Another Knife Question...

[Katy]

I want to buy new knives, but to be honest, I don't want to have to buy an entire block of knives. What 1-3 knives are essential for basic cooking?

[thedoorchick]

I'd buy these knives, in this order:

Santoku knife
http://a1412.g.akamai.net/7/1412/243/0080/image2.styleinamerica.com/wsecimgs/images/products/200526/0014/img84m.jpg
Great for chopping and dicing. I prefer it to my chef's knife because the blade isn't quite as curved. This is Rachael Ray's favorite knife.

Paring knife
http://a1412.g.akamai.net/7/1412/243/0080/image2.styleinamerica.com/wsecimgs/images/products/200526/0005/img33m.jpg
This is useful for peeling fruits and vegetables and for slicing cheese, among other things.

Chef's knife
http://a1412.g.akamai.net/7/1412/243/0080/image2.styleinamerica.com/wsecimgs/images/products/200526/0010/img47m.jpg
I don't like it quite as well as my Santoku knife but it's almost as good and is used for similar purposes.

Serrated utility knife
http://a1412.g.akamai.net/7/1412/243/0080/image2.styleinamerica.com/wsecimgs/images/products/200526/0014/img78m.jpg
This is great for slicing tomatoes and other fruits/veggies with the skin on.

[emmjay]

I just took a Knife Skills class at a local cooking school - both the knife-sharpening guy and the chef who taught the course said that 90% of knife needs are covered by 1) a paring knife and 2) either a chef's knife or a Santuko knife. Whether you select a chef''s knife or a Santuko knife depends on how it feels in your hand.

Also a serrated bread knife is very useful if you slice a lot of bread.

I use a chef's knife and a paring knife for absolutely everything (even tomatoes!), but I am dying for a Santuko knife.

[ee_chick]

I agree with thedoorchick, but I find that I use my chef's knife more often than my Santoku. I like to rock the blade, I guess, and that's easier with a traditional chef's knife.

Also, I think a really good pair of kitchen scissors is essential. I never thought about this until I had a whole set of knives. These are the ones I use most often.

http://www.cooking.speedera.net/c3aabbfb78ba8698202b8404cecb4e31/images/products/shprodde/143492.jpg

[Katy]

Thanks ladies. I thought I remembered hearing something very similar to that. Just wanted to make sure. I wonder if I *need* a high quality bread knife, or just any'ol bread knife (we wouldn't use it all that much)

[Katy]

I just picked up an inexpensive pair of kitchen shears today. Up until today, I was always just using cheap'ol regular scissors in the kitchen.

[Janey]

Sometimes if you watch Amazon, you can get some great deals on some of the Wusthof/Henckle "Essentials" knife block (7 pieces or so) sets. These sets usually cover the basics plus, and they are good quality. If you buy the knives open-stock, you can end up paying as much as you would've on a set.

If I were to pick three knives? I would choose a Santoku, paring knife, and Boning Knife.

[Rose]

For me, a chef's knife & bread knife.

[hockeybrat]

For me, it would be a paring knife, chef's knife, and kitchen shears.

[laura]

I use our chef's, paring, and what's called a "vegetable knife" the most, but we don't have a Santoku and now I am intrigued.

Actually, this place calls the "vegetable knife" a tomato knife... in any case, this is what I'm talking about:

http://www.metrokitchen.com/store/images/300/wu-4109.jpg

[greenbunny]

*bump* for some new opinions

After a good amount of research I've decided on the Wusthof Gran Prix II knives for a gift for DH. Now I need to decide which actual knives to buy (a whole set isn't in the budget).

I'm thinking about the 7" Hollow ground Santoku. I also thought about the 8" carving knife, but they seem slightly repetitive.

What specific knives do you find yourself using most, regardless of brand, as the OP asks?

[Pineknot]

I use my santoku knife the most. I've been cooking for years and once this knife came out, all my others took a backseat.

I also use a 5" boning knife for my all purpose knife. This seems to work fine for small veggie jobs.

I also have a serrated 10" knife that I use for tomatoes and breads. Serrated edges are a must for french breads.

