Knives
Varieties
Knives are utensils that have a handle and a blade that may or may not be sharp-edged. Available in a wide variety of different types and sizes, a knife is used for cutting, chopping, dicing, slicing, mincing, peeling, separating, and other kitchen tasks where the thin metal shaft of a blade is of value for food preparation. Special purpose knives such as boning, carving, mincing, slicing, deveining, and paring knives are available as well specific food knives for butter, cheese, chestnuts, clams, filets, grapefruit, oysters, tomatoes, and steak.
When selecting a knife the size and type desired is most often determined by the purpose of use. Since many knives are made for a specific purpose, it is best to determine the use and then select one that fits the intended purpose.
Knives should be kept safely stored away from children and in clean dry areas that protect the blade from being easily damaged by other utensils, surfaces or moisture. Sharpen knives when necessary to insure effective performance. When sharpening knives, use processes that do not overheat the blade material, causing the temper of the blade to be damaged and no longer hold an edge. Hand sharpening with a whetstone or grinding lightly with a mechanized sharpener are best to keep blades sharp and well edged.
Some blocked knives have a full or partial tang with riveted scales and some have a handle epoxied to a stick tang. These knives never have bolsters. They are light, inexpensive and usually poorly balanced. Example would be Forschner/Victorinox knives. Heating steel blank very hot and pounding it into shape with a drop forge machine make forged knives. The purpose is usually to provide for that thick bolster. It wouldn't be practical or economical to grind the knife from a steel blank thick enough to produce a bolster.
Forged knives, then, are made from a single piece of steel in this fashion. An example of forged knives would be the Wusthof Classic series.
Sintered knives are made by fusing together the blade and tang or, sometimes, the blade, bolster and tang to make up a complete knife from the various parts. This is done as an economy measure in some cases since it is less expensive than forging. In other cases it allows for construction that would be impossible without it.
An example of sintered knives would be the Global G and GS series. They are sintered from a flat steel blade and a tubular steel handle. It would be impossible to block knives like this and forging would produce a heavy solid handle.
Handles
You can choose between composition handles, wood handles or stainless steel handles. The choice is between the practical maintenance - free nature of composition or stainless and the beauty and luxurious feel of wood. Most professionals choose composition or stainless handles because they require no maintenance and wood handles aren't allowed in most commercial kitchens. Wood handled knives are attractive and work fine in a home kitchen where the cook takes care of the equipment.
Blade Types
The best kitchen knives are flat ground. The blade profile tapers from the thicker spine to the thinner edge in a straight or convex line. They are heavier and tougher than hollow ground blades, which have a concave profile.
Serrations are the wavy type of blade edges. The purpose is to keep part of the edge from making contact with the cutting board, which dulls edges much faster than the food. We consider this an outstanding feature on bread knives and recommend that your bread knives have it. As long as you keep your edges sharp, plain edges are better for all other kitchen purposes. A well - sharpened plain edge knife should slice a ripe tomato cleanly and easily. Serrations are popular in lower priced knives because they will cut well when dull than a plain edge blade. They provide more accurate and precise cuts as well as being easier or even possible to sharpen. Sharpening serrated edges is impractical because one would need the wheel from the factory with which the serrations were originally ground. It is possible to touch up serrated edges on the backside by honing them lightly. When serrated edges become dull, you should think about replacing them.
Some knives have what is known as a Granton edge. You may have seen the large Kullenschliff slicers used to cut prime rib at a buffet. These knives have hollow oval areas ground into the side of the blades. Professional chefs for slicing meat and fish as well as for other purposes use them. The advantage is that the food being cut with them has fewer tendencies to stick to the side of the blade. They are maintained just like regular edges. Some of the new east/west Furi knives have Granton edges.
When selecting a knife the size and type desired is most often determined by the purpose of use. Since many knives are made for a specific purpose, it is best to determine the use and then select one that fits the intended purpose.
Knives should be kept safely stored away from children and in clean dry areas that protect the blade from being easily damaged by other utensils, surfaces or moisture. Sharpen knives when necessary to insure effective performance. When sharpening knives, use processes that do not overheat the blade material, causing the temper of the blade to be damaged and no longer hold an edge. Hand sharpening with a whetstone or grinding lightly with a mechanized sharpener are best to keep blades sharp and well edged.
Buying
Basically, there are 3 ways to make a kitchen knife. You can block it, forge it or sinter it. Well you could grind or file one to shape from steel blank but knives aren't made that way commercially. Blocked knives are cut from a sheet or roll of steel of constant thickness something like cutting cookies from a dough. The blades are then ground and edged and handles are attached to the tangs.Some blocked knives have a full or partial tang with riveted scales and some have a handle epoxied to a stick tang. These knives never have bolsters. They are light, inexpensive and usually poorly balanced. Example would be Forschner/Victorinox knives. Heating steel blank very hot and pounding it into shape with a drop forge machine make forged knives. The purpose is usually to provide for that thick bolster. It wouldn't be practical or economical to grind the knife from a steel blank thick enough to produce a bolster.
Forged knives, then, are made from a single piece of steel in this fashion. An example of forged knives would be the Wusthof Classic series.
Sintered knives are made by fusing together the blade and tang or, sometimes, the blade, bolster and tang to make up a complete knife from the various parts. This is done as an economy measure in some cases since it is less expensive than forging. In other cases it allows for construction that would be impossible without it.
An example of sintered knives would be the Global G and GS series. They are sintered from a flat steel blade and a tubular steel handle. It would be impossible to block knives like this and forging would produce a heavy solid handle.
Handles
You can choose between composition handles, wood handles or stainless steel handles. The choice is between the practical maintenance - free nature of composition or stainless and the beauty and luxurious feel of wood. Most professionals choose composition or stainless handles because they require no maintenance and wood handles aren't allowed in most commercial kitchens. Wood handled knives are attractive and work fine in a home kitchen where the cook takes care of the equipment.
Blade Types
The best kitchen knives are flat ground. The blade profile tapers from the thicker spine to the thinner edge in a straight or convex line. They are heavier and tougher than hollow ground blades, which have a concave profile.
Serrations are the wavy type of blade edges. The purpose is to keep part of the edge from making contact with the cutting board, which dulls edges much faster than the food. We consider this an outstanding feature on bread knives and recommend that your bread knives have it. As long as you keep your edges sharp, plain edges are better for all other kitchen purposes. A well - sharpened plain edge knife should slice a ripe tomato cleanly and easily. Serrations are popular in lower priced knives because they will cut well when dull than a plain edge blade. They provide more accurate and precise cuts as well as being easier or even possible to sharpen. Sharpening serrated edges is impractical because one would need the wheel from the factory with which the serrations were originally ground. It is possible to touch up serrated edges on the backside by honing them lightly. When serrated edges become dull, you should think about replacing them.
Some knives have what is known as a Granton edge. You may have seen the large Kullenschliff slicers used to cut prime rib at a buffet. These knives have hollow oval areas ground into the side of the blades. Professional chefs for slicing meat and fish as well as for other purposes use them. The advantage is that the food being cut with them has fewer tendencies to stick to the side of the blade. They are maintained just like regular edges. Some of the new east/west Furi knives have Granton edges.
