What type of knives do chefs use

As its name implies, a boning knife is the best blade for cutting up or boning fish, meat, or poultry of any size, whether a 3-inch-long anchovy or a pound side of pork. A boning knife should not be used to cut through bones, but rather to cut around bones. A good boning knife will have the flexibility to deftly separate meat from bone as well as slice through joints and cartilage.

While a honing steel isn't a knife, it's still an essential tool for your knife block. A honing steel is designed to keep your knives at their peak sharpness for as long as possible. Running your knife along a steel realigns the teeth or fibers on the blade, which leads to a sharper edge and thus a cleaner cut. Knives should be honed every time you use them, but because honing doesn't actually sharpen the blade, McDermott suggests home cooks have their knives professionally sharpened once a year.

A honing steel can be used with any straight-sided blade, such as a chef's knife or paring knife, but it should not be used on serrated knives since the teeth won't glide along the steel. A honing steel is often included when knives are purchased as sets; however, they can also be purchased individually. All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

By Wilder Davies. If your paring knife could use an upgrade—or if you're looking for a sharp gift—consider investing a little more in one of these high-performing, good-looking blades.

By Lauren Joseph. You should note that this is just an overview of the different features you will see on most basic knives: many specialist knives may be constructed slightly differently. Point : The very end of the blade. This is usually sharpened to a fine point, and can be used to pierce or score the surface of food. Blade: The blade is the name given to the part of the knife which is used for cutting. Edge : This refers to the sharpened part of the blade, which is used for the majority of cutting work.

The sharpness of the knife is dictated by how finely the edge is ground, and this will depend on both the quality of the knife and how often you sharpen it. It may be serrated as with bread knives or it may be straight. Spine : The spine is the blunt upper side of the blade, opposite to the cutting edge. The thickness of the spine gives strength to blade: as a rule, the thicker the spine, the stronger the blade.

Heel : The heel is the lower edge of the blade, furthest from the tip, next to the bolster. This part of the edge is most commonly used when the chef needs more strength or pressure to cut through thicker or tougher foods. Tang : The tang is the unsharpened part of the blade which connects the blade edge to the handle. The tang is vital to the overall balance, weight, stability, and strength of the knife. In some designs, the tang also functions as a handle.

It can be made from a number of materials, and may be straight or designed with finger grooves and other ergonomic features that make it easier to hold. Some knife manufacturers will dispense of the handle altogether, instead creating a knife using a single piece of steel, so that the tang also functions as a handle. Bolster : The bolster is the raised area between the blade and the handle. It also provides additional weight to help balance the knife. Handle fasteners, or rivets: These are the rivets or screws which fix the handle parts to the tang.

Less expensive designs may forego the rivets and attach the handle to the tang using resin or epoxy instead. Butt : The name given to the end of the handle, at the very bottom of the knife. Before we talk about the different types of knives in more depth, it will help to outline the differences between forged and stamped knives.

These terms refer to the way the knife is made, and there are benefits and disadvantages to each method. A forged knife is any kind of knife which has been forged from a single piece of metal. To construct a forged knife, a block of steel is hammered into shape using a powerful press, before being honed and sharpened. The handle is then added, before the blade undergoes a final shine and polish. When steel is forged, the shape is altered right down to a molecular level, meaning the blade is exceptionally strong.

In a forged knife, both the blade and the tang are made from one continuous piece of steel, making them strong, durable and well-balanced. Our Tramontina , Wusthof Trident and Sabatier knives are used by professional chefs and cooks around the world for exactly this reason.

You can tell if a knife is forged by looking for a steel bolster between the blade and the handle: this is usually a strong indication that a knife has been forged rather than stamped. Stamped knives are made using a single sheet of steel, which is then cut out into the shape of a blade using a powerful stamping machine — a bit like a cookie cutter.

The handle is then added, and the knife undergoes hardening, sharpening and polishing to create a keen edge and a smooth finish. The manufacturing process is also much cheaper and quicker, meaning that stamped knives are generally much more affordable than forged ones. Stamped knives used to have something of a poor reputation, but nowadays the manufacturing process has been refined and improved, meaning that there are now many brands producing stamped knives of a comparable quality to forged styles.

