What Are the Different Knife Blades Used for?
If you're ever in the kitchen of someone who's passionate about cooking, you may notice several different kinds of knives in their butcher block. If you're unfamiliar with culinary arts, this may seem like overkill. But for those who have skill in the kitchen know that having the right knife for each job is important. While some knives, such as paring knives, are suited for a multitude of purposes, other knives, such as a fillet knife, Santoku knife and cleaver, have specific uses. Does this Spark an idea?
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Paring Knife
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A paring or utility knife is probably the knife you use for the widest range of tasks in the kitchen. The blade of a paring knife is usually 3 to 5 inches long and ends in a point, while a utility knife's blade is 4 to 7 inches long and is also pointed. Because of its small size, a paring knife is ideal for peeling, cutting, trimming and coring. A paring knife is effective at slicing fruits, vegetables and garlic, for example. Because it's bigger than a paring knife, a utility knife is ideal for cutting foods that are too large for a paring knife but too small for a chef's knife, such as shallots. Paring knife blades are smooth, rather than serrated, and can be straight or slightly curved.
Chef's Knife
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A chef's knife is one of the largest knives in any kitchen, with a smooth, nonserrated blade measuring between 6 and 12 inches. The blade is triangular-shaped, descending below your hand when you have a grip on the handle. A chef's knife is used for a wide range of food preparation and is useful for chopping, slicing, mincing and other cutting styles. The length of its blade makes fast chopping easy. For example, if you're cutting carrots, line up several on a cutting board and make a long cut across all the carrots in one movement. The weight of the chef's knife blade helps you cut through dense foods, such as turnips, potatoes and meat.
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Fillet Knife
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While the chef's knife may be one of the longest blades in your kitchen, a fillet knife is comparable with its 6- to 11-inch blade. But unlike the chef's knife, the blade of a fillet knife is shallow and extremely thin. It is used for making precise filleting cuts on fish. You can slide this knife's blade between the fish's skin and meat, cutting off the skin without damaging the meat. A fillet knife blade is smooth and because of how thin it is, it can be extremely sharp.
Santoku Knife
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Santoku knives were developed to use in the preparation of Asian food, but they can be used for any kind of cooking. Their blade length is comparable to that of a chef's knife, but the shape of the blade is noticeably different. Whereas a chef's knife is flat along the top, a Santoku knife is flat along the bottom of the blade. The top of the blade is straight at the handle, but it eventually curves down to meet the bottom of the blade. The width of the blade itself is also thinner than that of a chef's knife. The blade is not serrated but often contains dimples (called a granton edge) that reduce friction between the blade and food, preventing food from sticking to the blade. A Santoku knife can be used for the same function as a chef's knife, including cutting meat and vegetables. Its design gives it a balanced feel and makes it easy to work with.
Cleaver
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A cleaver is a heavy, square-bladed knife with a blade up to 6 inches long. The weight of the blade makes this knife ideal for cutting dense or heavy foods or even cutting through bones. When laid on its side, a cleaver can crush cloves of garlic. If you spin the cleaver in your hand to hit with the blunt side of its blade, you can use it to tenderize meat or crack open a coconut. A cleaver's blade is smooth. A serrated edge isn't required because of the weight and force of the knife blade.
Other Knives
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Your kitchen may contain several other varieties of knives, including a bird's beak knife, which has a curved blade to decoratively carve foods; a boning knife, which has a long, thin and smooth blade to cut meat off the bones; and a bread knife, which has a serrated edge to saw through bread. Other knives include a carving knife, which has a thin, sometimes-serrated blade and measures up to 14 inches in length. This knife is used to slice through large cuts of meat. Steak knives contain a serrated edge and are used at the table, rather than in the kitchen. The serrated edge of a steak knife allows it to easily slice through meat.
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References
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