Kitchen knives proved to be the most used kitchen tool for daily use, which is why it is vital to know the essentials of how to choose the right one when buying. Below are some of the helpful considerations that can make your search for the best kitchen knife much easier.
Before we dive down on the kinds of kitchen knives for various purposes, let us know the common materials used. Manufacturers are always trying to find the right blend of materials for their hardware, and we're here to discuss those.
Although this is a good trait, the performance can be subpar when it comes to holding its edge. You need to constantly sharpen and hone the edge to keep its sharp form.
High-carbon steels provide the best of both worlds when it comes to keeping a sharp edge longer and being less prone to staining like stainless steel. The higher carbon content on the knife allows more durability, longer edge retention, and excellent cutting capability.
Since this material is expensive, be on the lookout for those products that are brandishing as having high-carbon materials without actually holding more than 1% carbon content. It's better to be more inquisitive while inspecting the product than be sorry later on.
This material does not rust, can hold its sharp edge longer, and is very lightweight. The thin edge could cut through any fruit or vegetable, but don't use it on frozen food or meats as it is prone to breakage when applied with greater force.
Extra care is needed when handling this type of blade since it can chip or break when dropped. And if ever it gets dull, you will be needing a professional to re-sharpen it and will still come out as good as new.
However, it is very expensive and may be less sharp than carbon or ceramic materials. Knife collectors want this as a specialty knife but it doesn't do well in terms of performance.
Knives made from Damascus steel are forged in a process that involves the combination of two types of steel to form a single knife material.
Commonly, the way to form this is to use hard-but-brittle steel for the core and edge while enveloping it with softer-but-tough steel for the outer layer. You can easily spot a Damascus knife because of its wavy patterns along the surface of the blade.
The material is altered right to its molecular level to make it stronger and tougher. Modern knife-forging involves powerful presses, while some knifemakers still do it by traditional means by pounding the steel by hand.
This makes the end-product much expensive because of the laborious and elaborate process. Forged knives are on a different level in terms of quality and longevity. Oftentimes, knives with a bolster between the blade and handle is a strong indication that it is probably forged.
A stamped knife will require constant re-sharpening and honing as long as it's used. Experts and professionals aren't bought on using this knife before because it usually has poor qualities, but this stigma has already changed over the years.
Many knife manufacturers have already refined and improved their processes to produce knives that are comparable to forged ones. Nowadays, many chefs and cooks favor the lightness and comfortable feel of a stamped knife to relieve muscle stress and fatigue from long hours in the kitchen.
A knife is useless without the handle. It provides better handling and an overall control as you wield your cutting tool. Below are the most common handle materials to choose from.
Commonly found in nature, wood is one of the most versatile mediums for a knife handle. It is naturally comfortable to grip, and there are various types to choose from.
Unfortunately, wood can be a huge bacteria-magnet when not properly cleaned and sterilized. Some wood materials require maintenance to be in better condition, while other materials are more durable and have a longer lifespan.
For easy cleaning and maintenance, laminated handles are widely used. It is made of laminated wood composites with plastic resin that mimics a wood handle.
The handle has the same woody sensation to the touch and weight but with lesser sanitary issues. The disadvantages of this material are quite a few, and if you can get past the color and feel, you are good to go.
This material can be categorized into different types such as polypropylene, fibrox, plastics, and Santoprene. Maintaining the handle is as easy as washing and wiping it.
It doesn't absorb bacteria but can turn brittle and could crack when exposed to high temperatures in the kitchen. The lightness might cause some issues to some users because it disrupts the overall balance of the knife.
If you're looking for a material that needs no maintenance, a stainless steel handle is your top choice. The durable and classy look of a stainless handle can elevate your kitchen's style. Unfortunately, it is heavier and could strain your wrist.
Also, it may be slippery at times you're cutting juicy ingredients. That is why some manufacturers add rubberized bumps and ridges to provide a better grasp.
The most important part of a knife is its edge. Without it, one cannot cut, slice, or dice any ingredient for cooking. Here are the common types that are made specifically for different tasks.
This edge is what we normally see on our everyday knives. It is used on almost all types of food ingredients for slicing, paring, dicing, or chopping. You can find this edge on a chef's knife, paring knife, cleaver, or utility knives.
