If you’re like me, you enjoy cooking and want to be able to make dishes at home that rival what you’d find in a restaurant. And while it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of buying expensive cookware, knives are actually where it’s at when it comes to being able to prepare food properly. But with so many types of blades out there—from steak knives to bread knives and everything in between—how can you know which ones are worth investing in? Don’t worry: I’m here to help! Here’s everything you need to know about eight essential knife types that should be part of every kitchen arsenal.
Paring Knife
A paring knife is a small, lightweight knife with a short blade that curves inward. It’s used for peeling, paring and trimming vegetables (think potatoes), fruits and other foods. The curved shape of the blade makes it easier to cut off thin slices of food without disturbing what’s beneath them. This makes them ideal for delicate work like peeling fruit or removing eyes from potatoes–you can easily get under the skin with no harm done to what lies beneath!
Turning Knife
The turning knife is one of the most common types of knives that you’ll find in any kitchen. It’s used for turning and carving meat, which makes it an essential tool for anyone who enjoys cooking meat at home. A sharp knife will help you avoid tearing the meat as you’re turning it over on the grill or cutting into it when preparing dishes like beef Wellington or pork loin roast. When using a turning knife, apply light pressure to your cut and use a sawing motion rather than pressing down hard on your cuts with a fork (which compresses the meat fibers).
Boning Knife
A boning knife is used to remove the bones from meat. It has a narrow, long blade that makes it easy to work around bones. Boning knives can also be used to cut around the bone of fish and chickens–if you want to keep your fish filet intact or your chicken breast uncrumpled, this is what you’ll need.
Filleting Knife
If you’re going to be filleting fish and cutting meat from bone, a filleting knife is an absolute must. The pointy tip makes it easy to get into small spaces and the sharp blade allows for clean cuts every time. A good fillet knife should be able to easily slice through even the toughest pieces of meat without getting stuck in between bones or otherwise becoming difficult to use. If you are planning on using your fillet knife for other purposes (such as cutting vegetables), look for one with an acute edge that can still withstand heavy use over time without dulling too quickly.
Utility Knife
The utility knife is a general purpose blade that can be used for cutting meat, fish and vegetables. It’s smaller than a chef’s knife, but larger than most paring blades. Utility knives are ideal for use with small items like herbs and garlic cloves because they will keep your fingers safe from accidental cuts when you’re chopping or slicing these ingredients up.
Chinese Chopper
The Chinese Chopper is a great knife for chopping and mincing food. It can be used to cut through bone, so it’s perfect for butchering large amounts of meat and fish. The single-edged blade makes it ideal for cutting up large pieces of food, like vegetables or herbs.
Cleaver
A cleaver is used for chopping through bones, thick meat and other hard objects. It has a curved blade and blunt edge so that it doesn’t cut through your hand while you’re using it. A cleaver can also be used as a knife to slice vegetables and meats if needed. The blade of a cleaver is heavy enough to break apart large bones by applying pressure onto them with the flat side of the blade.
Santoku Knife
A santoku knife is a Japanese-style knife that has a thinner blade than most Western-style knives. The blade is typically between 5.5 and 6 inches long, and it’s between 1 and 2 inches wide–small enough to use as an all-purpose kitchen tool, but large enough to tackle some of the heavier cutting tasks in your kitchen. The term “santoku” comes from two kanji characters: “san,” which means three; and “touku,” which refers to chopping (as in chopping vegetables). So a santoku is literally translated as “three virtues.” This refers not only to its ability to slice, dice and chop food effectively but also its balance between being sharp enough for fine work yet sturdy enough for heavy duty tasks like slicing meat or chopping through bones.
Chef’s Knife
A chef’s knife is a general-purpose knife that can be used for chopping, dicing and mincing. It’s a good all-around kitchen tool that should be part of every cook’s arsenal. The blade is usually 12 inches long with an overall length of 15 to 20 inches depending on how you hold it; the handle will fit in your hand well enough to allow you to use it with ease in any position–from above or below the cutting board, left or right handed (the tip will curve slightly towards the handle depending on how you hold it). The broad blade has enough weight at its base to help keep things steady while you work but not so much as to make it unwieldy; its curved tip keeps things from slipping out of place as you slice through food items like tomatoes or carrots easily without having them spin around midair while trying not only cut them but also keep them from flying across your kitchen floor!
To sum up, there are many types of knives and each one serves a different purpose. You can’t go wrong with any of them if you know what it’s meant for!
