Comparison kitchen Knives

— Universal. Universal models have a fairly simple design: a medium-length blade with a rounded cutting edge and, most often, smooth sharpening (although there are options with teeth). Knives of this type are present in almost every kitchen, because, in accordance with the name, they are suitable for a variety of tasks: cutting bread, peeling vegetables, butchering meat, etc. And although for some work such a knife may be less convenient than a specialized one, it is quite enough for most tasks that arise in simple everyday cooking. Yes, and professional chefs must have at least one universal model in their set.

— Chief. Outwardly, such knives are similar to the universal ones described above, they have a smooth sharpening and, most often, a rounded cutting edge, but they are massive, have a wider blade, and some models are also noticeably longer. Chef's knives can also be used for a variety of jobs, and the size and weight make it easier to cut large and "dense" foods.

— Bunting. Deboning is the separation of meat from bone; accordingly, this is the main purpose of these knives, although the design allows them to be used for other purposes (in particular, butchering poultry). They have a long thin blade, which is quite wide at the handle, but narrows towards the tip (quite sharply at once, then smoother). Sharpening is usually smooth.

— Fi...llet. Knives designed for cutting meat and fish into even, neat pieces, separating skin from meat and fillets from bones. The shape of the blade can be different: some models are more like boning, others are more like universal (both see above). However, all fillet knives have a long and flexible blade, which allows cutting even large pieces with a single movement of the knife (this ensures accuracy). Sharpening — only smooth. Please note that fish/sushi knives are not included in this category.

— For the cleaning. Knives designed for maximum convenience when peeling fruits and vegetables. Their main distinguishing feature is a short blade (significantly shorter than the handle). The cutting edge can be straight or concave, with the tip down; the first option is suitable for various fruits and vegetables, and the second is designed mainly for potatoes. In addition, a concave blade can be useful for decorating holiday tables. Knives of this type can be either smooth or serrated.

— Cutting. Many knives of this type practically do not differ externally from universal ones (see above); other models are equipped with a longer blade. The point in carving knives is often made almost in the centre of the blade. Their main purpose is to cut large vegetables and fruits (including watermelons and melons), as well as large pieces of meat and fish.

— For cutting. By design, such knives are very similar to boning knives, they also have a thin blade, expanded at the handle and tapering towards the tip. However, they are intended primarily for cutting meat and fish into thin slices (including in Japanese cuisine).

— For bread. Knives designed for cutting bread are distinguished by a long blade with a uniform width (only at the very tip it tapers) and a cutting edge of a straight or slightly curved shape. Most often, the blade of such a knife has teeth (see below), exceptions are extremely rare; thanks to the teeth, the knife is able to effectively cut through the crust on the bread and cut it without crushing. A similar tool can be useful for other products of a similar structure — for example, pineapples — and even, in extreme cases, as a replacement for a tomato knife (although the large length and mass of the blade may require some skill).

— For the steak. The name "for a steak" is also found. A rather peculiar kind of knives: formally they belong to the kitchen (and they have a characteristic design), but in fact they are intended for cutting the finished dish, i.e. are canteens. Steak knives necessarily have a serrated cutting edge for ease of cutting fried meat and, in most cases, are distinguished by a slightly curved tip.

— For tomatoes. Knives designed for slicing fruits and vegetables that have a hard or hard skin on the outside and a soft core on the inside. The length of the blade in tomato knives is relatively short (smaller than in utility knives, but longer than in peeling knives), and the cutting edge is most often equipped with teeth (see below). The teeth allow you to gently cut through the skin and cut vegetables and other delicate foods without crushing them.

— For cheese. Most cheese knives have a rather unusual shape: the point is bent up, often double, in the shape of a fork, and the blade has large slots and resembles a frame. The cutting edge is often equipped with teeth (see below). Thanks to this shape, the knife effectively cuts even soft cheeses, and they do not stick to the blade. However, there are other design options — for example, a knife with a wide rectangular blade resembling a hatchet (see below), or a device on a T-handle with a special limiter that allows you to cut slices of cheese of a strictly defined thickness.

— Cheese spatula. A kind of knife for cutting cheese, made in the form of a spatula with a small blade in the middle. By the principle of operation, it is somewhat reminiscent of a vegetable peeler. The spatula will help cut the cheese into equal pieces, while significantly protecting against cuts.

