Kitchen Knife Guide Category:
by admin on December 21, 2010
Chef knives can be basically be divided into 4 types base on it’s material:
- Carbon Steel Chef Knives
- Stainless Steel Chef Knives
- Laminated Chef Knives
- Ceramic Chef Knives
Carbon Steel Chef Knives
I think a lot of people have a lot of experience with the carbon steel chef knives, since in the old day, most chef knives is make by carbon steel. The bad things about carbon steel chef knives are it’s very vulnerable to rush and stain. And the good things is it’s still carbon steel knives is much easier to sharpen then stainless steel knives.
Stainless Steel Chef Knives
Stainless steel chef knives is my ultimate favor and become the most common knives of all too. It’s require low maintainability for sharpening and easier to wash also.
Laminated Chef Knives
Well, about laminated chef knives, I don’t have much experience in laminated chef knives, so I can’t say much here. Base on what I read – a laminated knife trying to use the best of each material in the different part of knives. Different parts of the knives have different mix of steel material.
Ceramic Chef Knives
Ceramic chef knives, it’s the best material for chef knives. It’s hold an edge for the longest compare to all. They are chemically nonreactive, so it’s will not discolor or chemically reactive change the taste of the food. The bad things about ceramic chef knives is they require special equipment to resharpen ( you can ship it back for service ) and easily break if dropped on the floor. Personally, I think only truly professional top chef will use ceramic knives.
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by melindagene on October 16, 2010
Before you go ahead and choose your best kitchen knives, you need to know that a well-equipped home kitchen should have at least four types of knives:
Which 4 Types Of Kitchen Knives?
- The Chef’s Knife
- Slicer Knife
- Utility Knife
- Parer Knife
The Chef’s Knife
Usually 8 inches long, is the most important and the workhorse of the kitchen. You should always have your chef knife in your best kitchen knives set. You will use it for chopping, slicing, and dicing a variety of foods.
Slicer
A slicer is generally longer and thinner then Chef knife. And it’s used mainly to cut cooked meat and etc. I’m sure you will want to include slicer into your best kitchen knives set. And what is next?
Utility Knife
A utility knife is a smaller size – 4 to 6 inches is often used interchangeable with a chef’s knife for cutting and slicing fruits and vegetables. It’s a lighter version and the whole main purpose is to
Parer
Lastly, A parer is perfectly use for peeling and coring. Usually 3 to 4 inches long, and I”m sure you have seen it before:)
This are the 4 types knives must include in our best kitchen knives set.
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by melindagene on October 15, 2010
Best kitchen knives need to be sharpen often to best keep their condition.
But how often do we need to sharpen the knife?
Well, it’s depend on how often you use your knives. One way to tell when you need to sharpen your best kitchen knives is when your knife can’t easily cut through the skin of a tomato:)
You will find more tips about how to sharpen your best kitchen knives in the next post.
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by melindagene on October 10, 2010
If you have good quality set of knives, it’s important to know how to protect them and maintain its top quality.
Most of the top quality knives can be use for many years to come if you know how to maintain them.
How to wash your kitchen knives?
To keep its top quality, once you have used it, wash it clean and wipe it dry and put it away in the storage block or box.
It’s not advisable to soak your best knife. Soaking may cause damage or discoloration to your knife, especially the knife’s wooden handles. Leaving your knife in the water for extended times instead of drying them straight away may lead to discoloration. Besides that, it’s also dangerous to have a sharp knife leaving in the water as you might forget about it too.
It is not that difficult to clean cutlery and knives by hand in a sink of hot soapy water but it does require a bit of thought and effort.
Dishwasher & Storage?
Another important tip to keep your knife in top quality is never put stainless steel kitchen knives in a dishwasher with silver or silver-plated items. Even though most of the best knives is dishwasher safe, but I strongly advise you to wash your best knives by hand. And try to keep them store them in the knife block, box or tray. This will help to protect the knives from dulling that may occur if they are banded around with other things that thrown together loosely in a drawer.
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by melindagene on October 9, 2010
There are many different configurations of knife sets on the market, but in most common cases, you have five kitchen knives such as – chef’s knife, paring knife, bread knife, utility knife, slicing knife (or pair of shears), a sharpening or butcher steel and a wooden storage block.
Some sets allow you to add other knives separately. Well, some people don’t like the idea of knife set, and they rather buy an individual block and do their own individual collection of different knife and brand.
Knife Set Buying Guide
For initial purchase, no everyone wants to or is able to afford getting a large knife set. You might want to try out a chef knife first to see if you like it or not before making a large investment in the same knife set brand.
To select the set that is right for you, you need to think about how you use the knife set and how often. Pricing will depend on the knife material and knife construction technique use to make the knife. It’s not always best to buy higher price knife but likewise it’s not always best to buy the cheapest one too. Consider what you want and what you can afford then pick wisely while shop around for the set that is best fit your need. You can read about our top pick of kitchen knives here.
