Types of Knife

Kitchen knives are essential tools in every cook's toolkit. From small paring knives to large, intimidating-looking blades, there are many types, each with a specific cutting purpose. Learning the differences between types of knife allows home cooks to equip their kitchens better and choose the right knife, whether slicing produce, carving roasts, or fileting fish.

Selecting the proper types of knife helps ensure safety, efficiency, and quality results while cooking. With the wide range available, it can be useful to understand the main kitchen knife categories.

Different Types of Kitchen Knives and Their Uses

Here are some common kinds of kitchen knives:

1. Chef Knife

The chef's knife is vital for any kitchen. It is among the types of knife with wide, durable blades, ranging from 6 to 14 inches handles versatile tasks like chopping, slicing, dicing, and mincing. The broadside crushes garlic and herbs gently. High-carbon stainless steel keeps these essential all-purpose knives sharp, maintaining the edge and withstanding wear. Moreover, you should also learn about how to sharpen a knife.

2. Paring Knife

Just 3 to 4 inches long, the paring knife's short but agile blade spins easily in hand for tasks needing precision, like garnishes. The tip neatly cuts small spaces. The straight edge smoothly slices small items like shallots or strawberries. Turned sideways, it shapes vegetables into decorative forms. The compact size of these types of knife enables removing cores, deveining shrimp, or cutting garnishes.

3. Utility Knife

With 5- to 7-inch blades, the utility knife is between a paring and chef's knife in size. Its slim blade neatly slices fruits and vegetables and cuts baked goods like cakes too large for a paring knife yet too small for a full chef’s knife. Some of these kinds of kitchen knives feature offset handles for knuckle clearance when slicing items straight down without needing to saw back and forth.

4. Tomato Knife

Featuring small scalloped "teeth" along its edge, tomato knives have thin yet sturdy, serrated 5- to 7-inch blades designed to slice through tender tomato skin without crushing this delicate fruit. The knife's narrow blade neatly handles halving grape or cherry tomatoes with control. These types of knives are always included in the kitchen essentials list.

5. Boning Knife

With thin, narrow, and flexible 4- to 7-inch blades, these kinds of kitchen knives allow cooks to remove raw meat, fish, and poultry from the bone with precision and control. Flexible boning knives navigate intricate tasks like perfectly fileting soles or salmon. The narrow blade provides detailed accuracy, minimizing waste for cost savings.

6. Serrated Knife/Bread Knife

With 7- to 15-inch long blades edged in scalloped “teeth,” bread knives are specially designed to sew cleanly through crusty loaves, rolls, bagels, and delicate cakes or quick breads without tearing. The teeth grasp food, piercing slightly while the blade’s spine remains smooth to slice items layers neatly at a time without crushing them. High-carbon stainless steel maintains sharp serrations through years of heavy use on crusty loaves. Offset handles provide knuckle clearance when cutting thicker or round-shaped breads and baked goods straight down without a sawing motion.

7. Carving Knife/Slicing Knife

With 8- to 15-inch blades that gradually taper into pointed tips, carving and slicing knives cut thin, even slices of roasts, poultry, leg hams, and significant cuts of fish or fruit with their long, narrow blades. Granton-edge knives have hollow scallops to prevent thin slices like roast beef or turkey breast from clinging to the blade. Non-serrated blades showcase meats' natural texture and appearance. The slender, slightly flexible blade allows for smooth, graceful strokes when cutting elegant portions across the grain for optimal tenderness in prime rib, for example, to present beautifully on a serving platter.

8. Cheese Knife

Featuring approximately 5-inch stainless steel blades pierced with small holes, cheese knives slice soft cheeses like brie or hard varieties like parmesan into neat portions without sticking. Holes along the blade prevent messy pieces from clinging, instead allowing them to fall cleanly onto a serving tray or cheese board. The stainless steel maintains integrity when cutting acidic dairy products. Pointed tips provide control piercing crusts, while wider blades handle larger wedges. The holes' size and pattern on these kinds of kitchen knives impacts grip strength – more holes disperse the cheese, preventing it from binding to the metal.

