Individual Knives

The blade of a kitchen knife is obviously important since this is the part that cuts. The quality of the blade affects how well the knife will work. High quality kitchen knives make food preparation easier.

The bolster of a knife is the part between the handle and the blade and it connects them together. It needs to be secure and tight, of course, so the knife does not fall apart when you are cutting with it.

Many chefs prefer a bolster which is narrower than the blade because it can get in the way of sharpening the knife. It will be just as sturdy if it is a good kitchen knife.

The part of the blade which runs through the centre of the handle is called the tang. This gives good balance to the knife and strengthens it, making the knife more durable.

The tang varies in length and might run only part of the way through the knife handle. The best kitchen knives have a tang running the full handle length, making it well balanced and strong.

The knife handle wraps around the tang and holds it securely. Knife handles can be made from various materials, including metal, wood and some kinds of plastic. The knife handle should be both sturdy and comfortable to hold. Sometimes you might need to cut a lot, so you will not want a knife that does not sit well in your hand.

Kitchen Knife Types

Now you know which parts of the knife you should check for quality if you want to buy kitchen knives but what are the different types of knife you can get? Here are some common knife varieties:

* Boning Knife
* Butter Knife
* Cheese Knife
* Chef's Knife
* Cleaver
* Deli Knife
* Fillet Knife
* Frozen Food Knife
* Mincing Knife
* Paring Knife
* Sandwich Knife
* Serrated Knife
* Slicing and Carving Knife
* Steak Knife
* Utility Knife

You also get special knives for clams, chestnuts, deveining, grapefruits, oysters and lettuce. Some cuisines, such as Asian and Japanese, have speciality knives too. The good news is that you do not need all these knives!

Every knife is useful for something but most people can happily get along with just the essential, most versatile kitchen knives.

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Paring Knife

Perhaps the most important knife is the paring knife. This is a small knife with a sharp, straight blade. Paring knives range from 7 to 12 cm in length. The blade is thin and tapers at the tip to a point.

A paring knife is easy to use. Its main use is to pare foods but you can use it to core apples, cut up small foods, mince garlic and more. There should be at least one good paring knife in every good kitchen.

Chef’s Knife

This is another handy, versatile knife. Chef’s knives range from 15 to 30 cm in length and the smaller ones are called mini chef’s knives. These are good for people with small hands. The bigger ones suit cooks with bigger hands because they balance better.

With a chef’s knife you can cut larger meats, fruits and vegetable. It is perfect for dicing, mincing, chopping and slicing. The larger size of this knife makes it better than a paring knife for slicing thicker slices.
 
Serrated Knife

A serrated knife has notches in the blade unlike a paring knife or chef’s knife. Serrated knives range from 12 to 25 cm long and they are good for foods which are soft inside and hard inside. Serrated knives are great for slicing bread, tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits.

Cleaver

You would be all right in the kitchen if you only had a paring knife, a chef’s knife and a serrated knife but a cleaver is very handy to have in the kitchen too. A cleaver has a wide blade which is about 15 cm long.

With a cleaver you can crush and pound foods. You can also use a kitchen cleaver to shred and chop foods or to cut through hard things such as chicken bones.

The flat part of the blade on a cleaver can be used to crush herbs such as garlic. Cleavers do take up a lot of room in the drawer but many come with a hole close to the blade so you can hang them up.

It is important to see knives as an investment. You should buy the best quality knifes you can afford. Kitchen knives are used a lot and having the best kitchen knives will make your food preparation simpler and quicker.

The more cooking you do, the more you will appreciate good knives and you might like to try other knife types. For a starter kitchen, good basic equipment would be paring knife, a chef’s knife, a serrated knife and perhaps a cleaver.