In fact, some cooks even prefer them for their lighter weight and comfortable hand-feel. Manufacturers such as Victorinox and Geisser are renowned for crafting innovative stamped knives of an extremely high quality, so you can get a lightweight stamped knife with a similar sharpness and lifespan to a forged one.

Stamped knives will not usually have a steel bolster: instead, the heel of the knife runs straight into the handle. There are almost countless types of knives with a huge number of different applications, and what may be an effective knife for one kind type of food may not work so well on others. This section introduces the most essential and frequently used types of kitchen knives — the ones that no cook, whether amateur or professional, should ever be without.

They will see you through a huge range of different tasks, so read on to learn the basic cutting essentials that should be in every kitchen. It is widest across the heel, tapering up to a finely pointed tip. The curved blade of a chef knife allows it rock back and forwards on a chopping board, which makes it the perfect tool for chopping and dicing lots of vegetables at once.

The broad heel area means it can stand up to more pressure during heavy-duty chopping work, which is useful for cutting thicker or harder foods, like potatoes, onions, or parsnips. A great all-rounder, a chef knife is one of the most versatile knives in the kitchen, perfect for everyday dicing and mincing tasks. A utility knife is a similar shape to a chef knife, but smaller and slimmer. Some utility knives also have a sharp tip which tapers up towards the spine, to allow for more intricate work.

A utility knife is good for chopping smaller foods and vegetables, like shallots. It shares many of the qualities of a chef knife, but it can be a useful tool when working with smaller food items, as the utility knife allows for more precise cutting work.

A paring knife has a short, slim, evenly sized blade with a pointed tip. But this list is an excellent place to start. If you are rough on your knives, then you should go German. If you can be careful and mindful, then Japanese is an option. But there are some foods you should NOT cut with a Japanese knife.

Global is really kind of in the middle, straddling both worlds. Their knives are thin and sharp, but the steel they use is not as hard or brittle as the other two makers on this list. So they can take more stress. Then divide up the rest. Here are some other pages on the KKG site which might be helpful.

Some are not as up-to-date as they could be, but they should still shed some light. You should definitely peruse the entire KKG site.

Have you skimmed through the rest of the comments on this page? They cover a lot as well. Anybody criticising a knife brand simply based on their own personal bias is silly and ridiculous! If a chef likes using Global, then who are you to criticize? I do not own Global knives but my friend has a whole big knife block full of them.

And he has them for years. When we cook at his house there was never anybody complaining about the Global knives. I have big hands so they are not for me, but I do enjoy working with them at my friends place.

Very strange comment. I have been using a G2 chef knife in my kitchen for more than 20 years. I recently had it professionally sharpened which totally revitalized it and made it frighteningly sharp. My most resent purchase is a 01 knife from the SAI series.

Totally different animal. Are they a really commercial brand? That, however, does not make them bad by any means. Can you have better? In fact, quite a kick-ass knife at around half the price of Global.

Sorry to be so delayed. I used Seattle Knives on my santoku and that was many years ago, and with proper care and regular honing the edge has remained amazingly sharp. Unfortunately, Bob Tate of Seattle Knives has relocated and is still trying to reopen his shop. These are real knives, but still not the best kitchen knives in the world. KitchenKnifeGuru is more about educating home cooks about kitchen knives so they can have more fun in the kitchen!

It keeps its edge for a long time and when it gets dull I use a Global sharpening block to realign the bevels. Thanks for sharing, Peter! Sounds like the HAP40 steel that the Kohetsu is made of is an impressively hard steel that will hold its edge longer than most knives out there HRC It might be a little advanced for this crowd and maybe for me, as well.

My biggest concern is, considering how hard the steel is, how susceptible is it to cracking and chipping? Any problems with this? I assume you treat it extra, extra-special. Oh, and can you hone it with a ceramic steel? I believe it can stand all the usual neglect and semi-care of an everyday home cook fairly well. Best kitchen knives from our side of the pond? Shigefusa would be one that many would mention.

Thanks for joining in! But your list includes mainly custom, handmade knives that are in a category of their own. Not fair! Sounds like a lovely knife! This is natural and as long as you wash, dry, and oil after very use, the blade should not rust, but gradually develop a patina a dark gray color without much shine.

