subject: Choosing The Appropriate Chefs Knife For Your Kitchen [print this page] When you are planning to cook for the first time, and preparing for it, you need to choose the right cooking equipment. Knives are one essential no cook can do without, and you need to choose your first knife with care. If you are building your cutlery set, the first one you should buy is the chef knife.
Why is this knife so important? Even when a cook has a set of numerous knives, the chefs knife remains one of the important cutting tools. Most of the cutting tasks are done using this knife. Whether you need to chop fruits, dice vegetables, mince meat or fillet fish, these knives are ideal for different food preparation tasks.
The chefs knife has a wide blade with sloping edges that meet at the tip. The shape of this knife makes it ideal for handling different tasks, making it an all-purpose knife, an essential in your kitchen. Choosing such an important piece of kitchen cutlery requires careful consideration of the right factors.
Choosing the blade:
While German and French chefs knives are available, most chefs prefer Japanese knives because of their fine, sharp blades. This makes it easy to accomplish the cutting task with minimal effort. Moreover, the sharpness of the blade ensures that you complete the cutting of fruits or vegetables without causing any damage to their texture or appearance.
Here are the questions you need to ask before choosing the blade of the chefs knife.
What is the blade made from? While a high carbon steel blade offers the finest and sharpest edge, it is susceptible to rust. If you opt for knives made from this material, you need to take good care of these. Stainless steel blades are more appropriate if you cannot take so much care of the knives.
Is it stamped or forged? Different techniques are used for making the blades. Forged blades are more durable and sharp. These are made by heating a steel bar, setting it into a die and hammering it into the blade; these usually come with full tang. The stamped knife blades are made by punching out the blade from a ribbon of steel.
What is the ideal length? The blades of the chefs knives are available in different lengths, from 6 inches to 12 inches. There are no hard and fast rules regarding which particular blade length would be suitable for you. It is better to use an 8 inch blade if you are beginning to use a chefs knife.
How heavy is it? Lighter and sharper blades require minimal effort when cutting fruits, vegetables or fish. The lighter the blade is, the better the results. However, lighter blades need to be handled carefully. Otherwise they may chip off or break, making these knives useless.
Choosing the handle:
Wooden handles are better alternatives when you are selecting your first chefs knife. Wooden handles offer a firm grip and adequate support for cutting tasks. Knives with plastic handles may be cheaper; however, these are no match for the traditional wooden handled knives. Moreover, they tend to be slippery when wet, which may be dangerous.