Along the length of the blade, some grooves and ridges are sharpened to cut either solid or delicate foods. This edge can cut through meats or juicy fruits with tough skins. It can also slice softer foods such as bread without crushing it in the process. Steak knives, bread knives, or tomato knives are the best examples of serrated knives.
A scalloped edge features hollow dimples along the side of the blade that creates a pocket of air between the knife's surface and food. The air prevents the food from sticking to the knife and releases it as soon as it gets cut.
This edge is commonly used on sticky or wet ingredients like raw fish or vegetables. Santoku or salmon knives usually have this sort of blade edge.
Japanese knives are mostly hollow ground-edged, which tapers down from the middle of the blade and creates a very thin, sharp edge.
Because its edge is very fine, it may be prone to breakage and rolling. It may also need to be sharpened more frequently. Nakiri knives have this edge. That is why they can slice very thinly to create delicate cuts and precise food portions.
Knives have several categories for different applications that might confuse a home cook. That is why we're going to uncover the common types of knives and which tasks they are suited for.
As a great all-rounder knife, a chef's knife or cook's knife has a long and broad shape with a straight edge. It has a slightly curved outline that tapers into a sharp pointy tip. This allows so to rock it back and forth on the chopping board with easy slicing strokes. You can pretty much do all your chopping, cutting, slicing, or mincing with this knife type.
Everything that a chef's knife does, you can also do with a utility knife. It is shaped the same. It works the same but on a smaller profile. This knife is used for more precise cutting tasks, smaller food items, and other slicing jobs where a chef's knife is too large to be used.
This short and slim knife is a lighter and mini version of the chef's knife. It is used for paring, peeling, deseeding, or cleaning up bits and pieces of unwanted parts of food. Anyone can maneuver this knife easily because of its smaller blade with a full grip handle.
A long and thin blade with a serrated edge is what best describes this type of knife. Obviously, it is used to slice through crusty pieces of bread, bagels, or cakes. It allows you to do the job without crushing the food and ruining its form. Others also use it to slice or carve cooked meats to cut evenly.
Cutting huge chunks of beef or serving delicately cooked poultries requires careful preparations, so different types of knives for certain tasks are needed. When serving cooked meats, a carving knife can create a thin, neat, and evenly slice portion every time. This is the best tool for carving turkeys, slabs of barbequed meat, or portioning out a grilled whole chicken.
When preparing raw meat, a butcher's knife or a cleaver is used to divide and chop them up. Its bulky and heavy qualities make it easier to ration out chunks of meat and poultry.
However, to precisely cut and debone different meat ingredients, a boning knife will do the job. Its rigid and thin blade can easily slice through cartilage and pick out the bone without destroying the meat around it.
These knives are specifically used for preparing seafood, descaling, or removing fishbones. A salmon knife has a long and thin flexible blade that is slender enough to remove the skin off of larger fishes, slice the meat, or fillet it.
A filleting knife is the best tool for intricate bone removal work without damaging the flesh of the fish. The long and slim shape makes it a perfect knife to create longer slices for serving evenly portioned fish meats.
Santoku knives are like a chef's knife in a Japanese kitchen - used for precise cutting, dicing, and mincing. It has a long, slightly tapered profile that usually has a scalloped edge to prevent the food from sticking. It is very effective for cutting fish, preparing sushi, or just descaling the fish.
Dinner knives are created to make your dining experience much pleasurable. A table knife, like a steak knife, has a short and pointed blade with a serrated edge designed to saw through cooked meat. It allows the user to cut up tough meat and other food items on the plate into smaller bite-sized pieces.
A butter knife can be commonly seen in classy restaurants where a basket of bread is served before the main course. The broad blade with a serrated blunt edge is used to spread butter on any food without scraping the surface and accidentally cutting it.
Here's the list of our top 10 best kitchen knives that you can buy online. The lineup consists of different types of knives that should be on your shopping list on your next buying spree.
