Kitchen Knife Essentials

There are a gazillion choices for [tag]kitchen knives[/tag]. You can buy them everywhere, from the grocery store (sometimes for less than the cost of a box of cereal) to restaurant supply houses that sell elaborate [tag]cutlery sets[/tag] in the hundreds of dollars. The “right” kitchen knife does make a difference, and it may not come in a cutlery set. It may not make chopping a pound of vegetables pleasurable but it will make it easier. You will know a kitchen knife is right immediately when you hold it. Kitchen knives do not have a break-in period so pass on those that do not feel right for you.

The chef’s knife is so special that we gave it its own section. All the basic characteristics that you would look for when choosing a quality chef’s knife apply to all but the most specialized kitchen knives. We will not repeat all of them, but the most important characteristic for any quality kitchen knife is a high-carbon stainless steel blade. You can buy high-carbon steel (not stainless) blades too. These less expensive blades sharpen well but tend to break tips, discolor and rust. With the exception of a carving knife, which should have only a little flexibility, never buy any kitchen knife if you can bend the blade with little effort. If it bends in your hand it will bend when cutting and chopping too. That means that you will have to work harder for a poorer or unsatisfactory result.

Handles on most of the economy knives, and some expensive ones too, are composite plastic. That’s OK so long as the handle has enough heft to take a little abuse, and feels good in your hand. Through riveted handles are best. Never buy any kitchen knife if the blade wiggles even a tiny bit where it connects to the handle. Kitchen knives are pointy and sharp. A defective kitchen knife is downright dangerous.

You can often find good prices for cutlery sets even at the top end, but a cutlery set is good value only if you use all the knives in the set. If you are just starting to outfit an apartment kitchen, or want to gain some hands-on experience with the different styles and brands, you can buy individual knives.

The essential kitchen knife set is:

One 8-inch chef’s knife–for chopping and a thousand other uses. If you own one kitchen knife this is it.
One 10-inch carving knife–for slicing meat and poultry.
Two 3/4-inch paring knives–one for you and one to give to your sous chef.
One serrated bread knife–for bread and tomatoes.
One boning knife–for deboning meat, poultry and fish.
Knife sharpener — electric, stone or ceramic.
Knife block–to store your knives safely and to protect their edge.