If you’ve been looking to begin your knife collection but don’t know where to start, you found the right place. The amount of brands available can be overwhelming to choose from. In this article, I’ll be putting brands aside to teach you about the types of knives you should own, the items that are essential to knife care which are often overlooked, and the top destroyer of knives you should avoid.
I will approach this from the perspective of an avid cook and a professional knife sharpener sharing inside information I’ve gleaned from working on countless knives.
Let’s begin by saying that any knife that is well maintained is better than any other knife that is neglected and dull, regardless of brand or cost. A knife is a cutting tool therefore, when it’s dull and no longer cuts, it’s not really a knife anymore.
Before purchasing your knives, you should think about the type of cooking you do. How you prefer to cut or chop ingredients could have an impact on the best types of knives for you and is unique to everyone.
Where You Should Start
The first and most important knife is a chef knife or in Japanese terms, Gyuto. These knives are typically 8-10” or 20-26cm in length and are versatile enough to do any task you may require. They may not be perfect for everything but they will get the job done.
Their primary functions are:
• cutting larger vegetables like potatoes and squash,
• slicing and dicing meat, fish, and poultry,
• rocking on the board,
• mincing or fine chopping garlic, chives, shallots, onions, and herbs.
Depending on the thickness, chef knives can also be used for chopping small bones or shellfish like lobster. You wouldn’t want to use a beautiful thin Japanese knife for those harder tasks. The thinner the blade, the easier it cuts but the more fragile it becomes.
Tied with the chef knife for first place is a santoku. These knives are typically better suited to up and down chopping rather than rocking. They’re suitable for veggies, meat, fish and chicken (boneless) but because of the wide tip, are not ideal for delicate work where a round cut is required. A santoku is a great first knife but not as versatile as a chef knife. If you choose a chef knife as your first knife, look into a santoku later on as you may find the next few knives more useful to your collection.
Your Next Favourite Knife
The second knife you should look at is a paring knife at 4” or 10cm. Equal to a thinner bladed utility knife (long paring knife) at 6” or 15cm. These knives, in particular the paring knife, are intended for use off the board. Perfect for peeling fruits or veggies, cutting or chunking in your hand, removing tomato stems, and cutting on the board where only the tip is required. A slightly longer utility knife can do most of these tasks but with the tip further away from your hand, precise control can be more difficult. The longer utility knife is very useful for trimming meat or chicken, removing excess fat or silverskin, and light deboning like chicken thighs.
Best Knife for…
Hard crusted food lovers is a serrated bread knife. If you enjoy rustic sourdough or crisp pork belly, these knives will outshine the rest.
Vegetarians is a Nakiri. These look like cleavers but are much thinner and excel in vegetable prep. With a flatter cutting profile, they prefer an up and down chopping motion. Nakiris make great contact with the cutting board ensuring you cut all the way through your ingredients – no more concertina style veg! A santoku is a close second.
Meat eaters is a longer 12-14” or 30-40cm slicing knife or Japanese Sujihiki. These offer a longer blade with less sawing motion. Perfect for buying in bulk and portioning yourself, or if you love large roasts and want to do them justice by presenting a nice clean cut. A longer chef knife will also work for these tasks.
Fish eaters is a flexible fillet knife for removing skin and portioning whole fish. You may also want to consider a thicker knife for cutting through bones. A Japanese Deba is made for just that. Alternatively, a heavy chef knife or boning knife can be used.
Essential Items for Knife Care
You should invest in a fine ceramic honing rod and a decent cutting board. In my opinion, these are an essential part of any knife collection. Without them, your knives will become dull and damaged in no time.
The benefits of using a fine ceramic honing rod are that:
• unlike steel rods, ceramic realigns the very fine edge of your knife,
• it removes a microscopic amount of steel,
• ceramic freshens up the edge and keeps it sharp for an extended period.
It’s important to invest in a high quality cutting board because the edge of a sharp knife is very delicate and easily damaged. Cutting on any type of hard surface will immediately cause damage and rapidly dull your knives. The best choice of cutting board for your kitchen is an end grain wood cutting board. These tend to cost a bit more but cause the least amount of wear on your knife because you are cutting in between the fibres of wood. They are also the most beautiful. The second best choice is a normal wooden board, followed by polyethylene boards used by professional kitchens, then bamboo which is a bit more abrasive. These boards are easily cleaned and disinfected with warm, soapy water. You should never use glass, granite, stainless steel, titanium, or plexiglass, and you should never cut on a plate or counter.
Number One Knife Destroyer
The one tool that does the most damage to knives is the pull-through sharpener!
Electric or not, these will destroy your knives in no time. They may give you a usable edge quickly but the edge will not stay sharp and more material is removed from the knife than necessary. They reduce performance and life expectancy of your knives and destroy the profile.
Going Forward on Your Knife Journey
When choosing between brands, remember that cheaper knives are generally lower quality. They will require more maintenance to remain sharp and functional.
Japanese knives are generally task specific and in most cases thinner requiring more care and better technique to avoid damage although they are higher in performance.
Carbon steel knives require more care or they will rust.
We hope this information helps you find the perfect knives for your personal collection. For professional knife sharpening services in the Halifax area, call us at 902-579-5259.
Good luck and stay sharp!