Most people have knives in their kitchen for a variety of purposes, but are you familiar with how to use each knife properly? One of the most misused knives in anyone’s kitchen is the paring knife. Paring knives are much shorter than most of your other knives in your kitchen. Most paring knife blades are only about 7 1/2 to 10 cm long, or about 3 to 4 inches.

Paring knives can be used for a variety of jobs such as peeling fruit, cutting onions, slicing vegetables, or even chopping up herbs. Some people even use their paring knife to core there apples. As you can see, a paring knife is one of the most versatile, and often used knives in anyone’s kitchen.

Before you rush out and buy yourself a set of paring knives there are a few things you should know first. Most paring knives are made of either stainless steel or forged steel. Do not buy paring knives have plastic handles because these will break very easily. And honestly, you should look for a high quality paring knife that is going to last you a while. One of the best companies around that a lot of people have had good success with is Victorinox. They make a wide range of knives including paring knives. The Victorinox paring knife is made of forged steel and handcrafted in Switzerland. These paring knives are designed to be both economical and durable.

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The knife edge has a very pronounced curve, the ‘belly’ of the knife doesn’t transition to a straightened out ‘edge’ before ending up at the ‘bolster’. This may be a great feature if you rock the knife alot mincing herbs and vegetables, but I personally prefer a more traditional chef’s knife profile where the ‘edge’ of the knife is more flat creating a longer cutting edge that is actually in contact with the board. When you place the edge of the “Ultimate Cook’s” knife against the cutting board, you will see that at any angle, very little of the knife’s edge is in contact with the board.

What I noticed when quickly slicing, dicing, and chopping various vegetables (green onions, bell peppers in my case), was that I was not completely slicing through items that were closer to me. Because of the continuous curve of the ‘edge’, items closer to the bolster weren’t getting cut completely. You really have to adjust your slicing motion to account for part of the blade / edge that you might say is missing from a traditional chef’s knife or santoku.

Bottom line, I am happier with the 8″ Shun Steel Chef’s Knife. The U-Cook’s knife is beautiful, sharp and well made, but it did seem a little blade heavy. The serrations on the ‘belly’ of the U-Cook’s seemed like a great idea, but when you have a razor sharp Chef’s knife you don’t really need them.Get more detail about Kershaw Ultimate Cook’s Knife Dm-0752.

There are many types of knives around. Here you will find the most popular and the most useful.

Boning knives as it names implies is used for removing the bones from joints of meat. The typical blade on a boning knife is approximately 15 cm in length the blade. The blade tends to be narrow and quite rigid.

Butter knives are quite small and have a blunt edge as they do not need to be sharp. The blade also tends to be quite flat. These are used for spreading butter, jam and marmalade.

Cheese knives are used for cutting hard and soft cheese. The blade is usually quite narrow and flat with a curve at the end which has a forked tip.

Chefs knives are the most common knife in the kitchen and if you own no other knives this is the one you should have. Its main use is chopping, slicing and dicing. They come in various sizes the smallest being 15cm ranging up to 30cm for the more experienced cook.

A cleaver is a very broad knife with a blade of about 15cm in length. It is generally used for cutting meat, it also ideal for pounding due to its broad edge.

Filet knives have a thin flexible blade, which is about 30cm in length. This type of knife is ideal for filleting fish and removing its skin.

Mincing knives can be either single or double bladed. They are specifically designed for chopping food into very small pieces. They are a curved blade with a straight handle attaching to both ends of the blade.

Paring knives are also an essential knife to own after the chefs knife. Paring knives are quite small with a thin narrow blade, which tapers to a point. It is very versatile and can be used for peeling, chopping and coring. This is the best knife for use with small foods such as herbs.

Sandwich knives as the name implies are specially designed for cutting through bread because of their serrated blade. Not just for slicing through sandwiches, these knives can also be used for cutting pies and soft fruits.

Slicing or carving knives can vary enormously in shape and size but the most common being a rigid blade about 20m in length. The blade has a pointed tip and is specially designed for carving meat away from the bone. Often carving knives come with carving forks which are made to compliment the knife.

Electric knives can be useful too for the less experienced knife user. These work on the principle of two blades moving back and forth independently of each other. They cut through a multitude of foods from fruit, bread and meat.

Utility knives are similar to a paring knife only with a longer blade. It is used for items which are too large for a paring knife and too small for a chef’s knife.