BLADE TYPES AND USES

western 

• Chef's Knife:

  • Description: The chef's knife is a versatile, all-purpose knife with a curved blade, typically around 8 to 10 inches long. It's used for chopping, slicing, dicing, and general food prep tasks.

• Utility Knife (Petty Knife):

  • Description: A utility knife is smaller than a chef's knife, usually around 5 to 7 inches long. It's ideal for precise cutting, trimming, and slicing smaller ingredients.

• Bread Knife (Serrated):

  • Description: The bread knife features a serrated edge that easily cuts through bread and other baked goods without crushing them. It typically has a blade length of 8 to 10 inches.

• Paring Knife:

  • Description: Paring knives have a short blade, usually 3 to 4 inches long, and are designed for peeling, trimming, and intricate cutting tasks like deveining shrimp.

• Utility/Slicing Knife:

  • Description: A utility or slicing knife is longer and narrower than a paring knife, often used for slicing cooked meats, poultry, and vegetables.

• Carving Knife:

  • Description: Carving knives have a long, narrow blade with a pointed tip, ideal for slicing thin, uniform slices of roast meats and poultry.

• Boning Knife:

  • Description: Boning knives have a narrow, pointed blade for precise deboning and trimming meat, poultry, and fish.

• Cleaver:

  • Description: Cleavers have a large, rectangular blade with a thick spine and are used for heavy-duty tasks like chopping through bones and tough vegetables.

• Fillet Knife:

  • Description: Fillet knives have a thin, flexible blade designed for filleting fish and removing skin with precision.

• Tomato Knife:

  • Description: Tomato knives have a serrated edge and a narrow, pointed blade, ideal for slicing through delicate tomato skins without crushing the flesh.

• Cheese Knife Set:

  • Description: Cheese knife sets include various knives for cutting different types of cheese, such as soft, hard, and crumbly cheeses.

• Oyster Knife:

  • Description: Oyster knives have a short, sturdy blade with a pointed tip, specifically designed for shucking and opening oysters.

• Steak Knife:

  • Description: Steak knives have serrated blades for cutting through cooked meats at the dining table, ensuring clean and effortless slicing.

• Salmon Knife:

  • Description: Salmon knives have a long, flexible blade, designed for slicing and serving salmon with precision.

• Bread Scoring Knife (Lame):

  • Description: A bread scoring knife or lame is used for making decorative cuts on the surface of bread dough before baking, allowing it to expand evenly.

• Slicing Knife (Carving Fork):

  • Description: Slicing knives, often used in combination with a carving fork, are designed for slicing large roasts, hams, and poultry.

• Kitchen Shears/Scissors:

  • Description: Kitchen shears or scissors are versatile tools for tasks like cutting poultry, trimming herbs, and opening packaging.

japanese

          Double Bevel Knives:

• Gyuto:

  • Description: Gyuto knives are versatile double-beveled chef's knives, ideal for a wide range of kitchen tasks, from precision slicing to heavy chopping.

• Santoku:

  • Description: The Santoku knife is a double-beveled, all-purpose kitchen knife suitable for slicing, dicing, and chopping a variety of ingredients.

• Nakiri:

  • Description: Nakiri knives are double-beveled vegetable knives with a rectangular blade, perfect for chopping and slicing vegetables with efficiency.

• Kaisaki Paring/Petty knife:

  • Description: The Kaisaki Paring/Petty knife is a small, double-beveled knife used for peeling, trimming, and performing delicate kitchen tasks.

• Pankiri:

  • Description: Pankiri knives are double-beveled pastry knives, commonly used for cutting and serving delicate pastries, cakes, and desserts.

• Sujihiki:

  • Description: Sujihiki knives are double-beveled slicers with a long, narrow blade, ideal for precise slicing of meats, roasts, and sashimi.

          Single Bevel Knives:

• Kiritsuke:

  • Description: The Kiritsuke knife has a single bevel and a pointed tip, making it versatile for various kitchen tasks, including slicing, dicing, and chopping.

• Usuba:

  • Description: Usuba knives are single-beveled vegetable knives with a rectangular blade, ideal for clean and precise vegetable cuts, including julienne and fine chopping.

• Unagisaki:

  • Description: The Unagisaki knife has a single bevel and is specialized for eel preparation in Japanese cuisine. Its sharp edge is perfect for filleting and slicing eel.

• Sushikiri:

  • Description: Sushikiri knives are single-beveled and designed for slicing sushi rolls. They allow for clean and precise cuts, maintaining the integrity of the sushi.

• Kamagata Usuba:

  • Description: The Kamagata Usuba is a single-beveled vegetable knife with a pointed tip. It excels at precise vegetable cuts and decorative garnishing.

• Mukimono:

  • Description: Mukimono knives are single-beveled, featuring a pointed tip for intricate peeling and decorative carving of fruits and vegetables.

• Kurimuki:

  • Description: Kurimuki knives are specialized for carving and creating intricate designs on vegetables. They have a single bevel and a sharp edge for detailed work.

• Chuka Bocho:

  • Description: This single-beveled Chinese-style cleaver is used for a wide range of chopping and slicing tasks, making it versatile in the kitchen.

• Yanagiba:

  • Description: Yanagiba knives are long, single-beveled slicers used for cutting sashimi and delicate fish with precision, creating thin, elegant slices.

• Deba:

  • Description: Deba knives are single-beveled and designed for heavy-duty fish butchery tasks, such as filleting, breaking down fish, and removing bones.

• Takohiki:

  • Description: Takohiki knives are single-beveled and used specifically for slicing octopus sashimi with precision, creating elegant, thin slices.

• Honesuki:

  • Description: The Honesuki is a single-beveled poultry boning knife with a pointed tip, perfect for deboning and trimming chicken and other poultry.

• Hankotsu:

  • Description: Hankotsu knives are single-beveled and designed for boning tasks, including removing bones from meat and poultry.