Perhaps you have looked at some beautifully designed knives and wondered what knives are made of. It doesn’t matter if you buy your knives as a collection or you simply use them in your kitchen. A good knife is made to last for a very long time, and sometimes it can even be passed down to the next generation. If you are still wondering about what knives are made of, take note that knives are generally made via the same method both for those meant for collection and for preparing food.
When we talk about what knives are made of, you need to remember one thing. The first process will involve the creation of the individual parts before the assembling can be done. Various materials are used in the making of knives – both the blade and handle can be made from different materials. When talking about the materials on what knives are made of, some of the common materials making up the blade of a knife are carbon, tool and stainless steel. Some of the antique knives meant for collection are made from iron, copper and brass. In general a knife meant for displaying purposes allows the designer to have a wider choice in terms of material.
The crucial point on what knives are made of lies in its durability aspect. The durability of a knife depends very much on its hardness and resistance to corrosion. A good knife should not need to be sharpened regularly. A blade made from carbon steel, on the contrary, is cheap and easy to sharpen but it is prone to break easily since it is a low quality steel and can be bent with ease. In conclusion, knives can be made from a lot of different materials. The next time you look at a knife, perhaps you won’t be puzzled anymore because at least you have known a bit on what knives are made of.
The Correct Way to Store Knives
It doesn’t matter if you are using cheap or expensive knives; you still need to know the correct way to store knives. Knowing the correct way to store knives is very important because not only does it ensure the level of safety around the kitchen especially when you have children, but can prolong the life of your knives. Keeping your knives in the right place is also crucial in maintaining their quality. Knife blades can become dull when stored improperly. If you want to know more about how to keep your knives in good condition for many, many years here are some tips that may be beneficial to you.
One of the best ways to store knives is by placing them in a knife block. In most situations you will be given a knife block especially when you buy knives in sets. If you don’t get a knife block together with your purchase don’t worry because you can actually purchase a knife block separately. These blocks are available in a variety of sizes and colors so you can easily choose one that suits the sizes of knives, and the decor you have at home. In addition to using knife blocks, you can house your knives separately in a plastic cover.
Usually, a cover will come as a bonus when you buy a knife, or you may be able to purchase one on it’s own. Just be sure to buy the cover that fits your knife correctly. Both of these methods save storage space as well.
Another correct way to store knives is by using a magnetic strip. The strip is often hung on the wall. This is a good way of storing your knives because children are not able to reach the strip if you hang it high enough. Additionally, magnetic strips are easy to take care of because you can clean them in just a few minutes. The strips are available in various sizes as well, and this means you can conveniently store a large set of knives on one piece of magnetic strip.
Food preparation will become a lot easier when you keep your knives in one convenient place. When everything is alright in your kitchen, perhaps you might want to prepare a special dish? Do have a look at this favorite restaurant recipes book – there are many fabulous recipes to discover and you can try any of them. After all, you are no longer worried about safety issues in the kitchen since you are applying the correct way to store knives.
Recognizing the Difference between Different Knife Handles
Why is it important to know the difference between different knife handles? The handle of a knife is equally important as its blade because it influences the overall performance of the knife. The difference between different knife handles may depend on several factors, and one of them is the material the handle is made from. If you are looking for the most durable knife on the market, you should buy a knife with a stainless steel handle. This is because the handle won’t get rusty and it isn’t damaged even if you were to soak it for a whole week.
Let us observe further on the difference between different knife handles. A handle made from wood is relatively less durable than the one made from stainless steel. Stainless steel is easier to clean and it doesn’t leave stains behind. The amount of use a knife gets and it’s cleaning and storage are things to think about in regards to different knife handles and should be considered before buying a knife. While a wooden handle might not be durable enough to last a lifetime, it has its own benefits as well. A wooden handle is easier to grip because it won’t get slippery when you hold it with a wet hand. A stainless steel handle, on the other hand, needs to have some ridges so that it is easier to grip.
A plastic knife handle can be seen available in abundance on the market today. Plastic is cheap, yet it is durable. Take note that the difference between different knife handles may not only rely on its price. If you are on a tight budget buying a knife with a plastic handle is a good idea. It is easy to clean, unaffected by water and won’t rust.
All in all there are some differences when you buy knives made from different materials. Since the difference between different knife handles has already been described above, now it’s up to you to make your selection based on your needs and uses.
Knives Care And Maintenance
Care and maintenance of knives are not only involving sharpening them. As a matter of fact, you need to incorporate a number of different things when it comes to care and maintenance of knives. It is important to wash them properly so that no kitchen ingredient residues can reduce on the quality of the blades. It is also important to wash and dry the blades if you utilize the knives to cut citrus fruits because the acid contained in these fruits can cause blade discoloration.
