Picture this: You just perfectly cooked a beautiful roast. All you have to do is carve it! However, your outdated knife set ends up butchering your perfect roast, leaving you with thick and chewy chunks of meat.
Not only can old, dull knives ruin your expensive cuts of meat, but they can also be dangerous to use. The duller a knife is, the more pressure is needed to cut, making slips and cuts easier.
Keeping the correct types of kitchen knives in your home is a surefire way to make cooking easier, safer, and more enjoyable.
Not sure what knives you should invest in? Be sure to keep reading to learn all about the various utensils and what they’re used for.
Table of Contents
Chef’s Knife
One of the most versatile options, a chef’s knife is a staple in every kitchen. If you could only keep one knife in your block, this would be it. Due to its
With a broad blade, typically eight to twelve inches long, chef’s knives are used for different cooking tasks. These sturdy utensils are perfect for slicing through thicker ingredients like meat or potatoes.
Also, this knife has a tapered blade, meaning you can quickly and safely dice and chop food, as you won’t have to lift the utensil from the cutting board. This reduces the risk of slips, cuts, and injuries.
Remember, keeping essential knife safety tips in mind is vital to staying safe while cooking.
Paring Knife
If you’re tired of cutting up your fingers when using a peeler on potatoes or carrots, using a paring knife can make cooking vegetables a breeze.
These small, lightweight knives are perfect for cutting, peelings, slicing, and chopping vegetables. Often, trying to use bigger knives means less accurate cuts, meaning you end up throwing away usable bits of food.
You won’t have to worry about wasting ingredients, as the small, sharp blade makes peeling and trimming precise and straightforward.
Cleaver
Though many associate meat cleavers with horror movies, this knife can be intimidating. Crafted with a large, rectangular-block blade, this heavy-duty knife can be used for raw meats and hard vegetables.
However, once you use this knife, you’ll understand why it’s a staple in many households. This heavy-duty option can cut through raw meat, bone, and even hard vegetables like pumpkins.
If you’re someone who raises your own poultry, loves to grill, or you like trying new things, keeping a cleaver in your collection can make cooking effortless.
Serrated Knife
From bagels and baguettes to cakes and crostini, keeping a serrated knife on hand can help you keep your softer items from getting squished.
Commonly known as a bread knife, the serrated or saw-like edge easily cuts through soft textures while keeping them in their shape. Other blades often crush or damage the food due to their light and airy textures.
This staple knife can be included in a traditional or build your own knife set from messermeister.com. With a serrated knife, you won’t have to worry about crushing your beautiful cake the next time you try to trim and level it.
Steak Knives
There’s nothing worse than sitting down with a beautiful cut filet mignon, only to try to saw through it with a butter knife. This can ruin the cut of meat and the experience of eating an expensive dinner.
If you want to skip the dinner workout of cutting through meat with a dull knife, investing in steak knives can elevate the experience of eating, making it more enjoyable.
These knives are regular-sized dinner knives but have a serrated edge. This allows you to easily cut through the meat. Many even use this knife to make eating burgers or chicken sandwiches easier.
Shears
Not a knife, but one of the most essential kitchen accessories, shears are almost always included in a knife set.
If you’re trying to cut up a chicken, a knife may not be able to slice through the thick joints or cartilage. Instead reaching for your kitchen shears with sharp edges and the pressure you apply can help you easily prepare your chicken.
You can also quickly cut herbs, butterfly poultry breasts, or slice pizza. Some shears have multiple blades, making cutting herbs easier and more efficient.
Utility Knife
A mix of a chef’s knife and a paring knife, this small, straight edge knife is practical for many different types of cutting and chopping. If your chef’s knife is too big or your paring knife is too small, the utility knife will save the day.
With the size of a paring knife but the qualities of a chef’s knife, this utensil is perfect for cutting ingredients smaller than those a paring knife can handle.
Like a paring knife, this allows you to get more accurate and precise cuts and slices. From vegetable to meat, you’ll likely find this one of the most used knives in your kitchen setup.
Types of Kitchen Knives You Should Invest In
If you’re tired of wasting edible pieces of meat, vegetables, and other ingredients, investing in new knives is a great way to enjoy cooking again.
Don’t forget to invest in other kitchen accessories to keep your knives in pristine conditions. A knife block, sharpener, and blade covers are all some of the easiest ways to protect your expensive knives.
If you’ve found this guide to the types of kitchen knives you should include in your kitchen setup informative, be sure to visit the rest of our website. There, you’ll discover more great cooking tips and tricks.
