How to Buy Kitchen Cutlery

American Culinary Federation C.E.C. Tony Kasik demystifies Cutlery.

When it comes to kitchen cutlery there always seems to be a lot of confusion. First of all what kind of knife do you need, Chef, Slicer, Deba or Sanktoku? After that what about forged or stamped? And than what type of blade? Damascus, High Carbon or Stainless Steel? Oh let's not forget about ceramic.

Every knife, material and creation method has it's pros and cons. I will be going into this in this blog. The one thing I want to suggest right away, is not to by that $50 dollar set that you find at your local Wal-Mart. They are flimsy, don't stay sharp and honestly quite dangerous. The only knives that you want slightly flexible is a filet or a slicer.

Types of Knives

The first thing that you need to decide is what do you need this knife for?

General Purpose -- Chef / Cooks Knife or Deba

Mincing or Chopping - Shantoku or Chinese Cleaver

Butchering - Boning Knife, Scimitar or Cleaver

Filet Fish - Filet knife, yanagiba

Garde Manger or Delicate Garnishing - Paring Knife, Utility or Hawk's Bill

Peeling - Paring or Hawk's Bill

Soft Vegetables (Like Tomatoes) - Serated Bread Knife or anything serated

Breads - Serated Bread Knife

Carving - Slicer or Carving Knife ( I prefer a semi- flexible 12" Slicer)

If you are just buying knives for the house, all you really need is a good Chef knife, Paring Knife and Bread Knife. But if you are a Home Chef and want to create the things you see on TV, Than you really do need at least one in each category. That is how we make it look so easy. The correct type of knife does the work for you.

Forged or Stamped ????????

The Chicken or the Egg? This is one question that has been haunting Chef's for years, and if you ask each one you will come up with a different answer. I have always preferred forged knives. Here is the difference.

Forged: in a forged knife, the metal is heated and then hammered in to the desired shape. This process leads to a more expensive, stronger, heavier knife (Although better balanced) with a finer edge. Typically a forged knife will get sharper and hold it's edge longer, this also has alot to do with the type of steel being used.

Stamped: Imagine a large sheet of metal on an assembly line and your knife being punched out of it. From there they Shape your knife by grinding it into shape, including the edge. This leads to a lighter more movable knife, but it will not get a sharp as keep it's edge as well. Your Cheaper "Wal-Mart" Knives are stamped, don't get me wrong there are several really good stamped knives. Such as Global and certain other brand names.

Material... What is the blade made of?

Stainless Steel: This is the choice of most of the cheaper knives. It is a good medium quality metal that will not rust or react to acidic foods. It does not hold an edge that well and will only get to about medium sharpness.

High Carbon Stainless Steel: The more carbon that you have in the steel, the harder the metal is. The harder the metal is, the sharper the knife will be and the longer it will hold an edge. The draw back is that it is also more brittle. This is what most high end knives are made of.

High Carbon Steel: They really do not use this any more. But if you find a vintage knife, GET IT. I have not found a knife that compares to sharpness or how long they hold their edge. The