text.skipToContent text.skipToNavigation
  1. Home
  2. Lockhart Catering Blog
  3. Quiz: How Good is Your Knowledge of Chefs Knives?
chefs-knives-291217.png
A professional chef is nothing without their knives, and in the world’s best restaurant kitchens you’ll find well-stocked knife racks with a tool for every purpose and application.

From knives for dicing and slicing to precision blades for peeling, boning and carving, every chef knows that using the right types of knives for the culinary task at hand is crucial. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the knives that every chef needs and how to care for them - plus you can take our chefs’ knives quiz to find out whether yours is razor-sharp, or in need of a polish.

Discover our full range of professional Chefs’ Knives here

Which types of knives do professional chefs use?

The particular types of knives that you will find in a restaurant kitchen may vary according to the types of cuisine that are on the menu. However, there are some mainstays that you are likely to find in every kind of kitchen:

•  A chefs’ knife – Yes, every type of kitchen knife is technically a ‘chefs’ knife’, but this is the name given to a multi-purpose knife with a deep, thick, steeply curved blade edge that can be used for the majority of chopping and preparing tasks in the kitchen. Also known as a cooks’ knife or chopping knife, this is the essential tool that should be at the heart of every chefs’ kit.

•  Santoku knife – Roughly translating to ‘three uses’, referring to its purposes for slicing, dicing and mincing, the Santoku knife originated in Japan but has become a favourite tool with chefs around the globe. It has a flat edge and is designed to have the perfect balance between the blade and handle. It works as a great accompaniment to a chefs’ knife for getting most culinary tasks done.

•  Paring knife – A smaller knife with a gently curved blade edge, the paring knife is designed for the more ‘fiddly’ food preparation tasks – such as peeling vegetables, removing seeds or small bones, and cutting garnishes. It acts as a much smaller version of a chefs’ knife.

•  Serrated knife – From slicing loaves of crusty bread to carving up melons and tougher meats, the serrated knife (of various sizes) tackles food that has a hard or firm exterior, and a softer inside. A pastry knife is a really popular type of serrated knife as its larger size, yet precision blade makes it suitable for almost every kind of tough cutting task.

•  Slicing or carving knife – A carving knife is technically a type of slicing knife, but the particular kind of carving knife required may depend on what it is to carve! Meat with bones such as chicken and beef may require a carving knife with a pointed tip, whereas thicker joints of meat such as ham may need a knife with a rounded tip. Longer and deeper in size, they’re great for making light work of large cuts of meat for preparation or serving.

•  Boning or filleting knife – When meat needs to be removed from bones, or a fish demands to be filleted, a boning or filleting knife will do the job. They have a slim blade that can easily reach between even narrow and small bones, helping to reduce food wastage and make the most of your dishes.

However, in more specialised kitchens, you may also find turning knives, tomato knives, oyster knives, cheese knives, butchers’ knives and more…so whatever you need to chop, crush, dice or slice, there’s no reason not to use the very best tool to make the task easy.

How often should I sharpen my chefs’ knives?

Once you’ve invested in the knives you need, you should treat them with great care. As a professional chef, you should keep your kitchen knives super-sharp to ensure their best performance.

So if you’re using your knives every day, that’s how often you may wish to use your knife sharpener – an essential accompaniment to every knife collection – but a good-quality knife shouldn’t need to be sharpened so often. Blunt and dull knives can be dangerous as they can ‘slip’ when cutting through tougher foods, so it’s really important to sharpen your knives as often as necessary.

The type of chopping board that you use can also affect how often you may need to sharpen your knife. Using hard ceramic or glass chopping boards may blunt your knives faster due to the impact, so you may wish to stick to wooden or plastic chopping boards where possible.

However, there are some ‘tests’ you can carry out to find out whether it’s time to sharpen your kitchen knife blades:

•  The Tomato Test – If your knife does not cut cleanly through a tomato without ‘pushing’ down on the fruit, it’s time to sharpen the blade. You can also use an onion for this, should you have no tomatoes at hand.

•  The Paper Test – If your knife will slice through a single sheet of paper by pushing straight down with the handle, it’s sharp enough.

As for how to store your knives, that’s really important too. A magnetic knife rack or knife block will keep your collection organised and easy to access, and may be safer than storing them in a drawer. You’ll find a great selection in our range of Kitchen Utensils, in a range of sizes for even the widest knife collection.

Test your knowledge of chefs’ knives with our tricky quiz

Now that you’ve read about the different types of knives that chefs use, you may have learned about some knives you’ve never used before. From the names of chefs’ knives to their specialist purposes, how sharp is your knowledge of kitchen knives? Take our quiz below and find out now!

Whatever type of chefs’ knife you’re looking for, you’ll find the tool for the job in our collection of Professional Chefs’ Knives. Discover our range now, and your kitchen equipment will always ‘make the cut’.


Comments

Lockhart Catering on 29 December 2017 12:00 AM

Latest Blogs

preview image
15 March 2024
preview image
14 March 2024
preview image
14 March 2024
preview image
13 March 2024

Categories

Baking
Budget
Buyer's Guides
Buying Guides
Chefs
Competitions
Continental Chef Supplies
Education
Events
Guest Articles
Hints & Tips
Industry News
Infographics
Insight
Interviews
Jobs
London Innovation Centre
National Chef Of The Year
New Products
News
Quizzes
Recipes
Restaurants
Schools
Services
Surveys
Sustainability
Themes
Uncategorized