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by melindagene on October 7, 2010
Best Kitchen Knives :
I can tell you it’s really frustrating to cook when you have a kitchen knives that
- Can’t easily cut through meats, chicken and etc.
- Uneasy and uncomfortable to hold after for a while.
- Have To Sharpen Often.
- Hard to Clean.
- And More
My personal choices for best kitchen knives :
Why?
It’s meet my 7 standard:) It’s hard to pick and choose the best kitchen knives until I come up with a more systematic way to measure them with this 7 facts.
So what are the 7 facts?
- Sharp and finely ground surface
- Cutting edge retention – This are the things is you can only find out after you buy the knives 3 months later, duh! This is where a little bit of online research help.
- Craftsmanship – A good craftsmanship mean here is the parts of the knives must be joining perfectly together. This is particular important for hygienic reason and handle!
- Comfortable and safety – A handle that are design to be providing secure grips and comfortable will always make a big different here.
- Balance – When you start cutting, balance is playing an important key on how easily for you to use the knives. Best kitchen knives always have top notch balanced.
- Corrosion resistance – this is part of edge retention factor and proper chemical composition technology of the steel is a major big PLUS. Unfortunately, mom like us have no way to tell what the best composition technology:P Well, this is where we just have to listen to the expert or manufacturer report.
- Easy wash – well, not many people use dishwasher to clean their knives, at least not from me. But I think quality knives should never be put in a dishwasher even though the manufacturer said it’s okay to do that. Anyway, dishwasher or how easy to wash might be another hidden factor that we can easily miss.
Of course, as you know, there are too many choices out there, Misono, Forscher Victorinox and Sun Classic are my recommendation and those knives really out perform in the 7 facts that I mention above! You can find out more detail information about those knives in my previous post here:
Online Or Offline
Well, you can get those knives online or in the shopping mall. I got most of my kitchen knives online:) One great things about buying online is … you can order now and forget about it – until few days later it’s show up at your house! No more headache and trying to remember the todo list such as – buying the best kitchen knives that I keep forgetting, Yeah:)
by melindagene on October 3, 2010
What is the different between forged knife and stamped knife?
The different is the making process.
Forged Knife:
”Forged knives are hand made through a process of extreme heat and hand moulding. Each forged knife is carefully and hand crafted with extreme detail. The tang of the knife merges into the handle and is typically secured by three rivets.”
Stamped Knife:
”Stamped knives are made from templated cutters that cut the shape of the knives into flat metal. Stamped knives are lighter but don’t have the same quality and balance as the forged knives do. Due to the lack of density, the stamped knives don’t hold edges as well as the forged knives. Stamped knives are usually less expensive. “
The Benefit Of Forged Knife And Stamped Knife
Due to forged knives undergo a treatment process to enhance the flexibility, density, and hardness of the knife. Forged knives tend to be heavier than stamped knives. Besides that, forged knives generally offer greater strength and durability as well as better balance, a heavier feel and lasting sharpness. Most of the top notch best kitchen knives are forged knives that come with the more expensive price tag.
Stamped knives are generally less expensive, but tend to lack the strength and balance of a forged knife. Take this as a general rule, though. There are some reasonably priced, yet high-quality stamped knives on the market today that have excellent cutting ability and a light-weight maneuverability favored by many chefs.
Our Recommendation for forged knife:
Shun Classic – The Best Kitchen Knife
Our Recommendation for stamped knife
Forschner Victorinox Knives – The Best Budget Kitchen Knife
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by melindagene on October 1, 2010
With better knife material technology, there are a lot of combination between different knife material, but basically to make thing simple a bit to understand, kitchen knife material can be divided into 4 main category:
- Carbon Steel
- Stainless Steel
- Laminated
- Ceramic
Carbon Steel
Carbon steel material is use to make the kitchen knives in the early day and it’s still very popular. It’s very vulnerable to rush and stain if make from carbon steel. And the good thing about carbon steel knife is it’s much easier to sharpen then stainless steel knives.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel knives are my favorite and had become the most common knives of all nowday. It requires low maintainability for sharpening and best of all it’s easier to wash also.
Laminated
Well, about laminated knives, I don’t have much personal experience in laminated knives, so I can’t say much here. Base on what I read and know – a laminated knife are make of the best of each material in the different part of knives. Different parts of the knives have different mix of steel material. Pretty interesting knife technology.
Ceramic
Ceramic knives, it’s the best material for kitchen knives. It’s hold an edge for the longest compare to all. Besides that, ceramic kitchen knives are chemically nonreactive. The bad things about ceramic knives is they require special equipment to resharpen ( you can ship it back for service ) and easily break if dropped on the floor. Personally, I think only truly professional top chef will use ceramic knives.
Your Kitchen Knives Material
Well, this is just a simple guide on the kitchen knives material. If you want more detail information about the combination of your knife material and technology, check out your knife manual.
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