The first knife I will talk about it your standard French Knife  or Chef’s Knife. The original style of the culinary French knife hails from Germany. It is narrow at the point and wide at the handle. The modern French kitchen knife is designed to perform many different chores rather than just being a knife designed to do one chore and one chore only. It is generally used for mincing, slicing, dicing, chopping veggies, slicing meat and at times disjointing large cuts of meat. Your standard French knife is your all purpose knife in the kitchen and you can find them in lengths from six inches to fourteen inches. It is the gentle curve of the blade from the point to the end of the blade near the handle that allows for the smooth rocking motion that you see in many cutting chores. In some instances the weight of some French knives can be used for light duty bone chopping like on chickens with you find the joint. This is a common practice, but personally I would not do more than this with my French knife. French knife styles are produced in Europe and more recently many Japanese manufacturers have started to build French knives. I use a Mac French For all intents and purposes the French knife is the heavy duty all purpose heavy duty food preparation knife in the kitchen. The blade style type of the French knife can come in a saber grind or a full flat grind or modified Japanese grind types.(More on knife grind types in a future video and blog post)

The second knife to talk about is the Paring knife. The history of the production kitchen knife set can be attributed to one of the oldest cutlery companies in the world, J.A. Henckels Co. Founded in 1731 they have been producing kitchen cutlery since then and as stated with the French knife, the Paring knife is originally a German design. The Paring knife is your smaill knife with a plain edge(although some makers produce paring knives today with serrated edges for use on things like citrus fruits.)That is used ideally for peeling, coring, and sectioning and other small types of intricate cutting chores. It is excellent for de-veiining schrimp, removing seeds from peppers, and making small garnishes. It an all purpose little bother to the French knife. Your standard Paring knife comes in sizes from two inches to four inches

Slicer Or Slicing Knife

Your standard Slicer or Slicing knife is the close cousin to your Carving knife. It is traditionally a plain or flat edged knife, but today comes in both plain and serrated versions. It is primarily used for carving meats and poultry and many people like me use a Western European slicer to cut my sashimi. In some cases a Slicer is used to also clean a tenderloin. Most people use one to slice sandwiches, fruits, and veggies. It is a Slicing knifes long, thin blade that allows it to produce nice thin and uniform slices. The Slicer makes nice clean cuts in meat and other soft foods like fish. Slicers need to be longer than six inches in most cases because the object of the slice is to make that slice in one clean stroke and not to have to rock the blade back and forth as this will creat a jagged cut in the food you are cutting. The smallest Slicer that is practical is eight inches, but for the utmost in versatility I would recommend a ten or twelve inch Slicer.

The standard kitchen Boning knife is a blade that is narrow with an extremely sharp point for fine intricate work about bone. It is typically used in food preparation for taking the bones out of meat, chicken and fish. They are typically five to six and a half inches in forged models, but today come in many sizes from three inches to nine and a half inches with straight blades or upswept angled blades depending on the manufacturer. Boning knives are not meant to be as “thick” as other culinary knives and this is because it is designed for precision chores. Boning knives can come in both rigid and flexible model types and come in both Western European and Japanese models. Rigid boning knives are excellent for working with beef or pork and flex Boning knives are good for working with poultry and fish. The arc in the upswept boning knife style is done this way to enhance the ability to  make a single passing cut when removing fish flesh from  skin and bone. Western European boning knives are called “boning knives” and the Japanese counterpart is referred to as “Honesuki” or “Gukojo.” (More about Japanese Kitchen Knives in future blog posts……Stay tuned!)

The culinary Tourneau Knife is a curved paring knife that is made for precise trimming or peeling of whatever fruits or veggies you have on hand that need to be peeled or trimmed. It is the classic paring knife for making Tourneau is classic French cuisine. It is one of the more difficult kitchen knives to sharpen for most people, but it can be done. This knife is commonly also called a “birds beek.”

