The Most Important Tool In The Kitchen, A Sharp Knife

What are the best kitchen knives? Depends on who you ask. Some think that the more money you pay for kitchen knifes or cutlery the better it is. The truth is that the one that feels the best in your hand is the best kitchen knife. Before we get any further into this article we're going to recommend that you don't buy a knife unless you can hold it in your hand first. Every knife has a different feel. The handles are shaped differently. If you're a small woman with a petite hand you won't feel comfortable holding the same knife as a chef the size of Mario Batali.Go ahead, do an online search, it's always best to educate yourself before you buy. Go to your local Williams Sonoma and handle the knives. What are the best kitchen knives? You make the decision. Once you've found it you can search online to see if you can find a better deal then they have in the store, a lot of times you can.

The best kitchen knives are not the most expensive. If you don't prepare a lot of food, meaning that you eat from a box or pre-packaged meals you don't have to spend a fortune on a knife. You can purchase Chicago Cutlery Forged Stainless Steel knives at WalMart for around $50. However, if you're like me and you love to cook, slice, dice, mince and chop, then you're going to want to look for a higher grade knife.

It's my opinion that the best kitchen knives for me, or someone else who loves to cook would be Global, Wusthof, Shun Ken, Henckels or Schaff, to mention just a few. My best knife turned out to be Global. I own three Global knives now. A 4" pairing knife, a Global 7" Santoku (which is a great chopping knife), and an 8 1/2" carving knife. When I handed my mother-in-law my Global carving knife on Thanksgiving to carve the turkey she said "I can't use this, I use an electric knife!" I told her that was all I had. She was amazed how well it carved. It worked much better than her electric knife.

When I met my husband he owned a knife block full of knives. They weren't anything special, but they worked. I knew that they had plastic handles but never realized how fragile they were. When I was trying to cut a piece of cheese off of a block I actually broke the handle of the knife. The "tang" or the portion of the blade that extended into the handle was very short. This is another reason why I like my Global knives. They're sturdy knives. The knife and handle are fashioned from one piece of metal that gives them extra strength and a fluid feel. Henckels Professional Chefs Knives have a tang that runs the entire length of the knife handle. The "tang" of the knife is overlaid with a synthetic polymer.

Another thing you can look for when you're purchasing the best kitchen knives is the hardness of the blade. There are three grades. A very high carbon stainless steel blade would be the hardest, an all carbon steel blade would be the softest and a high carbon stainless steel blade would fall somewhere in the middle of the two. The harder the blade the longer it will hold a sharp edge.

So what are the best kitchen knives? That decision depends on you.