Chances are you want to get a good set of kitchen knives but you’re not sure which ones to buy. If you try to find a set of knives at you local store, like Walmart, you’re likely to end up with something off brand in a package where you can’t test the sharpness of the blade.
Instead, try visiting a gourmet shop in your area and seeing what they have to offer. Once there, you will be introduced with a variety of knives of different styles and brands that have a price tag to match. Some knives that you may see there are boning knives, slicing knives, paring knives, and Chef knives; some will be offered in sets and some will be sold individually. It can easily become a perplexing situation.
But a store like this can provide an excellent introduction to the vast selection of excellent knives guaranteed to last as long as you’ll need them. Modern, name-brand kitchen knives tend to provide superb quality and performance.
Price points are generally based on the way each brand is manufactured as well as the grade of steel used in the knives. Find out whether the knife has been forged individually or whether it was stamped out of a sheet of metal. Does the knife blade have a wavy pattern which indicates a sophisticated forging process that involves folding the molten steel back on itself repeatedly? Steel forged in this way is referred to as Damascus style. There are quite a few Japanese style knives with eight-sided (“Dee”) handles and tips that are blunt rather than pointed. Knives like these have may have names that are unfamiliar to you, including: Usuba, Yanagi, Santoku, or Guyoto.
A home, all those fancy knives are unnecessary to have in your kitchen. For cooking at home, you would primarily use a 6 or 8 inch chef’s knife to prepare the ingredients for your meals. A paring knife or a utility knife are the only ones you’d need for simple things like slicing a tomato for sandwiches or cutting an apple for your kid’s lunch. Of course, if you are a fisherman or you like to cut your own meat, you would want to have a boning knife or fillet knife. With the addition of some steak knives and a serrated knife to slice bread properly, you would have a complete set of at-home knives.
For that utensil drawer with the “once-a-year” gadgets, you could throw in a slicing knife for the Thanksgiving turkey and a sharpening steel (diamond coated, of course) to keep your knives nice and sharp. So, as you are shopping for an assortment of knives, keep in mind that you really only need a scant few to start your collection.
When you are in the market for carving knives be sure to check out Jerri’s newest web page. Jerri has also posted info on finding fantastic knife holders.
