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This Knife Guide helps you to choose the best knife for the job. The most useful knives are the Chef's, Paring, Slicing and Utility Knives. The knife is arguably the most important tool in the kitchen. It enables us to properly cut, dice and slice our foods. It's important to purrchase a quality knife. One that is well balanced and comfortable in your hand. A good quality knife, with proper care, will last you a lifetime.
Chef's Knife - The most versatile knife in the kitchen. Also known as the French Chef's knife (the French Chef's Knife will have thinner longer blades, better to slice thick items). This knife is the work-horse of any kitchen. The Chef's knife's has a broad tapered shape (called the Flat) with fine edges and can range in size from 6 to 14 inches. The 8 inch size is the most popular. This multi-purpose knife is perfect for chopping vegetables, mincing and dicing. Using a cutting board, rock the blade gently on it's curved edge, using the point as a pivot. The broad blade keeps your knuckles from hitting the cutting board. It's the knife of choice because it is efficient for large or multiple jobs. Performing a variety of functions, the Chef's knife will mince, chop, julienne or slice. It's not meant to chop large items as this could bend or break the blade. The back of the knife can be used to break chicken and the side of the blade can be used to crush garlic and spices.
Chinese Chef's Knife - The Asian version of the French Chef's knife, this knife is referred to as the Chinese Cleaver. With the similar shape of a meat cleaver, it is used to break chicken bones, and scrape food from the cutting board. The flat side of this knife can be used to crush garlic and spices.
Paring Knife and Peeling Knife - With a blade of about 2 1/2" to 4 inches long and 3/4" wide (at widest point), this knife comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Perfect for intricate work, a paring knife can be used to peel and devein shrimp, carve fruits and vegetables, and make garnishes. This knife is best for close up, handheld work that requires delicate cuts.
Slicing Knife or Carving Knife - This knife is usually long and thin - 8 to 10 inches. Perfect for slicing roasts, hams and turkey. These knives are available in a straight or serrated edge.
Utility Knife - This all purpose knife usually has a 6 inch blade. This knife is smaller then a Chef's Knife but larger then a Paring Knife. As the name implies, the Utiltiy Knife is for people who find the Chef's Knife to be cumbersome and the Paring Knife to be too small.
Bread Knife and Tomato Knife - With a serrated edge, it's used for slicing bread (using a saw motion) or tomatoes and peaches without bruising or crushing. This knife requires professional sharpening. However, with good care and maintence, the serrated knife will not dull because it is rarely drawn across a cutting board or other surfaces, like the Chef's Knife.
Cleaver - The thick heavy blade of the Cleaver Knife allows it to do the heavy work of chopping and cutting meats clean through bone. Cleaver's will have either a straight blade or slightly curved edge.
Boning Knife and Fillet Knife - This knife blade is thin, narrow and sometimes curved. It's meant for removing bones and filleting fish. A Boning Knife is 5 to 6 1/2 inches in length. A flexible Boning knife is good for chicken while a stiff Boning knife is perfect for boning beef. A Fillet knife is 6 1/2 to 9 inches in length and should be quite flexible. A Fillet Knife is ideal for poultry and fish.
Steak Knives - A table knife with a serrated edge, this knife is similar to the bread knife, but smaller in size and a lot tougher able to handle meat.
Mezzaluna - A rounded blade knife that is similar to a half moon. This knife has vertical handles at each end, perfect for mincing foods or cutting foods into smaller pieces for soups, sauces and other dishes. Use the Mezzaluna on a cutting board or a bowl. The smooth rocking motion makes the Mezzaluna a perfect knife.
Clam and Oyster Knives - A very short knife with a broad blade ranging 1 to 3 inches in length. The clam knife is longer with a rounded tip while the oyster knife, with protective hand shield, is shorter with a sharp tip.
Other Specialty Knives - Cheese Knives - A set of cheese knives is a perfect addition to any kitchen. Each knife is designed to cut a specific kind of cheese. The triangular cheese knife with pointy end is used for serving the hardest cheeses such as Parmesan or Romano. The wide-edged cheese knife with the cut-out in the flat of the blade (the knife with the holes) is used for cutting soft cheeses like Brie or Camembert. The rectangular knife is used for slicing hard cheeses like Cheddar. Grapefruit Knife - Serrated on both sides with curved tip.
Scissors - An indespensible kitchen item. Every kitchen should have a good pair of kitchen scissors or shears. Kitchen scissors should be made of stainless steel, to prevent corrosion. The blades should come apart, allowing the scissors to be cleaned easily. Some scissors are dishwasher safe. Use Kitchen scissors in place of a knife to snip herbs, chop whole tomatoes from a can, trim phyllo, cut ginger, garlic, fresh pasta and more.
Sharpening Tools - Used on straight blades, a sharpening tool is a long, thin, round rod (drawn to a point) attached to a handle. The handle usually has a guard to protect the user's hand from the knife blade. This rod is made of hard, high-carbon steel and will keep a fine edge on your sharp knives. For best results, sharpen knives before each use. A Diamond-Studded or Ceramic Steel sharpener will do wonders for a dull knife. They should not be overused since they remove metal with every stroke.
