Which Knives Do You Need In Your Kitchen?
Eating a natural paleo diet – more real food – means more food preparation. Which knives do you have in your kitchen and are you using the right ones for the right job?
One of the most important tools in the kitchen is the knife. You use your kitchen knifes every day and if you buy good ones, you will be able to use them for many years to come.
If you’re about to buy a kitchen knife, have you worked out which type you need and what to buy?
It’s not easy to say a particular knife “is the best knife”. The best knife depends on you and how you will use it. The most important criteria is that the knife should be easy to use by the person who will use it the most.
When you walk into a shop, you’ll probably be overwhelmed by the amount and variety of knifes. Don’t worry, you will never use all of them, nobody does. A basic set of knifes for in the kitchen usually consists of 3 to 6 different knifes.
What you need to know about kitchen knives:
Wrought knives
Some people say that the best knifes are wrought. Whilst this used to be the only way to make steel suitable for making knives, it’s no longer the case. Nowadays, techniques are much more developed and even the steel is different. A knife doesn’t need to consist of one piece either, this has no added value for it’s cutting abilities.
Hardness
The hardness of the knife is an indication for the speed a knife can get blunt. Knife hardness is expressed in Rockwell C (HRC). Generally, the higher the hardness, the longer the knife stays sharp. However, the steel can get more susceptible to chipping of the cutting edge (the steel gets brittle) and to the occurrence of rust.
The handle
When choosing a kitchen knife, always look for the construction of the handle. If you want to be able to put your knives in the dishwasher (but please wash by hand!), choose knifes with a molded on handle or welded on handle of stainless steel. Knifes with a riveted handle are less adequate for a dishwasher. Wood and the dishwasher are of course not the best combination either.
There are five knifes that are completely indispensable in a paleo kitchen:
Chef’s knifes
A knife collection always starts with a chef’s knife. A chef’s knife has a high blade with a slightly rounded cutting edge, used for cutting meat, fish and vegetables. This knife is less suitable for the smaller carvings, you’d be better use a paring knife for that.
Chef’s knifes are usually used for cutting everything that is raw, before it goes into the pan, such as meat and fish – but also vegetables or cheese. Thanks to the large blade, it’s easy to cut onions and herbs without hitting the cutting board all the time. The most selected size is 20cm, but some people (mainly women) choose a smaller size.
Paring knifes
This knife has a small blade with a sharp point, suitable for peeling and cutting smaller vegetables and fruits. The knife comes in various sizes, between 8 – 12cm. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to use this knife for everything!
Tomato knife
The third knife that you should get is a tomato knife. It always has a small serrated blade and you use it for cutting vegetables with a rigid outside and a soft inside, such as tomatoes.
Boning knife
A boning knife has a long low blade with a smooth surface. You can use it to cut meat, fish and poultry into equal slices.
Every knife, no matter how good or expensive it was, gets blunt. Consider buying a knife grinder, or taking your knives to get professionally sharpened. To keep your knives in good condition, wash them by hand, instead of using the dishwasher!
Which knives do you have in your kitchen? Have you found a good brand? Please share your tips in the comments below.
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I recently bought a scanpan knife block, and wow, love them. Having a good set of knifes makes food prep so much easier.
Victorinox 4″/10cm wavey edge paring knife.
Under ten bucks, super sharp and very versatile.
It’s almost displaced my 8″ Henckels.
First, a boning knife has a flexible blade that can bend sideways to either cut just under the surface of skin or ang the curve of bones, not to cut meat into equal portions! I worked in kitchens, and later food manufacturing, for more than 15 years. I can butcher whole sides of beef and pork, and work with just about any type of bird, fish, or other seafood. I also cook a fair amount of GF and Paleo bread. I’d buy one high-end 8-10″ chef’s knife, a good bread knife with very small quarter-moon serrations, not pointy, jagged serrations (if you bake Paleo and GF breads, which can be crumbly and easily tear or smash when cut with a regular knife), a good quality 6-8″ Santoku (slightly curved Asian-style knife that puts the entire blade in front of your fingers), 2-3 inexpensive paring knives, a fruit knife (highly curved bird’s beak or similar knife), and a decent quality steel. I have over a thousand dollars in knives, but other than the one nice chef’s knife ($100-250, depending in where you shop), you could buy everything else for less than $100. Learn to use the steel to HONE your knives before every use, and for bonus credit, get yourself a great sharpener like the Chef’sChoice EdgeSelect120. Good high-end knife brands (Chef’sChoice knife): Zwilling-Henckels (I use the Pro S Ice Hardened line), Wusthof, and Shun (I hate the round handles, particularly when my hands are wet and/or greasy, but some folks love them, and they’re well made). Good cheap knife brands: Chicago Cutlery, Victorinox, Oxo, and Zyliss (in that order). The MOST IMPORTANT part of buying knives is holding them in your hand. Every knife should be completely comfortable, and you shouldn’t have any doubt that if your hands are covered in olive oil, coconut oil, or chicken fat, that you can still be absolutely sure that the knife won’t slip. Good knives should always be razor sharp, and they should do almost all the work. If it’s not comfortable and secure in your hand, you’ll be scared of the knife, you won’t keep it sharp, then you have to work hard to get it to cut, and your chance of cutting yourself goes WAY up. Also, if you nick yourself with a sharp knife, you can press on it, and it will close up quickly and easily. One band-aid, and it’s mostly healed the nest day. Nick yourself with a dull blade, and it wil tear your skin open, and you’ll bleed like a stuck pig. You’ll take a week to heal. I’d rather cut myself with a sharp blade any day of the week. And, that blade will make easy work of a 20 pound turkey or bone-in ham.
Just wanted to say that I really like this guide.I love all the tips and ideas and now I must get a spiralizer. I have just been using a chef’s knife, this is much more exciting.I think its extensive yet in the meantime truly straightforward and find the Knife that best fits your needs.Thanks a lot for the guide!