HTH

[Janey]

I answered this post earlier, but now that I have a big ol' set of knives, my answer has changed. I'm somewhat embarassed to admit that the knives I use the most are our steak knives. I use them for everything from slicing sandwiches, to poking holes in potatos, to slicing pickles for burgers, etc. Whenever I reach for "a little knife to do something quick," it's always one of our steak knives. We got the 8-piece Wusthof Gourmet set from Crate & Barrel, and I LOVE them.

In any case, aside from my incorrectly used steak knives, the 3 knives I like the most are these:
- Santoku for chopping.
- I love my carving knife for carving turkey breast, etc.
- My bread knife is an essential knife simply because a non-serrated knife won't cut bread.

Greenbunny - I don't think that the 8" carving knife is redundant, because I can't imagine myself carving a turkey breast with the santoku.... it's too wide. You could go with the 5" Santoku and the 8" Carving and then really feel like you're not redundant. :) Sometimes I wish we had the 5" Santoku rather than (or at least in addition to) the 7" ... the 7" is really big.

[looch]

I can't live without my chef's knife, 6 inches. 8 is too long for me.
I have a boning/filet knife i use quite often because i grind my own ground beef and i also use it for portioning out salmon or other fish that I buy in filet form.
I have an odd steak knife that I use as a paring knife, i can cut, peel, slice pretty much anything with it. It also has a pointed end, that i can use to stab potatoes.

I do need to purchase a bread knife now that i have started using the breadmachine. I really need a slicing guide, so that i can make sandwich style slices. Any suggestions?

[greenbunny]

I don't think that the 8" carving knife is redundant, because I can't imagine myself carving a turkey breast with the santoku.... it's too wide. You could go with the 5" Santoku and the 8" Carving and then really feel like you're not redundant. :) Sometimes I wish we had the 5" Santoku rather than (or at least in addition to) the 7" ... the 7" is really big.

Thanks! You said the 7" santoku is really big...do you mind my asking the size of your hands? Are you petite? DH is a pretty short guy, about 5'7", and he has fairly small hands for a man, but they're still larger than mine, and I'm about 5'3".


Also, what type of knife do I want for preparing meats? For example: deboning chicken breasts, or prepping fish fillets or steaks?

[Janey]

I have pretty small hands; I'm 5'1". I freaking love the Santoku for chopping an onion (or whatever) ... but I think the 5" knife would feel better in my hand than the 7" one does. Not that the 7" one feels bad in any way, believe you me. :p B is 6'2" and doesn't think there's an issue -- he feels like he's in absolute heaven with the 7".

For fileting fish, butterflying chicken breasts, etc. and so on, I would get a Flexible Boning Knife (http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=154265).

[chefker]

greenbunny- for prepping meats, I almost wholly rely on my boning knife (I use Wusthof classics--only difference from the Grand Prix line, is the handle, I believe).

The boning knife has a thin,slightly flexible tip, which helps if you're deboning anything--makes it easier to work the blade around the bone, rather than using a thicker bladed chef knife or Santoku.

I use my 10' chef knife and 8' Santoku for most of my chopping. The bread knife is really good too (we purchased a block set with wedding gift monies). I don't have the 'full' knife set as yet, but we're building on the basics. Mike got me the carving set last Christmas, and I use that *maybe* once a month for carving a large piece of meat. If you have a boning knife, that is probably more useful for everyday than a carving set would be, I think.

Also, I haven't checked it out yet, but a co-worker told me you can sometimes find good knives on overstock.com on the cheap.

[greenbunny]

Thanks guys! It is soooo hard to choose, I wish I could get them all at once. Definitely I'll get the paring knife, I just need to pick another. Or, maybe I'll skip a few other gifts I had in mind and end up buying three knives.

I feel kinda guilty because I know I'll get some great meals out of his gift. :)

[greenbunny]

I just placed my order on Amazon. I got the 3.5" paring knife, the 7" hollow ground Santoku, and the 8" bread knife.

Thanks again for all the input, I hope DH likes them!

[Janey]

Right on! Very solid choices, Greenbunny! Your hubby will be thrilled. :D