— For oil. A distinctive feature of butter knives is a rather wide blade with a rounded end — in fact, there is no point as such in the design. Butter knives are rather conventionally classified as kitchen knives — like steak knives, they are more like cutlery, but they are often made to look like kitchen ones.

— Santoku. The name of these knives is of Japanese origin and means "three good things", which means the ability to cut, chop and crumble. Santoku have a characteristic shape with a wide blade and a cutting edge located noticeably below the handle (straight or almost straight), due to which they somewhat resemble hatchets. Sharpening is smooth, with rare exceptions; in classic santoku — much sharper than conventional knives. True to the name, this type is quite versatile, however, it is best suited for slicing — both in cubes and quite thin.

— Nakiri. Another variety of traditional Japanese knives. Like the santoku described above, they are equipped with a fairly wide blade, but in this case the blade has a rectangular or close shape. In addition, despite the "massive" appearance, these knives weigh relatively little. Their main purpose is cutting vegetables, while high-quality nakiri is quite capable of providing thin cutting at high speed.

— Hatchet. He's a hack. As the name implies, this type of kitchen tool is closer to axes than knives: the main feature is a heavy, very wide blade designed for cutting. It is very convenient to cut large pieces of meat and poultry with a hatchet — it easily cuts not only veins, but also rather large bones.

— For pizza. Knives designed for cutting pizza into separate pieces are distinguished by their original design. The blade in such a tool has the form of a disk, sharpened along the edge and able to rotate freely around the central axis. Thus, during operation, the blade literally rolls over the product being cut, and the cutting edge practically does not slide forward or backward — cutting is ensured only by indentation from top to bottom. When cutting pizza or other similar dishes, this is more convenient than using a knife with a classic blade, and sometimes even safer. For example, if the pizza is in a cardboard box, a traditional knife could cut through it, damage the table and ruin the packaging, while with a circular knife, the likelihood of such troubles is minimal.

— Peeler. A specific type of tool designed primarily for peeling vegetables and fruits. The working part of the vegetable peeler has the form of a slit, the edges of which play the role of cutting edges (there can be two such slits). These edges are arranged in such a way that while one is active, the other acts as a limiter, preventing the blade from going too deep. Thanks to this, the peel is removed literally in one movement, while you can not be afraid that the tool will cut off an excessively thick layer of the product.

— Skinning. A skinning knife is called a skinner (from the English word "skinner"). Its characteristic feature is a short and wide blade with a smooth rise of the point. It is used for accurate skinning before direct cutting of the carcass. The short blade and rounded profile of the point allow the knife to easily and quickly separate the skin from the meat without spoiling the appearance of the carcass. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the profile of the handle — the skinning knife should lie comfortably in your hand.

— To remove the zest. A peeler allows you to thinly peel any citrus fruit, from lemon and orange to grapefruit and lime. The cutting part of the tool is represented by a sharpened scraper. The zest knife has found an unusually wide application in carving, with its help you can beautifully set the table. Additionally, you can get neatly crushed zest, which is used in the preparation of a wide range of dishes and drinks.

— To remove the core of apples. The knife has the shape of a punch. Such a blade is represented by a cylindrical hollow tube, the base of which is pointed. There are punches with a toothed profile at the base. A coring knife is used when preparing fruits for heat treatment when cooking compotes, baking, preserving and marinating). The apple cutter can handle not only apples, but also other fruits and vegetables.

— For slicing fruit. The knife consists of a multi-section blade, which is enclosed in a convenient and practical case. This blade allows you to quickly and easily cut fruit into slices. There are knives for cutting apples, which additionally remove the core. Such a knife can be indispensable when the user often has to deal with the preparation of fruit for a beautiful table setting. A multi-section blade is also used by bakers when neatly cut into even slices of fruit are added to pastries.

— For oysters. As the name implies, these knives are designed for oysters. This is not about cutting, but about opening the clam shell.

— For the test. One of the most extensive categories of knives. There are knives for cutting pizza, dough, both rolled out and simply molded in one piece. Cutters for cooking noodles and spaghetti are produced in a separate series.

