More Food Adventures: Basic Chef Knife Types

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The kitchen is the heart and soul of a restaurant. Outfitting a restaurant can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to chefs knives. The sheer number of different types of knives available is enough to send any newbie into a culinary meltdown. However, with this handy guide it’s easy to sort out the slicers from the cleavers and stock your kitchen with the right knives.

All purpose.

The two main all purpose knives are the utility knife and the chef’s knife, also known as a French knife. These must-have knives are the workhorses of any kitchen.

Slicing and carving.

Four knives grace this category including the aptly named slicer, the serrated slicer, the offset (also known as a deli knife) and the tomato knife. These knives are an ideal choice for sandwich shops.

Delicate and small.

These knives include the paring knife, clip point knife, sheep's foot knife and tourne. These knives are all great for peeling and slicing vegetables and fruit. The clip point (also known as the Granny knife) is especially adept at tasks such as removing eyes from potatoes.

Raw meat and fish.

The names of these three knives are fairly self-explanatory: the boning knife, the filleting knife and the cleaver. The boning and filleting knives do much more delicate work while the cleaver is best for chopping off large pieces of meat. Seafood. These knives are extremely specialized and are designed specially for preparing clams and oysters. The third knife in this category is the devein knife, which does exactly what its name infers.

Professional.

Aren’t all knives professional? If they’re being used by a chef, yes. But these include the butcher knife, scimitar and frozen food saw, and are generally not found in the home kitchen. Now that you’re familiar with these knife types, check out this site and begin stocking your kitchen!