How to choose quality kitchen knives

Video: Knifemaker Explains The Difference Between Chef’s Knives | Epicurious

Content

Steps
Tips
Warnings
What do you need

Not all kitchen knives are the same - often a fashion brand can be caught selling low-quality knives at a high price, while it is easy to find a set of better quality knives for less money from a lesser known brand.

Since kitchen knives are going to be an investment that is used every day for all of your cooking ideas, it is imperative that you choose good quality knives that are durable, tough, easy to use and tough. In this article, you will learn what to look for when you are shopping for quality kitchen knives.

Steps

1 Before heading to the knife store, consider what type of knife you need in your kitchen. Nowadays, kitchen knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes, they can be used for all kinds of needs, and the number of knives you need depends on your style, habits and your culinary talents.
- A good basic knife set for the average kitchen should include:
  - Utility knife (13 cm / 5 inches) - used for a variety of products; often, when choosing the first knife, they are guided by the fact that it is multifunctional.
  - Chef's Knife (20 - 23cm / 7.8 - 9 inches) - Used for chopping, dicing, chopping and simple slicing.
  - Vegetable knife or peeler (8 cm / 3 in.) - Used to peel, chop, and trim small items of food that you hold in your hand (for example, peeling small potatoes).
  - Bread Knife (Serrated) - Used for bread, pie, fruits and tomatoes.
  - Cleaver - used for meat, and a smaller version of the cleaver - for chopping greens, etc. Buy only when you need to cut very large pieces of meat.
  - Filleting knife - helps to separate fish fillets. Buy only when you really intend to separate the fillets from the fish, because often most people buy ready-made fillets.
  - Slicing knife - used to get thin and even slices of grilled meat, poultry, etc.
  - Sharpening tool, knife sharpener or electric knife sharpener.
- Quite often, you can buy a set of knives, which already includes many or all of this list; it is often cheaper than buying the knives separately. However, to choose a good set of knives, you should follow the same rules. In addition, the risk when buying an inexpensive or prepackaged knife set is that you may not like the feel of some of the knives in the set, which, as a result, will increase your dislike for a particular brand. On the other hand, having tried only one knife, you can easily change it to a knife from another company if it does not suit you.
2 When purchasing a set of knives, hold each of the knives in your hand. If you are going to use this kitchen utensil, then it should fit comfortably and well in your hand. Keep in mind that just because a certain knife is comfortable for one person does not necessarily mean that it will be convenient for you, so use this helpful tip and try the knife yourself.
3 See how strong the steel is and where it is located. Look for any signs of joining or welding, especially in the area of the knife handle.This is the weak point of the knife, remember that weak knives are more likely to bend or break at this connection point. The very best knives are made from a single piece of hand-forged steel (although they are rare and extremely expensive), while cheap knives are usually thin, with a flimsy handle, and completely covered in plastic.
4 Feel the weight of the knife. A light slicing knife is good because of its speed and precision, while a heavy knife requires a lot more effort to use, especially for chopping up a lot of light ingredients. However, for hard foods such as nuts, ginger root, palm sugar, and so on, a heavy knife is just perfect.
5 Check the balance of the knife. Quality knives are generally well balanced and have approximately the same weight as the blade and handle. An old-fashioned way to check the balance of a knife is to place your finger at the point where the blade and handle meet, holding the knife horizontally with the sharp side down. A quality, well-balanced knife will maintain balance at this point and will not fall off your finger. “Naturally, you must be extremely careful during this test! Only knives from very expensive high quality manufacturers meet all balancing parameters, the rest of most knives will simply fall off your finger. "
- The main reason why you should pay attention to knife balance is that a well-balanced knife makes any cutting action easier and you use less effort. Basically, this is the point of the leverage - like the balance of a swing - and it must be in a certain place, or the knife will be unbalanced. If you reuse a knife for a large amount of ingredients, a balanced knife puts much less stress on your hand.
6 Look at the handle of the knife. It should be firm, easy to clean and well attached. For most knives, this is the hardest part of the knife, in which, like in a pipeline, pressure is transferred from the handle to the blade when pressed. If it is thin, hidden (for example, covered with plastic), or a weld or other joint is clearly visible, then this is not a very good sign. If you see any gap, it will not only increase the weakness of the knife, but it can also become a trap for small portions of food and a place for bacteria to grow.
7 Consider what material the handle is made of. Handles are often made from wood, plastic, hardened resin, and other durable materials. Old fashioned knives with bone handles are not a good choice. over time, the bone becomes brittle. There are several known cases when an antique bone or wooden handle of a knife crumbled in the owner's hand, injuring him. Loose or soft wood or other inferior materials are not recommended for knives.
8 Examine the blade itself and find out what it is made of. Perhaps the best material for a knife blade is ceramic, since it can be sharpened to the level of a scalpel, it does not lose its sharpness for a long time and does not rust. The key disadvantage of this type of knife is that it is extremely fragile and slightly brittle - and, besides, good knives are often too expensive. Cheap ceramic knives should be handled with great care.
