There are various brands of kitchen knives on the market, and each brand says its own knives are good. Consumers are often at a loss when choosing. So, how to choose a kitchen knife that suits you? In this article, I will talk about the choice of entry-level kitchen knives from the classification, usage and material of knives.
Table of Contents
Classification of kitchen knives
The kitchen knives mainly aimed at daily household consumers are divided into slicing knives, bone chopping knives, dual-purpose chopping knives, fruit knives, etc., and others such as frozen meat knives, bread knives, and multi-purpose knives. According to the processing technology, there are stamping forming, red hot forging and other knives, and according to the material, it can be divided into carbon steel, stainless steel, ceramics, etc. Now many brand knives are complete sets, and the general set of knives also includes sharpening sticks and knife holders.
① Slicing knife: used for slicing food, but not suitable for cutting unthawed frozen meat.
② Bone Chopping Knife: Used for chopping hard food such as bones.
③ Dual-purpose Chopping knife: it can be used to cut but it is relatively not as sharp and easy to use as a special slicing knife when slicing, and it is not suitable for cutting large bones.
④ Fruit knife: used to cut the skin of vegetables and fruits.
What to consider when choosing a kitchen knife?
1. A sharp blade
The blade should be sharp, straight, and free of nicks. First of all, from the user’s point of view, the first requirement for a kitchen knife must be sharp (fast), preferably lasting sharpness. So let’s take a look at what attributes determine the sharpness of a kitchen knife。
Material
Usually the kitchen knife is made by steel, stainless steel, or ceramics and so on. Different materials determine that the finished knife has different hardness, so can it be understood that the higher the hardness, the higher the sharpness? It should be said that this is not entirely correct, because the “fastness” of a kitchen knife also depends on the degree of the edge of the knife, soft degree etc. For example, ceramic knives usually have higher hardness than stainless steel knives, but they are often found to be not as fast as stainless steel knives during use. This is because that limited by the material, the edge degree of the ceramic knife cannot be too small, otherwise it will be brittle directly. Of course, ceramic knives also have the advantage of not corroding.
Hardness
3Cr13<4Cr13<5Cr15<8Cr15<9Cr15≈carbon steel<ceramics
Way of sharpening
In terms of sharpness alone, kitchen knives with higher hardness of steel, smaller blades, and softer curvature of the cutting edge rather than linear straight drop will be “faster” and more usable, especially slicing knives. Therefore, with the same material, the slicing knife of the craft is definitely sharper than the bone chopping knife, which is determined by the degree of the cutting edge.
- Comfortable to use.
The design of the knife handle should be humanized and comfortable to hold
In terms of knife handles, the main materials are wood, engineering plastics, steel handles, etc., each with its own advantages. Generally speaking, the handles of kitchen knives formed by stamping are better and more refined. Traditional forging knives mostly use wooden handles. Now some traditional knife manufacturers have begun to sell kitchen knives with other handles.
- Safe to use.
The handle of the knife should have a non-slip design, so that it will not hurt the user if it falls out of the hand.
Which kitchen knives are worth buying?
Emojoy knives used to be an OEM, but now its own brand is hitting the market, and it is quite famous in the website. Heijiang is its most classic blade, which uses 33 layers of Damascus steel on both sides, with a VG10 steel core in the middle, which is now changed to AUS10 steel core. It is a piece knife worth buying, with a color wood inlaid handle, high wood density, strong hardness, comfortable hand feeling, and ergonomics. The grip is comfortable, the knife can be swung freely, the blade is cut at a 16 angle, and the cutting is sharp.
The astercook kitchen knife only costs US$65, and the price is lower during the promotion, which is extremely cost-effective. The steel is Din.1.4116 imported from German ThyssenKrupp Steel Company. It is a high-quality stainless steel widely used in German knives. The handle is a fish-belly handle design in line with the principles of ergonomic mechanics, which is comfortable to hold and can swing the knife freely. The blade is sharpened by hand to improve the sharpness. The heel of the knife is hand-ground and polished for a more comfortable grip, suitable for long-term work.
Final Thoughts
At present, the kitchen knives used in the market are mainly stainless steel knives and traditional old kitchen knives. The choice of kitchen knives depends on personal cooking habits and aesthetic preferences, but in terms of appearance design and cost performance, I personally think emojoy and astercook kitchen knives are indeed a good choice. It is recommended for those who want to buy kitchen knives.
