[ My Idea Book ]

gee, thanks for helping me solve my nondeterministic polynomial-time complete problem!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on kitchen knives and the importance of using the appropriate knife vs focusing primarily on a chef's knife

I actually have many thoughts on knives.

Knives are definitely a "you get what you pay for" tool. Knives under $80 are generally fine starting out, but something good is gonna be more in the $100-$300 range. You can, of course, find incredible knives for more then that, but frankly most individual knives above $300 are more for show. Not that they're not incredible and functional, but you're gonna pay for the Damascus of the blade and the style of the handle, not the function.

That said, the price is only worth it if you're taking care of them. A $20 knife stored well, sharpened regularly, and honed after each use is better then a Shun that you toss in a drawer and never sharpen. When paying for quality, you're paying for a few things. First is the metal of the blade itself. A well made knife strikes a balance between a blade flexible enough to not shatter when dropped, but solid enough to maintain it's honed edge. My main knife for many years used a kind of sandwich of metals, with a softer, springier steel on the outside for flexibility and protection, and a core of much harder steel for the edge. The second thing you're paying for is the ergonomics. What you want out of each knife ergonomically depends on the style you're getting, but in general better knives will be ones with fully ground edges and good curves, and which let you hold a choked grip without too much pressure. Also bear in mind the weight. Some knives should be heavy, and their weight should help pull them down through what you're cutting. Others should be light, so they don't tire your hands while you work with them.

No matter what you get, cheap or expensive, you should hone it after every use, store it so the edge isn't touching anything hard or at risk of being bumped, and sharpen it on a regular basis, either by taking it to a professional, or using whetstones. I use whetstones for my knives, but only because I used to hand sharpen the chisels in my wood shop, so i had some experience working with them. A bad sharpening can fuck up your knife, so if you want to start learning to sharpen, get a cheap one to practice on.

As for the importance of using the right knife for every job... don't worry about it too much. That might not be what you're expecting from me, but honestly I tend to just pick a favourite knife, and use it for most applications for a few years. My current favourite is actually a very cheap lightweight vegetable cleaver. Since i'm not cooking for groups much these days, the extra weight doesn't bother me as i'm normally only chopping a few things, and I really like having the extra surface area to brace the backs of my knuckles against, I find it makes for more event cuts. I also just enjoy the soft "thunk" as it hits the cutting board, and the satisfying way it faintly bounces when quickly chopping through leafy greens, like it's trying to retain it's momentum. I don't have a good spot for it, so I keep it in the foam-lined box it came in, which has been good enough. I do all my vegetables with it, and I use it for slicing or dividing meat as well. Before that, I used an 8" santoku for all those things, a japanese style chefs knife more geared towards working with vegetables, as it lacks the pointed tip useful for more delicate meat work. I've never been a fan of a standard western chef's knife profile myself, but i do appreciate it's utility.

Outside of your main knife, I think the most useful ones to have are a serrated bread knife, a thin and flexible boning knife, and a paring knife. The serrated knife is self explanitory, and the boning knife is for exactly what you would expect, removing meat from bones, especially fish. A boning knife is an invaluable tool for working with most fish, and I do enjoy the occasional salmon, being from the pacific northwest. The paring knife is important for any kind of small and delicate work, or sometimes the opposite, like when trying to remove something from a large piece of meat. You want something short and small that can basically just act as a sharpened finger. Also, get yourself a cutting fork, and a honing steel, and actually remember to use them both.

The big 10-20 piece knife sets are honestly way overdoing it. Those four, plus a fork and steel, are more then enough for pretty much anything you're gonna wanna do at home. If you have the budget, having some form of chefs knife and a cleaver can be useful, or a few extra paring knives can be handy if you you need to switch without washing one, but those are both just niceties. My recommendation is always to go somewhere in person where you can put together a cheap set with those 4-6, holding each one in your hand and getting a feel for it so you can decide if it's right for you.

And, as a final note, you see this? This little spot down here? That's called the heel. That metal part that blends into the handle is called the bolster. You see how the heel on this knife reaches all the way down to the edge and covers the heel? Do not buy a knife that has this. You want a bolster that ends before the blade itself begins, and the edge of the blade should extend all the way through the heel.

Now, a lot of people will chalk this up to bad design, but it's really not. It's a bad design if you, like myself, like I am suggesting you do, use one main knife for most of your culinary purposes. Knives like this exist for two reasons, one being that if you hold a knife purely by the handle, instead of choked up on it, it offers your fingers some protection. That is the "wrong" way to use a chefs knife, but it's also a very common way, and really that's fine. The other reason for it i've heard is that it's better for large butchery, where you're often making sweeping cuts along the curve of the blade and want to be able to drag your knife down more freely, without the risk of the heel snagging in the meat. From my own experience skinning and butchering I haven't found that necessary, but I do see where it could be helpful. That said, having a bolster like this can prevent the knife from getting good flush contact with the cutting surface, leading to incomplete cuts, and a sharp heel can be really useful for small or precise slices. A full bolster like this also makes the knife harder to sharpen. As such, i think it's much better to go without.

Note that this does not apply to all your knifes. Bolstered bread knives and boning knives are generally fine, and i actually prefer a bolstered paring knife, as it offers a little protection when doing that close, delicate work.

alright. i think i'm at the end of my info dump on this one. I have more to say, but i'm also realizing how hungry i am after a day of talking all about cooking. I'm gonna go put my knives to good use and make something tasty <3

manhandling is so fun like sure u can put me over there i don’t mind

SO CUTES 😭💞

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