Your Cooking Survival Kit: Knives

Part I in a series of articles by the food sherpa

The right tools are essential to success in any trade. Cooking is no exception. Trying to cook without the proper gear can be difficult at best. On the other hand, collecting too many gadgets often results in a drawer (or two) full of gizmos that you rarely use. So what's important and what can you do without? This article in the two-part "Cooking Survival Kit" series focuses on the most critical tools for any cook - knives.

The Dynamic Duo

Owning a couple of high quality knives that can handle a myriad of tasks is always better than having a full set of lesser-quality blades. A good quality chef's knife and paring knife are must-haves. If you have a small budget, focus on these two pieces and you will be able to handle the majority of chopping, dicing, mincing, and peeling jobs in the kitchen without a problem. If you are able to pick up a couple of other pieces, consider adding a serrated utility knife and a flexible boning or fillet knife to your repertoire. A serrated utility knife is great for slicing tomatoes, fresh whole loaf breads, and other delicate foods that tend to crush rather than slice under the pressure of a straight blade. A boning or fillet knife comes in handy if you decide to try your hand at more advanced kitchen tasks, such as fabricating a whole chicken, filleting a whole fish, removing the skin from a fish fillet, or portioning bite-sized pieces of meat from a larger roast before starting a stew or a braise. If you add either of these knives to your kit, chances are good that you will find a host of uses for them both.

Shopping

A good quality knife is made from high-carbon stainless steel (which makes the blade easy to keep clean and good at holding an edge), typically has a full tang (the blade extends from the tip of the knife through the entire handle), and includes rivets that secure the handle firmly to the blade. Other high-quality blades on the market have a distinctive one-piece design, where the blade and the handle are both forged from a single piece of stainless steel. Cheaper knives featured stamped blades, meaning that they are cut from a sheet of metal rather than being forged, which involves molding the blade from hammered steel. Regardless of the construction, a high-quality knife should feel balanced in your hand. Whether you prefer a lighter knife, or one with more heft, the most important thing is that the knife feels comfortable to you. If not, it is likely to become another shiny member of your gizmo drawer!

Because a "test-drive" is so important when purchasing knives, it is a really good idea to visit a kitchen specialty store that carries a wide selection (such as "Sur La Table," www.surlatable.com or "Williams & Sonoma," www.williams-sonoma.com) when you are ready to purchase your knives. Take some time to handle the knives that look good to you and think about using them in your kitchen. Once you know the brand and styles of knives that you like, you can either purchase them from the store where you tried them out, or go online to get the best possible deal on the blades of your choice. Web resources such as the "Cooking Enthusiast" site (see www.cutlery.com/t11t22.shtml) can provide you with much more information on some of the most popular brands of cutlery and sites like BizRate (www.bizrate.com) can help you to comp are prices from different merchants when you are ready to buy.

Maintenance

If you decide to store your knives in a drawer, be sure to pick up protective knife sleeves to keep the blades from being damaged by clanging against other items. These sleeves are available at most kitchen supply stores. Other storage options include knife blocks and magnetic knife strips. Knife blocks are good for keeping all of your knives organized in one place, but can be expensive and may take up a significant amount of counter space. Wall-mounted magnetic knife strips will free up valuable counter space but still allow you to organize your knives in one location. The one potential draw-back is the fact that the blades are left exposed, which can be dangerous. Different storage options work better for different people. Consider cost, space requirements/limitations, and aesthetics in your final decision.

Finally, consider purchasing a honing steel to help maintain the blades of your straight-edge knives. The honing steel is used to straighten the edge of a knife, which rolls over with repeated use, making the knife seem dull. If you run both sides of your knife blade along a steel a few times before each use, you will straighten the rolled edge, keep the cutting edge properly aligned, and limit the amount of sharpening required to keep your blades in shape. This is important, because each time you sharpen a knife, a little of the blade is ground away in the process, effectively shortening the life of your knife. A good concise article on honing steels is available from the "Cooking Enthusiast" website at www.cutlery.com/sharp.shtml. The next installment of the "Cooking Survival Kit" will focus on other essential kitchen tools and cutting boards. Until next time, happy cooking!

(This article was originally published in the January 2008, edition of Endeavor, the official quarterly newsletter of the Annandale Chamber of Commerce. Visit the Chamber at www.annandalechamber.com).

Keith Steury owns the food sherpa, a professional personal chef service based in Arlington, Virginia. For more information about his business, please contact him:

the food sherpa
Keith Steury
P.O. Box 6473
Arlington, VA 22206
Phone / Fax: 703.379.7339
Mobile: 703.772.4101
ksteury@thefoodsherpa.com
www.thefoodsherpa.com