The Chef’s best friend

A modern chef’s knife is a utility knife designed to perform well at many differing kitchen tasks, rather than excelling at any one in particular. We take a look at the knife – what it’s made from, how to buy one, and how to use it.
A chef’s knife is the primary general utility knife for most Western cooks. The knife is not just a matter of a steel thing for cutting food. It is the chef’s friend and assistant.
The chef’s knife evolved from the butcher’s knife, which was originally designed to slice and disjoint large cuts of beef. The knife generally has a blade 20 cm long and 4 cm wide, although individual models can range 15 cm to 36 cm in length.

What’s your style: French or German?
Take a look at the shape of your knife blade. There are two types of blade shape: French and German. Which is yours?
The German design, which is far more common, shows a pronounced curve towards the tip of the blade which allows the knife to be rocked up and down, chopping the food with the belly and heel of the blade.
The French design is more triangular, with much less curve at the tip and a longer straight section of blade. It is designed to be pulled towards the user, slicing the food instead.
The two different styles of knife offer different ways of cutting. Personal preference will dictate whether you cut French or German style.
Or you could go Japanese instead. A Japanese development of the chef’s knife, the santoku (literally “three good things”), has also gained popularity in the West.
The santoku is primarily designed for cutting fish, vegetables and boneless or lightly-boned meats such as chicken, and has a sheepsfoot blade.
A sheepsfoot blade has no point on the tip, very little to no belly and the spine of the blade curves down to meet the edge. The spine on the santoku’s blade drops sharply to meet the hardened, acutely-ground cutting edge.

Keep it sharp
In order to improve the chef’s knife’s multi-purpose abilities, it is often sharpened differently on the various parts of the blade. The fine tip, used for precision work such as mincing, might be ground with a very sharp, acute cutting bevel; the mid-section or belly of the blade receives a moderately sharp edge for general cutting, chopping and slicing, while the heavy heel or back of the cutting edge is given a strong, thick edge for such heavy-duty tasks as disjointing beef.
What’s it made of?
The blade of your chef’s knife can be made of one of these materials:
Carbon steel: An alloy of iron and approximately 1% carbon. Most carbon steel chef’s knives are simple carbon iron alloys without exotic additions such as chrome or vanadium. Carbon steel blades are both easier to sharpen than ordinary stainless steel and usually hold an edge longer, but are vulnerable to rust and stains. While some cooks prefer and use carbon steel knives (especially in Asia and the Middle East), others find carbon steel too maintenance-intensive in a kitchen environment.
Stainless steel: An alloy of iron, approximately 10-15% of chromium, nickel, or molybdenum, with only a small amount of carbon. Lower grades of stainless steel cannot take as sharp an edge as good quality high-carbon steels, but are resistant to corrosion, and are inexpensive. Higher grade and ‘exotic’ stainless steels (mostly from Japan – as used by Global, Kasumi and others) are extremely sharp with excellent edge retention, and equal or outperform carbon steel blades.
Laminated: A laminated knife tries to use the best of each material by creating a layered sandwich of different materials – for instance, a softer-but-tough steel as the backing material, and a sharper, harder, but more brittle steel as the edge material.
Ceramic: Ceramic blades hold an edge the longest of all, but they chip easily and may break if dropped. They also require special equipment and expertise to-resharpen. They contain zirconium oxide powder but are chemically non-reactive, so will not discolour or change the taste of food.

Choosing your knife
Here are some pointers to look for when choosing your new knife:
Pick up the knife that took your fancy and examine it carefully. Turn the handle to your face, cutting edge up, and keep it at eye-level. Look along the edge to the tip. If you see a solid matte line without any glowing, it means this is good quality blade without any distortion and chipping.
Examine the handle where the tang of the blade is inserted. If the handle is covered with plastic or other material, make sure that there are not even the slightest gaps between the handle and the steel. Any gaps will be quickly filled with dirt, and you’ll never be able to completely clean it. There are one-piece knives on the market, where the handle is not covered at all, leaving no possible crevices for dirt. Lastly, match the length of the knife handle with the size of your palms. If it is too big or too small, the knife will continually be uncomfortable to use.

BISTRO, December 2009

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