- Good knives are often made from non-stainless steel (carbon steel), which gives a good sharp angle fairly quickly, but care should be taken to prevent such knives from rusting. Steel knives are easy to sharpen at home, but you need to remain vigilant to prevent corrosion.
- Many inexpensive modern knife blades are made of stainless steel, but they tend to become dull quickly and take a long time to re-sharpen. If you want to buy stainless steel knives, only buy high carbon ones; they also require sharpening, but will not rust.Knives with less carbon are hard, more susceptible to rust, but stay sharp longer.
- If you are opting for a budget, inexpensive option, then a stainless steel knife is a good choice until you can afford a high carbon stainless steel knife.
- Forged knives are better than stamped knives, as the metal becomes stronger when forged.
- Avoid knives that say they never need sharpening. They are initially not very sharp and cannot be sharpened, which means that when they lose their sharpness (and they will), they need to be disposed of.
9 Look at the width of the blade of the knife and the thickness and smoothness of the blade. The best knives are smooth, as if polished, with no signs of pits in the metal. The cutting portion of the blade should run the entire length from tip to end. As the image above shows, the last 1.5cm or so does not have a cutting edge at all, so this knife would be useless for slicing hard foods like carrots, which basically require such large knives.
- Serrated knives should be removed from everyday use in cutting vegetables and meat, as they can be very dangerous and are more likely to slide off rather than chop food. They cannot be sharpened, they saw rather than cut into pieces - of course, if you did not press directly on the blade (as, for example, when cutting hard cheese), which, however, is also quite dangerous. This knife sells for a "bargain price" and is often packaged or advertised as an "all-in-one" knife that is supposedly suitable for slicing vegetables, meat, and even slicing bread, but in fact they are not worth the money that they ask for them. You will almost never see them bundled with knives from a quality manufacturer, so it can be a pretty good indication that the manufacturer is customer-oriented looking for the most economical option. Serrated knives should be in your set, but only for slicing bread or baked foods.
10 Keep your knives in good, sharpened condition. To keep the quality of the knives at their best, take the money and buy a steel or stone sharpening. Steel sharpening will keep the cutting edge of the blade in good condition, but will not sharpen it if it is dull without use. Stone sharpening will restore the blade or improve the existing cutting edge of the blade.
- Sharpening diamond steel can cost a lot more, but will result in a very thin blade. Such sharpening sharpens the blade faster, so much so that the knives can become bent or take the shape of a sickle, if not careful during sharpening. Very often people sharpen only the middle of the blade with the help of sharpening, which often happens when you sharpen the blade very quickly (sharpen in such a way as if it might look impressive). Take the sharpener and sweep it slowly and evenly along the entire length of the blade, so it becomes evenly thin and sharp.
- Do not use the knife on stone, glass, steel, or ceramic cutting boards or surfaces. Doing so can damage the knife and cause small shards of the knife to appear in the food, and more likely to cause the knife to slide off the surface and cause injury. A cutting board made of wood or hard plastic is still the best option. Boards should be cleaned regularly and, in addition to regular cleaning, if the board is plastic, it should be soaked in a 10 to 1 bleach solution once a week if used frequently.
- Most knife injuries are caused by the knives being dull, not because the knives have been sharpened. This is because when the knife is dull, you put more pressure on it, which increases the likelihood that it will slip.
11 Pay for the quality of the knife, not the manufacturer's name. Of course, your goal is to buy a quality knife cheaply. Brand awareness in this case means nothing.
- Try not to let anyone else use your knives, if it's your personal kit, of course. Ultimately, most of the stab wounds that were not caused by the dullness of the knife were due to someone using a knife "unfamiliar" to him.
12 Store your knives neatly. The knife drawer is good, as you can wrap the knives in a cloth or put them in your purse, just like you would for a wrench or other tools. Some knives are sold in their own storage box, but many chefs simply wrap the knives in an old apron (making sure no knife is touching the other), using the strings in the apron, the knives can be securely packed into a knot so that they will not open. Magnetic knife strips are also not so ideal, but are perfectly acceptable where there are no children. In addition, they should be installed where they cannot detach and fall ..
- Storing them loosely in a toolbox or drawer is not recommended.
13 Go shopping for your knives. The internet can be a great way to find good value knives from quality brands, and many good-natured wholesalers have direct selling sites that offer reliable knives at very good prices. But at least visit the stores to find out what kind of knives you want to buy online, or make sure the site has a good return program in case you don't like the knives when you receive them. Knives are essentially an investment, as a good set can last you for many years (20 to 30 years or more), so it’s better to choose one set that will work well for you for a long time and will also make the cooking process much easier and more enjoyable.

