One type of a kitchen knife is a chef knives. A chef's knife these days is an all purpose kitchen knife, though it was initially designed to cut big slices of beef. But how are you able to tell which is it from any other kitchen knife? Can anyone other than a chef or professional cook purchase and use a chef's knife safely? The following might give you answers you seek so read on and learn.
Description of a chef's knife
If you are into cooking, you cannot go without a knife. A knife however, is being taken for granted that most kitchen do not have the knife it needs to cook comfortably. A knife is made up of blade, edge, heel, rivet, tang, bolster and handle. A chef's knife is but one type of a kitchen knife. It is usually 20 cm long and 4 cm wide, though there are other chef's knives that are 15 to 36 cm long.
A chef's knife from Germany, France and Japan are quite different from each other both in the materials used for the blades and size. A Japanese chef's knife or the santoku is totally different in size and shape. But a chef's knife, now-a-days, is considered to be an all purpose knife so it doesn't matter how it looks as long as it can be used to cut your vegetables, fish and any other boneless or slightly boned meat.
How to use a chef's knife?
Today, chef's knife is used to slice almost every food. Unlike other kitchen knife like the turning knife that is only used for presentation or the filleting and boning knives that are used particularly for filleting fishes and boning meat. On the other hand, the chef's knife is a multipurpose knife used to slice, cut, mince, chop vegetables and disjoint a slightly boned meat. It is simple enough to use a knife, but there are techniques that can be done to prevent injury and to slice quickly.
Learn how to hold it correctly
In holding the chef's knife correctly, you need to use both your thumb and index finger to grip both sides of the blades heel. With a relaxed grip, hold the knife with the rest of the fingers on the knife's bolster and the rest of the hand holding the handle. This technique will allow you to have more control with your knife.
The right guide
To slice your food quickly, you must learn how to guide your chef's knife in slicing your food. The hand not holding the knife is the guiding hand. This hand must secure the food and guide the knife's movements in cutting the vegetables, fruits or meat. You need to know how to guide the knife properly so you will not be injured while slicing the food.
You need to learn how to do a claw grip. This is done by curling the fingers inward and holding the food with your fingernails. Keep the knife's blade in perpendicular with the cutting board by letting one side of the blade rests on the guiding hand's knuckles lightly.
Just be sure your fingers are safely clawed in. Do not get excited and slice quickly right away, take time to get use with the technique first.
How to purchase chef's knife?
If you plan to buy a chef's knife, you need to do your assignment and learn its components first. If you know what materials are used to make a chef's knife, you will be able to determine which is an imitation and which will really cut your food. A chef's knife is designed for everyone, so no need to fear it. And by doing the simple technique as to how to use it, you can use a chef's knife effectively. A chef's knife is an all-purpose, multifunction kitchen knife, so you can save a lot if you buy it for your kitchen.