There are an unbelievable amount of different types of kitchen knives around; ranging from the standard chef’s knife through to the more obscure grapefruit knife. However, if you are looking for a standard type of set of knives that will suit most typical cooking occasions then I would recommend a set of four knives. A chef’s knife, a utility knife, a paring knife and a bread knife. Carving knives are, strictly speaking, table knives and not cooking knives so let’s forget about them for now.
A modern chef’s knife (also known as a cook’s knife) is a utility knife designed to carry out numerous differing kitchen tasks, rather than excelling at any specific one. It can be used for mincing, slicing, chopping vegetables, slicing meat, or even jointing large cuts of beef or ham like a butcher’s knife. In order to improve the chef’s knife’s multi-purpose abilities, some owners use differential sharpening along the length of the blade, sharper at the front for more delicate work and less sharp at the back for rougher jointing work.
A utility knife is a medium-size knife of the usual pattern made for a multitude of cutting duties. Whilst being too short and thin for heavier cutting tasks many home cooks value a multipurpose knife that covers an assortment of tasks.
A paring knife is a smaller knife with a plain edge blade that is perfect for peeling and other intricate work. It is intended to be an all-purpose knife, similar to a chef’s knife, except smaller.
Bread knives are a type of serrated knife, Bread knives are more often than not between 15 cm and 25 cm (6 and 10 inches), with 20 cm (8 inches) being a common length. The serrations on the blade make it ideal for cutting bread (and other foods with hard/soft composition).
And there you have it – no need to buy twenty or more knives to start with – a simple set of four good quality ones will suffice.
