peel all kinds of different vegetables and fruits. A sharp peeling knife can help you peel just about anything!
Additional Accessories for Knives
Cutting Boards
After a great cook’s knife, the tool you should reach for is a cutting board. The boards are often made of wood, plastic, or cork. Glass cutting boards are also available but may dull or damage a knife during use. Sanitation of cutting boards is crucial in preventing food poisoning and cross-contamination.
Simply washing a cutting board after use is not enough to prevent the growth of bacteria. They can be sanitized after each use with a solution of bleach and water. It is also advised to cut raw meat, especially poultry products on a separate cutting board from cooked meat or other food items.
Knife Holders
Also known as Knife blocks, they are typically made of hardwood, such as cherry, maple, or oak. It contains numerous small slots to case and protect the knife from damage to the blades. It is best to purchase knife holders with horizontal slots so the knives being stored are not resting on their sharpened blades but instead are resting on their sides. Vertical knife slots have a tendency to dull blades as a knife is drawn out or returned to the slot if the vertical movement draws the blade against the block.
Honing Steel
A honing steel, also has other commercial names, such as whet steel, sharpening stick, sharpening steel, butcher’s steel, and chef’s steel. It is a rod of steel, diamond-coated, or ceramic-coated steel used to realign blade edges. They are flat, oval, or round in cross-section and up to 30 cm or 1 foot long. The diamond-coated steels are smooth but embedded with abrasive diamond particles whereas the steel and ceramic honing steels may have longitudinal ridges.
Knife Sharpeners
A Knife Sharpener may be as simple as a round sharpening stone or as sophisticated as multi-featured, machines with multiple sharpening stones. Types of Knife Sharpeners include whetstones, hand-held sharpening devices such as small countertop sharpeners and steels, or electric models that are available as commercial sharpeners.
Knife Rolls
All professional chefs use knife rolls to transport their personal knives to and from work. For the home cooks, they will find a knife roll useful when cooking outdoors. It is designed to protect kitchen knives while also retaining their sharpness during travel. These bags and rolls come in all sorts of specifications.
Construction and Ways the Knives are made
Carbon Steel
An alloy of iron and carbon, often including other elements such as manganese and vanadium. Carbon steel commonly used in knives only has around 1.0% carbon. It is inexpensive and holds its edge very well. Carbon steel is traditionally easier to sharpen and resharpen than many other stainless sheets of steel. But it is vulnerable to rust and stains.
Stainless Steel
It is an alloy of iron, approximately 10–15% chromium, possibly molybdenum, and nickel, with only a small amount of carbon also. It may be softer than carbon steel, but this makes it easier to sharpen. They resist rust and corrosion better than carbon steel knives.
High Carbon Stainless Steel
It is a stainless steel alloy with a relatively high amount of carbon compared to the other stainless alloys available. ‘High-carbon’ stainless blades are made of expensive alloys than less-expensive stainless knives. Also, it often includes amounts of vanadium, molybdenum, cobalt, and other components to increase strength, edge-holding, and cutting ability.
Laminated
This type of blade combines the advantages of hard, but brittle steel. As a result, they hold a good edge but easily chipped and damaged. The hard steel is laminated and protected between layers of the tougher steel. This hard steel forms the edge of the knife while also ensures that the knife will stay sharp longer.
Titanium
It is lighter and more wear-resistant, but not harder than steel construction. But more flexible than steel. Titanium does not impart any flavor to food, it is expensive and not well suited to cutlery.
Ceramic knives
These are made from sintered zirconium dioxide which is tough, and helps them to have a sharp edge for a long time. Light in weight, the ceramic knives do not impart any taste to food and do not corrode. Very suitable for slicing fruit, vegetables, and boneless meat. The ceramic knives are best used as a specialist kitchen utensil.
Plastic
Plastic blades are usually not so sharp. Generally used to cut through vegetables without causing any discoloration. Also, they are not sharp enough to cut deeply into the flesh but can cut or scratch the skin.
Forged Knife vs Stamped Knife
Forged:
Hand forged blades are made by skilled manual labor in a multi-step process. A piece of steel alloy is heated to a high temperature and pounded while hot to form it. The blade is then heated above the critical temperature, quenched in an appropriate liquid, and tempered to the desired hardness. Commercially, forged blades may receive just a single blow from a hammer between dies, to form features like “bolster” in a blank. After forging and heat-treating, the blade is then polished and sharpened.
Pros: Forging blades makes steel stronger. So, these knives keep an edge for a longer period of time.
Additionally, the forging process gives manufacturers to create a bolster for the knife. The bolster is the mound of metal between the handle and the blade. It helps you protect your hand and gives you a safe place to rest your fingers while using the knife.
