How to choose a good and quality knife for home cooking?

No innovative device designed for processing food componentswill replace the most common kitchen knives. Before choosing a knife, you need to understand the existing types of products, their features, advantages and disadvantages. Contrary to popular belief, there are no universal objects in this field, each cutting accessory has its own specific purpose. One knife for the kitchen will clearly not be enough. To maximize the process of cooking, you need to select an entire arsenal of profile devices, based on their functional characteristics.

Kinds of knives by type of destination - we collect a complete set of tools

According to professionals, with the arrangement of home cooking, you can do 4-5 quality knife models. It is better to buy not a ready-made kit, but to select each product separately, based on its purpose, convenience, frequency of use and quality of the material. To know how to choose a good knife, you need to understand what adaptations exist, and what characteristics you need to pay attention first.

• Classic chef knife. Despite the fact that traditionally such accessories are used by the chefs in elite restaurants, nobody forbids buying it for home cooking. The device features an even blade with a width of 2 to 4 cm and a length of 15 to 30 cm, with a handle of 18-22 cm in length. The chef's knife is selected individually, based on weight, length, balance, shape. It is the main working tool designed to perform basic tasks.
• The classic trio. This is a standard kitchen kit, which includes a chef's knife and two smaller copies. Practice shows that in the presence of such adaptations it is possible to cope with the main types of work carried out when preparing products for subsequent use. At the same time, the main tool should be at least 45 cm long, medium - 5-10 cm shorter, the length of a small one does not exceed 25-30 cm. However, if you need to do fine work with these products, you can not do.
• Knife for bread .Despite the name, it can be used not only for cutting pies, big loaves and loaves. The kitchen tool will cope with slicing cakes, cleaning and cutting large fruits. It differs in the same width of the blade along its entire length with a cut tip. Special sharpening in the form of denticles allows you to fix the blade on dense surfaces without the risk of slipping.
• Knife for vegetables and fruits. It's easy to recognize by the short blade and handle of the same length or even slightly shorter. The tip is pointed, the cutting surface is straight and uniform. The same group includes tools with a hole in the blade blade, designed to remove the peel from potatoes, carrots and beets.
• Sirloin knife. The quality product has a long and severely narrowed blade, which allows you to thinly and evenly cut meat, poultry and fish. In this case, the product will not stick to the surface of the metal, crumple and deform. Products designed to separate meat from bones have the same characteristics, but their blades are slightly shorter and are strongly rounded to the point.
• Knife for slicing. If in everyday life, when cutting sausages, smoked meat or fish, you can do with any knife that is at hand, then it is better to use a specialized tool to decorate these products. The end result will not only be more accurate, the creation of culinary masterpieces will literally take a few seconds.

Besides this, gourmets and simply connoisseurs of delicious food should pay attention to knives intended for spreading butter and pate, cutting oysters, cutting cheese and carving( decorating food products).

How to choose a quality kitchen knife, based on the features of

materials

To know how to choose the right knife, you need to understand not only the types of devices, but also the types of materials from which they are made. The durability and reliability of tools depends on three components: the quality of the blade, the type of sharpening, the features of the handle.

How to choose a knife with a good blade:

1. Stainless steel blades with the mandatory addition of chrome have increased practicality. This element is responsible for the hardness of the metal and gives it anti-corrosion properties.
2. Additives in the form of manganese compounds increase the wear resistance of products. Molybdenum eliminates the increased brittleness of the blade. The presence of vanadium makes it possible to achieve maximum sharpness from the knife.

Advice: Do not buy a kitchen knife, the blade of which is covered with stains, pinholes or streaks. These signs indicate the heterogeneity of the alloy used or the failure of the element's casting technology. It will not last long, and its exploitation will be complicated by the need for systematic sharpening.

1. Forged tools are considered the best of their kind. They have increased strength, durability, do not need frequent sharpening. From the sharpening, the quality of processing the cutting edge of the knife, the speed and efficiency of work, the final form of the processed ingredients, depends.

Before buying a kitchen knife, you must carefully consider the cutting surface in the light. It should not be covered with dents, chips, irregularities. If the sharpening line is uneven or looks layered( bread knife is an exception), it is worth to refrain from buying. For quality products sharpening can only be two-sided. Ideal is the blade, on which the boundary of the ground is practically indistinguishable.

Special attention should be paid to knives with laser sharpening. Of course, the laser is not used for their sharpening, it is used for hardening steel in a special way. You can distinguish such a product by the presence of matte dashes perpendicularly located on the cutting edge of the blade. In the course of work, such items are sharpened independently and from regular use become only sharper.

The tool handle plays an important role when choosing a knife for the kitchen. Traditionally this part is made of the following materials:

• Wood. The only plus option - its convenience. Over time, the element is covered with a layer of cracks, in which the fat is clogged, which significantly complicates the work process. Such products can not be washed in a dishwasher, left for a long time without cleaning, soak in water.
• Plastic. Quite durable, not prone to wear and not demanding to clean the material, capable for several years to maintain its original appearance. But there is a negative point. An opaque product is often used to mask the length of the blade entering the handle. If the metal reaches only half the handle, it will loosen over time.
• Metal. Durable and resistant to all types of exposure, the material that is not spun, easy to clean and not deformed. The only drawback - a significant increase in weight, which often causes difficulties in the process of cooking.

Despite the active development of information technology, you should not buy knives in online stores. To this end, markets and business departments of supermarkets are also better off. A quality knife can only be found in a specialized store. Even before buying, you must carefully inspect and, if possible, even try out the instrument.

Features of ceramic products

These specimens appeared on the market not so long ago and, despite the high cost, won the confidence of consumers. Made of zirconia, these products are distinguished by their original appearance, increased durability and ease of use. Despite the apparent massiveness, they are twice as lighter than traditional steel.

There are two types of blades - black and white. The former have more hardening, so they are considered better, but practice shows that in the home kitchen this difference is not so obvious. The undeniable advantage of objects is the fact that they do not need sharpening at all.

Before choosing a ceramic knife for regular use, it is necessary to evaluate the conditions in which it will be used and the purpose of the job. For all its merits, the material is rather fragile and does not tolerate falls, strong impacts on hard surfaces.

Recommendations of professionals for working with kitchen knives

There are several secrets that can extend the life of the kitchen knife and make it easier to use:

1. Before cutting the onion, the blade of the knife needs to be held in cold water for a few seconds( pour liquid into a container and do not substitute the product for a jet).
2. The knife is not for nothing called a cold steel, in the cooled state it works much more efficiently. If you need to cut a hot product, then the tool is recommended to hold in the freezer for a while.
3. When working with cheese, frozen meat and even butter, the blade should be heated on the contrary, being held in hot water. Then the sections will be smooth, not torn.
4. Cutting on very hard surfaces is not recommended. Even the sharpest knife after a while will be blunted about the ceramic board. It is better to give preference to traditional wood or wear-resistant plastic.

Kitchen knives are not the tools you need to save. It is better to give once an impressive amount for a standing set of items that will last more than one year, than every month to buy not the best quality devices that spoil the products.

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