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Kitchen Knives - Review your Most Important Kitchen Tool!
If you ask a professional chef which is the most important cooking tool,
the answer will undoubtedly be the knife. And many cooks recommend buying
the best quality cutlery you can afford. To find the Best, we have included
the top knives in a number of popular catagories (listed below). This
will hopefully make it easier for you to get more information and find
what you are looking for.
Where applicable, we provide recommendations from industry leaders like:
Consumer Reports, Cooks Illustated and Food and Wine
Magazine. Information about award winning knives are also included.
 BEST in CHEF KNIVES:
Forschner: Best Chef Knife under
$40
Premium Quality chef knives from $85 to
$200
Wusthof Classic 8"
Chef Knife
BEST in STEAK KNIVES:
Affordable Steak Knives
Premium Quality Steak Knives
Best in INDIVIDUAL
KNIVES:
Bread Knife: Reviewers love F. Dick
Paring Knife: Wusthof
Santoku Knife: Reviewers love Global and MAC
Chroma Chef: Best Design Award by F.A. Porsche
Best in KNIFE SETS:
Ginsu Chikara: Amazing
Quality for under $100 for a 12 Piece Block Set
Victorinox Forschner: Affordable, Quality
8 Piece Block Set around $175
Wusthof Classic 8 piece
knife set - High Quality/Performance around $300
Best in CULINARY
STUDENT KNIVES:
Messermeister it is!
Forschner it is!
Best in SANTOKU:
Favorite Santoku Brands
Which knives to buy?
The good news: the average home cook doesn't need to invest in more than
a few good quality kitchen knives. With the simple three being
: a chefs knife, a paring knife and utility knife. Why? Because these
give you plenty of versatility to do much of the basic: cutting, slicing,
dicing and chopping.
However, since we are a knife reviewing website, we combine product information
and industry reviews about all kinds of kitchen cutlery from sources like:
Food and Wine Magazine and Cooks Illustrated. In other words, we aim to
delve deeper, taking you from basic cutlery to state-of-the art, razor
sharp cutting technology.
About Specific Types of Kitchen Cutlery
Going beyond basics, and matching the appropriate type of cutlery to
a particular cutting task will certainly make life easier and grow your
culinary knife collection. If for example, you are planning to fillet
a fish, bone a chicken, or cut bread; you will want to have an appropriate
fillet, boning and serrated bread knife. On the same note, if you plan
to carve a roast or butcher meats, having an appropriate carving knife
and cleaver will make all the difference in the world. For a kitchen knife
that is less specific, the Japanese santoku, made popular by Rachael
Ray of The Food Network is one to consider. This knife is similar
to a Western style chef's knife and can provide multifunctional use.
Knife Sets
Hardwood knife block sets and smaller 3, 4 and 6-piece sets can be very
useful and often come accessorized with ones you need such as: chef's,
paring, boning or utility, slicer, and bread knife. Buying sets rather
than individual cutlery can also save you money. However, it's a good
idea before buying, to make sure that the sizes and types are ones you
will find useful.
Another useful set worth buying are steak knives. Steak knives are often
sold in sets of 4 and 6. Shop with quality in mind and learn
more about steak knives before buying.
Tip: For the best knives, look for high quality forged carbon stainless
steel blades. For affordability, look for value oriented stamped blades
Eastern and Western knives
Choosing is a matter of preference
- Western: (Germany and France) If you're looking for the West's best
kitchen cutting tools money can buy take a look at traditional European
knife makers: Wusthof, Henckels,
Messermeister and Sabatier.
For the finest quality, stick with each manufacturers premier collection
or line. Premium knives will include features such as being fully forged,
and made with high carbon stainless steel blades. They will cost more
money, but are definitely worth it.
If you are shopping on a tighter budget, take a look at the more affordable
budget lines. These collections drop down a level to being machine stamped,
or not fully forged. For the price, the quality will be good.
- Eastern: (Japan) If you're looking for the best Japanese
knives money can buy take a look at the following Japanese knife
makers. You may be familiar with brands such as Kershaw,
Global, Mac, Hattori
and Kyocera (ceramic
knives). Less familiar though with Japanese manufacturers: Kasumi,
Chroma, Bunmei, Suisin and Misono (the
UX10 knife line, with Swedish stainless steel, placed #1 in Food and
Wine Magazine, July 2005 poll.)
Japanese style knives are characteristically lighter weight, sharper
and more flexible than western cutlery.
Sharpening, Cleaning and Knife Storage
Because cutlery varies, it is best to review the manufacturers' care
instructions for cleaning. You may have a set of Laguiole steak knives
that can be washed in the dishwasher and a Wusthof Cordon Bleu chef's
knife that must be hand washed and immediately towel dried.
To keep sharp and honed there are many knife
sharpeners including electric
and manual to choose from. As with cleaning, follow the sharpening recommendations
prescribed by the manufacturer. Once sharpened, be sure to keep the blade
protected. A number of good storage options
and accessories exist. These include drawer inserts, magnetic strips,
and wooden or stainless steel blocks and cutting
boards.
Recent Articles
- Wusthof Classic 8
inch Chef's Knife
Here it is folks, Cook's Illustrated Magazine Reviewers
chose Wusthof's chef knife as "Top Pick". As mentioned,
the only difference between Wusthof's various elite Lines (eg: Grand
Prix II, Classic, Culinar) is the handle materials and design. Yup,
it's just about the handle. ....more
- Santoku knives - Buying tips
Santoku knives buying tips - If you're researching Santoku
knives, and looking to buy one for personal use or for a gift let
us help you out. In a previous article about best
Santoku knife models/brands to consider, we highlighted top western/eastern
knife makers. We chose models in favor and recommended by Cook's Illustrated.
However, before buying go experience the feel of the cutlery. Compare
several brands side by side...more
- Cheese knives - Review
There are several types of cheese knives available if you
are looking to buy. Prices vary depending upon whether you are buying
an individual cheese knife, or a set.
Individual knives, of which there are two primarily, are designed
to either cut hard cheeses or soft cheeses. Other types though include:
cheese slicers, two handled cheese knives...more
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