Knife Overview

Photos Danilo Alfaro

Chef's Knife Blade

The best knives are made of Tempered high-carbon stainless steel, which is
a very hard metal that keeps its edge for a long time and won't discolor or
rust like ordinary carbon steel. This Tempered steel is forged in an intricate,
multi-step process, by a skilled manual laborer. A chunk of solid steel alloy is
heated to a high temperature, and pounded while hot to form the knife. The
blade is then heated above critical temperature, quenched, and tempered to
the desired hardness. After forging and heat-treating, the blade is polished
and sharpened.
Ordinary carbon steel is easier to re-sharpen than most stainless steels, but is
vulnerable to rust and stains. The blades must
be cleaned, dried, and lubricated after each use and new carbon-steel knives may
impart a metallic or iron flavor to acidic foods. Knives made from ordinary carbon
steel aren't necessarily inferior. Some chefs love them, because the relatively softer
metal makes them easier to sharpen. Of course, they go dull more easily, too.
Stainless steel knives must be more frequently sharpened and do not hold as sharp an
edge as the carbon steel. However, they are highly resistant to corrosion and rust.
Chef's knives are measured in inches, and lengths of 8" to 12" are common. A longer
blade lets you make longer single-stroke cuts when slicing. The so-called "German"
style of chef's knife tends to have a more curved section at the front of the blade, good
for chopping in an up-and-down "rocking" motion.
The "French" style is straighter, and more triangular, which is good for a "slicing" type of motion where the knife is
drawn straight back toward you.
In this picture we see the edge of a Japanese-style Santoku knife. The hollow, beveled indentations ground into the
blade are designed to create tiny pockets of air between the knife and the product being sliced, reducing friction and
minimizing sticking.
Other blade types include straight and serrated edges. The straight edge is for chopping, dicing, and slicing. The
serrated edge is a saw-tooth edge for slicing bread without smashing and it creates less crumbs.

Chef's Knife Handle

Unless you're very unlucky, the part of a chef's knife you'll have the most contact with
is the handle. So you'll want to make sure it's comfortable and fits your hand. It
shouldn't feel slippery or cause you to have to grip excessively hard.
Chef's knife handles have traditionally been made of wood, but wooden handles present
certain problems. For one, because wood is porous, knife handles made of wood can
harbor bacteria that cause food-related illnesses. Many local health departments
prohibit the use of wooden-handled knives in commercial foodservice.
Bacteria can also grow in the tiny cracks where the wood joins the steel or around the
rivets. Wooden handles don't fare well in the dishwasher, either, though to be fair, you
shouldn't be running your knife through the dishwasher in the first place. Still, even soaking a knife can cause its
wooden handle to warp or crack.
For these reasons, knives with man-made materials such as steel, or plastic and rubber handles (as pictured above)
are increasingly popular. Additionally, some handles are made from a composite material consisting of wood that has
been treated with plastic resin. That gives them the traditional appearance of wood, which many people find
appealing, while avoiding the sanitation concerns associated with wooden handles.

Heel
The heel is the widest part of the knife, located at the rear of the blade where it meets
the handle. This section of the cutting edge is used for chopping hard items like carrots,
nuts or even chicken bones.
Knives with longer blades produce greater leverage, thus generating greater cutting
force at the heel of the blade. A heavier knife also increases cutting force, but it's more
tiring to use, too.

Tang
As mentioned earlier, the best knives are forged from a single piece of steel that runs
the entire length of the knife. That means the steel extends all the way into the handle.
The section of steel inside the handle is called the tang, and if it goes all the way to the
end of the handle, it's called a "full tang."
In addition to providing strength, full-tang construction offers better balance, making a
knife easier to use. "Partial-tang" or "half-tang" knives are barely worth talking about,
let alone buying. I wouldn't use one if it was given to me for free.
This picture shows the tang sandwiched between the two halves of the wooden handle.
In knives with synthetic handles, the tang may not be visible.
Rivets
Rivets are the raised, cylindrical studs that keep the handle securely attached to the
tang portion of the knife. This type of construction is typical of knives with wooden
handles. If rivets are present, make sure that their tops are smooth and that they don't
protrude from the handle at all.
In addition to showing the rivets, the photo above also shows the tang sandwiched
between the two halves of the handle.
Good knives have at least 2 rivets to keep the tang and handle stable and secure. The
best knives have 3 rivets. A large knife should have 3 rivets; it is acceptable for smaller
knives to have less.

