Many different types of knives exist. How many you need and which you should buy depend largely upon personal preference, but even the most infrequent cook will find use for at least two or three inexpensive kitchen knives (one of which should be serrated). Here are descriptions of the more common cutlery pieces to help you choose knives for your own kitchen habits.
Boning Knife
This knife has a short, thin, very flexible blade that is used for cutting meat. Its original purpose was to remove the main bone from a piece of meat such as a ham or a beef roast, but it can also be useful for more delicate slicing.
Carving Knife
Some manufacturers call this a slicing knife. It is a large, often curved knife with a blade that can range from 8-15 inches in length. This knife is usually used for cutting large pieces of meat, such as roasted turkey or prime rib. Carving knives are often paired with a two-pronged meat fork.
Chef's Knife
Also called the cook's knife, this is the classic, all-purpose kitchen knife that can be used for slicing, chopping, dicing and mincing. The blades are usually fairly thick and rigid, and they can vary in length from 6-12 inches.
Cleaver
This knife has a large blade that is heavy, thick and rigid. A cleaver has many uses, including chopping, shredding and pounding. It is made for the really heavy kitchen work; there is no better knife for chopping a mountain of vegetables for a stew. The flat of the broad blade can be used to pulverize meat or to crush seeds or garlic, and some cleavers can even cut right through bones.
Filet Knife
This is like a larger version of a boning knife with a flexible blade that is typically 6-11 inches long. As its name implies, this knife is excellent for filleting fish.
Kitchen Shears
Many cutlery sets also include a pair of heavy scissors or shears. These can be very handy for opening packages of meat, snipping cooking ties and much more.
Paring Knife
This is a small, easy-to-handle knife with a thin blade that is usually only three or four inches in length. This type of knife works well for peeling, coring and slicing smaller foods.
Serrated Knife
This knife features a 5-10 inch blade with many saw-like notches. This knife works great for slicing softer foods such as tomatoes, and is especially useful for bread. In fact, many people simply refer to this kind of knife as a bread knife.
Utility Knife
This is a smaller, lighter-weight version of a chef's knife. Blades are usually four to seven inches long and are very stiff. This is a handy knife for lots of miscellaneous cutting, such as slicing fruit and cheese.
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