Everybody knows how to use a knife, right? From early on weāre taught how to cut the food on our plate and itās a significant right of passage when your parents are no longer cutting your food for you! When we move out of the house the entire family assumes that you already know how to use kitchen knives and youāve got a clear idea what every type of knife is for. If youāre anything like me, you stood there in your first apartment with an uncut vegetable and realized that you really have no idea what youāre doing. Not only that, if you had more than one knife to choose from you didnāt have any earthly idea which knife to use. Well, other than āuse the clean one and not the dirty one in the sinkā.
Kind of scary that everyone assumes we have this basic knowledge.
But fear not dear reader, Iām not here to judge. Iām here to educate! So read on and learn about your kitchen knives. Even the most seasoned of chefs might learn something. If not, you can cut me off.
Sorry, couldnāt resist the Dad jokeā¦
What Knives Do You Need?
While your kitchen knives are something that youāll use virtually every day in your kitchen, you really donāt need all that many to cover the majority of cutting, slicing, and chopping needs. You can get by with a single steak knife for a really long timeā¦so when money’s tight, donāt spend a bundle on a knife set. Eventually youāre going to want three categories of knives: A small knife, a serrated knife, and a large knife.
To get fancy, we can call the small knives paring knives. Want to impress your friends? Ask them to retrieve the paring knife for you and see what they grab. If they get the short, straight-edged knife you can slap them on the back and award them a culinary gold star for knowing their knives. If they respond with aĀ deer in the headlights look, youāll know you can help educate them. āOh, that short one with a straight bladeā. Youāll achieve kitchen whisperer status in your friend group in no time!
Seriously, you need a small knife in the kitchen for fine work, peeling, and tasks that require some precision. By the way, paring refers to the act of peeling. Since I donāt peel much in my kitchen I was a bit surprisedĀ paring meant peeling. But now we all know!
A serrated knife has bumpy edges along the cutting surface. See, weāre not overly technical here at Hectic-Kitchen. Find me another kitchen site that uses that description and Iāll show you somebody whoās living in the real world! Serrated knives are good for cutting food that has an uneven texture. For instance, tomatoes cut well with a serrated knife because the skin is much tougher than the meat. The serration lets you cut the skin without tearing it. Of the three essential knife types, this is the least important. You can get by without one of these, and lots of folks substitute a serrated steak knife for a more specific kitchen serrated knife. But Iāll tell you, having those scalloped edges make some tasks so much easier!
Large knifes fall into a couple of categories, namely Chefās knives and Carving knives. Honestly, when Iām in my kitchen Iām as apt to grab either one to perform any large slicing tasks. The Chefās knife is an all-purpose knife thatās used for making long cuts. They also tend to be fairly stiff. Carving knives are roughly the same length as Chefās knives but are somewhat flexible. They also taper from the handle (where they are the tallest) to the tip (where they are shorter and pointy). With a Chefās knife your supposed to leave the tip on the cutting board and chop away using a guillotine motion whereas a Carving knife is drawn across the food. For the most part you can get by with one or the other of these types of large knives. If I had to pick one, I would likely select a Chefās knife and add a Carving knife later on.
Whatās Nice To Have
Once youāve got those three basic types of knives, youāve got the majority of your tasks covered. There are a few instances where you might want to have a specialty knife. Depending on the type of cooking and baking you do, you might want to have a long serrated knife in addition to your shorter one. These are good for cutting bread and baked items. We have n inexpensive serrated knife I use all the time. Itās one of my favorite knives and Iām always at a loss if itās dirty and I have to use another knife.
Iāve recently discovered the virtues of Santoku knives. While I recognized that these are really versatile knives, I didnāt realize that the name of the knife (Santoku bÅchÅĀ äøå¾³å äø) is Japanese for three virtues or three uses. Santoku knives are ideal for slicing, dicing, and mincing. Honestly, my first solo knife purchase (one that was bought separately from a set) in over 20 years was a 7-inch Dalstrong Santoku Knife. I purchased it to replace one from a set that I had broken. Now Iām thinking about getting both a smaller and larger one so that I can apply the three virtues to foods of different sizes. If youāre looking to add a knife to your collection, I would strongly recommend considering a Santoku knife.
