Everything you want & need to know about kitchen knives
There is little doubt that the knife is an essential item in any kitchen. After all, you won’t get very far with a roasting joint without a knife. However, with the price of premium knives costing hundreds of pounds, how do you choose the right knives for your kitchen?
This ‘know your knives’ graphic below was created by designer kitchenware shop Milly’s Store and provides a great resource for anyone who needs to know what knife they need for what job in the kitchen. It covers well-known types of knives and what they should be used for in the kitchen.
A Bread Knife and a Country Loaf Knife are similar in construct, yet the Country Knife is slightly curved along the front, while the Bread Knife is straight. Both are strong enough to cut through thick crust, with the Country Knife being slightly stronger and more efficient in slicing through curved and uneven crusts.
A Japanese Santoku and a Chef's Knife are very much alike. They are designed for heavy cutting and chopping, with both being used for meat, fish and vegetables. The weight of these knives and sharpness of their blades cut heavier foods but will also slice nicely through a tomato when necessary. The Santoku is a bit shorter and a little taller than the Chef's Knife.
The Fillet Knife is thinner and more flexible. It is great to use on fish and when filleting other meats.
The Chinese Chopper and the Cleaver appear similar. The Chinese chopper is a definite square shaped knife and is good to use just generally on many foods. The Cleaver usually has a hole through the top front for hanging. It is designed for heftier jobs like cutting through whole beef parts and cutting through spareribs. These two knives look much alike but are constructed with different purposes in mind.
A Boning Knife is a rather slim and flexible knife made for removing meat from the bone. The blade is curved; it is slender; the top is straight.
A Peeling Knife is short. It is slightly shorter than a paring knife with an accentuated curved and extremely pointed front design. The peeler is great for vegetables and fruits.
A Steak Knife looks like a boning knife, only shorter. It is sturdy and definitely designed for cutting meat. Some sets have serrated cutting edges.
A Slicing Knife is a medium length blade with a very slight serrated edge. It is used for cutting smaller pieces of various types of meat. Can also be used on bread.
A Decorating Knife and a Tomato Knife are both very unique designs. The decorator looks like a ladies comb, whereas the tomato knife has two prongs on its front is used for picking up tomatoes.
A Carving Fork is quite long, and it is two-pronged. It is easy for this fork to penetrate deeply into a piece of meat to stabilise it while cutting.
