best kitchen knives

What exactly do you need to look for if you are looking for the best kitchen knives?

When you approach a shelf full of shining new kitchen knives without knowing what exactly you are looking for, it is easy to get lost and to buy something worthless. If you take the cooking and eating seriously, spend those extra minutes on choosing the best kitchen knives and they will turn your hours spent in the kitchen into a real pleasure.
Remember, that any best kitchen knife should meet the following criteria:

Balance

If the knife is balanced, it means that the weight of its blade is equal to the weight of its handle. The best kitchen knife is always balanced. The balance plays an important role and is responsible for ease of use. Also, you don’t want your best kitchen knife to look ugly. So, look for the knife that is not only weight balanced, but also has balanced overall appearance – all parts of the best kitchen knife should match in style, materials and finish.

Comfort

The best kitchen knife is always comfortable in handling. It makes your life much easier, safes your nerves and spares your strength.

Safety

You shouldn’t be afraid for your fingers and you shouldn’t avoid cutting the greasy meats only because your hands easily slip off the handle. The handles of the best kitchen knives have safe shape and made of materials that provide secure grips while performing even the greasiest tasks.

Fit

All parts of the best kitchen knife are assembled without any unnecessary gaps and allowances. Everything is fused and solid. It ensures reliability, durability and, of course, contributes to the overall appearance.

Quality and Corrosion resistance.

The quality of the materials should be beyond doubt. It is very important. The best kitchen knives are made of qualitative, corrosion resistant materials that significantly prolong the durability and also contribute to the pleasant to look at appearance.

Strength.

The strength is one more vital quality of the best kitchen knife. Remember, how often you cut watermelons and pumpkins or perform other hard kitchen tasks. You don’t want your best kitchen knife to feel fragile in the crucial moments. Go for the knife that will easily resist the hardest tasks.

Sharpness.

Here I mean not the quality of the initial sharpening, but the ability of the blade to retain the sharpness for longer. This ability is called the edge retention.

Fine finish of the materials.

This quality is very important if you want your best kitchen knife not only to perform the various tasks perfectly, but also to look attractive and professional.


Of course, not all of these criteria can be easily assessed before purchase. But, fortunately, there are customer reviews that can help us to make the right choice. The best kitchen knives that reach the tops of the customer reviews most often are listed below:

Shun Classic Santoku

Best Santoku knife. Japanese style knives are becoming more and more popular. Santoku knife is good for intricate work, such as very thin vegetable slicing. However, the blades of Santoku knives are shorter than the blades of chef’s knives, making them less versatile. But if you want the best supplementary kitchen knife try Shun Classic Santoku. This forged knife is manufactured in Japan and has lifetime warranty.

Wusthof Classic Knives

Wusthof is at the top of almost every comparative review. These best kitchen knives are manufactured in Germany and have lifetime warranty. Wustof Classic series is forged from a single blank of high carbon steel. The cutting edge of these best kitchen knives is laser controlled and tested, that makes them incredibly sharp. Also, these best kitchen knives benefit from extremely stylish appearance. Experts say that these best kitchen knives can easily compete even with more expensive kitchen knives.

Global

If you are looking for the best Japanese kitchen knives go for Global – stamped knives with integrated handle and blade that have lifetime warranty. This Japanese brand is produced by Yoshikin. Global best kitchen knives are made in the Japanese style and have a thinner blade than German or American knives. Some reviewers find these knives quite slippery. But excellent cutting abilities of these best kitchen knives won the hearts of even the most demanding users. Global comes in few series, ranging from short to long blades.

Forschner Victorinox

If you are in the market for the best budget kitchen cutlery set check these knives. All Victorinox stamped blades are manufactured in Switzerland. Their best kitchen knives are perfectly balanced, have extremely sharp blades and it makes them the first choice of professionals today. Of course, manufacturer gives the lifetime warranty on these best kitchen knives.

How to sharpen your best kitchen knife

So, finally you have chosen and bought your long-awaited best kitchen knife. But do you know how to get the most out of your purchase and make your best kitchen knife to show the superb performance longer? If you think about regular and accurate honing you are absolutely right. Many people hone their knives only when they are so dull that cannot cut through tomato skin and it is not correct. Also, you will need to learn the honing techniques in order to do it properly. With correct care your best kitchen knife will show its best for much longer.

You can sharpen your best kitchen knife by yourself using sharpening steel, whetstone, grinding wheel, electric knife sharpener or you can use professional grinding service. If you can’t or don’t want to use professional grinding service you need to learn how to sharpen your best kitchen knives properly by yourself. Here are few tips you need to know.

First of all, if you have the Japanese knives in your best kitchen knife collection always remember very important thing – the Japanese knives can only be honed on the whetstone. Never use wheel or sharpening steel for this type of knives.

Also, if your best kitchen knives are dull already, it’s too late to hone them with the sharpening steel. The sharpening steel only straightens and reconditions the sharp edge. If the knife is dull, you will need to take off some steel and it can be considered as repair. Do not wait with honing till your best kitchen knives are dull, because repairs wear off the knives very quickly, even if they are the best kitchen knives.

To hone the knife with the sharpening steel you need to secure the sharpening steel in vertical position by your left hand. Then holding your best kitchen knife in your right hand at approximately 15-20 degrees to the sharpening steel with the cutting edge of the knife facing upwards, draw the knife from top to bottom of the sharpening steel. Do not change the position of your best kitchen knife while moving it along the sharpening steel. Remember, that only the cutting edge should touch the sharpening steel, not the other parts of the knife. You should not force the knife, move your best kitchen knife smoothly, gently, without unnecessary efforts. Repeat the same movement for every part of the cutting edge from one side. Then change hands and repeat the same for the cutting edge from another side of the knife. Make sure that you do the same amount of movements for each side of your best kitchen knife.

If you need to hone the Japanese knife or the dull knife you will need a whetstone. Actually, not just one whetstone – you will need three whetstones with fine, medium and rough grid. You can also find all grids in one – combination whetstone. Before you start to hone your best kitchen knife with the whetstone you will need to soak the whetstones for about 15-20 minutes. When the air bubbles stop coming out the whetstones are ready for use. Put the rough grid whetstone horizontally on a damp towel. The table or similar steady horizontal surface will be perfect. The damp towel will prevent the slipping of the whetstone. Put the knife on the whetstone and make sure that the whole cutting edge from tip to heel can be accommodated on the whetstone. Cutting edge should face towards you. Hold the knife at 15-20 degrees to the sharpening steel and smoothly move your best kitchen knife away from you. When one side is done you will see the burrs. Turn the knife, so its cutting edge faces away from you and repeat the smooth honing movements towards you. The burrs will disappear. Make sure that the angle is the same during the whole process of honing. Then repeat the same on the medium grid whetstone and on the fine grid whetstone.

One more thing to remember: if you prefer to use electric knife sharpener make sure that you use high quality sharpener. Bad quality sharpener can weaken the blade of the knife and damage your best kitchen knives.

Of course, all described honing processes need some practice and it may happen that your first honing attempt won’t be perfect. So, don’t learn the honing techniques on your best kitchen knives. Pick the less expensive and less valuable knives for your first lessons.