If married life has taught me anything, it’s that you’re never always right, even when you are. Case in point: choosing the best kitchen equipment. When I first started dating my wife, the only knife she owned was a tiny plastic-handled, unbalanced, dull knife from IKEA that looked like it’d be more at home sitting next to an Easy Bake oven. Indeed, I spent a good chunk of 2007 trying to surreptitiously coax her into switching to the incredibly sexy, hand-hammered Japanese Damascus steel santoku knife that I’d bought specifically to impress any future wives with my good taste.
She ended up choosing the IKEA knife every time, claiming that the large size and precisely hand-engraved maker’s signature on the hilt of the santoku blade intimidated her (don’t worry, she was still suitably impressed by my raw masculine energy whenever I wielded it). I’ve since gotten her to upgrade to a fairly nonintimidating Wüsthof 5-inch granton-edged santoku, but the point remains the same: once you narrow your choices
to those within a certain quality level, the best knife for you is the one that you are most comfortable using. Anyone who tells you different is selling something. Probably knives.
When buying a knife, there are three main characteristics to consider: material, shape, and ergonomics.
The material a knife is made out of determines several factors, including how sharp it can be, how long it retains its edge, how easy it is to resharpen once it’s dull, and how it reacts with acidic foods. In general, you’ve got three options: carbon steel, ceramic, or stainless steel.
• Carbon steel is a softer metal that is easy to sharpen, and it can be ground down into an extraordinarily sharp edge.
Its disadvantages are that it dulls relatively quickly, requiring you to resharpen it every few weeks or so to maintain a good cutting edge; it can rust if not cared for properly; and it will discolor if it comes into prolonged contact with acidic fruits or vegetables. You have to carefully clean, dry, and oil it after each use to preserve its luster. Carbon steel is the material of choice for knife geeks who take great pleasure in the process of sharpening a blade down to a cut-through-anything-without-even-noticing edge. Just like a dog, it requires plenty of hard work to keep it well disciplined and healthy, but it’ll reward you with a lifetime of loyal, faithful service. And unlike a dog, your knife will never pee on the carpet. That’s a good thing.
• Ceramic blades are generally a poor choice. It’s true that they can be ground to a razor-sharp edge, and that that edge doesn’t dull even with prolonged use, but their major
drawback is a doozy: they chip easily and are unrepairable. A metal knife is flexible, which means that on a microscopic level, the sharp edge of its blade is constantly bending and deforming according to the varying pressures being applied along its length. Because of its crystalline structure, a ceramic blade, on the other hand, is extraordinarily brittle. Even the slightest shearing motion with the blade can cause it to chip or crack along the edge, relegating it to the “completely useless but I’ll keep it anyway because I’m still holding out hope”
drawer. These knives are also very light, which, for some people (like me), can be a deterrent.
• Stainless steel used to be the material for suckers: hard, pretty, and easy to maintain but completely unable to form a suitably sharp edge. These days, as materials science continues to advance, stainless steel knives are becoming more and more attractive, since they combine the easy-sharpening characteristics of carbon steel with the easy cleanup and rust- and tarnish-free nature of stainless steel.
I still love my carbon steel knives, but to be honest, I’ve got more stainless knives in the kitchen now.
Knives and Cutting Boards
When you are purchasing new knives, the price range and variance in quality level can be truly staggering. I mean, you can hit the local megastore and find a twenty-four-piece set priced to give you knives at a couple bucks a shot, or you can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a single knife. What gives?
Here’s the truth : Once you get to a certain level of
quality, knives are largely a matter of personal taste. Do you need to spend $300 to get a decent knife? Absolutely not.
Are you likely to find a good knife under $35 or so?
Probably not. But no matter what knife you choose, these are the qualities to keep an eye out for:
• A full tang. The tang is the extension of the blade into the handle. In a good knife, the tang should extend all the way to the end of the handle. This provides maximum durability and balance.
• A forged, not stamped, blade. Forged blades are made by pouring metal into a mold, pounding it, trimming it, sharpening it, and polishing it by hand. This creates a very strong, very versatile blade from edge to heel. A stamped blade is cut out of a single sheet of metal and sharpened on one edge. Stamped blades usually bear a telltale sign of parallel stripes (caused by the rollers used to flatten the metal) when you reflect light off it into your eyes.
Stamped blades are generally unbalanced and flimsy. The lower-end knives of most major manufacturers are stamped.
• A balanced handle and a comfortable grip. When you hold a knife, it should feel balanced in your hand, neither heavy nor light on the blade end. It should also fit effortlessly in your grip. Remember—a knife should be an extension of your hand. As such, it should feel completely natural.