Whether you are a gourmet chef, a cooking enthusiast or the average home cook you need a variety of knives to prepare food. While you may or may not need fillet knives you must have several paring knives as it’s almost impossible to prepare food without them. Most cooks have several paring knives so they can handle onion and garlic with one knife and use another for fruit or potatoes without having to constantly wash the knives. Perhaps the next most useful knife to have are santoku style knives which are designed to make slicing, dicing and mincing easy.
When choosing paring knives you may want to have different styles to help reduce the possibility of fatigue. Many folks prefer the ergonomically designed fatter handles as they can be easier to grip while there is still a group of traditionalist who want only a standard paring knife. The santoku style knife is a general purpose kitchen knife with a design that originated in Japan. The santoku’s blade and handle are designed to work in harmony by matching the blade’s width/weight to the weight of blade tang and handle, and the original Japanese santoku is considered a well-balanced knife.
Another basic knife essential for any cook is a serrated edge bread knife which can be used to cut bagels, cake and other baked goods. Serrated edge knives tend to hold their edge for an exceptionally long time and a serrated edge knife is excellent for cutting tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. Regardless of how many knives a cook has the reality is that they tend to use the same two or three knives over and over again.
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