How to buy a good kitchen knife set?
In this article, we will teach you how to buy a good kitchen knife set from 6 aspects: Balance, Blade Material, Cutting Edge, Forged and Stamped, Knife Handles, and Knife Styles.
A kitchen knife set would be one of the essential kitchen supplies you need for your kitchen. The reason why they are available for a variety of designs, because they are made for various purposes. It's up to you to purchase what you think would be essential to keep you going while you are in the kitchen preparing food. But of course you would like to get something that is worth the value of your money, and as much as possible you want the best.
You are probably thinking why would it be that much essential for you to get your very own kitchen knife set if you can just use one for all of your cutting and slicing activities. As mentioned above, these knives have different functions, and their main purpose is to make your kitchen tasks easier for you to accomplish. The more convenient you are while you are working in the kitchen, the more you will be able to prepare delicious and appealing food for your audience.
Your kitchen knife set can include the Santoku Knife, Chef Knife, Slicing Knife, Bread Knife, Boning Knife, Utility Knife and Paring Knife. These knives are available in different sizes, have different handles, have different blades, to help in efficiently slicing, carving and cutting your food appropriately for whatever dish that you are preparing. Here are some advice to consider when deciding which Kitchen Knife Set are right for you.
Balance
Balance is very important in any kitchen knife. When you hold it properly, the knife should not feel heavier on either end. It should fit well in your hand and not tilt either front to back or side to side. An unbalanced knife will cause you to exert more force, adding to fatigue or increasing the risk of injury. You will want to consider the size of the knife as well. The most popular size is eight inches. They also come in ten-inch lengths, providing a longer blade.
Blade Material
Different steel types are used to make different blades like high carbon steel, high carbon stainless steel, stainless steel, titanium, vanadium, ceramic and plastic types etc. Among all these high carbon stainless steel is much popular because high carbon gives toughness, rigidity and sharpness and stainless steel is rust resistance. This strong combination is used for high quality knife manufacturing and highly recommended. Ceramic knives are extremely sharp but are easily damaged if they come in contact with a hard surface or are dropped.
Cutting Edge
You must know cutting edge ability and shapes because these are actually playing major role. Hallow ground knives are used for only slicing purpose, hollow edge shape knives are used for chopping small items easily, convex ground blade, taper ground, straight edge, and serrated edge are available in market according to your need.
Knife Handles
Handle of blade gives complete strength and control to the blade made of wood, plastic, and stainless steel. It is important to focus which quality is best and long lasting. Most arguments are suggesting wood handles because of excellent grip and do not require much maintenance.
Forged and Stamped
In purchasing a kitchen knife set, you will need to know the difference between stamped and forged. Forging is the process of taking a heated piece of metal and grinding it into the shape of a blade. Stamped blades are cut from a single sheet of metal and pressed into a blade. Forged knives are generally heavier than stamped knives, giving you better quality.
Knife Styles
The main styles of professional kitchen knives are German style and Japanese style, and both are great but quite a bit different. German style knives are heavier, and have a hefty and solid feel in the hand. They are strong and robust and will stand up to punishment just like a German tank. A good German Chefs knife is very multipurpose and strong and can do just about anything. Japanese style knives are lighter, they are extremely sharp, just like a samurai sword and are often made by layering steel just like swords. Each knife tends to be for more specialized than with German knives. If German knives are like a tank, Japanese knives are more like a Porsche.
Types of kitchen knives
There are all types of kitchen knives to choose from, so you will need to pick something that works best for your specific cooking needs. The chef knife is one of the most popular and versatile kitchen knives available, since it consists of a large sharp blade that can cut through almost anything. The wide blade is great for chopping, slicing, and even dicing, and the curved shape makes it possible to rock the knife back and forth making it easy to use. A paring knife is like a small garnish knife, and is ideal for small tasks like taking the core out of an apple. It has a very small blade and is usually best for cutting small items. A bread knife is another popular knife found in many homes, and usually consists of a very long serrated blade. It is ideal for sawing through bread and other soft items, but doesn't work well for chopping hard items like vegetables.
Related Article: How to Take Care of Your Kitchen Knife?
Conclusion
After buying your knives, it is important to care for them properly. Never put them in the dishwasher, as they can get nicked and dulled. Always wash by hand and dry before storing away. Never store knives in a drawer where they can bang into each other. A knife block is a convenient way to store your knives carefully, and can be purchased separately if your kitchen knife set did not already come with one. When the blade edge gets dull, either learn the proper method of sharpening the knives yourself. Dull knives are not only dangerous but will not give you the performance you need when cooking.
But anyways, when you are searching kitchen knife set, just check one by one as above with patience , you will find the suitable knife set.