You may think to yourself, “I only need one knife to cut all of my food.” Well, believe it or not, that is not the case. There are multiple distinct types of knives in the market that are specifically used for different food. Understanding the right knives for the right food will not only improve your quality skills on cutting but also prevent any incoming injuries. Here we laid out different varieties of knives, which can give you an understanding of what blades suits best for the next dish you make in the future!
The Go-to-knife
Chef’s knife
Probably the most popular knife to use, not just for chefs, but everyone. It is about 6 to 12 inches long. This knife is diverse in its own unique way. From dicing through onions to slicing chicken, it can be used for almost any job for cutting food. In that regard, it is why this knife has to be a “go-to-knife.”
Paring knife
This is basically a chef’s knife but its smaller cousin. This knife is usually used for slicing smaller food items which does a better job than a chef’s knife. Commonly used for peeling fruits, vegetables, and slicing through any unnecessary fat from steaks and other meats.
Bread-knife
If you love to make and eat sandwiches like myself, I would always carry and bread knife in my kitchen. This blade is quite long and have serrated edges, which is perfect to cut up any bread. This includes sourdough, bread rolls, whole-wheat, and more. Another note to point out, if you are trying to cut that fluffy cake you bought for your friend’s birthday, a bread knife can also get the job done.
Kitchen shears
Yes, I know what you are thinking. They are just basic scissors, but they are not regular scissors that you see in school. The handles are made out of plastic or rubber material and are often great for gripping. Shears are very versatile when it comes to prepping food. They are designed to snip through chicken joints and filet fish to cutting herbs and veggies.
Best knives for cutting meat
Butcherknife
This knife comes with a flat rectangular-shaped blade and is the heaviest set of knives to own in the kitchen. Butcherknife is a great tool to prepare raw meat like poultry, pork, beef, or lamb. Due to its bulky size, it can easily slice through a massive amount of raw meat. Also, when smashing ginger or garlic, butcherknife fits well because its blade alone can crush against it with a cutting board.
Boning knife
You can kind of figured what this knife is used for. It separates the meat from the bone. The boning knife is designed to have a lighter blade and can be slightly flexible than most knives in the market. It is more convenient to trim cartilages in the meat and cut around the bone to avoid any flesh to be ruined. Thus, the knife enhances any precision cutting.
Best knives for cutting fish
Fillet knife
Most popular knife for cutting fish in general. With its flexible, long, and slim blade, It can pierce through the skin. It also has some boning knife features which can help remove bones without damaging the fish. Most importantly, this knife is generally used to cut horizontally instead of vertically like other knives. So this blade fits perfectly to slice through your favorite fish dish!
Santoku knife
Popular to make in Japanese culinary dishes. Santoku in English means “three uses,” which are mincing, dicing, and cutting. Santoku is the best knife for fish. In particular, it suits cutting sushi and sashimi. Due to its semi-large size, it can scoop up the diced seafood and transport it to another area.
Best knives for cutting vegetables and fruits
Nikiri knife
It can also be called a Japanese vegetable knife. With a rectangular, straight-edged blade, its perfect for chopping through any vegetable. Instead of rocking the blade back and forth like other knives, you can use a singular motion going up-and-down. It is a much more lenient way to cut your fresh vegetables that are ready to get prepped.
Peeling knife
Probably one of the smallest, if not, the smallest knife in the market. The peeling knife comes with a sharp edge with a curvy-looking blade. Since its small, it is normally used for peeling vegetables, fruits, and even potatoes. Something that a large knife cannot do.