What is the most used kitchen equipment? Yes, definitely it is your Knife! A good knife is essential for every kitchen. A good knife will definitely help you to make your cutting jobs smoother and faster.
Having a sharper knife in your hand with proper weight and balance secures your safety on the chopping board. You may need to upgrade or replace your existing knife with a better one. But, there are lots of things to consider while buying a new knife.
That’s why we have made a knife buying guide for you. This buying guide will help you to identify the best knife for your needs.
Well, there are lots of knives with the different specialty. Every knife is designed to work with specific cooking tasks. So, a great knife can also fail to work properly if you use it in the wrong place. So, before buying a kitchen knife, the very first thing to consider is understanding the various types of the kitchen knife.
Types of Kitchen Knives:
Here, we have listed the most frequently used popular knives that we use in our everyday life. Here it goes –
1. Chef Knife:
It is the most used knife in every kitchen. Chef knife is a multi-purpose knife. You can easily perform the basic cutting jobs in your kitchen with this knife. The chefs of different TV shows ands restaurants use these knives.
It has a long and smooth blade. The blade is usually 15-30cm long. The curving upwards is a fine point of these knives. This knife is used to perform various slicing and dicing job of your kitchen.
Further, this blade is also can be used to crush various crushing items like olives, garlic etc.
If you are buying a knife for the very first time, then we will recommend you to go for the chef knife. It is the best one to start cooking. Though the good ones are very expensive, you will get lots of cheap chef knife.
Few top brands may cost more than $200 only for a single knife. However, you may find the basic knives start at less than $30. To get an overall decent knife, try to get one with $100.
2. Paring Knife:
Paring knives are shorter than the chef knife. These knives are perfect for cutting the small ingredients. There may few things where the chef’s knife is too big to cut efficiently. In this situation, the paring knife could be a lifesaver.
This knife is used for cutting small fruits and vegetables like mushrooms. Few people also use this knife for peeling tasks. However, we will suggest you use a peeler for this job.
In case if you don’t have a peeler on that time, then you can use the paring knife. For the delicate cutting task of smaller foods, the paring knives are safer and easier to use.
The paring knives are cheaper than any other knives. You can buy plenty of amazing knives only for $10. However, there are also some premium paring knives within the range of $30 – $70.
3. Santoku Knife:
The Santoku knives are quite similar to chef knife. But its design is different than chef knife. It is an all-purpose Japanese knife. Unlike the chef knife, it has a thinner and shorter knife with the straight blade. The blade is usually 12-18cm long.
The blade of santoku knife is straighter and wider than chef knife. It adds some extra advantage while chopping mincing herbs and vegetables. Its special thin blade helps the chef to slice the vegetables more efficiently.
However, if you own a chef knife, then you don’t need to buy a santoku knife. But, if you have to do lots of chopping related task, then the santoku knife will be a great choice.
4. Serrated Knife:
The serrated knives are also known as the bread knife. These knives have a long and thin blade. This blade has a saw-like scalloped edge blade. This blade is usually 15cm-25cm in length.
The scalloped edge is very efficient to cut through the bread. If you don’t want to smash or tear up your bread, then this knife will be your best cutting companion.
Further, this knife will be also a good choice for small and softer vegetables or fruits. If you have to cut the baked pastries frequently, then you may go for this serrated knife.
Just like the paring knife, serrated knives are also pretty budget friendly. You can buy a decent serrated knife only for $10 to $30. However, it will be better to go for a cheaper one. These knives are very difficult to sharpen. It will be better to change your knife it becomes dull.
5. Boning Knife:
The boning knife is a special knife. It is only needed for meat lover peoples. If you like hunting and need to cut meats, bones, ligaments or tendons more frequently, then you may go for this knife. Just like its name, this knife is very useful to remove bones from meats.
The blade is usually 4 to 6 inches long. Most importantly, you will find this knife with various degrees of flexibility. If you like to cook lots of thick meats, then a boning knife will be worth of money for you. You can buy a boning knife only from $10. However, a good knife could be more than $100.
6. Filleting Knife:
The fillet knives are quite similar to the boning knife. Those people who cook lots of fishes, filleting knives will be a great choice for them. The fillet knives are more flexible, sharper and thinner than the boning knife.
The flexible design helps the chef to fillet the fishes more efficiently. The blade of this knife is usually 4 to 10 inches in length.
The price of these knives is similar with the boning knife. If you need to grill lots of fishes or have to cook lots of seafood, then you may go for this. Otherwise, you may simply pass it by.
7. Carving knife:
This specialized knife is not an essential component of every kitchen. A carving knife is also an important tool for the meat lovers. This knife is also known as slicer or carver. This knife has a thin and long blade with a sharp tip.
