how to : use the right knife

a how to guide of each knife on the block

have you ever sat down at the table and not known which utensil to use? how about all of the differently shaped knives you can buy? you just need to slice, dice, and chop things, right? here's a how to guide for each knife and its beautiful purpose in life.

paring

this little thing is for removing or "paring" away things like peels from fruits and veggies.

peeling

utility

this knife falls between a paring and a chef's knife

use this knife for all sorts of tasks in the kitchen

peeling, slicing, dicing smaller foods

chef's

a kitchen staple

the chef's knife works for most jobs and will probably be your most used knife.

chopping, slicing, dicing, and mincing

bird's beak

the bird's beak knife is a compact little one that is easy to maneuver and make delicate decorations with.

carving, peeling, slicing, coring, cutting, scoring

santoku

santoku meaning "three virtues" is similar in popularity and use to a chef's knife, with a thinner blade.

slicing, dicing, mincing

boning

this extremely thin blade increases precision, allowing you to cut meat, poultry, and fish right off of the bone without any waste.

precision carving

bread

a serrated blade helps to saw through loaves of bread without flattening the fluffy goodness

delicate slicing

hollow-ground slicing

a long narrow blade with relief cuts allows for smooth frictionless slicing

slicing

cleaver

this huge iconic blade is perfect for movies, slicing and dicing your vegetables, and crushing garlic with the large flat edge of the blade.

slicing, dicing, crushing

honing steel

the edge of the blade that cuts, the burr, works best when aligned. a sharp knife keeps the most nutrition in your food and is the safest. while a quality knife will remain sharp for a very long time, the burr will fold over after use and keep your sharp blade from making direct contact with the food you want to cut.

gently slide whichever blade you need to realign over the honing steel from one side to the other.

sharpening grinds away the steel of your blade and is great, but doesn't need to be done often. if your knife feels slightly dull, or you see food smudges on your cutting board (because it is smashing cells instead of cutting through them) it's time to hone your blade and fix that folded edge.