As you would expect this is a knife for a butcher. The one pictured is a Forschner Scimitar or Cimeter with a large upswept blade for heavy cutting and even chopping chores when working on large game from a hunt or large sides of meat in a butchen shop. It can be used for slicing and even slicing and jullienne. I use it when I make conk salad and the large swoop of the blade let’s me rock and cut very quickly.

The kitchen fillet knife comes in many lengths and blade thicknesses these days. The average home fillet knife can range from four to nine inches or more in length and in general terms are in average 4,6,7.5 and 9 inch lengths. Each manufacturer is different between the Western Europeans and the Japanese. The difference in the blade length is in direct relation with the size of the fish that you want to fillet. The smaller the blade, the smaller the fish and the larger the blade, the larger the fish. In today’s market most home fillet knives and most fillet knives for the outdoors sports fisherman are made of stainless steel but at the same time there are many makers that produce them in good old fashioned 1095 carbon steel. In the European market you can get both types make in places like Finland, Norway and Sweden and they are excellent. The funny thing about the stainless steel fillet knives is that most manufacturers do not list what kind of stainless the knife is made from. Believe me when I tell you that not all stainless steel is the same!If you go with a name that has a reputation then you will be just fine whether you are shopping for a home fillet knife or outdoors sporting type. Also be aware that not all fillet knives have the same amount of flex in them and you will want to test the waters so to speak to find the one that you are most comfortable with.

This is a standard tool in the professional and home kitchen that is used for “honing” the blade of your knives. I said “hone” and not “sharpen” because the fact of the matter is that you cannot “sharpen” your culinary knives with a steel, it is only used for straightening the edge of your knife so that you can continue to work. Eventually, you will have to do a complete sharpening on your knives after the honing process in not effective anymore. Anyone who tells you that you can “sharpen” your knife on a steel is mistaken. Yes you can shave hair after honing your knife on a steel, but that is not a true razor edge, it is the micro serrations created by the steel that are clipping your hair. There are many types of “honing steels” on the market today. Some are made of carbide, diamond, ceramic, or case hardened steel. Some “honing steels” are flat surfaced and some are corrugated and some are coated with industrial diamonds that are either poly surfaced or mono surfaced.(More on honing steels and how to sharpen with a honing steel
in upcoming blog posts and videos………stay tuned!)

So there you have it a basic review of the most basic kitchen knives in your home. I hope you enjoyed it. The video series will follow shortly so stay tuned!

Shun Japanese Santoku

1. Are you a professional chef or cook? Do you consider yourself a gourmet home chef? If so then precision cutting performance is something you will be looking for and in this case I would recommend getting good quality Japanese Kitchen Knives

Tags: cooking, knives

For those who do not know the difference between high quality hand forged Japanese knives and kitchen knife low quality designed, hand-Japanese knives of very experienced sword forged to extend their talents are back over 800 designed years crafting world-class Japanese swords. Japanese knives are known worldwide for their exceptional quality, clarity and durability.

Japanese knives are made by hand the results of the ancient art of sword craft. It dates from the 12th Century Japanese sword craftsmen were masters of the sword of craft in their own style, making swords cutting capacity in upper and clever are ways to cut the other wing in the world. Japanese swords are made to cut and slash, and bash instead of printing, used a style of fighting them for military purposes because it is the best option was to fight on horseback.

When the days when swords were banned in the streets, Bladesmithing an important industry, the ability to craft a long sword in Japan is first class. With their experience and skills, decided the Japanese sword are craftsmen knife near the same average performance and quality with the swords not to make known.

The first hand forged kitchen knife blade was made by forging the Japanese Deba bocho in 1688, with a kitchen knife of high quality cut. Several types of forged knives by hand, then, as Misono, Gyuto and hankotsu sujihiki, all first-class quality. Even today in modern times, Japanese hand-forged knives are highly sought after by the best chefs in the world for their quality and higher cutting capacity and functionality.

Make do not be fooled by low quality and not the price of expensive knives spectacular shopping, read the products of our suppliers and surprised at what you have in your kitchen, you can be proud to be. Japanese knives are made to over the top when it comes to quality manual, you can now have together.

Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brendan_Carpenter

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The KitchenAid brand is owned by the Whirlpool Corporation, which manufactures several kinds of cooking and countertop appliances, food preparation and ventilation products and other culinary basics. Now, seriously, what respectable kitchen-oriented brand would not provide cutlery as part of its culinary essentials? Consequently, beginning cooks and amateur chefs are presented with the KitchenAid knife set which advertises chopping, dicing and slicing in style. A great specific set to consider is the Kitchenaid 14 Piece Cutlery Set With Steak Knife Block.

According to the company’s website, KitchenAid cutlery is broken into four descriptions: Professional Series, Professional Series Stainless Steel, Cook’s Series and Carousel Sets. The collective attributes of all the knives appear to be the contoured handles for a slip-proof grip and precise cutting and also the high-carbon stainless steel blades with wonderfully sharp edges.

The components of a KitchenAid knife set most often include a chef’s knife, a slicer knife, a santoku knife, a utility knife, a paring knife, steak knives, kitchen shears and sharpening steel, every one of which can be stored in a wooden knife box. The knife handles come in two different materials – rubber and stainless steel.

The knife handles come in both black and silver, with one model in orange, which compliments any kitchen style. The wood blocks furthermore display KitchenAid’s logo with the result that you can enjoy a brand-coordinated workspace if you would like to.

A kitchen knife is often only as good as its capability to slice through meat or vegetables, and the knives you’ll find in the KitchenAid knife set aren’t going to disappoint for this purpose. The forged fabrication in addition to the high-carbon stainless steel materials result in fine rated knives at a reasonable price. A nice option for you is the Kitchenaid 14 Pc Cutlery Set.

The full tang production method and the triple-riveted stocks produce virtually perfect balance and weight. Why not absolutely perfect? Actually, it wasn’t intended to function as well in a deli or meat market as it will in your home.

One of these knife sets features a detachable steak knife block, which makes for convenient table setting. For more relaxed meals in the vein of a barbecue, you are able to simply tak off the block complete with steak knives, position it beside the other flatware and permit guests to pull out the knives whenever they have a use for them.

Also, the knives in every KitchenAid knife series are stored in a way that the steak knives are kept away from the kitchen knives. As a result, the chances of cross-contaminating bacteria can be lessened.

With the number of knives in every set, you can at least appear as if you know what you’re doing in a kitchen even when you don’t know a santoku from some katani. On top of that, it does look good sitting on the countertop.

Despite the fact that this company attests that their blades are dishwasher-safe and can resist rust and stains, you should never depend on that recommendation. Even high-end knives will rust and stain as they are immersed in the superheated dishwasher chemicals routinely.

What’s more, the sheer quantity of the different knives can frighten the novice knife wielder. If that describes you, it’s just about always better to secure a few components and then purchase others as you get better.

All in all, the Kitchenaid 14 Piece Cutlery Set With Steak Knife Block is a practical choice. It’s not the top performing product in the knife industry, yet with its reasonable price, good performance and good appearance, it’s still a good choice for anyone who just wants to fillet a trout effectively.

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I would like to add one note of warning to anyone new to the Chef’s Choice line.If you have a collection of knives with heavy bolster heels, know that Chef’s Choice models have problems with sharpening all the way to the base due to the heel not fitting into the sharpener.Most Japenese(Shun,Global,MAC, etc) knives aren’t effected since the blade extends the full lenght of the knife.Many European(Wusthof,Henckels,Sabatier) knives have the heavy metal heel, and will over years of sharpening develop a gap as the metal from the blade is ground down and the bolster remains.meaning the base of the knife will no longer be flush with your cutting board from the heel extending below it.
When I bought my Henckels (not the el cheapo Henckels International, mind you) knives I was looking for a sharpening steel but ended up with the pull-through gadget they call a “sharpener”. Someone’s already pointed out the difference, that the device is a “honer” that merely sets the blade straight. It returns usability but doesn’t actually SHARPEN, i.e, shave off metal and recreate the edge. After reality set in that I could keep running my knives in this honer until I was blue in the face and never increase the sharpness but merely prolong it, I decided to look for a way to really sharpen a knife.

