When you finally decide to take the plunge and by a set of quality kitchen knives there are a few things you should be aware of. This article will help you to make the best choice.

Kitchen knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes and there are some even designed for dedicated jobs. You do not need to get every type however and a good quality kitchen knife will easily cope with most things you will do in the kitchen. You can make things a little easier on yourself though if you look at buying perhaps 3 different kinds of knife, or different sized blades as cutting bread is entirely different to cutting fresh meat.

Kitchen knives are made of 3 different materials; metal, ceramic and plastic.

Plastic knives are the worst quality of the lot and are only really good for chopping soft fruits and vegetables that dont have a tough exterior. You can however put them in the dishwasher. As they arent overly sharp, you should try and get either metal or ceramic knives instead.

Steel is much stronger and a good stainless steel kitchen knife should last you a long time. You should however also look at how flexible the knife is as cheap ones do not have much give and this is a sign of cheap steel being used. The packaging is also worth checking; if the blade has been forged then this will make it tougher and will last longer.
Ceramic kitchen knives are the sharpest of all three. The price difference can vary greatly, but if you imagine a scale of 0-10 where warm butter is rated 0 and diamond is 10, then a ceramic kitchen knife would be rated around 8 or 9.

Dont forget to look after your quality kitchen knives when you get them. Avoid the dishwasher where possible as this can rust them and even if you put them on the top shelf, they can still lose a layer every time they are washed. If you must put them in the dishwasher then you will probably need to sharpen them at least once a month. If you were to wash and dry them by hand each time, they would only need sharpening every 6 months or so.

 Mail this postStumbleUpon It!

Filed under: General

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!