Bolster
The bolster is the thick shoulder of heavy steel located at the front of the handle where
it meets the spine, or the top (non-cutting) edge of the blade. In addition to balancing
the knife, the bolster also helps keeps your fingers from slipping while you work, thus
preventing hand fatigue and blisters.
Not every chef's knife will have a bolster. A bolster indicates that a knife has been forged
from a single chunk of steel, as opposed to being stamped out of a roll of sheet metal.
These stamped knives are generally inferior to forged knives. The thickness of a bolster
shows how thick the original chunk of steel was and the thicker, the better.

How to Sharpen a Knife

Keeping your chef's knife sharp will make your job in the kitchen easier and safer, too. That's because when you're
using a dull knife you have to apply more pressure than you would with a sharper blade, which makes the knife more
likely to slip.
How to Sharpen a Knife with a Whetstone
The best way of sharpening a knife is with a whetstone. There are other knife sharpening
devices available, but most of them tend to grind away too much of your knife's blade.
Learning the right way to use a whetstone may take a bit of practice, but once you get the
hang of it you'll be able to keep knives razor sharp, and save time and money.
Also check out this video on how to sharpen a knife with a whetstone.
Tips:
1.
2.
3.

Always sharpen in the same direction, whether it's front-to-back or back-to-front.

Despite what its name might suggest, keep your whetstone dry. Using oil or water on a whetstone traps tiny
metal particles in the liquid, which in turn produce a more ragged edge than when using a dry stone.
Don't believe the hype about knives that supposedly "never need sharpening." Cutting produces friction, and
friction causes a knife's edge to lose its sharpness. There's no avoiding the laws of physics.

How to Use a Knife Sharpening Steel

When we use a whetstone to sharpen a knife, what we're doing is reshaping its cutting edge
by grinding away tiny amounts of the blade. And while it's the best way to sharpen a knife,
all that grinding can leave the knife's edge rough and uneven. Using a knife steel, also called
a sharpening steel or honing steel, helps smooth out that roughness, leaving a nice, straight
edge.

Tips:
1.
2.
3.

Make sure your sharpening steel is at least as long as the blade you are honing. For instance, if you are using
a 10-inch chef's knife, your knife steel should be no shorter than 10 inches as well.
After using the sharpening steel, rinse and carefully wipe the blade dry with a towel so that any tiny metal
filings on the knife's edge don't end up in the food you're about to work with.
Keep your knife steel handy while you're working in the kitchen. Just a few minutes of ordinary slicing on a
wooden or plastic cutting board can knock your knife's delicate edge out of alignment. Once you're
accustomed to the feel of a sharp knife, you'll feel the difference right away. When you do, just a few quick
strokes on the steel will straighten it right out again, without having to grind away any more blade on a
whetstone.

Knife Safety
1. Dont ever try to catch a falling knife.
2. Always cut away from your body.
3. Always pick up a knife by the handle. Never hand anyone a knife. Put it
down and let the other person pick it up.
4. Do not use a knife to pry things open or to cut anything but food on the cutting board.
5. Store in a slotted rack because edges become dull if they are loose in a drawer and hitting against one
another.
6. Keep out of the reach of children.

Types of Knives

1.

Chef Knife (French knife) used for slicing, chopping, and dicing; most versatile of all kitchen knives, using
this knife results in more attractive and uniform pieces.

2.

Butcher Knife has a wider, rounded blade near the point; used for dividing large cuts of meats, melons or
vegetables.

3.

Carving Knife used to cut large pieces of meat such as roast beef or pork. Often has a matching two-tine
fork.

4.

Bread Knife a long knife with a serrated edge for sawing through crusts, bread or cakes. This edge
prevents mashing of the food and an abundance of crumbs.

5.

Utility Knife has a narrow blade for cutting, slicing, and small boning tasks; good for cutting fruit,
vegetables, and cold cuts. This knife could have a straight edge or a serrated edge. Typically mislabeled as
steak knife.

6.

Paring Knife the smallest of all the knives; used to peel fruits and vegetables, used to cut most small
foods.

7.

Grapefruit Knife serrated blade on both sides with a curved tip that is used to cut citrus fruits such as
grapefruit, lemons, and limes.

8.

Cleaver large rectangular shaped knife used to separate a large piece of meat at the joint or bone.

9.

Boning Knife thin, flexible knife with a sharp point to slip in close to the bone, separating the meat from
the bone.

Carving Knife
Chef Knife

Utility Knife

Bread Knife

Butcher Knife

Paring Knife

Grapefruit Knife

Cleaver

Boning Knife