The best care and maintenance of knives should be done manually. Knives should never be placed in a dishwasher because the blade can scratch your pots and dishes and causing a permanent damage. Additionally damage can occur to the handles of knives made from wood. To clean the blade, you can always use strong detergent or a slightly textured washing pad. However, don’t wash the blade using steel wool in order to avoid scratch marks.
If you keep your knives in a knife block, an extra care and maintenance of knives should be considered. Drying your knives from blade up to the handle is crucial before you keep them in the block. This is done to avoid the growth of mold when there is excessive humidity in the place where your knives are kept.
If you don’t have a knife block, you can use plastic covers to ensure the maximum care and maintenance of knives before they are kept in the appropriate compartment. Remember not to toss any knives into the storage place. First, this is rather dangerous to you and second, there is a potential to damage the knives as well.
Taking good care of your knives will allow you to enjoy preparing all types of recipes.
How to Sharpen Your Knife with a Whet Stone
A knife is the most utilized tool in the kitchen; therefore it is vital that you know how to sharpen your knife. When you don’t have a sharp knife it would be difficult for you to prepare your food. Meat, for example, is tough to handle with a dull blade. Additionally, you will just end up in mashing a ripe fruit instead of cutting it if you use a dull blade. Since the sharpness of a knife is very important, now is the right time for you to start learning how to sharpen your knife. There are many ways you can do this, though.
One of the common ways on how to sharpen your knife is by using a whet stone. A whet stone is inexpensive but it sharpens a blade effectively. If you don’t know what the stone looks like, it is rectangular in shape and usually dark grey in color. It has two sides – one is rough while the other is fine. The right way on how to sharpen your knife with a whet stone is by using the rough side first. Run your knife on it for about ten times and do it on both sides of the knife. Then, use the finer side of the stone and repeat the sharpening process.
If you are afraid to use a regular whet stone because you are still learning how to sharpen your knife, you can also use an electric knife sharpener. While it is more convenient to use the device, typically it costs more than the price of a whet stone.
Having a sharp knife in the kitchen will make you feel excited to prepare all types of food. This is especially true when you have access to different kinds of recipes. Therefore, learn how to sharpen your knife right away so that you can show off your impressive cooking skills.
How to Select the Right Knife
Many people tend to simply use their kitchen knives without knowing how to select the right knife. This is understandable because choosing a knife something that not everyone has been taught. We are served with a lot of different brand names and all of them tend to claim having the highest quality of knives. Sometimes you can even end up being confused because you don’t know how to select the right knife because there are so many available options to choose from.
Before buying any knives you need to look at your budget. Knives are available in a variety of price differences – some are just a few dollars each but some can reach up to hundreds of dollars. If you know the basics about how to select the right knife your knowledge can benefit you a lot. This is because it is possible to buy cheap knives that have the same quality as the one from the high-end ranges.
The question on how to select the right knife may also depend on the number of knives you plan to use in the kitchen. Often times it is more economical to buy a set of knives rather than buying them separately, but consider whether you need a whole set, or just a few knives.
The most important thing to consider when thinking about how to select the right knife is what they are going to be used for. Slicing and dicing tasks, for example, should be performed with specific knives in order to produce the best outcome. A bread knife is serrated to cut through the crusty exterior of a loaf of bread, while allowing the inside to be cut smooth. When choosing a chef’s knife, make sure it does not bend too much – it should be quite hard. You will achieve more precision cuts that way.
Quality should always be considered when buying a knife. It can be rather confusing to choose a good knife especially when you can’t see any difference of a good one from a substandard one. Keep in mind that knives are made with different qualities and durable ones tend to have harder blades. The best way on how to select the right knife in terms of its hardness is by referring to the HRC standard.
Choosing The Right Knife
There are quite a number of different brands of knives you can find today, and that is why you need to know what to look for when purchasing a knife. In order to help you in making the right decision, here are some tips to follow.
First, the main thing to look for when purchasing a knife is precision. Precision is very important especially when you often prepare Japanese food in your kitchen. To get a precise cut you must buy a very sharp knife. The blade should be able to cut in perfect straightness and can produce slices that are similar in size.
Second, what to look for when purchasing a knife is quality. A quality knife should be fully forged, meaning the blacksmith process that the knife goes through in manufacturing. Additionally, it should have a full tang as well. This means the blade must be attached to the handle until the end of it, and not simply screwed at the front of the handle. This ensures a stronger knife and the blade won’t come off easily.
