The Best Knives For Chefs

Did you know that it is more likely you will cut yourself with a blunt knife than a sharp one? Well, it is true. Because a knife is blunt you will apply more pressure so that if and when it slips, the damage to you is greater than it would be from the light pressure used with a sharp knife. It pays to always use a sharp knife, as it is not only safer but makes the job easier and you get finished quicker. This said, care needs to be taken with sharp knives as well, and they need to be kept out of the reach of children.

Once we have the preferred cookware, serving bowls and trays, we need to look at what we are using for the food preparation. Of course we need cutting boards to chop up fruit or vegetables, and separate ones for making sandwiches and cutting up meat. Finally we have the different types of knives that will be used to cut various kinds of food ingredients.

A lot of knives used for cooking are exceptionally sharp and should be kept where kids could not get and play with them. Great care must be taken when they are in use to prevent accidents to the user.

Modern knives for the chef will complement any kitchen design, but choices need to be based on their uses. Forged knives are popular because they hold the sharpened edge for a longer time and they are very strong and durable because of the way they are manufactured. A piece of steel is heated and hammered roughly into the shape of a knife, then reheated cooled and hammered several times to temper the steel thus making it strong and hard to break. Once this process is finished, the steel is shaped into a tapered blade and sharpened to a razor finish, with a bolster between blade and handle, which is added later. Slippery hands are prevented from getting all the way to the blade with the help of the bolster.

Stamped knives are also a good choice and can be put into a dishwasher as the handle can withstand the heat used in the wash process, but the edges do not hold their sharpness as well as the forged type do. Then we have ceramic knives, which are made of zirconia dioxide, which is pressed and then fired. This produces a blade that then has the edge sharpened on a diamond-grinding wheel. With wooden or plastic handles they hardly ever need sharpening, do not corrode but are brittle and break if dropped. These knives are all great choices and each has a property all its own.