Basic to Advanced Cooking Equipment - Knives

Using the right knives makes cooking at home faster and easier. I personally think one should at least own six basic knives: a chef’s knife for chopping, slicing, dicing; a paring knife for peeling fruits and vegetables; a serrated knife for cutting bread, tomatoes and citrus; a meat cleaver for chopping through bone-in poultry or beef; a carving knife and fork for carving roasts, and a boning knife for the de-boning of beef, pork, fish and poultry.

A knife should be as sharp as a razor or it mashes and bruises food rather than chopping or cutting it. It can be considered sharp if just the weight of it, drawn across a tomato, slits the skin. No knife will hold a razor-edge for long. The essential point is that it take an edge, and easily. Knives should be washed separately and by hand as soon as you have finished using them. 

COMMON KITCHEN KNIVES

• 1) Paring knife: A paring knife is a small knife with a plain edge blade that is ideal for peeling and other small intricate work such as de-veining a shrimp, removing the seeds from a jalapeno, ‘skinning’ mushrooms or cutting small garnishes.

• 2) Meat cleaver: A meat clever is a large, most often rectangular knife that is used for splitting of ‘cleaving’ meat and bone. The knife is designed to cut with a swift stroke without cracking, splintering or bending the blade.

• 3) Breadknife: Serrated knives are able to cut soft bread without crushing it, and can be used for the slicing of bread, muffins, scones and other delicate baked goods.

• 4) Carving knife and fork: A carving knife is a large knife made for the slicing of meat including poultry, roasts, hams and other large cooked meats. A carving knife is much thinner than a chef’s knife at the spine, enabling it to carve thinner slices. A carving fork is a long, two-pronged for used to hold meat steady while it is being carved.

• 5) Chef’s knife: A chef’s knife or cook’s knife is an all-purpose knife that is curved to allow the cook to rock the knife on the cutting board for a more precise cut. The broad and heavy blade also serves for chopping bone instead of the cleaver. It is an all-purpose heavy knife for food preparation.

• 6) Utility knife: A utility knife is between a chef’s knife and a paring knife. It is usually a filler for knife sets because of the knife being neither fish nor fowl.

• 7) Boning knife: A boning knife is used to remove bones from cuts of meat. It has a thin, flexible blade that allows it to get into small spaces. A stiff boning knife is good for beef and pork, and a flexible one is preferred for poultry and fish. 

Speciality knives 

• 1) Oyster knife:  An oyster knife has a short, think blade that is used to pry open oysters and separate their meat from the shell.

• 2) Fluting knife: A fluting knife has a small blade that is very straight making it the ideal tool for small tasks such as decorating and peeling.

• 3) Decorating knife: A decorating knife is any knife with a blade designed to make a decorative cut. The most common pattern is the zigzag. Decorating knives are used for making fancy cuts for garnishes and presentation.

• 4) Tomato knife: A tomato knife is a small knife with a serrated blade. Typically the size of a utility knife, tomato knives are ideal for cutting through the tough skin and soft flesh of tomatoes.

• 5) Trimming knife: A trimming knife has a small, curved blade that is shaped somewhat like a boning knife. Trimming knives are ideal for small tasks such as decorating and peeling.

• 6) Mincing knife: A mincing knife or Mezzaluna has a semi-circular highly-curved blade with a handle that allows the blade to be rocket back and forth repeatedly on a hard surface. The rocking motion is ideal for mincing and chopping.

• 7) Fillet knife: As the name suggests fillet knives are like very flexible boning knives that are used to fillet and prepare fish. 

• 1) Grapefruit knife: A grapefruit knife is used to separate the flesh of the grapefruit from the peel and inner membranes. The blade is usually serrated, with a blunt tip.

• 2) Chestnut knife: A chestnut knife is used to score a chestnut with an “X” cut prior to roasting, so that steam does not build up inside and cause the nut to explode. They have very shallow blades so that they can cut through the shell without cutting through the nut inside.

• 3) Deveining knife:  A deveining knife is a small knife used to the remove the colon (“vein”) from the back of shrimp. 

CHEESE KNIVES

• 1) Hard cheese knife: Hard cheese knives are specifically designed for slicing hard cheese. They are very sharp, so they can cut exact slices, and often a forked tip, allowing them to be used as a serving utensil as well.

• 2) Parmesan cheese knife: Parmesan cheese knives are specifically designed for portioning very hard cheeses. They have very short, thick blades that are forced into the cheese and then used as a lever to break off smaller portions.

• 3) Soft cheese knife: Soft cheese knives are specifically designed for slicing soft cheese. They generally have holes in the blade to prevent the cheese from sticking. 

ACCESSORIES

• 1) Shears: Shears are essentially kitchen scissors, though they can be used for many of the same jobs as knives, such as chopping herbs.

• 2) Cut resistant gloves: Most commonly used in commercial kitchens, cut-resistant gloves are used on the opposite hand to the cutting hand. They are for protecting this hand should the knife slip and slice into the user’s off hand. After use they should be washed, and then sanitized, and allowed to air dry, spread out.

• 3) Knife block: A knife block is a common way to store knifes safely and close at hand in the kitchen.

• 4) Honing steel: Contrary to what many believe, the honing steel, also known as butcher’s steel or sharpening steel, is not a sharpener. Honing steel straightens the blade, while the shaprpner sharpens the blade. It is used to hone a knife blade after sharpening in order to restore the edge and improve cutting ability.

• 5) Cutting board: A cutting board is kitchen utensil used in conjunction with a knife. It is a flat surface, generally made of wood, plastic or glass, on which to cut food and which protects counter tops and knives from damage.