When it comes to professional cutlery, most chefs are very particular about their knives. There are a wide variety of knife sets with carrying cases to make it easy for a chef to keep their own personal professional knives with them where ever they may go. And while the chef has their personal favorites, a well-prepared kitchen must keep the most essential and most versatile knives on hand to accomplish the bulk of the work. Most knives have a specific purpose in the kitchen, but there are some more versatile knives that can perform a variety of tasks making them indispensable for food prep and serving. We’ve found that these three professional knives are essential for a well-prepared kitchen:
Paring Knife - Similar in shape and contour to a chef’s knife, but smaller in scale, the blade of a paring knife measures between 2 and 4 inches in length. The paring knife is ideal for delicate tasks like peeling and garnishing as well as coring tomatoes and strawberries.
Chef’s Knife - A chef’s knife usually has a wide blade that is between 6 to 10 inches long. These knives are primarily used for chopping. A French chef’s knife will curve upward which is different than the Japanese version of a chef’s knife, the Santoku Knife which features a tip that curves downward and often has a granton or hollow edge. The benefit of the granton edge is that it reduces friction on the blade and releases food better when slicing.
Serrated Slicing Knife - As the name says, this is a slicing knife, and with the serrated edge it is easy to cut through multi-textured foods like soft tomatoes or bread with a hard crust. For this knife, a longer blade is needed, usually 10 to 12 inches long so that it will reduce the amount of sawing necessary to slice through meat. With a blade of this length, you take fewer, but longer strokes, to cut through various foods.
With these three different knives, the paring knife, the chef’s knife and the serrated slicing knife, your kitchen is ready to slice through most anything.