Tips

Most cheap knives, especially imported ones, are made of low quality stainless steel. There are many types of stainless steel and each has its own application. Surgical stainless steel makes a great scalpel, but it never makes a decent kitchen knife. They tend to dull quickly and can take a long time to re-sharpen. The more you sharpen them, the harder it is to keep them sharp. As a rule, irregularities appear on their blades, which interfere with the grindstone. Many of these tiny micro-debris can splinter off into food. Many people claim that 440 knives are flawless, but they tend to be much softer.
There is no such thing as "A knife that does not require sharpening." They just can't stand it. This is not a "knife that does not require sharpening", but a "knife that must not be sharpened". How many people do you know who own a 20 year old sharp knife?
Buying a set of knives with your partner or family can be more difficult. In an ideal world, everyone should have their own set of knives, but since this is not always cost effective, choose knives that match the sweet spot and find a compromise.
In the modern world, most of our food already comes to us cut, so today the need for a wide variety of knives is actually less than it was before. However, there are many people who are interested in developing their culinary skills, so it is recommended for them to buy quality knives that will greatly facilitate the task.

Warnings

A dull knife is the most dangerous type of knife. It takes too much effort to cut something, and often one stroke goes deeper and more often.
Do not use kitchen knives for other household tasks, such as cutting rope or opening bags. Purchase a pocket knife or scissors for these purposes. This is to avoid dulling the blade.
When carrying knives, it is advised to wrap the blade tightly in a cloth (for example, in a towel) and carry the knife by the handle from your side, with the tip of the knife pointing down and the sharp edge, respectively, facing back.Otherwise - in its packaging or bag also on your part. Thus, if the knife falls or someone hits you, it will protect both people and the knife, especially if the knife can bounce off the floor. However, do not leave the knife in the fabric when you are in the kitchen with other people, and you are not near the work surface, which is necessary in case someone picks up the fabric without knowing that there is a knife in it. In some kitchens it is considered good practice to warn you that you are carrying a knife, then everyone is more careful until you carry it and put it down.
Never wash knives in the dishwasher, as cleaning powder can be abrasive and blunt, and in some cases even corrode the rivets. It can also split the wooden handles, making them more likely to become brittle. Always wash kitchen knives by hand immediately after use, dry them and put them back in a rack or drawer.
Always handle knives with care and do not point them in your direction or the direction of other people nearby. Never rush or run while holding a knife.