If you have to make lots of roasts, honey-baked hams or fried turkeys, then this knife will be very helpful.Usually, these knives are very long in size. The blade size is basically 8 to 16 inches in length. This slicer allows you to slice the larger meats very easily.
If you decided to buy a carving knife, then we will suggest you buy the longest knife according to your budget. The longest blade will allow you to minimize the shredding or sawing to cut a slice.
Facts to Consider When Buying a Knife:
Hope that now you have proper knowledge about different knives. Let’s figure out the important factors that you have to consider before buying a new knife for your kitchen.
Budget:
The budget is the very first thing to take a look at. All other features of a knife depend on the budget. However, if you love to cook frequently, then you should go for a better knife.
If you have proper knowledge about your requirement, then it will be worthy of spending some money on it.
So, before fixing up your budget, try to research about a few knives. People do not buy knives frequently. So, it is good to choose a decent knife. However, a good chef spends about $200 for a knife.
Sharpness:
Sharpness is the most important thing for a knife. It is one of the main indicators of knife quality. A dull knife won’t do any good for you. The decent knives come very sharp and also stay sharp for a longer period.
The sharpness determines not only how well it works but also it determines how safe it is.
Few people think that sharper knives are dangerous. These knives may cut down their fingers. However, reality is actually the opposite. If you work with a dull knife, you have to put a lot of pressure on that.
So, you may easily lose control over your knife. That is really risky!
Construction:
The knife construction determines the stability of a knife. There are two main ways to make a knife. They are listed below.
o Forged Knives: These knives are made by applying extreme heat to the piece of steel. When the steel becomes semi-liquid, then the manufacturers mold it into the desired shape.
The forged knives are very strong and also it costs more than the simple knives. The forged knives need to sharpen more frequently than other knives.
Stamped Knives: The stamped knives are made with machines. These knives are punched out from a piece of steel. After that, the edges are being sharpened and the blade is formed. These knives are not as high-quality as the forged knives.
Weight:
Weight is a very important thing for every knife especially the santoku or chef’s knife. The weight determines how efficiently you can use a knife. There is no ‘correct’ weight for a kitchen knife.
Most of the people think that lightweight knives are handy to use. However, few other people like to work with the heavier ones. It is totally your personal preference.
Knife Material:
The kitchen knives are made of different materials such as stainless steel, carbon steel etc. Among these, stainless steel is more popular because of its durability. Further, the stainless steel made knives are also strong and easy to sharpen.
Nowadays few high-end knives are using carbon steel instead of stainless steel. The carbon steel knife is sturdier and stronger than stainless steel. But the carbon steel made knives are less durable.
So, it won’t be a great choice for them who wants to use the same knife for a longer period.
There is another material named high-carbon stainless steel. It is a combination of stainless steel and carbon steel. This material is stronger than stainless steel and more durable than carbon steel.
You may find some ceramic made knives too. The ceramic made knives are very sharp and more lightweight than the steel made knives. These knives also stay sharp for a longer period. But once they began to dull, it is harder to sharpen them again. You have to buy a new one.
Handle Comfort:
Difficulties in handling your knife will ruin your entire cooking. The knife must be very comfortable and efficient to use. This efficiency mostly depends on the handle.
The most popular handle materials are plastic, metal, woods and composites. You should also consider the handle length. Try to go for a knife that handles length fits with your hand.
Maintenance:
It feels very well to work with the knives. But, how about cleaning? Cleaning is not as pleasant as using a knife. But a knife will provide its best only if you can maintain it properly.
However, if you do not like to clean your knife frequently, then you should go for the knives that are less sensitive to corrosion. Further, few knives require additional sharpening.
You also should sharpen them frequently to keep them in good condition for a longer period.
However, most of the knives are dishwasher safe. Simply keep it dry after use. It will prevent corrosion. But, if you wash your knife with the bare hand, then it will remain sharp longer.
To store the blade safer, try to store the knife in a magnetic wall rack. Always put your chopping board on a smooth surface. It helps to keep the blade sharper. And always use a good knife sharpener to sharpen your knife.
Final Thought:
A good knife must be a combination of a few decent characteristics. That is a comfortable, decent and non-slip grip handle, good balance and a nice curved blade etc. If you haven’t tried a good knife before, then you must test one.
Your chopping will become easier and cooking becomes faster than ever. If you like to cook in your home, then finding the appropriate kitchen knife will be worth of trouble, cost, and time.
We hope that you will get a proper idea about different knives and the knife selecting factors. If you find us helpful, it will be our ultimate success.
Enjoy your cooking journey!
Useful resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_knife
https://www.wikihow.com/Category:Cooking-Knives-and-Blades
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=263
