Knife Varieties To Suit Every Possible Need Of Yours In The Kitchen
Whether you are a culinary expert or not, the world of knives is as fascinating as you would have never thought it to be. I once went out shopping for some good kitchen essentials with a friend of mine and she completely blew me away with her knowledge of knives and their different types. You will be spoilt for choice, literally! I’ll stick to the basics to help you pick your knives easily. I can go into great details about its construction, handle quality, blades and other stuff– but that’s not important as long as you understand the basics of a great knife. Check out some of the best ones I’ve specially picked for you.
Bird’s Beak Knife
Ever wondered how restaurants always end up cutting beautiful shapes of vegetables and fruits? No rocket science, ladies. Let the Bird’s Beak knife come to your rescue! Looking literally like the bird’s beak, this knife’s blade is curved upward on the top edge. Did you know what those artistic cuts are called? They’re called ‘tournée cuts’. Go bananas with your creativity in fluted mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, plums or peaches!
Boning Knife
Have you always struggled with boning your meats with a regular knife? It’s so weird. I’ve seen so many women getting harassed by this, but they never seem to change their damn knife! Pick up a boning knife with a short blade, about 5 to 6 inches long, which you can easily twist and turn around to flesh out the bones. Did you know that Boning knives are available in a variety of sizes? I suggest you pick up a few basic sizes so that you can use the knife according to the chunk of the meat.
Chestnut Knife
Many ladies think that such specialized knives are required only in a chef’s kitchen. Well, I’m sure you’ll support this argument until you’ve really seen the wonders of this knife yourself. Don’t pull out a hammer to crack nuts before roasting or eating them as a snack. Simply use a Chestnut knife! This is a short shafted knife so that the cut you make on the shell doesn’t pierce the nut itself. My family and I love this knife. Before roasting nuts in the microwave, I simply mark out a line into the shell of the nut with the Chestnut knife. This allows the nuts to breathe during roasting. And it doesn’t end here. After the nuts are roasted, I make a single, easy cut in the middle of the shell, and I’m good to go!
Cleaver
You have seen this knife in culinary shows on TV, right? I was totally taken in awe by this knife when I first saw it on a Gordon Ramsay show. How quickly he pounded the food ingredients with the Cleaver! No hassle of grinding it in a mixer or a blender. The blade of the cleaver is a good 6 inches in length. You can crush, chop, pound or shred away to glory. I call the Cleaver a multi-tasking knife – just like me and you! From chopping hard vegetables to mashing meat to grinding garlic, the Cleaver is my savior for all my crushing needs.