— For fish/sushi. This series of knives is designed for cutting and slicing fish, squid, shrimp, shellfish and other seafood. This category also includes the yanagiba and deba knives. Yanagiba — a thin and long knife that is perfect for neat and accurate cutting of fillets, as well as steak pieces; the length of the blade can reach 40 cm, while the width of the blade is in the range of 3-4 cm. Deba is a knife with a blade of medium length, about 20-25 cm, while the blade is quite wide; the tool is designed for cutting fish, a wide massive blade can easily separate the fillet from the spine and costal bones.

— For the ravioli. The knife is designed for forming semi-finished products from raw dough (but is not a dough knife). This device consists of a handle and a textured stamp with a cutting edge. Ravioli knives can be equipped with dies with the widest variety of working profiles: round, triangular and square, etc. Ravioli knives are most often equipped with a non-removable die. But there are models whose textured stamp can be replaced. Such knives are equipped with interchangeable dies of various shapes.

— Scraper for fish. The scraper is intended for removal of fish scales. This device is indispensable when you need to prepare whole fish in the skin. Additionally, the tool is used to clean the skin detached from the fish, in which minced fish / pate or other fillings will subsequently be baked.

— For zucchini. A knife that allows you to cut the soft core of zucchini, cucumbers and many other vegetables. A characteristic feature of the zucchini knife is the arcuate profile of the blade, forming a double blade.

- Steel. In this case, we mean steel blades made by stamping. It is believed that this method itself does not provide as high quality as forging; in addition, the blade and tang in this case can be made separately and then welded together, which further reduces the durability of the knife and increases the risk of breaking it under great force. However, stamped blades are easy to produce, inexpensive, and usually sufficiently durable for most tasks, both everyday and professional. This ensured their high popularity.

— Steel ( non-stick coating). Steel blades with a special polymer coating applied to them. It not only prevents the sticking of products, but also protects the blade from corrosion, makes it easy to clean, and also gives the tool an original and bright appearance - because the coating can be given any color. The tendency to abrasion reduces many of the advantages of such a blade to nothing.

— Forged steel. Blades made of steel by forging. Such knives are considered much stronger and more durable than stamped ones, in particular because the shank and blade are initially one piece, which reduces the risk of breaking the knife. On the other hand, the process itself is quite expensive and troublesome, and therefore is used mainly in premium knives.

— Damascus steel. In modern knives, Damascus steel...refers to steel consisting of many layers with different carbon contents. Such layers vary in color, which gives the blade a characteristic beautiful pattern, while Damascus blades combine high strength, flexibility and durability. However, the complexity of production significantly affects the price - such knives can cost many times more than even similar forged ones.

— Three-layer steel. The name “laminated” is also found. As the name suggests, such blades consist of three layers of steel (this is one of the main differences from the multi-layer Damascus described above). These layers differ in composition and, accordingly, properties: the core is made of hard high-carbon steel, and the lining is made of soft “stainless steel”. This combination allows you to combine the advantages of both types: the core provides the blade with the necessary hardness, and the linings compensate for the fragility of high-carbon steel. Another advantage of three-ply blades is the ease of sharpening, since relatively little hard material has to be removed during the process. Their disadvantage is, first of all, their high price. In addition, the fragile core does not bear shock loads well, which is why such knives are unsuitable for chopping.

- Ceramics. Ceramic, usually zirconium based, is considered a very advanced material. It allows you to create very sharp blades that do not dull for a long time, do not oxidize, are easy to clean, are not susceptible to scratches, and also weigh much less than steel. On the other hand, ceramic blades are very fragile and have absolutely no flexibility, making them prone to chipping and very sensitive to shocks and falls. In addition, due to the high hardness of the material, such blades cannot be sharpened using traditional methods, and special ones are quite expensive - despite the fact that the cost of the knives themselves is also very high.

— Titan. Titanium-based alloys are premium materials. They are characterized by a solid appearance; titanium blades are also distinguished by their low weight combined with high strength properties. The blades of titanium knives do not enter into chemical reactions when in contact with food, which means they ensure proper hygiene in the food preparation process. Anodizing titanium allows you to get fantastically beautiful and rich colors of the blade. The main disadvantage, traditionally for such materials, is the high cost.

