Cutlery - Choosing the Right Kitchen Knives

Knife Basics

Before you buy an expensive knife or set of knives, let's look at a few knife basics, so you know what you are talking about. No matter what you read about a particular knife or what's hot with celebrity chefs, the most important feature is how the knife feels in your hand.

Most high-end quality knives are well made and are sure to be sharp and hold an edge, but size does matter. If you have little hands, you likely don't want to work with a 12-inch chef's knife.

Some styles are lighter than others and might be right for you, but not someone with big, strong hands.
So do your homework and find somewhere to let you test-drive the knife. This is a piece of equipment you will own for a long time and use daily.

Knife Parts

Most knives consist of the front of the knife, tang (not the astronaut drink), bolster, and handle. Let's look at each of these sections:

The front of a knife contains the blade, spine, tip, and heel. The blade is the sharp part that does the cutting. The spine is opposite the blade and adds weight and stability.

The tip of a knife is at the point and is used for cutting small items, making small cuts, and opening packages that are impossible to break open with your hands.

The tang is the piece of metal that extends from the blade to the back of the knife and to which the handle attaches. Not all knives have tangs, but most of the good ones do. The tang also gives a knife some weight and balance, or the knife would be front-heavy.

The bolster is that little collar that separates the blade and the handle. It adds strength and balance and, most importantly, prevents you from cutting off your finger if the knife slips when cutting. The bolster can run from the spine to the edge or just partway.

Again, most of the better-made knives have a bolster.

You hold on to the handle, which can be made of wood, plastic, composite, or stainless steel. You might think a handle is just a handle, but since this is what you will be mostly in contact with, the handle must feel good.

Construction

Knives are either blocked, forged, or sintered.

Blocked knives are cut from a single metal sheet, usually of the same thickness. The blades are ground to form the edge, and handles are added to the tang.

They typically don't have bolsters, are less expensive to make and therefore buy, and are not usually very good quality. They won't have the balance or feel of a better-made forged knife.

Forged knives is made the way we think King Arthur's sword may have been produced. The manufacturer takes a hunk of metal, heats it up, and pounds it into the correct shape using a drop forge machine.

These knives typically have bolsters, more weight, and thicker bolsters and cost a heck of a lot more. But with the extra expense, you get a better-made, better-balanced knife that, if taken care of properly, you may have forever.

Sintering is a process where a separate blade is fused to a separate tang. It's less expensive than forging, but it allows you to create beautiful Eastern-style knives like Global, which have flat blades but tubular handles.

Eastern vs. Western Style

The easiest way to describe the difference is to look at a couple of examples. The knives in the photographs to the right are examples of Eastern styles, while the Wusthof above is an example of a Western style.

Another example of Eastern (Asian) cutlery is the Chinese Cleaver, which was developed for several cutting purposes. It has a rectangular blade with a straight cutting edge and a slight curve for rocking when mincing and dicing.

The top of the blade is dull for pounding purposes, and the wide side is perfect for smashing garlic and scooping cut ingredients.

Japanese Knives

Although there are three specific specialty knives designed for cutting various ingredients in Japanese cuisine, the santoku knife most knife in Japanese kitchens is called a santoku and has a long, medium-width blade.

Interestingly, this knife only has one sharp edge on one side, compared to Western-style knives that are sharp on both sides. The Japanese believe a single-edged blade cuts more effectively.

Materials—The Japanese also introduced ceramic blades to the West. A company called Kyocera manufactures a knife with a incredibly sharp ceramic blade that is more durable than you would think.

Another Japanese company, Global, manufactures a stainless steel blade that can hold a razor-sharp edge. These knives are wonderfully balanced and beautiful to look at. I'm unsure how they handle it because I don't own one yet.

onlinesources: Kitchen Knives & Cutlery

There are many sources for purchasing quality Kitchen Knives, including chef's, pairing, and boning knives. Check out your local department stores and kitchen supply shops.

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