When you are ready to buy your first set of quality kitchen knives you may find choosing the best ones for your needs a little confusing. This article explains the different types of kithen knives that are available.
Kitchen knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes and there are some even designed for dedicated jobs. You do not, however, need to purchase every kind as, for example, a good chefs knife will deal with most of the chopping you need to do. You can make things a little easier on yourself though if you look at buying perhaps 3 different kinds of knife, or different sized blades as cutting bread is entirely different to cutting fresh meat.
Kitchen knives are made of 3 different materials; metal, ceramic and plastic.
Plasic knives can do a fairly good job in the kitchen but are particularly well suited to soft fruits and some of the softer vegetables. They are dishwasher safe but they aren’t usually particuarly sharp so you are probably better off avoiding them where possible.
Steel is much stronger and a good stainless steel kitchen knife should last you a long time. You should however also look at how flexible the knife is as cheap ones do not have much give and this is a sign of cheap steel being used. The packaging is also worth checking; if the blade has been forged then this will make it tougher and will last longer.
Ceramic knives are usually more expensive – but they are also the sharpest ones you can get. The price difference can vary greatly, but if you imagine a scale of 0-10 where warm butter is rated 0 and diamond is 10, then a ceramic kitchen knife would be rated around 8 or 9.
Dont forget to look after your quality kitchen knives when you get them. Try not to put them in the dishwasher as this can lead to premature rust and even the top shelf can take a layer off each wash. If you must put them in the dishwasher then you will probably need to sharpen them at least once a month. In comparison, If you wash them by hand, you can usually get away with having them sharpened twice a year.
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