Three Must-Have Kitchen Knives
Posted on January 3, 2010
Filed Under kitchen cutlery | Leave a Comment
For those who enjoy cooking at home, having a complete set of high quality knives on hand is pretty important. The good news is that high quality knives do not have to be costly, but if you can spring for the higher price of high quality knives it will be worth your while and in the long run a money saver.
Out of all kitchen knives there are three must-haves; a high quality paring knife, a chef’s knife and a bread knife. Paring and chef’s knives are available in their own small range of blade length’s. The bread knife is typically 9-10 inches.
As I described in my article: “paring knives“, the paring knife’s small size makes it feel like an extension of your hand. The blade ranges from 2 to 4 inches long that comes with various shaped blades each for specific small task such as peeling and paring fruit and vegetables, coring tomatoes and fruits, cutting the tops off peppers (for stuffed peppers), detail work such as cutting vents in pie crusts or trimming off excess dough, slicing a peach, cutting a questionable part off a potato, trimming a piece of fat off a chicken wing, and any other exacting task where the heft and long blade of a chef’s knife would be too heavy and cumbersome.
The chef’s knife is significantly larger both in handle and blade length. It’s blade is slightly curved on the end, which allows you to rock it back and forth, mincing garlic, shallots, or herbs. It’s also large and strong enough to cut through the rind of a melon or a winter squash. It’s available in 6-12 inch blade lengths allowing to slice, dice, chop, mince, bone large cuts of meat (though a cleaver and a boning knife are best for those tasks). It’s blade is great for crushing garlic cloves, ginger, and lemongrass.
The bread knife’s blade is for cutting anything from artisan breads such as bagels, baguettes, and any other crusty bread that requires a sharp serrated blade, to softer sandwich breads. Look for one 9 inches or longer–enough to span a big loaf. A serrated knife also comes in handy for cutting through tomatoes or other soft, fleshy produce.
With these three knives you can prepare practically any meal and in time as your recipe repertoire expands you can gradually add other knives. The bottom line is that you can spring for a complete set of kitchen knives, but purchasing one at time based on your specific needs as is the best way to go.
When you purchase high quality knives make sure that each comes with a guarantee. Keep all receipts and documentation for all your purchases in case you need to replace them. Remember, investing in high quality knives can last a lifetime!
Comments
Leave a Reply
