Buying kitchen knives - Tiscali Shopping

Types of Knives

Knives are an integral part of the kitchen, but there are a wide range of knives to choose from. Please find our short guide to the types of knives available on the market and their purpose.

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A much-needed and the most versatile knife is the chef's knife, which should be between 6 to 12" in size. This can be used for chopping, slicing, mincing and dicing, and it is a knife that is most likely to be used everyday so whichever one you choose, make sure it is comfortable to use and long lasting.

Perfect for cutting, peeling, coring and shaping fruits and vegetables, the paring knife is between 2 to 4" in size. Like the chef's knife, they are all-purpose knives but meant for smaller tasks.

If you have both the chef's knife and the paring knife, you may not need the utility knife, which is medium-sized (4 to 7"), and are more like large paring knives and used for a variety of jobs.

The vegetable knife, though not a full-fledged category by itself, is used for both fruits and vegetables. Their blade sizes vary anywhere from 2 to 4.5", with a stub-like handle. This kind of knife usually comes without a bolster and possibly has several varieties.

A serrated knife is 7 to 10" in size and meant for foodstuff that is hard on the outside but soft inside. Slicing bread in a back and forth movement, the 'bread knife' is also good for tomatoes and peaches.

With sizes ranging from 6 to 12", the sandwich knife is similar to the serrated knife. It is sharp yet shorter in length with a shorter blade. However, it does have a serrated blade that's ideal for bread, soft fruits and vegetables, and foods such as pizza, pies, sandwiches etc.

The cleaver is a heavy knife with a broad, thick blade meant for cutting meat and chopping bones.

Japanese in origin, Santoku is perfect for chopping, dicing and mincing. While the knife ideally is 5 to 7" in size, smaller sizes are also available. These knives have lighter, shorter, harder and thinner blades than the chef's knives and are the best for sushi and sticky food because of its 'granton edge' release pattern blade.

Typically a large knife of 8 to 15" size, the carving knife is meant for carving meats like hams, roasts, poultry and large meats. This knife is thin, especially at the spine, which facilitates thinner and more perfect slices.

A narrow knife of about 5 to 6" length, the boning knife is used to separate meat from the bones. There are two types of boning knives- stiff boning knives for boning beef, and a flexible one for poultry and fish.