The patina will act as a natural protective and prevent it from rusting as easily. But with a high-end knife like this, you probably should only use a leather strop or waterstone—not quite as simple as a ceramic steel. Very helpful review. We are on the move a lot because we are yet to find a group of doctors who are able to fix me. But I really want him to quit being frustrated by the crappy knives found in most furnished rentals. This will help him keep his new knife sharp as long as possible.

Neal, thanks for chiming in! What makes you such a fan of Global knives? Have you shopped around a lot and compared? For that price you can get a mm Misono UX Actually, the Cutco 9. Needs sharpening? Send it to them and they sharpen it FREE forever. AND they are made in the U. There is a dedicated core of Cutco devotees out there, but many of them are Cutco sales reps, so they are not exactly impartial customers. Thanks for your time effort and advise.

I learnt a lot from your site. I have been looking to buy myself a nice knive or two and appreciate your experiences. Hey, thought I would let you know I bought a couple of global sai knives and am enjoying them. I also bought the water wheel knife sharpener, should I be using this or a ceramic steel? Congratulations, Brendon! And thanks for turning me on to a whole new line of knives from Global.

Global Sai looks like a serious addition to the kitchen knife world — I will have to investigate further :. Why not? Chances are you will over-sharpen your knives instead of simply honing them. It may match the As the edge wears, it helps to be able to slightly adjust the honing angle.

But it can never compete with a quality professional sharpening service. I recommend using a ceramic steel , and then, depending on the wear and tear and your taste for sharpitude, sending them to a sharpening service every year or so. I wonder which type of steel to keep the sharpness of my Shun? Is sandstone OK, or not?

Magnetic steel or ceramic steel? Advice and tips are highly appreciated. Your average steel hone will not be hard enough, plus it might have ridges that will mess up your knife. See these articled on the KKG site for more info:. My Favorite Honing Steels. BTW, 6-inches is a rather small knife for a professional?

How are you managing with that size? However, after time, no doubt the wheels will wear and put the angle out alignment. As mentioned regarding cooking shows becoming so popular, there is a new market these days—passionate home cooks who may not have formal training, but buy good gear and need to maintain it.

So for this, Global kitchen knives, Victorinox steak knives so underwhelming to look at, but seriously sharp—make eating a great steak even more enjoyable! With correct instruction, and using a ceramic hone, even I—who am not a particularly crafty person—have maintained the edges of my kitchen knives, making them last for years :. Since I teach cooking history as a hobby I love vintage knives — F. My new favorite toys are Shun Edo, love the feather weight feel.

It does look like a well-designed knife with great ergonomics. My Henckels 6-in handle broke and I am looking to replace it. I found it helpful in making my decision. Thanks, Cindy, for the feedback!

BTW — what will your replacement knife be? Thanks for the extensive review. Nice animation for the images as well. I never would have bought a knife just for vegetables for myself, but man does it make chopping onions and potatoes fast.

Now looking for a great boning knife and a cleaver, since my dad a retired cook is going to start teaching me butchering skills! I also would love a santoku of some sort. A cleaver is another matter though. Happy shopping:. Thanks for making things so easy!! Definitely will be coming back to this website to read up on more things! The main thing is to buy from a reputable manufacturer and avoid their lower-tier knives.

So, should I not be cutting up chickens with my knife? And the thin, hard steel at the core of a Shun chef knife will chip on bone. Messermeister 8-inch Take-Apart Kitchen Scissors. Kershaw Taskmaster Shears. Zwilling J. Henckels Twinshear Kitchen Shears. Shun Kitchen Shears. Henckels International Classic 6-inch Cleaver. Wusthof Classic 7-inch Cleaver. Wusthof Classic 6-inch Flexible Boning Knife. Global Cromova G, 6. Thank you Ben D for expressing your troubles!!

While I appreciate ultimate sharpness, maybe a Japanese chef knife is not for me and my fiancee. Maybe I could get one for vegetables?

Nakiri anybody? I guess one thing I was kind of missing in this otherwise awesome review is the durability parameter. This can be a deciding factor in home knife purchases. Can we get a follow up on that area? Or, Which could put up with more abuse, which would be more finicky and delicate? Good question. My understanding is that, of the six recommended knives, the first three — which are all made of German steel — would be tougher, able to take more abuse, less likely to chip, and require less TLC.

