1. Chef’s knife (chef’s knife)
As standard, chef knives are available with blades 15, 20, 25, and 30 cm long. A blade shorter than 20 cm is not very convenient for most types of work, and for a blade longer than 30 cm, you need to have a large desktop and cutting board.
If you are a beginner cook, then choose a medium chef knife with a 25 cm blade. Or you can buy two knives: a large chef knife with a 30 cm blade and a 20 cm Santoku knife (read about them below). In this case, you will use the Santoku knife as the main one.
A chef’s knife is sometimes referred to as a “French Knife”. It has a long triangular curved blade. The kink allows the user to rock the knife back and forth while cutting, as well as apply a lot of pressure to the part of the blade that is close to the handle.
The chef knife is quite versatile, great for various kitchen jobs:
- chopping small ingredients (herbs, garlic) with the heel of a knife;
- slicing onions, vegetables with the tip of a knife;
- cutting large hard vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, etc.) and meat with the middle part of the blade;
- crushing garlic and other ingredients with a wide blade.
The main purpose of the knife is shredding. It is she who takes up most of the time of professional chefs. It is not recommended to use this type of knife for cutting soft bread.
2. Serrated bread knife
A serrated knife will help you cope with cutting any bread. He can cut the hardened crust and not damage the pulp. The serrated (or serrated) blade also makes it easy to cut hard-skinned foods such as watermelons, melons, and pineapples, and soft foods such as cakes.
These knives are made of durable steel and have a rounded edge. When choosing a bread knife, pay attention to the length of the blade – it should be no shorter than 25 cm. The longer the blade of the bread knife, the more useful it will be.
3. Damascus Steel knife
The Damascus steel Knife is a must for every cook’s kitchen because most of the tasks it performs can’t be done by any other knife.
This is a light and handy knife with a short blade up to 10 cm long. It will be useful for cutting thin skins, cutting potato “eyes” or cutting thin citrus slices to decorate alcoholic cocktails and more. When choosing a knife for Damascus steel vegetables, you should not focus on the price. Usually, simple and cheap models do an excellent job.
The classic vegetable knife is a smaller version of the chef’s knife. There are also “Sheep Foot” type cleaning knives, similar to smaller Santokus.
Sheep Foot knives have a straight blade that makes it easier to peel fruits and vegetables while holding them in your hand. When using a cutting board, a classic blade performs better.
There is also a cleaning knife with an unusual “claw” blade shape. Such knives are called “Bird’s Break” or “Tourne Knife”. In Japan, they are called “Petty”.
This knife has a rounded blade and is used for Damascus steel round fruits and vegetables (apples, pears, oranges, potatoes, etc.). The ability to use such a knife is a sign of a chef’s skill.
4. Fillet knife
A fillet knife is a kitchen knife with a thin, flexible blade up to 30 cm long, which is designed for cutting large fish (such as salmon) into thin slices or separating fillets from bones. You will only need this knife in the home kitchen if you regularly butcher fish, in which case it will show itself well. In other cases, there is no point in acquiring it. In addition, it takes a certain amount of practice to learn how to use such a knife correctly.
A type of fillet knife is a boning or bone knife (Boning Knife). It has a wider and shorter blade (10-15 cm long) and is designed for removing meat from bones, and not for cutting fish.
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