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The importance of having good tools to use in
your
culinary endeavors is one of the first things I teach to home cooks. I liken the need for good kitchen tools to
that of a tennis player, golfer, plumber, carpenter.....anyone who uses
the tools of their particular trade all know that they must have the
best quality tools available in order to do their respective work to
the best of their ability and to make their respective tasks as easy as
possible. Ask any professional chef or an experienced home cook what
are the most important kitchen tools they use and I know they will say that
their knives are most important.
If you're about to embark on a major purchase of good
quality knives and finally throw out those old, dull, chipped and
useless knives that have been cluttering up your kitchen drawer, here
are some questions you should ask yourself before you go to the store of
your choice to seek out your new knives:
1. How many times a week do I
cook? Even if the answer is "not many" you should still
treat yourself to a few quality knives. You can do most chopping
and dicing tasks with a Cook's Knife also called a Chef's knife; peeling and cutting small foods
with a paring knife; cutting breads and delicate pastries with a
serrated bread knife, and carving and slicing meats with a slicing
knife. If you cook every day - then you will probably
want to add a few more knives to the aforementioned basic knives and include
additional chef/cook's, paring and slicing
knives in larger or smaller blade sizes, a boning knife and steak knives.
2.
What handle style fits my hand?
This can only be answered by actually holding each different handle
style that a particular manufacturer makes. Wüsthof has a variety
of handle
styles which can be viewed on their website. Featured below are the new
IKON knives (for Ikon Classic also see Wüsthof website). Both styles have blades that are
precision-forged from a single piece of an exclusive high-carbon,
stain-resistant alloy which is engineered to enhance edge-retention and
to facilitate re-sharpening.
IKON and IKON CLASSIC styles feature a distinctive, double bolster for
added heft which is what professionals look for. The precision
bolster is angled back on the handle for added comfort and excellent
control and allows the user to sharpen the full length of the blade.
The second bolster is at the end of the handle, and provides a gleaming
stainless steel look as well as the extra heft.
The contoured handle on the IKON
collection (some pieces shown below) is made of Grenadill, an environmentally friendly,
sustainable wood native to Africa and is known as Mozambique Ebony.
This wood has a very fine grain and rich natural hues which vary from
shades of deep cocoa to soft black. Grenadill is a very dense and
durable wood with minimal porosity.
8-inch Bread |
7-inch Santoku |
8-inch Chef |
3½-inch Paring |
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8 Piece Knife Set |
The IKON CLASSIC collection (not
shown here) has a
contoured black handle made of Hostaform-C, a high-impack
synthetic material - the same material used for Wusthof's best-selling
CLASSIC knife collection.
3.
How will I store my new knives?
Storing
quality knives in the home for safety reasons and good care can only be
done by using a wooden block, or on a magnetic strip. I've heard
some negative opinions about using magnetic strips to hold knives, but
personally, I've never found any problem with them. There are other
wooden blocks that fit into a drawer space - and this is the only way
you should ever store knives in a drawer! I use my chef's knife
roll pack when going to a clients' home to teach or to be a personal
chef, but otherwise my knives remain firmly attached to magnetic strips
on my kitchen wall.
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