The 3 kitchen knives every home chef should own, according to an expert

Whether you cook for fun or because you cook takeout is too expensivea good set of knives can really make your time in the kitchen much easier and more efficient. If “squeezing” or “bludgeoning” are more accurate descriptions of what your knives are capable of than “slicing” or “slicing,” or if you’ve only ever used plastic-handled knives that regularly mix with other knives in your kitchen drawer cookware lying around, it might be time for an upgrade.

Quality kitchen knives aren’t necessarily cheap, but you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars or go all out for a comprehensive set of professional knives, most of which you wouldn’t know how to use.

We spoke with Stephen Chavez, Senior Chef Instructor for the Institute for Culinary Education in Los Angeles, for his best advice on buying kitchen knives for beginners.

Which kitchen knives do you actually need?

First of all, you probably need fewer knives than you think, so ditch those multi-piece butcher blocks or other over-the-top knife sets and save yourself some money in the process. Three dedicated blades, with a fourth, blade-adjacent option, cover all the important functions you need for any cooking project.

Chef’s knife

“First you have one chef’s knife” says Chavez. “It can be an 8-inch knife (by far the most common), a 10-inch or a 12-inch, depending on what you’re comfortable with, but you should have a great chef’s knife.” Knives are out there in many variations, as described below, but a chef’s knife is your main workhorse when it comes to slicing and dicing. It is the knife you will use most of the time, for the widest variety of applications. I evaluate several on sharpness, balance and value, these are the best chef knives to buy.

Peeler or knife

“However, you don’t always need a big knife, so definitely one peeler or knife” says Chavez. “It can be as small as a four-inch knife, or it can be more like a six-inch knife, but it should be something for smaller tasks, like slicing garlic, turning an artichoke or peeling strawberries. ”

A paring knife also comes in slightly different weights, shapes and sizes, but its usefulness is for those tasks where the sheer size of a chef’s knife can get in the way. Where a chef’s knife is an extension of your hand, a paring knife is more of an extension of your finger.

Serrated knife

“And then the third knife you absolutely need is a serrated knife or a bread knife,” says Chavez. A serrated knife is a knife with teeth. You could think of it as a kitchen saw because that is the action it performs. “The serration allows it to go through things like a crust very well” , says Chavez. “So we use it mainly for bread, but also for things with very delicate skins, like tomatoes,” he says, which are otherwise difficult to cut cleanly unless you actually manage to keep your chef’s knife razor sharp.

Know how to use a chef’s knife properly

Before we dive into what to look for in a knife, here’s a mini-lesson on knife skills from a culinary school instructor. “A mistake a lot of people make with knives is they use a knife like a cleaver,” says Chavez, “so they go from the top and then push down.”

If you’re looking for a chef’s knife, it’s crucial that you understand how to properly use its length. “Knives are long for a reason: you’re supposed to cut from heel to tip or point to heel,” says Chavez. “You start at one end and then go all the way to the other end, using more than two inches of the blade.” Your chef’s knife is the most dramatic in terms of length, but the same wisdom also applies to both your paring knife and your serrated knife. Understanding the mechanism and how it works can help you figure out which knives are best for you.

What to look for with a chef’s knife

Because the chef’s knife is central, it is important to know what you are looking for. After all, there is no one standard when it comes to a chef’s knife.

“Sometimes chef’s knives have a belly on the handle, and some are straight,” says Chavez. “Some handles are made of wood and some are made of composite.” Many chef’s knives are approximately 8 inches (20 cm) long, referring to the length of the blade itself, not including the handle, but can range from 6 inches (15 cm) to as long as 5 inches (14 cm). The width of the blade itself can also vary in size, all of which affects the overall weight of the blade.

The way the blade is made, whether the handle is wrapped around the continuation of the blade material or attached as a separate piece, and what the blade is made of all determine the quality of the knife and its relative price .

However, the most important thing for beginners, according to Chavez, is how it feels. “The knife chooses you as much as you choose it,” he says. (We both recognized the obvious correlation here with buying a wand in the Harry Potter universe.) “It has to feel good, and you just have to do what feels right for you in your hand.” This is a good example of buying a knife from the kind of retailer where you can actually handle samples, not just pull a plastic-wrapped set off a rack.

Heavier knives may seem counterintuitive at first to those who have never handled them, but it’s their relative weight that will matter to you. Lighter weight, Japanese-style knives have their acolytes, but a lighter knife requires more strength from the person doing the cutting.

Read more: What is the difference between a Western and a Japanese chef’s knife?

How much does a good chef’s knife cost?

Chef’s knives have a wide range in price depending on many of the variables outlined above, but the good news is, “they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg,” says Chavez. “You can buy the $25 Dexter Russell version of a chef’s knifeand it will do you good,” he says. “It will come in very sharply, but it’s not the most durable, so it may only last a few years and need to be replaced.”

“If you want to buy a well-made Japanese knife or a heavy-duty German knife, it might cost you $100 just for the chef’s knife, and it can go up from there,” he says. (Chavez uses a Messermeister knife — an 8-inch chef’s knife costs about $128. The chef’s knife from my culinary school is a Wüsthofwhich retails for about $170. I also have cheaper ones Kitchen art And Calphalon that I use.)

“If you’re an average chef, do you need a $400 chef’s knife? No, you don’t,” says Chavez. “You just need one that feels right for you, that’s in your comfort zone, within your price range for what you’re going to do.” Chavez recommends going to a kitchen-specific store like Williams Sonoma or Restaurant Depot and talking to the salespeople there about your budget and the types of cooking projects you regularly do to find a knife that suits you best.

Kitchen scissors are also a good idea

“Kitchen scissors are also a must,” says Chavez, essentially scissors for kitchen use. (And not for anything other than food.) They can be used for trimming herbs, especially if you grow them indoors. Spring onions as garnish whatever they’re garnishing, cutting pizza, or even performing heavy tasks like cutting through chicken bones.

Two good news about kitchen shears: they often eliminate the need for a cutting board, so that’s one less thing to wash, and they can be purchased cheaply. “The ones I use are Oxo kitchen scissors” says Chavez. “They are sharp, have large handles and come apart so they are easy to clean.”

Since buying a chef’s knife is a very personal decision, kitchen scissors can also be a great gift for a culinary beginner.

Advice for the maintenance of your kitchen knives

Once you’ve purchased a few good knives, it’s best to maintain them. “A sharper knife is a safer knife,” says Chavez, which may be counterintuitive to most people who haven’t had the benefit of professional knife instruction. “A dull knife is much more dangerous. A dull knife can slip. A dull knife can move over you when you’re trying to cut,” he says, especially if you have to exert more hand force when using a dull knife.

Knives should be hand washed after use, dried and stored properly, either in individual sleeves or on a magnetic strip. Don’t leave them exposed in your cutlery drawer.

A sharpening steel is an important part of your knife collection, but understand that it does not sharpen your knife, but helps keep it sharp. “Your steel sharpens your blade, straightening it out,” says Chavez, which helps it retain its sharpness but doesn’t actually sharpen it. “You can get one with a nice diamond grit about 25 dollars.”

“Sharpening takes away metal,” he says, exposing new steel and reducing the size of the edge to achieve a precise cut. “It’s best to do that professionally.”

For more information, learn how to properly sharpen a kitchen knife and avoid these bad habits that ruin your knives.