Finally, forged cutlery is easy to sharpen because they lack flexibility.
Cons: Their lack of flexibility can actually be a drawback in some cases. Say, if you want to fillet a delicious red snapper; you’re probably better off with a stamped knife than a forged one.
Forged knives aren’t cheap.
Stamped:
The stamped blades are made from large, continuous sheets of stainless steel. The machine comes along and stamps out the shape of the knife, similar to a cookie-cutter process. The handle is added afterward and then the knife is sharpened and polished.
Pros: Stamped cutlery is generally inexpensive when compared to forged cutlery, which is great news if you’re on a budget.
To be honest we all need a knife that’s flexible in our kitchens. So, it’s probably a good idea to go with stamped knives because they’re usually flexible by design. The boning knives and the fillet knives are some good examples of this.
Cons: Stamped knives are more flexible and prone to keep an edge for a shorter amount of time.
Stamped knives have no bolster. It creates a drawback as you might cut yourself while you’re using the knife if you’re not careful while using it.
Anatomy of a Knife
It will help to have a basic knowledge of the different parts of a knife. Below, we’ll explain what each part of a knife is named, and what functions they perform.
Point: The very end of a blade. Usually sharpened to a fine point. Can be used to score or pierce the surface of the food.
Blade: The part of the knife which is used for cutting. Usually crafted from steel, although it may also be made from ceramic, titanium, or even plastic.
Edge: Refers to the sharpened part of the blade and it is used for the majority of cutting work. The sharpness of the knife is dictated by how finely the edge is ground. This will depend on both the quality of a knife and how often you sharpen it. It can be serrated (like bread knives) or it can be straight.
Tip: Front part of the knife’s edge, just underneath the point, is called the tip. It’s the part of the blade that is normally used for delicate cutting work and also for chopping.
Spine: The blunt upper side of the blade, opposite to the cutting edge. The thickness of the spine gives strength to the blade. The thicker the spine, the stronger the blade and provide balance to the overall knife.
Heel: The heel is the lower edge of the blade and furthest from the tip, right next to the bolster. Often the widest part of the blade. Most commonly used when the chef needs extra strength or pressure to cut through thicker and tougher foods.
Tang: The tang is the unsharpened part of the blade that connects the blade edge to the handle. Tang is vital to the overall weight, balance, strength, and stability of the knife. The best knives are often considered to be those with a ‘full-tang’– one which runs from the end of the blade and to the butt. In some models, the tang is also as functional as a handle.
Handle or scales: The handle is the part of the knife which is grasped by the user during use. It can be made from a number of materials. Some knife manufacturers will dispense of the handle and create a knife using a single piece of steel, turning the tang into a handle.
Bolster: The raised area between the blade and the handle is called a bolster. It puts a small space between the blade and the chef’s hand so that it stops the fingers from slipping down onto the blade during any cutting. Additionally, it also provides weight to help balance the knife.
Handle fasteners, or rivets: Rivets or screws are which fix the handle parts to the tang. Cheap or average designs may forego the rivets and attach the handle to the tang using resin or epoxy instead.
Butt: The end of the handle, at the very bottom of a knife.
Factors to Consider Before Buying a Kitchen Knife
Figuring out which types of knives to buy for your kitchen that suits best for your use and comfort is one of the most important parts of the process. To find the right knives in each category, we’ve enlisted a number of important factors to consider below.
Cost:
If you do a lot of cooking and know the knives you will buy definitely get a lot of use, then it’s probably worth spending money to get the knife that’s best suited for you. When it comes to a good all-purpose knife, like a Chef’s knife or a Santoku knife, you must consider finding a knife that stays sharp, well-constructed, and offers longevity. As for many of the other knife types, it’s probably not as important to spend a ton of money, as they won’t get used as frequently. In some cases, we advise you to spend a little more to upgrade to a better brand if it will mean ensuring that the knife will increase your comfort to use while cooking.
A good chef knife can easily cost more than $200. But, for those who want a decent knife but aren’t considering to spend that much, do a little bit of research. You will definitely be able to find a knife that gets the job done for less than $100.
Construction:
So, there are two main ways that knives are made: forged and stamped.
Forged Knives: They are created when extreme heat is applied to a piece of steel, which is then molded into the desired shape. These knives are generally renowned to be of high-quality and cost more than stamped knives. They are less flexible and possess strong blades.
Stamped Knives: They are made with a machine, punched out of a piece of steel. The edge of the knife is sharpened after the blade is formed. The knife is the same thickness throughout. These aren’t traditionally considered high-quality compared to forged knives. But, there are plenty of stamped knives that perform well. If you go with a stamped knife, you will be required to sharpen them every now and then.
