The Kitchen's Essential Tool: The Chef's Knife
The chef's knife, with its broad, gently curved blade around 20 centimetres long, handles most of the work in the kitchen on its own: chopping, slicing, mincing and fine cuts. The curve lets you rock the blade back and forth without lifting it off the board, which is why this is the knife that stays in most cooks' hands for the better part of the day.
The Paring Knife for Fine Work
A paring knife is short and narrow, usually 8 to 10 centimetres, built for small jobs you control right in your hand — peeling an apple, separating a garlic clove, hulling a strawberry. A chef's knife feels clumsy for this kind of fine work, while a paring knife is exactly the right size for precise movements close to your fingers.
The Bread Knife: Why It Needs Serrations
A bread knife's serrated edge saws through a crust with a back-and-forth motion without crushing the soft interior; a straight blade pressing down on a hard crust would squash the soft bread inside. That same serrated edge also gives a cleaner cut than a straight blade on foods with a thin skin and a soft interior, like tomatoes.
The Boning and Fillet Knife
A boning or fillet knife has a thin, flexible blade used to separate meat from bone or fillet fish; the flex lets the blade follow the contour of the bone or the skin. You won't reach for this one often, but it's the right tool for the job when you're working with meat or fish.
Holding a Knife Correctly: The Grip
Instead of gripping the handle tightly in your fist, place your thumb and index finger just above the blade, on either side of the metal — this is called a pinch grip. It gives you far more control over the tip of the blade than gripping the handle alone, and results in a cleaner, more precise cut.
The Guiding Hand: The Claw Technique
The hand not holding the knife should curl its fingertips inward into a claw as it holds the food; the flat side of the blade rides against your knuckles, and your fingertips never move ahead of the blade. This position protects your fingers from a cut even in a moment when your attention slips.
Practical Tip
If you're new to the claw technique, work slowly; what matters isn't speed but keeping your fingertips tucked back at all times. Speed comes on its own with practice.
Honing and Sharpening a Knife
Honing, done with a steel rod, straightens a blade edge that's bent out of alignment; it removes no metal and can be done in seconds before every use. Sharpening, done with a whetstone, actually thins the edge itself and removes metal — once a month, or whenever the blade is genuinely dull, is enough.
A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one; you press harder to keep it from slipping, and that's exactly the moment you lose control.
Caring For and Storing a Knife
Wash a knife by hand right after use and dry it; a dishwasher's heat and detergent dull the edge and can also damage the handle material. Storing it in a knife block or on a magnetic strip, rather than loose in a drawer with other tools, protects the edge and keeps you from cutting yourself when you reach in.
The Basics of Knife Safety
Always cut in a direction away from your body, and never try to catch a falling knife out of the air — stepping back and letting it drop is far safer than reaching for it. When carrying a knife, hold it with the tip pointing down and close to your side.