Different Types of Chef Knives

What beats using a really sharp knife? Nothing right? A really sharp knife cuts through anything cleanly and clearly with a breeze thereby making your work in the kitchen pleasurable and satisfying. It is however not enough that you have a sharp knife; how much do you know about that sharp bad boy? Do you know the names of its various parts? Do you know what the tang is? You don’t know? That’s fine! That is why you are reading this article. It is son you can know your knife and all there is to know about it. We will be discussing the difference between a butt and a belly and all the other strange names you probably have never heard of. You will not only look sharp with your knife, you will as well sound like a pro who knows exactly what they need for what purpose.

The importance of knives to a chef cannot be overemphasized. In fact, a restaurant cannot survive without knives. So, to make the best choice of knives, three factors have to be considered; the brand, material and purpose. In this guide, you will learn all there is to know about knives so you can make the right decision when choosing the right knife for the job.

From Filleting Knives to and Utility knives to Chef Knives and Santoku knives, Alpha Catering Equipment offers various models chef knives in Australia from different reputable brands thereby providing you with a variety of options in terms of quality, style and cost.

Types of Knife and their different functions

1. Paring Knife: A paring knife comes with a fine blade, firm tip and slim cutting edge. Paring knives are suitable for peeling fruit, potatoes and vegetables.
2. Chef Knife: This type of knife is the most common knife around. The blade of a chef knife is usually strong and weighted, and the bulk of slicing and chopping tasks in the kitchen is done with chef knives.
3. Santoku Knife: Santoku knife is suitable for preparing and chopping vegetable, fish and meat. It has a wide blade and a curved end which makes the chopping task a lot easier.
4. Filleting Knife: Filleting knives have a slim, long blade which is specifically designed for Filleting and in the preparation of fish and meat. The blade is flexible and easy to move which makes removing skin from edible animals easy and quick.
5. Utility Knives: Utility Knives are highly functional and versatile knives. They can be used for various things such as slicing fruits, cutting meat, and slicing vegetables. Utility knives come with a small, stiff blade which ensures its durability.
6. Boning Knives: Boning knives are used to remove meat from bone. They come with a thin curved blade.
7. Bread Knives: Bread knives come with a long, strong blade with serrated edges which makes cutting of bread easy without tearing or ripping the bread. Bread knives can also be used to slice other soft foods like tomatoes.
8. Cleavers: These are used to cut large pieces of meat and spare ribs (frozen food and bones inclusive). They come with a sturdy, large, rectangular blade.
9. Choppers: Choppers look a lot like Cleavers but they cannot be used to chop through bones or frozen foods. Choppers are more suitable for general slicing of meat.
10. Palette Knives: Palette knives are especially great when cooking pancakes and omelets. They are made with a blunt, broad and flexible blade which allows for easy sliding in between the pan and the food.
11. Carving Knives: These are made with thinner blades than any other type of knife. They are suitable for slicing thin cuts of meat such as hams, roasts, poultry, etc.

Types of Knife blade edges

1. Straight: The straight blade edge is usually sharp and is ideal for cutting raw meat, fish or chopping of vegetables.
2. Serrated: This type of knife blade works well in cutting soft products such as bread.
3. Granton: This type of knife blade has hollowed-out grooves which prevents moist food from sticking to the blade.

Materials used to make Knives

1. Stainless Steel: Knives made from stainless steel are usually less expensive and as a result of this may require to be re-sharpened occasionally.
2. Carbon Steel: Carbon is essentially stainless steel with a high carbon content. It is easier to sharpen carbon steel and the cutting edge of carbon steel lasts much longer.
3. Damascus Steel: Damascus Steel is a carbon steel core which is covered with hardened steel. Damascus knives are very strong and at the same time have a very sharp edge.
4. Titanium: Titanium is resistant to corrosion, lightweight and incredibly strong. To make titanium knives, titanium is usually mixed with ceramic, diamond or silver. Mixing all of these substances ensures that Titanium knives are very strong and easy to maintain.