Serrated Knives: The serrated knives have toothlike edges, scalloped, and are best suited for cutting through foods with a hard exterior and softer interior, like a loaf of crusty bread. The main principle behind a serrated knife is to create a saw-like behavior. The teeth of the blade catch and then rips as the knife smoothly slides through. It cuts cleanly through the juicy flesh of a ripe tomato or the resistant skin of bread without crushing it. It’s easier and neater to cut crusty bread using a serrated knife as the crust will splinter less. Also can be used to cut cleanly through tender, moist cakes. Remember, the serrated knives are harder and almost impossible to sharpen. So, it’s better you send it to a pro who has the tools to do it.
Sharpness:
Only the best kitchen knives come sharp and stay sharp for prolonged periods of time before you need to sharpen them. One of the main marks of a knife’s quality is, therefore, how sharp it is and how often it needs sharpening.
A knife’s sharpness doesn’t just determine how good it performs, it also influences how safe it is while using. You might think the sharper a knife is, the bigger the risk to use; well, the opposite is the actual truth. You can do some real damage if you cut yourself with a super-sharp knife but you’ve got a bigger chance of cutting yourself if you’re struggling to cut something with a dull blade.
Weight:
Weight plays a big part in the equation of finding the right knife for you. It is as simple as how comfortable a knife you find to use.
This is really just a factor that’s all about personal suitability, if you are a newbie home chef, you may have to do a little bit of experimenting to see what works for you. Some people find a light knife easier to use and control, whereas others appreciate a heavier one. Again, this is a personal preference.
Balance:
A knife’s balance goes hand in hand with the weight in determining how comfortable you’ll be with the knife. Note, if the weight falls too much to one side or the other, then chopping will be more work for you that’s for sure. This is another category where plain and simple you have to let your feelings do the talking. If that’s not possible for you when buying, take some time to check the reviews and see what others are saying.
Handle Comfort:
The final factor that has a big say in how comfortable holding and using a particular knife will feel to you, it’s handling comfort. It largely depends on the material used to make the handle, such as– wood, plastic, metal, and other composites are the most common options.
I can assume that you probably won’t be surprised to learn that this is again, another subjective category. What’s comfortable for you will depend on things like your hands’ strength, shape, and size as well as your general preference.
Ease of Use:
A sharp knife will make chopping things not only easier but comfortable to feel in the hand while food prepping. Remember to use the right knife for the right job so you’ll not be making the work harder for yourself. A lot of knife styles exist on the market specifically to ensure that you can approach different chopping tasks while having maximum ease of the user.
Maintenance, Rusting & Corrosion:
For different types of kitchen knives, one common factor to consider is the maintenance of your knives. Some knives easily get rusted or corroded than others. So if you’re not someone who tends to be on top of cleaning and drying things regularly, then you may want to seek out a knife that’s less sensitive to corrosion. Many types of knives will require occasional sharpening anyway. If that’s the kind of chore you avoid, then look for a knife known for staying sharp for an extensive time.
Tips on How to Properly Take Care of Kitchen Knives
A great kitchen knife is worth the price. Although these pieces of specialized cutlery can put a dent in your wallet, they are capable of playing an integral role in everyday meal-making. So, it’s only important to give them the proper care they really need and deserve. It’ll ensure that you can get the most out of them in the long run. Here are our recommended tips for keeping your knives in healthy shape for years to come in your kitchen.
- Hand washing your knives: hand washing, drying, and putting away your knives after each usage to avoid dulling, chipping, or even corroding your knife.
- Don’t ever leave them in the sink: a knife sitting in water can rust, and if it has an exposed natural wood handle, the wood could crack from the moisture.
- Store them properly: there are many knife storage solutions like magnets, blocks, and knife guards. These products will allow you to safely store them in your kitchen.
- Cut on an appropriate surface: a wood board which is often naturally antibacterial is a good option. Any board that is made of glass, basalt, ceramic, metal, or stone is not recommended.
- Avoid letting food pieces dry on your kitchen knives.
- Stop using the wrong kitchen knife for the job.
- Stop allowing your kitchen knives to get too dull. Use proper sharpeners to sharpen your kitchen knives. If any types of brands require you to follow specific instructions for that then follow that as accurately as possible.
Final Words
Thank you for reading the article. We have tried to cumulate all kitchen knife-related information in a single article for better comparison. Hope it’ll be helpful for you to choose and take care of your kitchen knives.
If you have anything to share with us, drop a comment!