That would be the Henckels, Wusthof, and Messermeister. Explanation: The main factor determining the resilience of a knife, or its ability to withstand abuse, is the type of steel it is made of. Typically, German steel is tougher, not as hard and brittle as Japanese steel, and, thus, can handle a lot more stress.

Japanese steel is usually in the range of HRC and up. Again, Japanese knives tend to be thinner than German knives, and thus not able to handle as much stress. And they tend to be sharpened to a sharper, and more delicate, edge. So, you need to be more careful with them. For example, you might not want to hack into a butternut squash with a Japanese blade or drop it on a hard, tile floor. On the other hand, the harder Japanese steel can be easier to sharpen than softer German steel. All six of the recommended knives could be honed with a ceramic hone which would bring back the edge again and again.

That was some good information. Three examples: F. Though these knives bear the Henckels name, they come from a very different knife universe than the Henckels Pro S that I recommend above. Confusing, huh?

Henckels manufacturers over a dozen different lines of knives not including Miyabi which is separate entity under the Henckels umbrella. And they are only ONE knife-manufacturing company though a major one. This is one of the main reasons I wrote the Best Knives article—to help consumers sort through the kitchen knife jungle out there and offer them some high-quality tips :. As for the F.

Dick knife you mention, I could not find that exact model anywhere. Are you sure you input it correctly? I find Global brand a good knife because it is lightweight and better in ergonomics and absolutely freaking sharpest knife amongst. Other brand are hard to sharpen though they have good steel.

For example Wusthof is a great knife, but poor at ergonomic and is heavy. For example, it took me a while to adjust to how light my Shun chef knife was. When I first took it out of the box and handled it, it felt flimsy from what I was used to. But I am not a professional chopping veggies all day long. If I were, the weight might begin annoy me and tire me out more as compared to a Japanese knife. I have to say that I slightly disagree about your choice of the Wusthof Santoku knife.

While they are handy for some tasks, their limitations would preclude them from being on my best list. For example: Many home cooks are intimidated by the length of a classic chef knife and feel more comfortable with the compact size of a santoku. Yes, the santoku will not dice up a large onion as fast or quarter a fat honeydew as easily as a 8- or 9-inch chef knife. Buuuut, the blade is just about as broad and it will handle smaller jobs with ease.

This is one of the most helpful summaries on cooking knives I have seen. I now feel well equipped to go and purchase! Thank you. And if you have any more questions you might want to check out my article: How to Buy a Great Chef Knife.

Great article! Kitchen knives come in so many different styles and quality levels it can be super confusing to figure out what is the best one to buy.

I may have to snag one! My online research tells me that Acros knives are an inexpensive knockoff trying to pass themselves off as a high-quality. If a kitchen knife is priced much lower than other well-known quality brands. And without a proper identification of the steel, you are taking a big risk. Plus, Arcos does not describe the tempering and hardening process for their steel. They spend more time describing their handles than the blade itself.

Pretty silly. For all these reasons and more, I would shy away Arcos knives. Please read the replies below for my latest recommendation. First of all, thank you very much for your blog. I am looking for new knives for my kitchen and it is helping me a lot. Let me share it with you :. Arcos was created in In fact, it is one of the oldest companies in Spain. You can activate subtitles in English. I hope this information might be helpful and you can give a chance to this brand.

To begin with, let me tell you. I love Spain! My parents lived in Madrid in the late 70s and I still remember dining on chimpirones en su tinta a Basque dish, I know , walking in El Retiro, and viewing Goya paintings at el Museo del Prado.

But lets not let our nationalism, or cultural bias, get in the way of choosing a great kitchen knife :. For example, Cutco, probably the most famous U. There are a number of high-quality custom-made kitchen knives made in the U.

Plus, realize, at the beginning of the article, I state very clearly the list does not claim to be exclusive or have the final say on quality kitchen knives. That said, thanks much for clarifying a few things. Good to know that Arcos are made in Spain not China , and that they are manufactured by an old, established company.

They may hold up well in the kitchen against a Wusthof Classic or a Shun Classic. Hello, first of all thank you for your work. Yes, I agree with you, those Germans brands are very very good, but Americans are very attached to those Germans brands because they were the first to come to this country. And I would say you are fooling yourself to think that only expensive knives are good.