Local and mail-order services didn’t appeal to me because I didn’t want the knives out of my hands or tested on stuff I wouldn’t cut in my kitchen. So I went looking for sharpeners I could use in the home.

- As I read opinions, the whetstone seems to be the best possible way. The electrical sharpeners are about the only alternative that actually re-create an edge, so I thought if the best of them doesn’t satisfy me I’ll have to go with a whetstone. And I bought this machine.

- As one reviewer pointed out on a slightly different model, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. If you think you’ll simply get an edge by running the blades through the six grooves in order, you will be sorely disappointed.

- The first and second pairs of grooves are for different knives and the third works with the first, maybe the second too. And that’s not all.

- You have to run the knife, test for a good burr on the new edge, and polish the edge straight to get your razor sharpness.

- Don’t forget to wash the knives, before and after the sharpening. You don’t want food or moisture in the sharpener, or microscopic metal in your cut food.

- Big question: is it razor sharp? Yes, but under some conditions. I tried this with five knives: Four Henckels five-star blades, and one some-other brand blade. On one Henckels santoku, I made do with a minimum burr and got a sharp blade, but it wasn’t razor sharp. This will be done over. The other brand blade got a nice burr and everything, but never got razor sharp, though it was sharper than it had ever been. The three other Henckels knives, they are as close to razor sharp as anything.

- What do I consider razor sharp? I ran an edge across a small part of my arm and it took off all the hair. THIS IS NOT SAFE – I have shaved with a straight razor so I didn’t cut myself. DON’T DO THIS, read on: I used the same blade to cut a slice off a vine ripened ripe tomato without using a chopping board, and established this test: The slice comes off with no skin left on the end of the slice where the knife finishes the cut. That is razor sharp. Vine-ripened, ripe tomatoes tend to have a skin that is almost like plastic wrap – thin and very resilient to the sharpest blade.

- None of my newly bought knives were able to pass the hand-held ripe tomato or hair-on-arm test when they were new. So the sharpness is better than the factory blade.

- The second groove can put a microscopic serration on the edge for better cutting in some situations. Or sharpen a serrated edge. I haven’t tried this yet, will update the review when I do. But I’m very happy with this product.

- Criticism that won’t take away a star: Reading the manual in this age of short-attention can be painful because the text is small and the lines too long. Paragraph breaks are scant. More pictures, narrower columns and some white space couldn’t hurt, especially here where reading the manual is a requirement (not just an overload of warnings or obvious, unnecessary direction)

- All this seems long and tedious the way I describe it, but once you’ve read the manual, you will have your knives sharp in minutes. So sharp you may be tempted to try to work on the factory edge of a newly bought knife. Just remember, it’s important to start with a reasonably good quality knife Chef’s Choice M130 whose metal can stand up to a fine edge.

I want to start with a gyuto and petty for now. I figure that I don’t slice enough meat or fish to justify a suji or yanagi. And I won’t need a honesuki/hankotsu since a petty can probably handle any minor chicken boning, right?

So I have the gyuto figured out and now I need help with the petty. I’ll write my thoughts and then maybe you guys can give me some feedback. I figure I could pick up a cheaper, smaller petty like a Carbonext, Fujiwara FKM, or something like that. My gyuto will be carbon, so I’d like to try something stainless/semi-stainless for the petty since I haven’t tried any Japanese knives, yet. The other option for the petty in my mind is to go for something really nice. The options I’ve thought of are 210mm Konosuke HD or 210mm Suisin Inox Honyaki. I haven’t tested enough to know what I like or don’t like, but I figured that given the high praise both these lines get (Konosuke HD and Suisin Inox Honyaki), it’d be a pretty safe bet if I ended up choosing one of them. What do you guys think? Would it be worth it for me as a newbie to pick up one of the two more expensive knives or should I wait and experiment with a few cheaper ones?