Kitchen Knives Buying Guide

A good, basic set of knives is a one of the most important tools available in your kitchen.

A good knife will make food preparation easier and faster and the best will last for many years.

The right knife for the job

The following would be a basic set that will cater for most day to day needs:

• Paring knife - for preparing vegetables and fruit - around 10 cm long
• One small and one large cook’s knife - for larger scale chopping, and also slicing, dicing, and crushing. The blade needs to be firm, broad and pointed. The shape of the blade allows it to be used with a rocking motion while protecting the knuckles.
• Bread knife.
• Carving knife - typically with 20-25cm flexible blade and a sharply pointed tip to help free meat from the bone.
• Carving fork - designed to keep meat from moving whilst being carved. It comes with a guard to protect your hand in case the knife slips. It can be sold separately or as part or a set together with a carving knife and sharpening steel.

What to look for

Forged Knives

Fully forged knives are made from one block of steel and are the best quality knives. The blade and the tang (which attaches the handle to the blabe) are all in one piece.

Stamped knives

Stamped knives are machine cut. This makes the knife more economical to produce. A stamped knife is not as strong or durable as a fully forged knife but offers good quality and value for money.

Taper ground blades

These blades are the best quality. Taper ground means that the whole blade is ground, from the tip to the  handle and from the back of the blade to the cutting edge. This type of blade has a very fine sharp and strong cutting edge.

Hollow ground blades

These are not as strong as taper ground blades. Only the bottom part of the blade is ground to form a cutting edge.

Full tang

Full tang knives have a tang (the part of the blade which attaches to the handle) which runs the full length of the handle, follows its shape and is secured by rivets along its entire length. This helps to provide strength and balance to the knife.

Half tang

Half tang (or neb tang) is the name given to a tang which only extends part of the way along the handle - typically between a half and two thirds. It is held in place by rivets but usually the rivet furthest way from the blade is just cosmetic. These knives are suitable for general work.

Whittle tang

These have only a short point which extend into the handle.They have less strength and are only suitable for lightweight work.