What is a paring knife?
Determining the quality of a paring knife has more to do with personal choice – how it fits in your hand and how well it performs for your own personal cutting needs.
Of course price, brand name, how paring knives are made are made, and what particular materials goes into making them but none of those features really count if a paring knife doesn’t feel like an extension of your hand.
In the process of finding the right paring knife for you first visit several kitchenware stores and handle the many brands.
Finding that perfect paring knife is pretty considering the many popular brands that are available at most kitchen cookware stores as well as the plethora from online retailers.
Kitchenware stores are the most advantageous because they have a variety of paring knives that you can test drive, so to speak, and ask questions.
If you find one that you like you can then go online in hope of finding a better price as so many of the online retailers offer sale prices due to so much competition with each other.
In the course of searching for a paring knife online it’s also a good idea to read as many reviews and comments that you can find.
They are just opinions but in many cases they can be extremely helpful as they are based on their own purchases and experiences.
Like any good kitchen knife a paring knife should at the very least possess two important features: the ability to hold it’s edge after many many cuttings (This is due to the type of metal and process used to produce the blade.), and it should be durable.
Additional features beyond those two are bells and whistles, e.g. beautifully designed knife handle materials made from exotic woods or needless spine (top portion of the blade) widths, and such features can make paring knife more attractive but they will also raise the price.
Performance of a paring knife is not as dependent on unique design as are large-sized kitchen knives, such as Chef’s knives.
In that respect the design is generally an result of special attention paid to balance, weight, and leverage, most of which are not an issue for a paring knife because of its over-all short length with a petty knife being the exception to the rule because its length can be over 7 inches or 180mm.
Important basics of a paring knife
Blade:
- Forged versus Stamping – A forged blade is often much higher in quality and required the tedious task of heating and then beating the blade into the desired shape using a mold and a hammer. Because of its labor intensive process it is much more expensive than stamping.
- Blade Flexibility – Because a paring knife’s blade is so short, blade flexibility is not an issue.
- Sharpness – Test the (commonly phrased) “out-of-the-box” sharpness of the knife before you purchase.
- Blade maintenance - Inquire about the blade’s material and how well it will hold up to repeated use before it has to be professionally sharpened.
Handles
Paring knife handles can be made from a variety of materials: natural and impregnated woods, plastics, synthetic-rubber compounds, or stainless steel, each offering a varying degree of durability.
A natural rosewood handle remains the most popular for its beauty and resistance to splitting and cracking, but if you’re looking for the most durable and sanitary selection, opt for synthetic rubber, or stainless-steel.
How handles are attached to the blade can vary. Better knives have handles that are split into halves and then riveted to the end of the blade.
While others may be a solid piece with the end configured into the shape of a handle. Global knives are a prime example of that.
Check to see that the handle is durable and comfortable. It should fit into the palm of your hand so you can grip it easily. (Weight and balance is not important for a paring knife because of it’s size.).
Blade materials and construction
Most paring knives are designed with a plain edge and are available in sizes that range from 2 ½ and 4 inches.
They are available in different metal and materials with high-carbon forged stainless-steel being one of the best as it holds a sharp edge and effectively resist rust.
Forged knife blades begin as a single rough bar of red-hot metal. The bar is hammered into a shaped die to make the blade and the tang, which will form part of the knife’s handle.
This one piece construction makes an extremely strong knife with a heavy blade that can withstand strenuous cutting and slicing tasks and is considered to be able tow hold it’s edge much longer than those that are stamped.
When making your first purchase look for a paring knife that has a Rockwell C-Scale rating of at least 55.
This rating tells you how well the blade will hold its edge and how it easy or difficult it is to sharpen. Equally as important is how a paring knife feels in your hand, with regard to balance and comfort, and how the blade and handle are joined together.
Look for a tang, the forged end of the blade, that runs the length of the handle.
Ceramic blades are another story altogether. They have razor-sharp blades that stay sharper longer, never needs honing or other home maintenance.
They won’t rust or effect the taste, smell or appearance of food, resists germs and is impervious to acids, oils and salts.
