The Most Essential Types of Knives to Have in Your Kitchen

Knives are one of the most crucial utensils to have in your kitchen. From cutting fruits before the smoothie and chopping vegetables for a salad to slicing bread to make a sandwich and butchering meat for beef, you can prepare practically any food with them. But with the vast range of kitchen knives available on the market, how do you know which ones to choose? Selecting the right knives for your kitchen depends on the amount of time you are willing to spend as well as the level of precision and perfection you want your food to be. Using a knife designed specifically for a task simply makes every cut a whole lot faster and easier, saving you unnecessary calculating and envisioning. 




Even if you aren't a professional chef neither a dedicated cook, you will need at least 3 different blades for various uses. Without the right knowledge, it's all too easy to end up buying a selection of specialist kitchen knives you will hardly use. To make things even more complicated, naming conventions for knives can be seriously confusing, with many cutting tools having multiple names for the same style. To help make things easier for you, here is a guide to the essential types of kitchen knives and their uses, including suggestions on which one is best for different kitchen tasks. 

Chef's Knife

This type of knife is the most practical utensil you can have in your kitchen. And you don't have to be a professional chef to use one. It typically goes from 20 to 30 centimetres depending on its focus. Individuals who use it to cut small stuff usually don't need a larger model. You can also find it as French knife. It generally features a triangular blade with a curve that helps to move back and forth to cut things more effectively. A chef's knife can be used to chop stuff as well as to simply slice through any food - from vegetables to fruits, meats, and more. Having this knife in your kitchen will surely make your kitchen experience better. 

Santoku Knife

Although this knife has a fancy name, it doesn't serve only for beauty purposes. It is named like this due to its exceptional versatility. In Japanese, Santoku means "Three Virtues". The name comes from the fact that this knife works really well for slicing, mincing and chopping - the three significant kitchen knife uses. All this is possible thanks to the thin edge of the knife. Its thin blade helps to achieve superior precision, so you can cut basically anything without any shortcoming. Overall, this knife does almost anything related to cutting including piecing fruits, chopping veggies and preparing meats. You can expect it to delivers precision and versatility with the smoothest cutting experience. 

Serrated Bread Knife

Slicing a loaf of bread can be challenging without the right knife. Try to cut a piece of bread with a Santoku knife and you will understand what I' m saying. That is why you should get a serrated knife for your kitchen. There is no better option for cutting soft bread than a serrated bread knife. Thanks to the serrated blades, cutting through fluffy foods with though skins are much easier. This means this knife doesn't only work for bread but also for anything similar like tomatoes, turkeys, plantains, and even cakes. When compared to other models, this knife is pretty long, making it also handy for long foods. 

Cleaver

There is no other knife more effective to chop meat and bones than a cleaver knife. It is also probably the biggest knife you will come across. Its large size is because its job is to do what other smaller types of knives can't -chop cartilage, bones and frozen foods. This knife also tends to be very heavy, with a massive blade that doesn't have much of an edge but is still sharp enough to cut meats. A cleaver knife is suggested for those individuals who regularly prepare meats and boning chickens. 

Fillet Knife

When it comes to preparing fish, a fillet knife is probably the only tool you will need. This knife is one of the thinnest in the list, being around 20 centimetres in length, meaning it is easy to use. The purpose of this thin blade is to separate the skin of the fish to the meat when it is fresh. You won't find any other knife that does it like this one. This knife is also helpful to get slices fo fish more efficiently without any shredding, chopping or messes when cutting. If you aren't a fish lover, you may overlook it. 

Cheese Knife

If you are a cheese enthusiast, this knife is a must-have to match your kitchen needs. The ability of this knife to cut through cheese without sticking, crumbling or shredding, will make the overall slicing process of the cheese almost as enjoyable as eating it. Know that different types of cheese knives are available. Some of them come with a cleaver-like design that cuts hard cheese like no other. These models can go over 25 centimetres in size. Other models can have holes in a thin blade to deliver a smooth cutting experience with soft cheeses. These typically don't go over 25 centimetres in size. 

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