Knives are among the most essential tools for your cooking process. With the right knives, you can speed up the cooking process. There are various factors to consider if you want to choose the best knives for your cooking tasks. Here are some types of knives that you should use in the kitchen:
- Primary cooking knives: It’s the most common type of cooking knives and it’s also the most versatile. It can be used for various purposes, such as chopping vegetables and cutting meat cubes.
- Utility knives: In size, utility knives are between regular cooking knife and paring knife. You may use it if cooking knife is too big or paring knife is too small,
- Bread knives: If you consume bread often, you should invest on bread knives. These knives are designed to quickly and neatly slice bread lives. If you don’t have bread knives, you may use sharp and heavier knives that can more easily cut through soft bread.
- Carving knives: You should use carving knives are ideal if you want to slice up thin cooked meats. You can easily carve roast dinner with it. These knives are ideal for special family occasions, so they can remain unused for a period of time. A good carving knife should have a thin blade that gives you a lot more control.
- Cleaver: Cleaver can be used for a variety of tasks, such as chopping bones and mincing meat. Cleaver is actually used as primary knife in traditional Chinese kitchen and cooks are skilled in using it for various purposes. If you want to use cleaver as primary kitchen knife, make sure that it’s kept very sharp. Cleaver should also have ideal weight and balance. So, despite its size and weight, you won’t feel tired using it for a long period of time.
When choosing kitchen knives, comfort and handling can be a very subjective affair. However, you should make sure that enough thought has been given to the usability and design of the knife. In the store, you can compare whether a knife has more solid material than others. The metal should be hard to prevent dent, but not too brittle, so it will chip easily. Non-metallic handle may provide better grip for you. Each person has different shape and size of hand, so you should be flexible in choosing the right knife.
Generally, expensive knives can keep their edges much longer and they are sharper. If you seek the ultimate sharpness, you may choose ceramic blade. However, this type of knife is less durable with improper maintenance. You should use it only to cut soft materials, such as bread, vegetables, fruits and meat. You should also use cutting board made from soft wood to keep the blade sharp. Knife is considered blunt, if you need to use more force to cut. Blunt knife is dangerous because it may slip as you apply more force. When choosing a knife, make sure that you choose quality sharpener as well.