A ceramic paring knife is perfectly balanced and light in the hand and is ideal for ceramic for prep tasks. Best of all it is easy to clean.
Blade shapes:
While most home cooks are familiar with one type of paring knife blade, professional chefs know there are several other blade shapes with each blade used for a variety of food cutting tasks.
Personally I can’t imagine that most culinary chefs actually use all of these different blade shapes, still you may find it of interest to know what they are what they are used for.
- Spear Point – This most versatile for performing any kind of paring work such as peeling and slicing vegetables and fruits. This is the generic form of paring knife which is ideal if you don’t to garnish or shaping vegetables or fruits.
- Fluting – Barely 3-inches long and shaped like a short, stout isosceles triangle, this parer brings the hand into the closest cutting contact with the food. Use it to score or flute mushroom caps or other precise garnishing tasks.
- Bird’s Beak parer paring knife – The arched back and cutting edge of this parer looks like a heron’s bill. The bird’s beak shaped paring knife is perfect to cut and peel round fruits such as oranges, tomatoes, baby beets, or brussels sprouts. It can be maneuvered easily around and possess the right angle to remove the skin easily from round objects.
- Serrated Edged – The serrated edged paring knife is ideal for slicing larger fruits and vegetables. This type of paring knife has a serrated edge that won’t dull out as fast as the other types of paring knives.
- Miniature Boning – This paring knife has a short S-shaped blade that’s used for boning small birds like quail or trim barbecued ribs.
- Sheep’s Foot – The profile of the tip resembles an animal’s hoof. It’s perfect for peeling and paring, though not for garnishing, which requires a finer tip.
- Clip Point – This tool has a gentle, upwardly curved cutting edge paired with a dropped spine creates a longer, slimmer tip for making small deep cuts. It’s ideal for eyeing potatoes and removing bruises from apples and pears. Many clip-point parers are stamped, rather than forged.
Best pairing knife brands for the money
Like any product, some paring knives are considered to better than others but it still comes down to the user’s expectations and what they are willing to pay.
While Below is a list of paring knives that can be found in most culinary shops or online. They are all basically adequate and their prices which ranges from $15-60 is generally based on a number of different factors including durability, ergonomics (design), handling, and performance.
- Wusthof (Classic): Not as sharp out of the box as the Japanese knives but well respected amongst chefs and home cooks. It features a small pointed blade which is perfect for peeling vegetables or doing small cutting jobs. It has a high quality forged high-carbon stainless-steel blade that is hand-honed for razor like sharpness. The handle provides the necessary strength and ergonomics for comfort and performance. Also, the butt-end the knife’s blade next to the handle is thicker making it practically impossible for your finger to slip onto the blade’s shape edge. Nice safety feature included on all Wusthof knives.
- Mac (Pro Series): Good performer but a little small with a thick handle.
- Global: Uniquely designed (One solid piece of high-carbon stainless-steel). with a unique handle which some may find to be uncomfortable.
- Kyocera (Advanced) Ceramic: Razor-sharp ceramic blade that never needs sharpening. Has a hard plastic handle that feels comfortable in the hand. I own one and love it.
- Henckels: (Pro S): Not the sharpest knife in the drawer but well designed and comfortable in the hand.
- Forschner (Fibrox): An adequate inexpensive paring knife that has a cheap plastic handle and thin blade but will still get the job done.
Paring Knives Sets
To get the best deal on a paring knife purchase one that is included in a set. This can be either a set of paring knives, or a three-piece knife set. Most knife companies offers a knife set that includes a paring knife as well as serrated bread knife and a general kitchen knife. Higher end knife manufacturers such as Henckels have sets in the higher price range; a Henckels set will cost around $400 while others will much lower at around $90 per set.
In conclusion
Out of the above group of paring knife brands, Wusthof, Global, and Henckles adequately retains their blade sharpness*, have handles that fit to the blade so that food can’t collect, are comfortable in the hand, well constructed, and best of all reasonably priced.
*Investing in a knife sharpener or a honing steel will keep your knives blades nice and sharp.
