Chef’s Knife
- An all-purpose knife is sometimes called a French knife or cook’s knife.
- Blade is usually 6″ – 12″ long.
Use it for: chopping, slicing, and dicing thicker cuts of fruits, meats, and veggies.
Carving/Slicing Knife
- Often sold in sets that include a carving fork.
- The bevelled or smooth blade can vary in flexibility depending on the type of meat it’s made to carve.
- Blade is usually 8″ – 15″ long.
Use it for: fileting large fish or carving large poultry or roasts.
Steak Knife
- These blades are usually serrated (sharp with saw-like teeth).
- Vary in thickness.
- Usually come in sets of 4 – 6.
- Blade is usually 4″ – 6″ long.
Use it for: cutting portions of main dish servings, such as chicken or steak.
Paring Knife
- Small with a sharp blade that’s rounded on the cutting side.
- Light and easy to manoeuvre.
- Blade is usually 3″ – 5″ long.
Use it for: coring, cutting, mincing, and peeling small ingredients.
Utility Knife
- Shares qualities with a chef’s knife and a paring knife.
- Lightweight and small.
- Blade is usually 4″ – 7″ long.
Use it for: cutting and prepping medium-size fruits and vegetables.
Santoku Knife
- Considered the “Asian chef’s knife.”
- Blade is thinner and shorter than a chef’s knife, with a straighter cutting edge.
- Blade is usually 4″ – 7″ inches long.
Use it for: cutting foods into fine pieces or butterflying poultry.
Bread Knife
- Has a serrated edge (sharp with saw-like teeth).
- Can be difficult to sharpen.
- Blade is usually 8″ – 10″ long.
Use it for: food that is hard on the outside and soft on the inside, such as crusty bread.
Boning Knife
- Narrow and easily manipulated.
- Blades vary in rigidity depending on the size of the meat they’re made to cut.
- Blade is usually 4″ – 7″ long.
Use it for: removing the main bone from meat like ham.
- Cleaver/Butcher Knife
- Blade is broad, heavy, and rectangular.
- Weight and thickness is enough to split bone and the broad side can be used for crushing.
- Blade usually 6″ – 7″ long.
Use it for: cutting and stripping large cuts of meat and bone or trimming fat.
Nakiri Knife
- Japanese-style chopping knife.
- Long, marbled blade with a flat tip.
- Blade usually 6″ – 7″ long.
Use it for: chopping any kind of vegetable without crushing or tearing it.
Tomato Knife
- Light, thin serrated blade with an upturned end.
- Blade usually 4.75” – 5” long.
Use it for: slicing tomatoes without crushing them.
