Knife Buying Cheat Guide
For professional chefs, the knife is like a part of their arm.
There are plenty of designs for kitchen knives, but an experienced chef is always careful about his selection. He prefers to invest in the most functional and durable knife set to ensure long life performance with higher durability. It is not always about how beautiful a kitchen knife looks; instead, for a chef, it is more important to ensure that the knife is more precise, balanced and stays sharp.
Many amateur and aspiring chefs alike often ask how much they should invest in their kitchen knives. There are many factors that come into play when it comes to choosing a knife; from its sharpness, balance, size, design, hardness, grip, weight, precision and so forth. But one thing is for certain. It is always worth investing more for a good quality kitchen knife that will serve you well each and every day for many years to come.
The top brands in the market when it comes to kitchen knives include Henckel, Shun, Miyabi, F. Dick, Tojiro, Furi, and Luke Mangan knives. If you don’t know where to start, you can generally separate them between German Knives (generally heavier and sturdier) or Japanese Knives (more often lighter and precision focused).
Each brand will have its own unique characteristics and price range. Instead of focusing on what price you are willing to pay, it may help to decide what qualities you are looking for in the kitchen knife or knife set that you are searching for.
Once you have defined your baseline requirements for your knife, then compare against different brands as well as the different line of knives within each brand (a brand will often have several knife series) to decide which knife at the cost associated suits you best.
A couple more pointers to keep in mind before you make your decision and take home your new best friend/s.
- Decide what type of tasks the knife is intended for. Is it for carving meat, chopping vegetables, slicing fruit? The chef knife is a multi-purpose and versatile knife which will tackle many of jobs and may be all that you need. For others who are after something a bit smaller or lighter may prefer a santoku knife, along with a paring knife and utility knife for smaller cuts. Or if you’re the type of person who is more serious about their cooking and finds it easier having the right knife designed for each task, then buying a complete knife set may just be what you need.
- The price of a kitchen knife also varies by the type of steel used and how it was crafted. Experts usually recommend choosing knives made of up stainless steel that have higher corrosion resistance. A cheaper alternative would be to choose a knife made with carbon steel. And a knife that has been hand forged is generally more robust, better quality and expensive as a result compared to stamped knives which have been cut out of a sheet of metal.
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