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Three things to consider before buying new knives
Chef’s knife: The most useful knife in the kitchen is definitely the chef’s knife. It can be used to chop, cut, and dice everything from meat and root vegetables to fruit and vegetables. The knife is characterised by a wide blade, and is slightly curved along the edge.
Vegetable knife: This knife is suitable for all basic jobs in the kitchen – and is perfect for cutting and chopping everything for the salad. This knife usually has a high blade and a quick “finish” that is suitable for chopping.
Paring knife: The paring knife is the smallest knife. The size is ideal for splitting fruit and vegetables, and is ideal for small ingredients such as chilli and garlic. A good first knife for children.
Bread knife: The knife is characterised by the serrated edge, which is designed to make it easy to cut through the bread without crumbling it. In addition to cutting bread with the bread knife, it is also suitable for cutting tomatoes or large fruits and vegetables, such as melon and cabbage.
Filleting knife: A filleting knife is flexible and is used to access and cut the skin off e.g. fish or chicken. The blade is narrow and flexible with a pointed tip, and can also be used for trimming pieces of meat. There are also extra long filleting knives that are used for larger fish. These are called salmon knives.
Special knives: In addition to the most classic knives above, there are also knives for more specific tasks. Oyster knives, deboning knives, chopping knives, santoku knives, and carving knives are examples of some of these.
The two most common types of knives are ceramic knives and steel knives. The latter are either forged or punched. Forged knives have a wedge-shaped blade, spacer, and finger guard, while punched knives are thinner and straighter.
Ceramic knives are harder and lighter than steel knives. They keep their sharpness for longer, but break if you drop them. Ceramic knives also do not react to acidic substances.
Steel is the most common material and is easy to maintain. It is durable and can be easily sharpened. However, it stays sharp for less time than a ceramic knife.
If you want a high-quality knife, you have to be prepared to pay a few pounds more. Quality knives often cost around £100 and up. But bear in mind that if you take good care of a knife, it can stay with you for up to 20 years. Here you can get the chefs’ own tips on how to best care for your knives.