A Great Chef Knife for the Perfect Meal

Choosing a quality chef knife

Many of you have asked me which knife is best to use for cooking at home. Here is some information that may help you choose:

Quality chef’s tools are the most important part of preparing the perfect meal. There’s no doubt that foremost among tools is a quality chef’s knife. A chef’s knife works as an extension of the arm in every step of the cooking process from prep to plating. The perfect knife needs to be able to handle big, bulky foods but also be delicate enough to handle smaller, more fragile foods.

The team at Reviews.com recently looked at leading knife brands to find which performed the best, ultimately hand-testing 11 models. While some knives rose to the top as great performers, one of the most important things they found was that there is no one perfect knife for everyone. The best way to go about finding a great knife is to get an idea of your preferences and then handle knives in-store to find what feels best.

Knife framework:
Those who are newer in the kitchen or who may not have formal training may want to familiarize themselves with the anatomy of a kitchen knife. This will help you understand what you’re reading about different knife specs and make communication easier with salespeople you may run into.

Butt - the back end of the handle
Heel - the back end of the blade, close to the fingers
Tip - the front half of the blade (not to be confused with the point)
Point - the pointy part at the end of the knife
Edge - the sharp side of the blade.
Spine - the top of the blade, this part isn’t sharp
Tang - the steel that extends past your knife and into the handle
Bolster - the thick band of steel between the handle and the heel
Granton Edge - the dimpling on the blade to keep food from sticking

Knife anatomy

Other Considerations
Now that you’re familiar with the knife’s different parts, there are a few key questions to ask yourself:

How long should the knife be?
There is a huge variety of knife lengths available for purchase. For a great multitasking knife (known as a chef’s knife or a kitchen knife), look for an 8” model. Experts like Epicurious agree that this is a great standard size that is big enough to tackle most jobs but small enough to handle for delicate movements. Smaller and larger knives than these definitely have their own place in the kitchen and are even more important in professional cooking environments, but experts like Huffington Post agree that an 8” knife is a great place to start.

How much should it weigh?
While it’s easy enough to recommend a knife length to start at, weight is much more up to the individual. These tools should be light enough to perform delicate tasks, but large enough to accomplish large prep jobs. Of course, the weight of a knife model is relative to the size of the person handling it, so this is another aspect that’s up to personal preference. 

How much should I spend?
Your choice of budget will depend very much on your own personal needs. How often will you be using it? Are you a professional or recreational chef? Are you a master culinarian or still working on your knife skills? A bigger investment doesn’t always mean a vastly better knife, but price loosely follows quality. For those who are less frequent users and have less demanding needs in the kitchen, a lower-priced option may be ideal. For professionals who need a high-performing knife, a bigger investment may be appropriate.

For additional information or to see which model may be the best fit for you,  please visit here: https://www.reviews.com/chef-knife/