Important Points to Consider while Choosing the Perfect Cutlery Set
Having a great knife and cutlery set at hand while working in the kitchen is essential to cook awesome food, in addition to your cooking skills. Here are a few tips to help you choose the right cutlery set.
You may notice that the loser in the popular TV show, Top Chef, is told to pack their knives and leave. This very sentence denotes how important knives are in a chef’s arsenal. Let’s look into the topic more.
Basic Shapes
You may come across a knife set and get impressed because it contains 10 different knives. However, you actually only need a few basic types of knives to perform most cutting tasks. For example, the Rada Cutlery Cooking Essentials Gift Set contains only 3 knives that accomplish all your cutting jobs without needing you to maintain a hefty knife set. Here are the most essential knives you need.
Chef’s Knife: This is a large, all-purpose knife which helps you cut chicken, mince garlic and other herbs, chop vegetables, slice meat and more. Most chefs primarily use this knife.
Paring or Utility Knife: A paring knife is a small 2- to 4-inch knife perfect for finer tasks like cutting small fruits and vegetables, slicing a piece of hard cheese, trimming fat from a piece of meat or mincing herbs. A utility knife is slightly longer than a paring knife and can be used when the paring knife is too short for a job.
Serrated Knife: This is a long serrated knife, around 9-10 inches, which can be used for cutting very soft fruits and veggies like tomatoes, or slicing roasts or bread.
Types of Construction and Materials
When it comes to cutlery’s construction, the jargon like high-carbon, forged, stamped or full-tang, is bewildering for the buyer.
By far, ‘forged’ is considered the best because it’s made from individual pieces of metal and molded under high heat to produce their shape.
Another great option is high-carbon stainless steel which offers the benefit of a stainless steel knife in a bit more sturdy and durable blade.
Carbon steel although is very strong, it rusts easily and can also react with acidic foods.
Plus, there is also stainless steel as well as ceramic knives. Stainless steel is a mixture of carbon, iron, chromium and other elements, and has good combination of durability, resistance to stains and ease of sharpening. Ceramic is a super-tough, yet ultra-sharp and lightweight material.
All these points will hopefully help you choose the right cutlery and you’ll be surprised to see how easily you can perform your culinary tasks. Happy cooking!