February 24, 2006, Newsletter Issue #5: Choosing a Knife Set

Tip of the Week

Knives are a tool of the trade for most cooks and chefs, and if your favorite cook doesn't have a proper knife set, you may have stumbled onto the perfect gift. Be wary though, great knives are like great shoes and great golf clubs - look and feel are both important and pretty much subjective to the user. To begin, you need to think of what kind of knife you may want to purchase:

• Chef (6 to 12 inches – multi-purpose)
• Paring (2 to 4 inches – fruits, veggies and spuds)
• Slicer (8 to 12 inches – slicing meats and other soft foods)
• Cleaver (Cutting bones, ribs and heavier jobs)
• Boning (5 to 6 inches, good for boning meats)
• Fillet (6 to 9 inches, good for filleting meats and chicken)

You also need to consider the construction of the knives you choose. If you want high quality and good balance, you want a forged blade knife. These are heavier and hand crafted for the right weight – additionally, most forged knives have a full shank, or tang (the metal of the blade is carried all the way through the handle so you can see from the back of the knife) which means that the construction is solid (i.e. you won’t have an escaping blade on your hands!). You can get a knife set if you want to go all out, or you can buy great knives piecemeal. Either way, this is a terrific kitchen gift.

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