In your journey of becoming a fantastic chef choosing the right tools is very important. If you are someone who is struggling with how to choose the right knife, then here is a guide for you. Getting yourself the correct knife, correctly handling eBay kitchen knives and maintaining their quality is very significant.
Choosing the right knife
Understand the anatomy of knives
Let’s get to know how to choose the right knife. A chef’s knife may come in various shapes, sizes, styles, materials, weights and even prices. But all the knives consist of the same cardinal parts, no matter how different those may look from the outside. So we are going to discuss every aspect here, starting from the butt to the point.
Blade
The main body of the knife, commonly known as the blade, consists of tip, point, edge, heal and spine. A few factors which play a deciding role in the features of the blade are shape, material and size.
Bolster
The area between the handle and the blade is known as a bolster. With the help of the counterbalancing technique, the bolster determines the stability of the knife. In addition, critical areas such as a handle to blade intersection and rear of the knife where high impacts need reinforcement are improved by the bolster. These also aid in securing and protect the handle.
Handle
The area from bolster to the roar is known as the handle. The handle determines the grip of the knife. The handles come in various shapes, sizes and materials. Though most handles are made of wood, these have a grip problem since they are porous. Hence, handles made of plastic and rubber have become more prevalent these days.
Edge
The sharp-edged portion of the blade that extends from the point to the end of the heal is known as belly or edge. The edge is generally designed for performing a lot of tasks. The better the edge, the better will be the result when you use it for mincing, slicing and dicing herbs and vegetables.
Heel
The widest part of the edge, which is located at the butt of the blade, is known as the heel. The whole strength of the knife lies in this part. The heel can be used for hard chopping items like nuts, chicken bones, etc.
Rivet
Rivets are usually found in knives that have a wooden handle. These are cylindrical and appear like raised studs that ensure that the handle is securely fixed to the knife. If your knife has rivets, you need to be careful that the tops are entirely even. Make sure that they do not loosen in any case because this will result in poor grip of the knife, thus lesser quality.
Tang
One of the most important things you should be looking for in your ideal knife is stability, balance and strength. All three qualities are determined by one single and a specific part of the knife, know as tang. Make sure to get a knife with complete tang constructions because it ensures better balance. Hence, the knife becomes much easier to use, and this results in improved quality.
Types of Knives
Enhancing knife skills involves a lot of practice and patience, along with the usage of three knives. With the given knowledge of the knives, you would reach an advanced level within a very more minor passage of time, even if you are a beginner. Even though we come across many knives in the market, these are the ones that are required.
Chef’s knife
The chef’s knife is one of the most used knives since it is used for chopping herbs, vegetables and almost all the food items commonly used.
Paring Knife
The paring knife, which can also be called chef’s mini-knife, is used for purposes for which the chef’s knife cannot be used unless you are a downright expert.
Bread Knife
The bread knife is rarely used in the kitchen but comes in very handy when cutting vast loaves of bread. It smoothly cuts the bread without even smashing the desired shape.
Fillet Knife
The blade of the specialist knife helps to slice the fish quickly. Along with that, it is even used for filleting and skinning the fish. The knife can be used when you feel like eating some mouth-watering, delicate and thin fillets.
Carving Knife
As it is clear from the name, the carving knife is used to carve meat from the bone. But this is not the only purpose. It is even used for cutting big-sized vegetables and fruits like eggplants and melons.
Boning Knife
Deboning knife, as the name suggests, comes in very handy when separating the bones from the fish. The blade is generally narrow and ends at a very sharp point. This makes the work easy as one can cut perfect holes and cuts in the fish according to their wish. Performing such tasks will prove tough with regular eBay kitchen knives. The deboning knife is also used for making exquisite patterns from lambs and pork.
The utility knife offers a very smooth, precise and sharp blade which is ideal for chopping, slicing and peeling.
Cleaver Knife
While you hold the knife, your hand should cover the handle fully while your index finger and the thumb should grip the upper portion of the blade. This way, you can make sure that you are taking the maximum benefit of the sharpness.
Utility Knife
While chopping food items, make sure to put the blade’s tip in the position of a fulcrum and cut food items using the dull part of the blade. All you need to make sure for dicing is that you apply the knife at perpendicular angles and cut the slices at equal intervals.
Maintaining Knives
Maintaining the hygiene of eBay kitchen knives is very important. Make sure you wash the knife with water and dry it with a towel immediately after using it. Also, there is no such knife that does not become old and dull. So, make sure to sharpen your knife correctly. Similarly, honing is also very important since it smoothens the surface of the knife and rids the knife of dings, burrs and other spots.
We hope the article would help enhance your knife skills and provide a better understanding of its usage.