Displaying posts tagged with

“Kitchens”

May
24
2010

What is the best chef knife?

What is the best chef knife?

What is the best chef knife?

Or maybe what is a chef knife?

There are 7 types of knives used in kitchens by chefs across the world.

Each one is used for a different purpose.

I’ve made a list of the more common ones:

-         Bread Knife – obviously to cut bread, great for cake layers.

It is a long knife, usually 8″ to 10″ long or more, but more then that would be a bit uncomfortable.

The edge must be serrated for easy slicing.

-         Boning Knife – Has a mid-long thin blade for cutting meat.

Usually 6″ to 8″ long. A straight edge blade (for slicing through the meat). The blade must be flexible and about 0.5″ wide, for easy use around bones.

-         Carving knife – used for slicing dough, boneless meat, and cooked vegetables.

Usually will be between 6″ and 8″ long. The width of the blade should be about 0.8″.

Will also have a straight blade.

-         Santoku Knife – This is a late addition to the chef’s knife arsenal.

Originally from Japan, it is mostly used to cut vegetables.

-         Paring Knife – Used for thin filleting of fish vegetables or fruit.

Should be between 5 and 6 inches. Usually will be 5.25″ long.

Very thin blade and very flexible.

-         Utility Knife – a short and very strong knife, about 3.5″ inches long.

Used for all sorts of small jobs with food and also very good for household uses.

-         And Now: The king of knives: The Chef Knife

The Chef Knife has usually an 8″ blade, it could be 10″ or even 12″. It is a strong and somewhat flexible. Always with a very sharp straight edge.

A good cook, or chef will usually do most of his work using his chef knife, taking it everywhere.

It is the knife that he will never let anyone else touch.

He will make sure to keep it sharpened, clean and ready for use.

Nov
18
2009

Professional Knife Sharpeners

Even though humans have been cooking for centuries the basic kitchen tools stay the same, the knife is one of those tool. In almost all of today’s kitchens keeping a knife sharp only calls for a simple pull-through knife sharpener, sharpening stone, or sharpening steel should be enough. In fact, this occasional task takes just a bit elbow grease, and your knifes will be back in top condition in no time. On the other hand, if you use your tools frequently, often find yourself chipping them or otherwise wearing them down, or are a professional chef or anyone else who uses a selection of kitchen knifes on an everyday basis, you will want to consider a business or professional model. Keeping your knifes sharpened will allow you to focus on your work, not your tools. In the previous couple of years most of the people moved to knife sharpener that is electric. This helps reduce the effort an means you don’t have to manually pull each knife thru the sharpener multiple times. Those with angle guides can further cut back the work wanted to quickly and efficiently sharpen your knifes. With an electrical sharpener, even a particularly lifeless kitchen knife can be sharpened in mere seconds. Plus, electric sharpeners can simply handle high-volume sharpening without wearing down. If you’re looking for a good sharpener there are a few solid ground rules you need to doubtless follow. Choose a fine quality electrical sharpener or sharpening wheel that is meant to stand up to the quantity of use you require. Choose the grit size according to your requirements ; if you plan to sharpen your knifes daily, choose a finer grit, while more occasional sharpening may need a rougher grit to remove more metal from the blades. If you’re a cook who needs extra-sharp knifes available straight away, this solution can give you the sharpest edge possible with just some passes. If you use many tools with lades,eg axes or chainsaws, you can also sharpen these yourself rather than sending them out for pricey upkeep. Often , you will not be in a position to use an electrical sharpener because these sharpeners have a slot for the knife blade, and are designed for kitchen-sized knifes. A grinding wheel can also be used to sharpen such odd-sized blades. Using your own knife sharpener can save everyone a bunch of cash because you may no longer need to send your blades out for professional knife sharpening. No matter what kind of knifes or blades you use on an everyday basis, you will find a sharpening option that will enable you to sharpen them yourself. In any case it is a sure thing that keeping your kitchen knives sharp will save you a lot of energy and effort, will make your cooking experiance much nicer and easier, and that keeping the kinves in good condition will make sure you will be able to use them for many more years to come. The one more hting you need to know about sharp knives is the fact that a sharp knive is also a cleaner knife, it might sound like a detail, but sometimes you need to make sure your knives are sharp and clean. .

Gorko Lortui writes about home and kitchen tools, giving tips and ideas on better home and kitchen management