9. Decorating Knife

With thin 2- to 4-inch blades, decorating knives cut fruit and vegetable garnishes into delicate, ornate shapes with precision. The short blade provides stability and accuracy to carve radish roses, chive ribbons, or melon basket weaves for dramatic presentation. Sharp tips easily puncture citrus fruit peel when cutting twists for cocktails or cranberry salsa garnishes. The dexterous size of these types of cooking knives also aids in intricate vegetable cuts like tournée, brunoise, or paysanne to adorn plates. Stainless steel maintains a razor-sharp edge through heavy prep work with no risk of corrosion.

10. Santoku Knife

The Santoku is an all-purpose Japanese-style knife valued for its versatility in chopping, slicing, and mincing ingredients. Its wide, slightly curved 5- to 7-inch blade lets it quickly and precisely dice, cube or slice fruits, vegetables, and meats. The sheep's foot shape has a flat edge that can cut straight down rather than rocking back and forth. Originally made of carbon steel but now usually stainless steel, the Santoku knife is lightweight and agile, enabling fast ingredient prepping in the hands of a skilled cook. Its unique blade works in harmony with a chef’s skilled grip to simplify many kitchen-cutting tasks.

11. Fillet Knife

Offering thin, narrow, flexible 4- to 9-inch blades, filet knives adeptly separate fish, meat, or poultry flesh from bones and skin with smooth precision. Sharp, tapered tips dexterously navigate intricate bones, seamlessly gliding along curved frames to remove filets cleanly. Flexible blades intricately trace vertebrae and rib bones without damaging delicate flesh. Stiff blades stand up to pressure when cutting thicker fish like salmon and swordfish or game meats. The thin profile enhances maneuverability in the hand while filet material clings lightly to evenly distribute force across the long blade for slip-free cuts.

Conclusion

Kitchen knives serve various vital purposes, from delicate garnishing to heavy-duty carving. Selecting the proper blade for each cutting or slicing task makes work easier and safer and protects the quality of ingredients. Understanding classic knife types allows home cooks to equip their kitchen toolkits for versatility and efficiency fully. Investing in the right knives suited to different uses sets any cook up for success.

FAQs

Q.1. What are the 8 basic types of knives and how are they used?

The 8 go-to kitchen knives that handle most common cooking tasks are chef's knives for all-purpose chopping and slicing, paring knives for peeling and precision cuts, utility knives for slicing fruits and baked goods, tomato knives for cleanly cutting tomatoes, boning knives for removing meat off bones, bread knives with serrated blades that neatly cut bread, carving knives for slicing roasts and hams, and cheese knives designed not to stick to cheese.

Q.2. How many types of knives are there?

While those 8 covers most day-to-day needs, there are over 30 specialty kitchen knife varieties for specific ingredients, cuts or tasks - like Santoku, filet, cleaver or decorating knives. So the total number of kitchen knife types easily tops 30 as knife makers create models for every cooking need imaginable!

Q.3. What are the 3 most common knives?

The three most essential, versatile knives every kitchen should have are: 1) Chef's knives for chopping, slicing, and dicing; 2) Paring knives for peeling, slicing, and detail work; and 3) Serrated bread knives, which cleanly saw through bread without tearing it. Those three can handle most basic kitchen-cutting jobs.

Q.4. What are 8 different knife cuts?

There are eight common ways knives can be used to cut ingredients:

1. Dice - Cut into small cubes.

2. Chop - Cut into irregular-sized pieces.

3. Slice - Cut into thin, even pieces.

4. Mince - Very finely chopped into tiny bits.

5. Julienne - Thin, strip cuts.

6. Chiffonade - Thin strips or ribbons.

7. Batonnet - Larger cut rectangular strips.

8. Rondelle - Sliced into rounds.