The best kitchen knives are important to have as part of your kitchen arsenal. Not only do knives that cut properly help you prepare the best meals possible, ease of use makes preparing food feel like less a hassle and more an art form. Here you’ll find some information about the basics of kitchen knives, the different types of kitchen knives, how to determine their quality, where to find the best ones on the market, and things to avoid when choosing knives. When it comes to the cutlery you choose for your kitchen, you want only the best kitchen knives.
Types of Kitchen Knives
A good set of basic kitchen knives is going to consist of a chef’s knife, a cook’s knife, a utility knife, a cleaver, a paring knife, a bread knife and a sandwich knife. The most basic set is going to include a chef’s knife, a cleaver and a paring knife. A set of the best kitchen knives may include many more. Here’s an overview of what each different type is for. A chef’s knife is a general all-purpose knife, used for all sorts of kitchen tasks like mincing, slicing and chopping vegetables or meats. A cleaver is specially designed for cutting through bones. It’s a go-to for butchers. A bread knife has a serrated edge that won’t crush soft bread as you’re cutting it. It’s good for cutting soft foods while keeping them solid. For example, you can cut a ripe avocado into perfect slices with a bread knife. Using them for any other purpose can and will damage the serrated edge. A cook’s knife is designed for jobs like slicing, dicing and mincing. A utility knife, while not as popular anymore, is a multipurpose knife good for lots of small jobs. Its loss of popularity is probably due to the fact that it isn’t designed to do any one thing especially well, and in kitchen use it’s been generally replaced by the chef’s knife. A sandwich knife is good for slicing larger cuts of meats, fruits and vegetables. It provides a longer blade than a paring knife, so your cuts are large enough to layer up on a hearty sandwich.
There are plenty of other knives you can add to complete a set, but even the most basic kitchen needs at least three different kinds of knives for the different tasks each knife is best suited for. If you cook once a month, you probably don’t need more than the most basic. If you live in the kitchen, you might want a designer custom set. But no matter whether you want every knife available, or just a few, you still want to find the best kitchen knives to meet your needs.
Determining Quality Of The Best Kitchen Knives
There are various factors to consider when determining a knife’s quality. What material is it made of? Stainless steel is a common material for kitchen knives, but it can be difficult to sharpen. Carbon steel is relatively cheap, but unlike stainless steel, it’s prone to rust. Ceramic knives are gaining popularity because of their durability, the fact that they rarely have to be sharpened, and the fact that they don’t cause your food to oxidize quickly like metal does, leaving your fruits and vegetables brown and metallic tasting.
Also consider whether it has a reinforced blade. A good kitchen knife is going to have a separate piece of metal, called a tang that runs through both the handle and the blade. Also consider the handle itself. Knives typically have handles made of plastic, wood, composite resin, or stainless steel.
Is it ergonomically friendly, or will it hurt your hand every time you use it? Is it made of plastic, metal or some other material? Will you have to constantly keep sharpening it? All these things help determine a knife’s quality. The best kitchen knives, if cared for properly, will last you for years to come.
Where to Find the Best Kitchen Knives
Because the need for kitchen knives is so universal, you can find them almost anywhere. Kitchen knives are all over the place. Most general merchandise retailers carry sets of kitchen knives. There are stores that specialize only in cutlery. Countless online retailers sell knives. To find the best kitchen knives, you have to do your research and determine exactly what you’re looking for in a quality set of knives. Do you want just a few high quality basics, or do you want a set that includes every possible type of knife known to man? Compare prices, and check around on the web for reviews on the brands you’re thinking about purchasing.
Things to Avoid When Choosing Kitchen Knives
First off, you want to avoid buying the cheapest knives, because they will cost you in terms of hassle of use, breakage, and the need to replace them frequently. Don’t imagine that you’re saving money on a cheap set of knives, because over time the cheap ones will cost you more than a higher quality set of the best kitchen knives. If you don’t cook very often, you probably don’t want the most expensive set of kitchen knives money can buy, but you do want knives that aren’t going to leave you frustrated every time you do cook at home. On the other hand, if you spend hours every day preparing meals you just might be better off handing over a hefty amount for excellent culinary cutlery set.
Tips For Using Kitchen Knives
The basic safety rules for using kitchen knives need to be followed at all times, for your own safety and to take proper care of your knives.
Always cut away from yourself, never toward.
Keep your knives in a butcher’s block or in sheaths. Loose knives in drawers can not only cut you when you’re trying to find your knife, they can also damage each others’ blades.
The best kitchen knives tend to require a little care. Avoid using the dishwasher to wash your knives. While some say they’re dishwasher safe, the blade will always remain in better condition if you wash your best kitchen knives by hand.