When purchasing a new gourmet knife set, you want to make sure you have the right combination of knives in the set so that all your food cutting needs will met. Additionally, quality sets will have good fringe and complimentary components as well. Here are some common knives that should included in any set.
Chef’s
The staple of most knife sets is the chef’s knife. Also call the French knife, originally this knife was use primarily for cutting meats. Typically the blade measures about eight inches in length and one and a half inches in width. Currently the functionality of this knife serves more of an all purpose role. It is use for cutting, mincing, slicing, and chopping various food items such as meat, fish and vegetables.
Santoku
The Santoku knife can thought of as the Japanese version version of the chef’s knife. It is different enough that most good gourmet knife sets include both a chef’s knife and a Santoku knife. It is thinner and not as long as the traditional chef’s knife. The Santoku knife is design mostly for cutting boneless or lightly-boned meats, poultry and seafood. It is also great for handling vegetables, whether you are slicing, dicing or chopping them.
Paring
A paring knife is a small knife that is ideal for peeling fruits and vegetables. It is also good for precision cutting, such as de-veining shrimp or removing seeds from fruits. This is a common knife found in all good knife sets.
Bread
Bread knives are long, thin knives that are serrate so it can cut soft bread without crushing it or causing it to crumble. These are a must for any knife set since bread is one of the most commonly eaten foods there is.