Of all the cooking utensils, knives are the most important for obvious reasons. Many brands have tried to invent robots that are supposed to replace the knives, but none succeeded. The relationship a cook has  with his knife is often particular: it was chosen with care, it’s used for years, it’s rarely  handled by any other person than the owner and it’s the owner who sharpens it. When buying knives, people often ask me which brand is best and how to make the best choice, so to facilitate this choice, this article will concentrate all the questions / answers I usually get.

I begin by presenting my most important knives

The chef’s knife. 15-25 cm edge, with a straight or rounded blade it’s used for most preparations but mainly cutting vegetables.

Paring knife 6-10 cm edge serves mainly to peel and turn vegetables.

Boning knife. Approx 14 cm. With a little stiffer edge than the chef’s knife and is used to remove meat from bones.

Filet knife.  The blade is long, thin and flexible. It’s used to filet fish and remove fish skin.

Bird’s beak knife, or tourne knife. Serves mainly to peel and turn vegetables. It’s edge is rounded and perfect for turning vegetables, especially potatoes and artichokes.

How to choose a knife
Before choosing the brand you have to ask yourself some questions: What is the attendance of use and will I take care of the knife?

If you use it 10 minutes, 5 times a week to cut 3 carrots into slices and never sharpen it, don’t buy expensive knives. A knife found in the supermarket or in a furniture and decoration stores is enough. And if you take care of it by the instructions below, you will be totally satisfied with a low cost choice. Although, if you cook often it’s worth investing. The type of knives depends what you use it for and the choice of brand depends on preferences and budget. Firstly it is important to have a knife with a good balance. A rather light weighted handle but not too light, it shouldn’t outweighs the edge. Hence the importance of looking, touching and trying out  the knife before buying. Same with the blade. It shouldn’t be too thick (difficult to sharpen) nor too thin (brakes easily).

I use two brands: Arcos and Misono. Arcos is easy to find in France, has good quality, a fair price and is great as well for amateur as professional use. Misono are Japanese knives that with Kasumi are my favorite brands that keeps a very high quality. They are more expensive but are light, well balanced and easy to sharpen.

How to take care of a knife
No matter if it’s a professional knife or a cheaper version, you should take care of it to keep the blade as sharp as possible. Here are three easy-to-follow steps:

-Hand-wash it. Knives are sensitive to the products and change of temperature in the dishwasher and are also sensitive to friction with other utensils.

-Do not store you knife loose in a drawer, but hang on a magnet on the wall, keep in a box or knife holder, once again to avoid friction.

-Sharpen it regularly. There are several ways but the most common are: the stone, the sharpening steel or the manual sharpener. The stone should be used regularly but with precaution because it uses much on the blade. The sharpening steel is used before each use and the manual sharpener is the fastest and easiest method.

And what about ceramic knives?
At first glance, it’s great: it is ultra sharp and does not wear out, it doesn’t need sharpening. Except that it is extremely fragile. If it falls on the ground there are high chances that it breaks and as you cannot sharpen it, small cracks on the blade cannot be removed.

And what is your favorite knife brand and why?