— Plastic. Plastic is often considered a cheap and low-quality material, but this is not entirely true for kitchen knives. The fact is that the term "plastic" in this case can mean various types of polymers, often with very advanced specifications. Most often, the quality of the plastic handle directly depends on the price category of the knife. With all this, the plastic handles are strong enough to use the knife for its intended purpose for at least several months, are easy to clean, and are also resistant to water and kitchen chemicals.

— Wood. The wood is pleasing to the eye and touch, can withstand hits and falls without any problems, and its durable varieties are not necessarily expensive. At the same time, this material is sensitive to water — it “absorbs” water, loses its presentation, resistance to cracks, chips and scratches (which is not very high anyway) and can even “bloom”, which is generally unacceptable for a kitchen appliance. Wooden handles are not used too widely — either in the cheapest knives, where durability is not important, or vice versa, in premium-class models, where wood plays the role of an stylish material.

— Steel. This material is considered one of the most hygienic: it is easy to clean, and the design of the knife has virtually no gaps in which dirt can accumulate. In addition, steel handles look very solid, durable and...hard, withstand hits and falls without any problems, and are also scratch resistant. On the other hand, a steel handle is more likely to slip out of your hand than a wooden or plastic one.

— Steel with an insert. A variant designed to eliminate the main disadvantage of all-steel handles (see above) — an increased likelihood of slipping. This is what inserts are used for: they are made of rubber, plastic or other similar material that increases the "grip" of the palm with the knife handle. The presence of inserts is the only difference between handles of this type and all-steel; the rest of the features are completely identical.

— Silicone. A material that looks and feels similar to the plastic described above, but has its own specifics. The main practical difference is that silicone is much softer, some of its varieties are similar to rubber. This provides a more comfortable and secure hold in the hands; in addition, the silicone surface is often made slightly rough, which improves grip and further reduces the likelihood of slipping. On the other hand, this material is more expensive than plastic, and the advantages described are not decisive; therefore, silicone handles are not common, mainly among premium knives (although there are exceptions).

The length of a blade is usually measured from the point to the neck (the bulge between the blade and the handle). The value of this parameter is determined primarily by the type of knife. For example, in models for cleaning, it rarely exceeds 12 cm — otherwise it would be inconvenient to work with small round products). Among bread, on the contrary, blades shorter than 20 cm are rarely found — loaves of bread can be quite thick, which requires an appropriate knife, etc. However, knives of the same type can also vary significantly in length. In most cases, you can use this principle: a longer knife allows you to work with larger pieces of food, but it is less “agile”, and the length of the blade can affect the price.

The hardness of the metal used in the knife blade. Indicated in standard HRC units (according to Rockwell); the higher the value, the harder the blade. This parameter in knives has a double meaning. On the one hand, the blade must be hard enough so as not to dull prematurely, not form burrs and not deform when bent; on the other hand, it must remain soft in order to sharpen normally, not crack or break (brittleness also increases with increasing hardness). In most kitchen knives, the hardness is in the range of 52 - 62 HRC - it is believed that this range provides the optimal ratio of strength, reliability and ease of sharpening. In general, ceteris paribus, a knife made of softer steel will have to be sharpened or adjusted more often with musat, however, such procedures themselves will take a little time and effort. Conversely, a hard blade will hold sharpening for a long time, however, you will have to try to restore it.

Country of origin of the brand under which the kitchen knife is presented on the market. As a rule, it is indicated by the “homeland” of the manufacturing company or by the location of its headquarters.

There are many stereotypes associated with the “nationality” of brands and products, but most of them have no basis in our time. First, the actual place of production is often different from the brand's country of origin. Secondly, the quality of a product depends not so much on geography, but on the policy of a particular company and how carefully it controls this very quality. Therefore, you should pay attention to the brand’s country of origin only if you fundamentally want or (do not want) to support a manufacturer from a certain country. Quality is best assessed by the reputation of a particular brand and the general price category. However, Japanese kitchen knives clearly differ from other manufacturers in their quality. Belgian and Swiss are famous for their reputation thanks to the brands BergHoff, Vinzer and Victorinox. But Brazilian knives also have a place in the home kitchen due to the good price-quality ratio of the Tramontina brand.