KP-C8-PO
₱612
Type | Chef's knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | Stainless Steel |
Handle Material | Polypropylene |
Tang | Full |
Edge | Straight |
D304
₱119
Type | Utility knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | High Carbon Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Polypropylene / Thermoplastic rubber |
Tang | Unspecified |
Edge | Straight |
13K
₱161.35
Type | Butcher's knife / Cleaver |
---|---|
Construction | Forged |
Blade Material | Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Wood |
Tang | Full |
Edge | Straight |
₱110
Type | Bread knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Polypropylene / Santoprene |
Tang | Half |
Edge | Serrated |
KP-PK-PO
₱459
Type | Paring knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Polypropylene |
Tang | Full |
Edge | Straight |
EE705
₱199
Type | Santoku knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | High Carbon Stainless steel / Titanium coat |
Handle Material | Synthetic |
Tang | Unspecified |
Edge | Scalloped |
₱12,839
Type | Carving / Slicing knife |
---|---|
Construction | Forged |
Blade Material | BD1N-VX Hyper steel / Nitrogen |
Handle Material | Fiberglass |
Tang | Full |
Edge | Straight |
M18100
₱1,714
Type | Boning knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | High Carbon Japanese steel |
Handle Material | Polypropylene |
Tang | Unspecified |
Edge | Hollow ground |
1135160401
₱2,991
Type | Steak knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Synthetic |
Tang | Unspecified |
Edge | Straight |
G-10
₱6,000
Type | Salmon knife |
---|---|
Construction | Stamped |
Blade Material | CROMOVA 18 Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Stainless steel |
Tang | Full |
Edge | Straight |
Image | 1 ![]() KitchenPro | 2 ![]() Eurochef | 3 ![]() OEM | 4 ![]() OEM | 5 ![]() KitchenPro | 6 ![]() Eurochef | 7 ![]() Dalstrong | 8 ![]() Mercer Culinary | 9 ![]() Wusthof | 10 ![]() Global Knives |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | 8-Inch Chef's Knife - Power Handle | 5-Inch High Utility Knife | Meat Cleaver | 10-Inch Bread Knife | 3.5-Iinch Paring Knife - Power Handle | 5-Inch Japanese Santoku Knife | 12-Inch Slicing & Carving Knife | Ultimate White 6-Inch Boning Knife | Silverpoint 4-Piece Steak Knife Set | Salmon Slicer |
Features | Your Weapon of Choice for Daily Cutting Tasks | The Best Back-Up Knife for Your Kitchen | The Right Kind of Tool for Meat Shops | The Reliable Knife for Home Bakers | Food Artisans Will Love This Product | The Multi-Purpose Knife for Any Applications | Your Perfect Partner to Create Premium Meat Slices | A High-End Brand That Won't Break the Bank | A Fine Dining Must-Have for Every Restaurant | A Special Knife for Processing Fish |
Price | ₱612 | ₱119 | ₱161.35 | ₱110 | ₱459 | ₱199 | ₱12,839 | ₱1,714 | ₱2,991 | ₱6,000 |
Type | Chef's knife | Utility knife | Butcher's knife / Cleaver | Bread knife | Paring knife | Santoku knife | Carving / Slicing knife | Boning knife | Steak knife | Salmon knife |
Construction | Stamped | Stamped | Forged | Stamped | Stamped | Stamped | Forged | Stamped | Stamped | Stamped |
Blade Material | Stainless Steel | High Carbon Stainless steel | Stainless steel | Stainless steel | Stainless steel | High Carbon Stainless steel / Titanium coat | BD1N-VX Hyper steel / Nitrogen | High Carbon Japanese steel | Stainless steel | CROMOVA 18 Stainless steel |
Handle Material | Polypropylene | Polypropylene / Thermoplastic rubber | Wood | Polypropylene / Santoprene | Polypropylene | Synthetic | Fiberglass | Polypropylene | Synthetic | Stainless steel |
Tang | Full | Unspecified | Full | Half | Full | Unspecified | Full | Unspecified | Unspecified | Full |
Edge | Straight | Straight | Straight | Serrated | Straight | Scalloped | Straight | Hollow ground | Straight | Straight |
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Taking care of your precious knife will ensure that it should be able to last a lifetime. But how can we do that? Here are five essential guides in caring for a chef's knife as presented by thekitchn.com.
From cutting boards to gas ranges, take a look at the best kitchen products that you can find online today. Below are our recommended items for you to check out.
Kitchen knives can be your best friend in the kitchen if you happen to choose the right one. Remember to keep in mind all the essential information that we've shared with you in this article, and you will definitely find the best knife you've been dreaming of. Before you know it, your kitchen will be teeming with the best kitchen cutting tools!
Author: Chafi Lacson
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