Third, what to look for when purchasing a knife is cost-effectiveness. If you buy them in sets the price would typically be cheaper than when you buy them separately.
Fourth, what to look for when purchasing a knife is a good warranty. Make sure that your purchase is accompanied by unlimited warranty because you are allowed to claim for a new one if it happens that your existing knife gets damaged.
Before you buy any knives from any manufacturers, be sure to you have check out their credibility andthat the quality of their knives can truly be relied on. Referring to customer knife reviews is a good strategy you can opt for before buying.
Do You Know What Knives are Made of?
Perhaps you have looked at some beautifully designed knives and wondered what knives are made of. It doesn’t matter if you buy your knives as a collection or you simply use them in your kitchen. A good knife is made to last for a very long time, and sometimes it can even be passed down to the next generation. If you are still wondering about what knives are made of, take note that knives are generally made via the same method both for those meant for collection and for preparing food.
When we talk about what knives are made of, you need to remember one thing. The first process will involve the creation of the individual parts before the assembling can be done. Various materials are used in the making of knives – both the blade and handle can be made from different materials. When talking about the materials on what knives are made of, some of the common materials making up the blade of a knife are carbon, tool and stainless steel. Some of the antique knives meant for collection are made from iron, copper and brass. In general a knife meant for displaying purposes allows the designer to have a wider choice in terms of material.
The crucial point on what knives are made of lies in its durability aspect. The durability of a knife depends very much on its hardness and resistance to corrosion. A good knife should not need to be sharpened regularly. A blade made from carbon steel, on the contrary, is cheap and easy to sharpen but it is prone to break easily since it is a low quality steel and can be bent with ease. In conclusion, knives can be made from a lot of different materials. The next time you look at a knife, perhaps you won’t be puzzled anymore because at least you have known a bit on what knives are made of.
Celebrity Chef Knives – Do You Need Them in Your Kitchen?
Celebrity chefs will typically choose celebrity chef knives to ease their job in the kitchen. These knives may or may not be more expensive but they are definitely high in quality and can even last for more than ten years. Having the right tools in the kitchen is very important for professional chefs but it doesn’t mean that ordinary people like you and me can’t use the same knives in our own kitchen. These extraordinary celebrity chef knives can certainly ease our jobs while cutting, slicing and chopping our produce. It is easier to expect a professional result when using these knives too.
The use of celebrity chef knives is crucial if you want to make sure that food preparation is done in the most professional way. If you work as a cook in a restaurant or if you own a catering business, certainly you need to use professional cooking tools like the celebrity chef knives. These knives are able to cut down on the food preparation time and they ensure that high quality food is prepared at all times. When you are able to come up with satisfactory results all the time it means the number of your customers will also increase.
There are many different kinds of celebrity chef knives. Each one of them is created to suit different purposes. Some of the common ones are known based on the country they were originally made. France, Germany and Japan are some of the countries that came up with high quality knives made specifically for professional use. These knives are suitable to be used in cutting, chopping or slicing different types of foods including meat, fruits, vegetables and fish. The sharpness of the celebrity chef knives may differ from one blade to the next, and the Japanese knife is known as the sharpest from all.
Basic Knife Skills are Crucial in Food Preparation Process
There are many people out there who are still learning about the basic knife skills. Some others tend to buy expensive knives because they don’t know how to slice or cut their produce in the desired way. Sometimes when frustration takes place they would rather choose to eat at the restaurant. In reality it is not that difficult to master some of the basic knife skills. You don’t have to invest on very expensive cutleries in order to come up with perfect cuts and slices. Everyone can actually use their ordinary knives to work wonders in the kitchen.
Keep in mind that in order to master the basic knife skills you must make sure that the blade you are using is not dull. A dull knife can be very dangerous to use compared to the one with a sharp blade. It is advisable that you sharpen a knife at least twice a year and get this done by a professional. The basic knife skills should include the way of holding your knife. When holding a knife, don’t grip at its handle using the whole of your hand. Pinch the dull part of the blade at the rear end touching to the handle in between your middle finger and thumb while allowing the rest of the hand to grip on the handle.
One of the basic knife skills you should know is the art of chopping your produce. When you are chopping an onion, for example, make sure that the blade is moved outwards as if you are gliding it gently. This technique makes it easier for you to chop a produce in equal sizes and it speeds up your work as well.
When you know how to use your knives the right way, certainly it makes the process of cooking speedier and simpler. After you have mastered some of the basic knife skills you can try some of the recipes and enjoy your time in the kitchen to the fullest.