If you are OK with paying more, good, but this is not a smart purchase. Here in U. For this reason, we need to be smarter and collect the right info to make the best decision, and buy what we need for the right price. About Arcos knives I can tell you that these guys have been making knives only in Spain since pretty close to J. Henckels , so I think this is not a huge difference. Of course, you need to compare the same category of product, then, you are going to see that Arcos can be totally comparable to those German brands.

Have you seen Arcos reviews on the internet? You should. Arcos is a fantastic knife brand, they produce 24 million knives each year only in Spain and they sell all over the world. Thanks for sharing your opinions!

Before I respond to your main point, let me touch on a couple of side-topics:. But a better-made car may make the ride more comfortable, more enjoyable, safer, and less tiring. Two knife makers using the very same steel, but different heat treatment, could produce knives of distinctly different quality.

Now, back to our main topic: the quality of Arcos knives compared to German brands like Wusthof or Henckels. I do not own an Arcos knife, so my opinion must rely on research as with a number of knives I discuss on KKG.

But after spending quite a bit more time exploring the world of Arcos online, my revised opinion is that their manufacturing quality is probably similar to the German brands. Things like, 1 what kind of steel they use, and 2 the HRC hardness of their blades—knowing these things would help confirm. But they do tout their Nitrum stainless steel which, from what I can gather, improves the wear resistance while keeping the grain structure fine by adding nitrogen to the steel formula.

Which would be great! Arcos also seems highly tuned-in to quality standards. They have specific metrics in place for measuring the initial cutting power CIC and cutting edge durability RFC of their various knives. Ideally, Arcos would run comparable German knives through the same testing they do on theirs and share the numbers :. The same is true with the Germans.

Arcos Knives Top Picks Soooo. These are all three forged knives versus stamped. And to be honest—without having an opportunity to become more familiar with them, either hands-on or through additional research—the only line I would at this moment buy for myself would be the Kyoto, their top-tier model. Here in Israel, unfortunately, Arcos has succeeded in passing themselves off as a high quality among the amateurs. Though, it is made in Spain. Arcos manufactures an army of product that varies in style and quality.

So do Henckels and Wusthof for that matter. In general, Arcos seems comparable to the major German knife makers. See my full response on Arcos knives above. Kenwood knives? In a quick search, I noticed that Kenwood does make a high-end food processor, an electric carving knife, and knives for the dining table. Were you joking around?

I was given a basic Arcos chef knife when I was 23 years old. Arcos makes great knives. They are comfortable knives. And the magic of steel knives is… You can sharpen them! I agree with another here. I get the whole art of steel and why you might want a dollar Damascus steel knife or whatever. But Arcos makes great knives for actually cooking, and cooking alot. If you want a great knife that will last a long, long time, then pick up an Arcos knife. There are great engineers all over the world, and great manufacturers everywhere.

Hi Nate! I just wandered into the kitchen out of necessity. Will try Amazon, nevertheless. Your blog is awesome sorry to use that silly cliche and really well written!

I truly enjoyed reading it. Thanks so much for chiming in — I really appreciate your stamp of approval!

My Facebook page would probably be the best avenue for further discussion. And please please please purchase a ceramic hone along with your knife. Thanks for the review. When I was a younger chef, I would use the German steel, as it was cheaper and more available at the time—also a lot easier to sharpen. I go from event to event, location to location, but no matter where I am, I know my speed and cuts will be exactly what I want.

A knife gets broken in like a great pair of shoes — molded to the way you use it. It becomes completely unique to your hand and techniques. I got it in , while I was in a work-release program, newly sober and cooking my heart out. I have been a fan of Nenox for a while now. I love the balance of their knives and how long they maintain a sharp edge. I am able to accomplish almost all of my duties with it due to its length and weight, everything from vegetable prep to butchery to slicing roasted meats.

They do need to be thinned a bit, but after investing some time they perform excellently. I was taught that the knife a cook uses represents what kind a chef they will become. I even handed them out to our investors. Whether we are carving ducks, guinea hens, or chickens, these make the job neat, precise, and efficient. Their quality is in their weight, the length and curvature of the blade, and the spring action.

And I love that they are a little scary-looking!