The knife is the main tool in the kitchen. And a good sharp knife is also an assistant. We suggest that you start your acquaintance with kitchen knives by defining their functions. This is the main thing that you should pay attention to when choosing.
A small digression — you can only cut bones and frozen food with special knives, which we will also tell you about today.
When choosing a kitchen knife, like any other, you should pay great attention to the materials. First of all, steel. It is believed that the best steel for kitchen knives is VG-10. It is perfectly sharpened, keeps sharpening for a long time and is not afraid of moisture. Molybdenum-vanadium steels (MBS-26, for example) are Masahiro’s favorite material, due to the fact that this steel is close to high-carbon in its cutting properties.
Sometimes Japanese craftsmen make knives from Japanese-made powder steels. Blades with damask look great and get extra protection. Plus, these blades do not stick to pieces of food when slicing. Hammered coating provides the same effect.
The right steel for you will only be found by experience. The main thing is to decide what is more important-sharpness and cut, corrosion resistance or that the products do not stick? Perhaps there is one category of knives whose blades meet all these requirements — Takamura.
The materials of the linings on the handles are both made of wood (up to the rarest moraine oak), and from artificial materials that are not afraid of moisture, are chemically neutral and do not absorb moisture. These include, for example, pakka wood (a higher-quality analogue of stabilized wood) or mikarta.
The most commonly used knife in the kitchen and the most convenient for any purpose is the chef. At its core, it is more convenient and slightly larger in size universal. What is the difference between them, you may ask. The universal knife has a narrower blade, which is not convenient to cut all products (meat, for example).
It is believed that the universal knife has a length of 12-18 cm. Anything more is the boss. The most common European chef has a convenient blade shape that is suitable for slicing vegetables, fruits, poultry, fish and even meat. The European chef has a Japanese version-gyuto. The only difference between them is that the gyuto is made of more expensive Japanese steel, and the blade is slightly thinner and sharper.
Japanese chef santoku traditionally has a length of 17.5 cm. This length is considered optimal for cutting meat, slicing vegetables, fruits, and even for working with fish and poultry. The rounded tip and slightly wider blade provide the knife with a larger area to work with products. It can also be used as a small hatchet or spade. But not for working with bones, of course (once again it is worth reminding).
A special knife is also available for vegetables and fruits. This is a small tool, also called a petty, which is convenient for peeling potatoes and apples, for example. Often it has the shape of a hawksbill-a curved blade in the opposite direction, resembling an eagle’s claw.
For bread, too, there is a knife. The blunt saw blade is ideal for slicing fresh bread or baguette. An ordinary knife, even a chef, can go bad from slicing the crispy crust. Plus, if the bread is cut with a special knife, there will be almost no crumbs, and the pieces will be perfectly smooth.
The knife for slicing frozen food also has a serreytornuyu sharpening, only more aggressive. Outwardly, as a rule, it has the form of a chef. They are not afraid to cut, for example, frozen meat, literally like a saw.
For bones and joints, a kitchen hatchet is best suited. They come in different sizes, but each is designed for those tasks for which even the most versatile knives are not suitable.
To cut even delicate products into thinly-thinly even pieces, you need a slicer. The ideal length for such a knife is 20-24 cm.
In order to always have the right knives at hand in the kitchen, it is recommended to use special stands. And so that the knives serve you for a long time, do not forget to sharpen them. Pick up a few knives that will really help you in the kitchen. With a good knife, you can feel like a real chef.
Love your knives and take proper care of them. Start collecting knives for work with the chef’s troika-chef (20 cm), universal knife (15 cm) and vegetable knife. And then you will figure out for yourself what kind of knives you will need for your kitchen.
The choice is yours!