What is a Chef’s Knife?
Posted by Admin in Chefs knives on January 20, 2012
A Chef’s knife is a must-have tool that can prepare a variety of foods
Other than a paring knife, a Chef’s knife is one of the three must have kitchen knives.
It is designed to tackle a variety of cutting tasks such as preparing raw beef or fowl and slicing and chopping larger sized vegetables and fruit.
Chefs knife blade surfaces and shapes
All quality Chef’s knives are forged which gives them a weightier advantage over smaller stamped knives.
A Chef’s knife typically come in three different blade surfaces: damascus (layered), dimpled or scalloped (This type of surface configuration, in theory, is designed to keep food from sticking to the blade.) and a smooth surface.
A Chef’s knife can have two different cutting edge shapes, straight or curved. A straight cutting edge is made for up and down chopping or as a cutting edge while a curved cutting edge allows for a rocking motion so that the knife’s edge never needs to leave the cutting board when cutting a large amount of vegetables or fruit.
Three basic rules to follow when buying a Chef’s knife
Size
Size does matter. While many professional chefs rely on chopping knives with 10 or 12-inch blades, home cooks can make do with a 6 or 8-inch blade as most home kitchens with non-commercial cutting boards don’t require a longer blade.
Weight and balance
Before you make your purchase consider how you tend to use a Chefs knife in the kitchen.
Unless you don’t mind spending 30 minutes finely chopping, slicing or dicing vegetables or fruit, or cutting a chicken or hen into small sections, then go with a heavier forged Chef’s knife or better yet a Santoku either of which will take much less effort and time.
Handle grip
A Chefs knife handle should not be too large or too small and should feel secure in your fingers.
Once you find the right fit you’ll feel it immediately.
Protect the blade
Look for a brand that comes with a plastic sheath blade protector or even better consider buying a kitchen knife holder or a magnetic bar that you can attach your kitchen knives to for easier access.
Chefs knife size considerations
A Chef’s knife blade length varies. Many home cooks and professional chefs own at least two different size Chef’s knives, a small one and a large.
6-inch
The big advantage of a shorter Chefs knife is just that, it is short.
For people with smaller hands a shorter knife is easier to handle plus it’s great for working with foods that don’t require a lot of chopping or cutting through bone, such as preparing chicken pieces.
8-inch
This is a good length for many users, however, those with larger hands may feel that it’s on the small side.
10-inch
The 10-inch Chefs knife is one that most experienced cooks and chef’s seem to prefer as it provides the weight and leverage for taking on heavy cutting tasks.
12-14-inch
These two lengths are primarily made for commercial use copious amounts of food preparation.
The bottom line is that the best size Chef’s knife is one that handles the type of cutting tasks you typically undertake, feels comfortable in your hand and fits the size of your cutting board (a couple of inches longer than your knife along the diagonal).
Below are some of very best Chefs knives and their estimated prices:
Top 10 Chef’s knives
- Shun DM0706 Classic 8-Inch Chefs Knife
- Shun Premier Chefs Knife, 8-Inch
- Shun Ken Onion Chefs Knife
- Shun Alton Angled 8-Inch Chefs Knife
- Global GF-33 8-1/4-Inch Heavyweight Chefs Knife
- Global G-16 10-Inch Chefs Knife
- Shun DM0707 Classic 10-Inch Chefs Knife
- Shun TDM0723 Premier Chefs Knife, 6-Inch
- Kyocera KC Classic Series 6-Inch White Chef’s Knife
- Zwilling JA Henckels Twin Four Star II 8-Inch Stainless-Steel Chefs Knife
Overall best performing quality Chefs knives
- MAC MTH-80 MAC Mighty Chef 8″ with dimples ($110)
- Global G-2 20cm Cook’s Knife ($86)
- MAC MTH-80 MAC Mighty Chef 8″ with dimples ($110)
- MAC MBK-85 MAC Mighty Chef 8.5″ ($120)
Best valued Chef’s knife based on performance
RH Forschner Victorinox 40521 Fibrox 10-in. Chef’s Knife ($29)
Second best valued Chef’s knife based on performance:
Tojiro DP F-808 21cm Gyoto Chef’s Knife ($50)
Other Chef’s knives to consider
Global 8-inch Profession Chef’s Knife - Global is a Japanese knife company that produces some very beautiful, yet functional knives.
A favorite with professional chefs, the blades are extremely sharp and perfectly balanced.
They are made from cromova 18 stainless steel, which holds its edge longer than other steels.
The knives are also very lightweight, which reduces hand fatigue for professional chefs.
The handles are a metal extension of the blade with indentations for a non-slip grip.
Wusthof Classic 9-inch Professional Chef’s Knife Le Cordon Bleu – Wusthof is a very reputable German company that has been making knives for a very long time.
Their knives are thick and heavy in the German style and will stand up to the most brutal punishment in the kitchen.
The blades are high carbon stainless-steel which sharpen easily and is another traditional favorite of professional chefs.
Kershaw Shun Classic 8-inch Professional Chef’s Knife – Shun blades are made in the Damascus style with VG-10 super steel which is covered with sixteen layers of high-carbon stainless steel.
VG-10 super steel is composed of carbon, chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, silicon and vanadium. This type of blade has a nonstick quality.
The D-shaped handles are made of black pakkawood (available in right- or left-handed models.).
Henckels Five Star 8-inch Professional Chef’s Knife – Henckel, a German company, produces five-star knife blades that are made from “friodur” ice-hardened stainless steel.
These blades are very sharp and hold their edge for a long time. The handles are ergonomically designed and made from polypropylene for a very comfortable grip.
Sabatier 8-inch Carbon Steel Cooks Knife – Sabatier knives are made by the 150-year-old French company, Thiers-Issard.
Their blades are made from pure carbon steel, which make them softer then most blades, and they are typically narrower than their German counterparts.
This means the blades has a razor sharp edge, but requires that they sharpened more often. Also 100% carbon steel will oxidize and rust if exposed too much to water.
The blades are made of high carbon chrome molybdenum with vanadium. The knives are narrow in the French style, but are light and flexible like some Japanese knives.
MAC Mighty Professional Chefs French Knife – MAC produces some of the sharpest knives around and is recommended by such famous chefs as Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, Hubert Keller, and Nobu Matsuhisa.
The MAC-knife manufacturer claims that the stamped steel gives their knives a level of control over the tempering, the bevels, and the thinness of the blade.
Whether that is true or not, MAC-knives overwhelmingly outperform most forged knives.
Misono UX10 Gyutou 8.2-inches – Mison, another high quality Japanese knife manufacturer produces Chef’s knives that have blades that are 440 Molybdenum for long lasting sharpness and ease of sharpening.
The handles are made of comfortable water-resistant wood, a favorite of many professional chefs.
