Knives That Chefs Use
Chefs use a variety of knives in day-to-day food service operations. The most versatile is the chef's knife, although other types, such as boning and paring, are of equal importance in the professional kitchen. Specialty knives usually perform one specific task---such as opening shellfish---and are irreplaceable in their intended purpose. Does this Spark an idea?
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Chef's
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Chef's knives are the mainstay of every professional kitchen. The broad, tapered shape of the blade and its fine edge, contribute to its versatility and ease-of-use. These knives are typically available in six-, eight-, 10- and 12-inch lengths, and manufacturers make them of materials including high-carbon stainless steel, standard stainless steel and ceramic zirconia. The chef's knife facilitates several preparation techniques, such as slicing, rough chopping, mincing and fine dicing. A chef controls the knife's leverage by holding the blade between her thumb and forefinger, with the rest of her hand gripping the handle.The closer her hand is to the knife's tip, the more control she has over the blade.
Paring
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Chef's primarily use paring knives to prepare items that prove larger knives unwieldy. They are ideal for several applications, such as peeling and coring fruits, and shaping and paring-down (hence the name) vegetables. Chefs commonly fashion paring knives in lengths of three- to eight-inches, and accommodate food items ranging from a single garlic clove to shallots and grapefruits.
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Santoku
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Santoku knives get heavy use in Japan, although many American chefs have adopted them as a replacement for the traditional chef's knife. The blades are wider and thinner than chef's knives, and have a rounded end that converges with the tip to create a nearly straight cutting edge. Many santoku knives have a scalloped blade that assists in slicing food by reducing drag and friction.
Serrated
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Chefs use serrated knives in preparing items that have a hard-to-pierce exterior that yields to a softer interior, such as baked goods. They are, however, limited. The blade's teeth, which make them valuable in cutting bread, result in poor aesthetics in tasks where the chef needs a smooth slice, such as carving meat. It is difficult to sharpen serrated knives, but they are irreplaceable for their intended use.
Utility
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Utility knives resemble paring knives with longer blades. The blades typically measure between four- and six-inches long. Chefs typically use them for food items too large for a paring knife and too small for a chef's knife.
Filet and Boning
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Filet knives have a semi-flexible, six- to 11-inch blade that allows chefs to maneuver around the slight curves of a fish's backbone, as well as between the skin and flesh. Boning knives have four- to six-inch blades chefs use to remove bones and cut through the joints of various sizes. The blade's rigidity correlates with the type of bone it's designed for---the larger the bone, the higher tensile strength of the blade.
Specialty
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Several chefs employ specialty knives for the preparation of irregular-shaped items and to perform specific tasks. Tourne knives, also referred to as birds-beak knives, resemble a paring knife with an inward-curved blade. Chefs commonly use them to cut the tourne shape in vegetables---a seven-sided, oblong cut approximately 1 1/4 inches in length and 1/2 inch in diameter. Clam and oyster knives are rigid-bladed utensils used to open shellfish. They have rounded tips and a non-honed edge.
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References
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