Sets vs. Individual Knives
I mentioned that I bought my Dalstrong Santoku knife to replace a knife from a set. Iāve actually had a couple of sets of knives over the years. My first set was a great Chicago Cutlery set that came with a wooden block. I loved those knives, but I honestly didnāt know how to care for them, and over time they lost their edge. I had them professionally sharpened a couple of times, but the cost of regular sharpening was beginning to approach the cost of a new set of knives. Instead of taking the time to learn how to properly care for my knives, I bought a relatively inexpensive set during Black Friday sales a couple years back. In fact, I bought block knife sets for all the Hectic Kids.
Subsequently Iāve learned how to care for my knives, so I may be sticking with these value-priced knivesĀ for a long time.
I bring all this up because sometimes itās easiest to get a set of knives that come with their own storage. Iām partial to wooden blocks. They help keep the knives dry, out of the way, and organized. Iāve never really been a fan of having a bunch of really sharp knives in drawers, especially when you have little kids running around the kitchen. Itās just too easy for the kiddos to pull a knife out of the drawer. Furthermore, I canāt tell you how many times Iāve cut myself extracting a particular knife from the morass in the drawer. One instant of inattention and thereās blood everywhere. Been there, done that!
If youāre looking for a great gift for a family member, I highly recommend giving them a set of knives. My mother-in-law would disagree, since she superstitiously believes that giving knives as gifts will cut off the relationship. To appease her I always include a penny with the gift. I usually put it in a nice card with the request for that penny to be paid to me for the gift. I may not be superstitious, but thereās really no reason to irritate my mother-in-law. Oh, and the penny thing makes for a great talking point when the gift is opened!
If youāre going to buy your own knives, cost is always going to be a factor. Fear not, the knife set that I use is currently available for under $20 at Amazon. By the way, thatās an affiliate link. You donāt pay extra but I get a few cents from Amazon for steering you their way. Every little bit helps, you know?
Anyway, you can get a reasonably inexpensive but very serviceable knives for the cost of a restaurant meal. Not a bad exchange. The tradeoff with a knife set is that youāre going to have OK knives at a reasonable cost or spend a ton of money ($,2,499.00 for this Victorinox set!) for top of the line knives. Youāll get every knife you could possibly need, but several of them will kind of baffle you. I know that I really struggled with the reason for having two different Carving Knives in both my blocks. I seldom used the smaller one. In fact, half my knives only made it out of the block when all the others were dirty. Have I mentioned how much I hate cleanup in the kitchen, LOL?
Having a full set of knives is nice but it may not fit the way youāre actually going to use them. In that case, I would lean towards buying two individual knives to start and adding more over time. First off, Iād probably buy aĀ paring knife. Short of buying one, I would designate a steak knife or similar short, sharp knife to be used for food prep only. You really don’t need anything fancy, but you don’t want to have to go searching for it.
For my second knife, Iād probably buy one of the 7-inch Dalstrong Santoku Knife or possibly a 5-inch Dalstrong Santoku Knife and have that serve as my long knife. Iād wait to get a serrated knife until I was sure that I really needed it.
While you might spend the same amount (or possibly more) on the two knives, I think youād really love the high quality of the Dalstrong knives.
Wrap-Up
In a future post Iāll delve into proper knife techniques, some tricks to using your knives effectively, and how to maintain them. For now, think about the knives that you have and what you use them for. Consider getting one or two high quality knives or a set that will let you up your game a little bit. Sharp knives make everything so much easier.
Seriously, if things are easy and (dare I say) fun in the kitchen, youāll be more likely to cook for yourself. Thatās definitely one way to make it a great day in the kitchen!
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