Basic Kitchen Knives

There are so many different pieces of kitchen equipment, and so many sets of knives, some of ridiculous prices, that it can be quite confusing as to what you really need when first starting out.

You can go so wrong when it comes to buying knives for the kitchen.

• Firstly by getting more than you need.
• Secondly, by not investing in the very best quality you can afford.

Find the best you can afford; buy something more expensive, and then lie about what you paid when you get home! – did I really say that?

Chef's Knife

At the very least you need a Chef's knife, one of the most-used kitchen knives and used for everything from chopping, to slicing vegetables.

They come with blade lengths from 6 inches to 12 inches. Personally, I am fully equipped using just 6-inch and 8-inch knives, a couple of pairing knives and a bread knife. I have others but rarely use them. 

Recommended Chef's Kitchen Knives

After everything I just said about buying knife sets, the first product featured here is a knife set. Practice will be the guide and determiner for what a person in the kitchen really likes.

A set of good quality knives with a pair of kitchen shears and a sharpener included are a good place for a new chef to be, to start with.

It may seem pricey but divide that by 9 and each piece is very affordable. But where does that leave us with quality?

Not nearly as good as the others listed here as singles but a set gives an inexperienced cook a good place to start. When the new food preparer gets some practice behind them, then they will begin to learn which size knives they like and use the most and be far more prepared to spend the money on a top quality chef's knife.

Fish Knife

I have a fish knife, one that is flexible. But be warned; these are exceptionally sharp.

If you purchase frozen fish from the supermarket you will likely not need a specially designed knife for deboning and filleting fish.

But if you are fortunate enough to live near a market that sells fresh caught fish then you will need something that has been created to do the job easily.

Fish can be very messy to prepare without the proper knife.

Utility Knives

And then I have a small selection of utility knives, mid-sized knives that can be used for a range of jobs.

These include one knife with a serrated edge, for cutting tomatoes, for example, plus a bread knife.

Sharpening Steel

But the really key piece of equipment that many overlook is a sharpening steel.

These days there are two versions of the sharpening steel: one uses a fine grit ceramic material either solid ceramic or ceramic applied to a metal rod, flat or oval.

The other is a metal rod either round, oval, or flat with a diamond coating.

The technicalities of what a steel actually does is not vital, but it is important to realize that if you cut yourself with a sharpened knife, you'll get a clean cut, painful, true, but clean, and this is infinitely better than the sort of ragged cut you'd get with a knife that is less than sharp.

So, sharpen your knife on a regular basis.

Check this out, for some suggestions about essential pots and pans.